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recovery recovery After having hit rock bottom in the last few years, the ship-breaking at Gaddani is finally showing signs of recovery -- in 2007 alone, 34 vessels with 152,260 light displacement tonnage (LDT) were brought to the Gaddani beach to be broken into scrap. The industry sources, however, say the smuggling of banned items -- such as moon-shaped pipes, girders, angles, channels, pipes, shafts and used ship chains -- are hurting the ship-breaking activities at Gaddani. These banned items find their way into the local market through Quetta-Chaman border; where, in connivance with Pakistan Customs' personnel, the importers indulge in large-scale under-reporting of their consignments. According to the Engineering Development Board's Industrial Bulletin (January 2008 issue), truckloads of banned items, disguised as re-meltable scrap on which there is no duty, enter major domestic markets in the country. Similarly, a large number of trucks loaded with rejected steel pipes from Russia enter via Pakistan-Iran border and make their way into the big cities without any check. Despite constant
increase in the demand for steel products, mainly due to the boom in the Once occupying the second position on the globe after Taiwan, Pakistan's ship-breaking industry was virtually pushed to the verge of collapse, following the ascendancy to power of a family having massive interests in the country's steel trade. However, during its golden period, the country's ship-breaking industry had at its docks at Gaddani 40 to 50 obsolete vessels at one time for breaking against only one vessel in 2005. High taxes and machinations of the vested interests had contributed to the downfall of this once vibrating and flourishing industry. In its hay days in the early 1980s, there was constant increase in the number of vessels dismantled at Gaddani and also in their tonnage, as the following statistics would illustrate. In 1982-83, 156 vessels weighing 964,758 tonnes were brought to Gaddani for dismantling; whereas the number of vessels and their tonnage stood at 146 and 606,174 in 1984-85, and 165 and 699,514 in 1985-86. Though the number of vessels increased, the number of tankers dismantled at the Gaddani beach decreased from 39 (weighing 929,713 tonnes) in 1982-83 to 12 (weighing 92,259 tonnes) in 1983-84, eight (weighing 102,108 tonnes) in 1984-85 and six (weighing 76,023 tonnes) in 1985-85. The ship-breaking industry contributed Rs 5.3 billion to the national exchequer in the form of taxes in a single financial year in the early 1980s. In addition to highly quality steel, the dismantled ships also provided cheapest possible non-ferrous materials -- like copper, brass, aluminum, machinery, generators, boilers, wood and tools of international standard -- for meeting the demand of the country's fast developing industrial and commercial sectors. In 1985-86, the industry helped the country in making an annual saving of Rs 1.5 billion that would otherwise have been spent on import of iron and steel. It also earned another Rs 500 million in foreign exchange through the export of surplus ship-scrap, second-hand machinery, generators, air-conditioners and other equipment. The ship-breaking
industry also contributed to the national exchequer, during that year, an
amount However, lack of state patronage and unfavourable tax regime gave deadly blows to this industry. India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) benefitted the most from the decline in Pakistan's ship-breaking industry; and consequently emerged as the regional hub of ship-breaking, as most of the foreign clients turned to them. Some of the measures taken by the government in 2003, in particular cut in duties on import of ships for dismantling, rekindled hopes of the revival of this industry, as it again started to attract foreign entrepreneurs. But the vested interests manoeuvred within months to get the duties on ships and vessels, which arrived in Pakistan for dismantling, doubled from five per cent to 10 per cent and sales tax increased from 15 per cent to 20 per cent, rendering the business non-viable once again. After taking stock of the whole situation, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet decided, on January 18, 2005, to reduce the 'deemed price' of imported obsolete ships from $ 400 per tonne to $ 300 per tonne and the 'value addition factor' (used for determining sales tax) from 14 per cent to five per cent. These measures not only provided a direct relief of about Rs 1,350 per tonne to the ship-breakers, but also a much needed breather to the ship-breaking industry, thus saving it from collapse and thousands of its workers from the imminent danger of unemployment. In 2005, the outgoing Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz paid a visit to the Gaddani beach. Addressing a gathering of various stakeholders in the ship-breaking industry, he offered to extend more concessions to the industry if the entrepreneurs associated with it expanded their activities and succeeded in providing direct employment to 10,000 people. But this still appears to be a far cry, as the Pakistan Ship Breakers Association (PSBA) believes that the working environment for this industry remains far from ideal. According to the Industrial Bulletin, PSBA Chairperson Azam Malik complained that the official apathy was impeding the development of the ship-breaking industry in Balochistan. "There is no gas," he said, "and the industry has to use costly oxygen for cutting millions of tonnes of scrap." Further, potable water is not available to the industry. Similarly, Gaddani lacks in health facilities and, in case of any accident, the victim has to be rushed to Karachi. "Presently, 5,000 people are directly engaged in ship-breaking activities and the number could be increased to 25,000-30,000 if the government starts paying attention to the industry," Azam Malik claimed. Pakistan's ship-breaking industry is spread along Balochistan's Gaddani beach, which is located about 50 kilometers north-west of Karachi. The ship-breaking activity had started there much before Pakistan's independence in August 1947. However, the industry registered a spectacular growth after Pakistan's independence, enabling it to gate-crash into the club of top ship-breakers of the world by the mid-1960s. In the early 1980s, Pakistan's ship-breaking industry was at its zenith. It provided employment to more than 35,000 workers directly, while more than 500,000 people earned their livelihood indirectly as a result of trade with those industries that used ship scrap as raw material. How Gaddani became the world's second top ship-breaking centre is an interesting story, which reminds one of the dedicated efforts, perseverance and imaginative thinking of some businessmen who initiated this work in that uninhabited region along the Makran coast. According to the industry's sources, prior to the independence some casual businessmen used to occasionally break a few obsolete ships at Gaddani. However, it was after Pakistan's independence that a group of entrepreneurs made serious efforts to develop this casual trade into a regular industry. In Pakistan, ship-breaking was taken up as a regular business for the first time in 1964, when a few vessels were brought and towed to Gaddani for breaking. At that time, with the exception of the fact that Gaddani provided a safe natural harbour and a shallow continental shelf, there did not exist ancillary facilities needed for an industry of this nature. There was neither communication infrastructure nor arrangements for electricity, drinking water, and adequate accommodation for workers. To add to this was the lack of medical facilities for the victims. The place – a nomadic hinterland -- was uninhabited and consequently there was an acute shortage of labour as well. Further, majority of workers were uneducated, unskilled and migratory. Even the businessmen who entered the trade possessed little know-how of the industry, but they were infused with self-confidence and imagination; and had realised that with the introduction of modern bulk carriers and the looming crisis in the international shipping industry, most of the outdated and obsolete vessels would soon become redundant. Besides, as a result of initiation by many countries of a process of replacement of their unserviceable World War-II vintage war ships with modern and sophisticated vessels, there appeared an international market, with the British capital London as its hub, for the sale of obsolete ships. Being imaginative businessmen, this group of pioneer ship-breakers had also foreseen that there was definitely going to be an increase in the demand for iron and steel in Pakistan to cater to the needs of its rapidly developing re-rolling mills, engineering and other ancillary industries, which consumed iron, steel and other non-ferrous materials. The disruption of normal trade with India following the wars of 1965 and 1971, discontinuity in the supply of steel and iron products from Pakistan's only steel mill at Chittagong after the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, and massive devaluation of the Pakistani rupee in 1972 made import of iron and steel products much costlier. This provided a good opportunity to the daring businessmen, who had ventured into the ship-breaking industry, to meet the national demand for ship-scraps, which provided much cheaper raw material for the indigenous engineering industries. Although the policy of nationalisation, adopted by the government in 1972, discouraged investment in fixed assets and capital goods, it gave a boost to the ship-breaking industry, which, being labour-intensive, needed neither fixed assets nor capital goods. Naturally, the more imaginative ones among the businessmen, who refrained from investing within the country, opted for the ship-breaking industry. These businessmen evolved such innovative methods as were best suited to the conditions obtaining in Pakistan during those days. They engaged contractors to do the job of ship-breaking for them. The contractors also did not adopt modern techniques, nor did they use modern ship-breaking machinery. But they did possess the knack of getting the job done to the satisfaction of their principals. In 1978, realising the importance of the ship-breaking industry, the government announced a number of measures to give it a boost. These included: recognition of ship-breaking as an industry, declaring Gaddani as a port, reduction in customs duty on ships imported for breaking, provision of telephone connections, increase in the lease period from one year to five years and appointment of an eight-member committee to solve its other problems. The years between 1969 and 1983 are considered to be the golden period of the ship-breaking industry in Pakistan. It was during this period that the ship-breaking activities witnessed a boom and this industry left many of its international rivals behind, as far as the total number of ships demolished and the tonnage of ship-scrap handled were concerned. The ship-breaking industry has immense potential to provide gainful employment to thousands of people, as well as cheap scrap for use as raw material by the re-rolling mills and the engineering industry. Considering this, if the government patronises the industry by providing necessary facilities and also encourages the stakeholders to overhaul and update their machinery and infrastructure, ship-breaking activities in the country could be revitalised once again. This would also help stabilise the market price of steel and iron bars, and ease the pressure on the construction industry to some extent. In view of these immense benefits, the authorities would do well to appoint a committee to study the problems facing Pakistan's ship-breaking industry and find solutions to those problems, so that it becomes robust and once again start making adequate contribution to the national kitty besides providing job opportunities to thousands of citizens and cheap ship scrap to the country's engineering industry and the re-rolling mills. (The
writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. E-mail:
alauddinmasood@gmail.com)
By Kaleem Omar There is vacuity and vacuity, but US President George W Bush's special brand of vacuity comes across on television as strictly state-of-the-art. Watching Dubya talking to reporters or White House visitors off-the-cuff on the box (something he tries to avoid as much as possible, for obvious reasons), you feel like yelling, "For God's sake, read a book occasionally. Do something. Read a comic, even. Try to ratchet up your IQ a few points. It mightn't be easy, but please try. And look at the map of the world once in a while so that you'll at least have some idea where America is, even if you don't much care where other countries are." That's what you feel like telling him. But Bush -- when he isn't bombing countries -- is too busy jogging, chopping wood at his ranch and visiting US armament factories to read a book. Rumour has it that he once actually read a book, but that was back in the ninth grade when (so the story goes) he happened to come across a copy of Dostoevsky's 1868 novel The Idiot, which somebody had dropped by accident on the floor of the school gymnasium. It is said that Bush casually flipped through a page or two of the book out of idle curiosity. If you were to ask him about The Idiot now, though, he might say, "You talkin' to me." To think that someone like him could become president of the United States, not once but twice, almost defies belief. What were those Supreme Court judges thinking of back in 2000 when they voted to stop the recount in Florida? Clinton was right when he said, "Bush won the election fair and square -- 5 to 4 in the Supreme Court." Bush can't string two coherent sentences together unless he's reading from a prepared script drafted by his speechwriters. Even his all-too-rare press conferences are carefully scripted, with pre-selected journalists asking pre-prepared questions, for which Bush has pre-prepared answers written out for him on cue cards by his staff. But if some journalist catches him off guard with a question that hasn't been agreed in advance, it completely throws Bush, reducing him to stuttering incoherence again. That's why his website contains the following disclaimer: "dubya, dubya, dubya dot bushisms dot con (no, not com, con) -- man, good, sure i know i am, but it's hard to know what i think if i am good president, i mean how can i know? -- dya know what i mean? sure i read newspapers -- where's quayle?" A couple of weeks before the US presidential election of 2000, Bush told a Republican Party rally in Des Moines, Iowa: "I don't want nations feeling like they can bully ourselves (sic) and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defence system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the level commiserate (sic) with keeping the peace." For Bush, nuclear weapons and peace are evidently two sides of the same coin. But "commiserate (sic) with keeping the peace" must have been a new one, even for the ultra-hawkish neoconservative with whom Bush likes to hobnob when he isn't chopping wood. Bush's speeches usually consist of the same few simplistic ideas spelled out in short, declarative sentences: "The US is good. Osama is evil. We will win. He will lose. Me Tarzan. You Jane." His speechwriters have instructions to make sure that words of more than one syllable are kept down to a minimum, just to make sure that their man doesn't suddenly come to a dead stop in mid-speech because he's been confronted by a polysyllabic word. When his speechwriters aren't around, however, and there are no cue cards to read from, anything can happen and usually does -- as happened, for instance, in Crawford, Texas, on August 21, 2002, when Bush told reporters (with a grinning Donald Rumsfeld standing by his side): "I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man." (Okay, we've got that right.) "Nothing Saddam Hussein has done," Bush continued, "has convinced me -- I'm confident the Secretary of Defence -- that he is the kind of fellow that is willing to forego weapons of mass destruction, is willing to be a peaceful neighbour, that is -- will honour the people -- the Iraqi people of all stripes, will -- values human life. He hasn't convinced me, nor has he convinced my administration." Well, Saddam Hussein might not have convinced Bush that he was "willing to be a peaceful neighbour," but Bush has certainly convinced us that he is a master (of sorts) of the English language. The other thing about Bush is that he is a compulsive smirker. Smirking comes as naturally to him as breathing. No matter what the occasion -- whether it's a State of the Union Address or an Iraq "victory speech" -- you can always count on Dubya to pass the smirking test with flying colours: "My fellow Americans, we're the greatest country in the world (smirk, smirk) -- our farmers are the greatest farmers in the world (smirk, smirk) -- our workers are the greatest workers in the world (smirk, smirk) -- our military is the greatest military in the world and I'm proud to be their commander-in-chief (smirk, smirk)." After one of these 'spell-binding' performances, Bush might turn to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and say, "How'd I do, Condi?" And she, being the loyalist that she is, will say, "You did great, Mr President" -- though, secretly, she's probably thinking, "What a dumbo!" Bush says he's better informed than his father because he gets daily briefings from Rice. "Condi will come in and say, 'You gotta do somethin' about Eyeraq, Mr President'," Bush once said in an interview. But here's what Condi might say on some future memorable occasion, "Have you learnt your lines, Mr President? Remember, whatever you do, for God's sake don't ad-lib. I mean, why give Letterman and Jay Leno more ammo than they've already got? Right?" "Right,
Condi," Bush will say as he jogs offs into the sunset. Activist politician The present state system does not represent the interests of the people. By R Khan Afrasiab Khattak is a noted intellectual and politician. Provincial president of the Awami National Party (ANP), Khattak has been a political activist since his student days. Hailing from the Kohat district in the NWFP, he completed his education from the University of Peshawar. He did his master's in English Literature and also got a degree in Law. For some time he remained a practising lawyer and also made a name for himself as a constitutional expert. Khattak has been
associated with some leading national and international media
organisations as a After his return to Pakistan, instead of working as a politician, Khattak joined human rights organisations and also served as chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). A couple of years ago, Khattak again entered the political arena by joining the ANP. Recently, he became the party's provincial president. The News on Sunday recently got hold of him to discuss various issues confronting the country, especially extremism and terrorism. Excerpts follow: The News on Sunday: Where do you think would the current crisis lead the country and what different scenarios may emerge? Afrasiab Khattak: Frankly speaking, the situation is bleak and I do not see much light at the end of the tunnel. The crisis is basically of the state system. The fundamental relationship between the state and the society is through a constitutional structure expressed in a democratic process; that is how the society determines the direction of the state. On its own part, the state administers the society. Unfortunately, in Pakistan's case, the state has gone totally out of the society's control; it is a rogue state in the sense that it is not accountable. It has not happened overnight; it is the culminating point of the processes that have been there for decades. Zia's era started them and they reached their climax under Musharraf. This change is qualitative and has turned our people into subjects; they are no more citizens. So the present state system does not represent the interests of the people and it is very difficult to predict where the state would go from here. The most dangerous aspect is that this crisis may get internationalised for obvious reasons. TNS: Why then has your party termed the forthcoming elections so important? AK: As political activists our only hope is to mobilise and organise people and prepare them to launch a struggle for their rights. We simply cannot give up, as elections are a very important means of mobilising people and creating awareness in them to get back their rights from the usurpers. TNS: You think that the crisis is at the level of the state. Is it then appropriate to term the current unrest as a consequence of extremism and Talibanisation? AK: I think some people simplify this by using such terms. Talibanisation is just one aspect and a manifestation of the deep malaise. 10 or 15 years ago people used to say that the military is a state within state. It is not true anymore; today the military is the state while the other state institutions are mere appendages. The military is performing every function that a state performs in the rest of the world. The upper echelons of the military constitute the super elite, even socially apart from monopolising political power. For instance, in any society resource allocation is done by the super elite. In Pakistan, the military heads call the shots; they formulate foreign policy and internal policy; and they even manage civilian affairs. Military operations are taking place in many parts of the country. Considering this, an question arises that who decides about these matters? This means that the state and the society have been militarised. In such a society, the growth of militancy is something natural. So far no one has resorted to self-criticism. Look at the Western countries, which during the war against the Soviet Union helped promote extremist elements by investing billions of dollars. They established thousands of schools for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Nebraska University prepared the syllabus. Similarly, the whole education system was changed here. But neither the international players nor the local elite admitted their mistakes. Everybody is talking about Talibanisation, but no one about the root causes. TNS: Of late we have heard about the formation of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the military operations in South Waziristan and Darra Adamkhel. Where are we heading for as a nation? AK: First of all, the problem is that there are elements within the establishment who patronised militancy. Second, the misguided policies of Musharraf have brought international war into our country. Our ruling elite is very fond of becoming the frontline state and it is like an addiction. Unfortunately our province -- the NWFP -- happens to be the frontline province. But let us not forget that the extremist elements cannot reconcile themselves to the modern state system. They are basically anti-modern, anti-democracy. Their success starts from where the state fails. In Afghanistan they could introduce their system only when that country becomes a failing state. This is something which they would like to repeat in Pakistan too. So unless Pakistan establishes a democratic dispensation, regulated by the constitution, we really cannot address this issue by fire fighting alone. The situation would, as a result, go on worsening. TNS: Should we infer then that apprehensions that extremists could take over the system of the country are not all that far-fetched? AK: The way the things have developed over the last three or four years suggest the country is moving towards chaos. We have seen the failure of the state system everywhere in the country. The unit of the state has disappeared and the vacuum is being filled by the radical elements. TNS: How should the society respond to this challenge? AK: The problem is that violence is spreading, armed groups are trying to enforce their ideas by force, but the government is without any long- or short-term strategy to counter this. Political and civil society forces depend upon popular support. But when there is brute violence, it paralyses the civil society activists. Expansion of violence leads to contraction of civil society activities. TNS: Do you think that the ANP's policy of non-violence, fathered by the late Ghaffar Khan, is still relevant? AK: It is very much relevant. We have seen increase in violence by both state and non-state actors, but it has not solved any problem. Ultimately, we have to resort to non-violence and the state has to achieve legitimacy by constitutional means -- by the reinvention of relationship between the state and the society. No amount of force and violence can provide legitimacy to the state. Pakistan today is at a very dangerous stage. Any intensification of delegitimisation can have dangerous consequences. TNS: So are you suggesting a new social contract? AK: Yes, of course. We are living in a century in which globalisation has become a ground reality. So the state system has to adjust itself to the new realities. Of course, it has to be based on the will of the people. Today's problems -- of war and peace, of human rights -- cannot remain internal problems. They have a tendency to get regionalised and internationalised. In our case, there are other factors too that would attract international interest and concern. So we have to be extremely careful. TNS: If the ANP comes to power in the NWFP, would it be able to counter extremism in the province? AK: We have to work with other democratic forces because these are challenges that cannot be met by one party or only by the government. It has to be a collective effort. Our party would try to introduce the federal democratic structure in the country. This could only be done through empowering the people, turning them into real citizens with rights and duties, and by devising a system in which individuals as well as communities are empowered. The ANP has done a lot of homework for democratic transformation through social change and economic development in the NWFP and FATA. The latter's main problem is economic and political isolation. We believe the tribal areas have to be reintegrated with the rest of the country. We could make the task of the government easier. Unfortunately, elements in our establishment who are fond of becoming front line state would like to use FATA as a battleground in the so-called new Great Game. The ANP is strongly opposed to such misadventures. TNS: You have mentioned internationalisation of our problems. Therefore, is it logical to assume that India has a hand in the crisis in FATA? AK: Our government has been claiming so, though it has not come up with any evidence. The policies pursued by our various governments have led to the souring of relations with neighbouring countries. We share border with four countries and it is interesting that all of them have some complaints from us. As the proverb goes, there is no smoke without fire. So we have to take a critical view of our policies. Yes, other countries would pursue their own agendas and at times their interests would be against ours. But if we adopt rational policies, we will be able to neutralise many hostile policies of other countries. TNS: If the civil unrest in Pakistan transforms into a civil war, will its magnitude be bigger than Iraq? AK: We are living in a very difficult time, when a large quantity of sophisticated weapons is in private possession. God forbid, if civil war, regional war or regional conflict breaks out, problems in the former Yugoslavia will appear smaller in comparison. TNS: Is there a possibility that the violence and extremism, which have gripped the NWFP, could spread across the Indus? AK: It is again an oversimplification to talk about extremism in the NWFP, as even now the roots are across the Indus. The physical manifestation is on this side. I have said time and again that the problem does not lie in Waziristan; it lies in Islamabad. Unless a change of heart takes place there, the issue could not be addressed. The Pakhtoons are unfortunately wrongly projected as extremists. They are victims of violence, not its perpetrators. They have always been at the receiving end of the violent policies imposed upon them from Islamabad. TNS: What is ANP's position on US conducting operations in FATA? AK: We are opposed to
military operations by any power in FATA; we are even against operations
by the Pakistan Army. The basic problem is political. Administrative and
security action can be justified, but only in very limited and surgical
fashion. According to our perception, situation in FATA is the outcome of
our flawed Afghan Policy. As long as this policy is not corrected, there
cannot be peace in the entire region. The (im)morality of capitalist imperialism The evolving situation in Pakistan is not as separate from events in other parts of the world as one might think By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Given the steady stream of shocks that have come our way in recent months, it is not surprising that there is a relative lack of attention within our political and intellectual circles to pressing developments in the rest of the world. In recent days, much has happened in adjacent regions that should impel us to recognise that the machinations of American imperialism actually mean that the evolving situation in Pakistan is not as separate from events in other parts of the world as one might think. Among the more prominent
events, the death of Indonesia's long-standing dictator Suharto has As American dissidents like Noam Chomsky have exhaustively documented, the US has been by far the world's biggest patron of organised terror over the last 60 or so years. The record of every other state (or non-state entity) pales in comparison. All of America's handiwork has, of course, been conducted under the guise of 'freedom and democracy', building on what Howard Zinn has called the "myth of American exceptionalism", a self-perception of the US as a unique post-colonial 'free' nation that is charged with the responsibility of leading the way for others in their quest for freedom. This quite perverse anti-colonial imperialism took shape as early as 1823 with the Monroe Doctrine, through which the US essentially issued a warning to European powers to steer clear of Latin America as the latter fell within Washington's sphere of influence. Epic invocations were employed from an early stage: the first of these was the idea of 'manifest destiny', suggesting that the US was, in a manner of speaking, divinely ordained to fulfil its 'liberating' mission. Washington's iron grip over the western hemisphere was slowly but surely extended, particularly after the end of the second world war, to the European colonies of Asia and Africa that were, one by one, waging often heroic independence struggles. The ideology of anti-colonial imperialism required the institution of one after the other dictatorial regime in strategically located countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Indonesia. Israel of course became the lynchpin of America's strategic plan to capture the oil of the Arab Middle East. Ostensibly the threat to the free world posed by Soviet and Chinese communisms demanded that America fulfil its historic mission, just as the danger of terrorism (or Islamic civilisation if you will) explains the need for America to engage in pre-emptive war today. However as even this brief overview has illustrated, the state ideology of the US was, from the beginning, expansionist and pretensions to 'greatness' very clear. Today Suharto is mourned by many who remain committed to the ideals of capitalist imperialism as the great moderniser of the world's biggest Muslim country, while Israel's barbarous and systematic policy of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is explained away as the former's reasonable claim to establishing 'peace'. The imperial world order in which all of this is not only possible but is given the cover of legitimacy by the 'international community' is thus the perfect setting for continued military hegemony in Pakistan. While on the one hand this speaks to the overwhelming force that can be and regularly is employed by the US and its clients in Pakistan, it also is a function of the deepening of capitalism that has provided a non-negligible segment of the population unprecedented opportunities for upward social mobility. The highly parasitic form of capitalism on show in Pakistan may be visiting deprivation on the majority of Pakistanis, but ultimately the history of global capitalism has been a history of cooption as much as anything else and the substantial part of the population that has benefitted from financial speculation, the real estate boom and telecommunications expansion -- or the other pillars of the Musharraf economic regime -- are a major political bulwark for an otherwise illegitimate and unpopular regime. Crucially, the US has also helped undermine the political process to such an extent -- as it has done in other client states, such as Indonesia -- that the small but growing social elite that benefits from the prevailing order is able to continually insulate itself from challenges. So while events since March 9, 2007, have seriously exposed the cracks within the ruling oligarchy, it has not crumbled because there is no serious contender to take its place. It is important to remember that the myth of "American exceptionalism" has been as enduring as it has within the US, because of the unmatched lifestyles of Americans in comparison with the rest of the world. The level of conspicuous consumption is destructive and callous -- for example, carbon dioxide emission levels of the state of Texas are equal to those of the entire African continent -- but these are not matters with which the ordinary American is concerned and Washington is surely keen to keep it that way. The point is that the persistence of a clearly unjust and exploitative world order is based in large part upon the lure of material advancement for a critical mass of people that then become willing adherents to the precepts of the system. The majority who fall through the cracks are in most cases also likely to buy into the rules of the game if only because they are deprived of political alternatives that offer them genuine change. Given this state of affairs it becomes imperative to frame critiques of the existing world order, not only by invoking material deprivation but by probing its moral basis. In any case, inequality is almost always a relative concept and simply reaching a particular level of material advancement does not necessitate the elimination of injustice and social privilege. If the warped American
model of 'freedom and democracy' is to be transcended by an order guided
by principles of dignity and social equality, it is crucial to move beyond
the exclusively materialist logic that characterises capitalism;
otherwise, the almost absurd legitimation of blatant tyranny all over the
world will continue and the anti-imperialist struggle will become
paralysed by the consolidation of a global culture of consumption. analysis The cell phone companies are doing a roaring business, but they are not paying any attention to improving their services By Shujauddin Qureshi Despite a phenomenon growth in the cellular sector in Pakistan in the recent years, the service quality of most of the mobile phone operators is gradually declining. Server congestions, call connecting errors, false messaging, frequent call drops, and excessive and unjustified billing are some of the common complaints of the users. According to Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) data, the total number of mobile According to government statistics, during the last fiscal year (2006-07), the revenue of mobile companies was recorded at Rs 133 billion, an increase of 48 percent over the last fiscal year (2005-06). A fresh foreign investment of $4.12 billion was also added to the telecom industry during the last fiscal year, which also included $ 704 million for expansion of CMPak networks. Meanwhile, the contribution of the telecom sector in the overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Pakistan has also increased to two per cent. Five cellular companies are currently operating in Pakistan: Ufone, Mobilink, Telenor, Warid, and CMPak (Paktel). The PTA has recently suspended the service of Instaphone. Mobilink, being the oldest GSM service provider, is enjoying the major market share of more than 40 per cent. Among the new entrants, Telenor, through its aggressive marketing strategy and launching of new and innovative packages, has captured about 20 per cent of the market. The rest of the market is shared by the other three companies. But the tremendous growth and increasing profitability has not ensured any improvement in the service quality of the cellular companies, which is deteriorating instead of improving. According to an analyst, the cellular companies of Pakistan mostly invest in expansion of their networks, but they do not pay any attention to improving the quality of their services. "Quality complaints will stay for at least two to three years more till the market gets saturated," views Khurram Ghufran, a senior research analyst at KASB Securities. He says most companies are now focussing on expanding their networks in the rural areas or in those areas where there is still more demand. But the customers in such areas are more price conscious than quality conscious. Ghufran adds that there is still enough room for the increasing mobile phone density in Pakistan. According to the PTA, Pakistan's total tele-density in December 2007 was 52.8 per cent. The share of mobile phones in total tele-density is much higher. However, the total tele-density in Pakistan is still much lower than the tele-density in other developing countries like Thailand, where it has already reached 70 per cent. The regulator, the PTA, has made several steps to influence the cellular companies to improve their quality. In an effort to provide quality services to the customers, the PTA is trying to motivate the cellular operators to introduce 3G (third generation) technology in Pakistan, but most of the companies are reluctant to get the licences for 3G at this stage. The 3G technologies include modern capabilities and features like enhanced multimedia (voice, data, video and remote control), usability on all popular modes (cellular telephone, email, paging, fax, videoconferencing and web browsing), broad bandwidth and high speed (upwards of 2 Mbps), and roaming capability throughout Europe, Japan, and North America. Presently most of Pakistani companies are operating on 2G or 2.5G technologies and they feel there is very little opportunity to introduce the latest 3G or 4G technologies, which can be used on the costly sets that are not in high demand. "It is very encouraging that our telecom watchdog (the PTA) is vibrant enough to observe what is happening in the telecom sector worldwide, but is it not overstepping by the PTA to determine what a business entity should do, especially when Pakistani consumers are still facing problems with the quality of voice they get from the present cellular networks," says a telecom expert on condition of anonymity. He informs that average cost per cell phone today ranges between $ 50 and $ 300, while 3G regime will push the average towards $ 500 and it would be even higher in case of 4G phones. He said the PTA is pushing for 3G, whereas the cell industry is set to pursue its course of 4G, the stage of broadband mobile communications that will supersede the third generation. "We have suggested to the PTA to do a reality check on whether Pakistani consumer are ready to move even to 3G," says the telecom expert, adding that while keeping in mind that the shift would trigger a major infrastructure deployment and huge investments, the return on the same will be minimal as the consumers in Pakistan do not demand downloads but quality voice. The opponents of the 3G technology argue that most of these hi-fi 3G and 4G technologies will be revolutionsing the data transfer and downloads on cell phones, which has a very little business in Pakistan. A source in a cell company says on condition of anonymity that even today the text messaging (SMS) only contributes three per cent of the revenue in the balance sheet of his company. So, people just prefer to use cell phone for voice as the purchasing power of the people is very low. Another telecom expert suggests that the PTA should not force the companies to adopt the 3G technologies, as it is up to the market forces to decide this. In the past also, the technology evolved on the demand of subscribers. The first generation technology, which was based on analog voice signalling, was replaced by 2G on the market demand. The 2G phase began in the 1990s and much of this technology is still in use in many countries. The 2G cell phone features digital voice encoding, including CDMA and GSM. Since its inception, the 2G technology has steadily improved, with increased bandwidth, packet routing and the introduction of multimedia. The experts believe that people should be educated about benefits of the use of technology. They said the PTA had introduced the mobile number portability (MNP) in March last year, but that feature has not become so popular. The MNP allows subscribers to switch to any other cellular company by keeping the number intact. This latest service has not received a good response from the subscribers as expected by the PTA and the government. The major reason of that cool response by the customers is the processing delays by the cellular companies and some technical problems encountered after switching over to another company. According to another telecom expert, people prefer to purchase a new SIM of their favourable cellular company instead of retaining their old numbers and switching to another company. A company takes three to four days for conversion under the MNP. Even though the PTA has adopted a number of measures to ensure provision of quality service to the customers, the cellular companies are unable to meet the expectations of the growing number of their clients. It is a common complaint even in urban areas that calls on cell phones are often dropped, and excessive amount is charged on calls and SMSs. Many subscribers have lost their balance after dialling certain numbers, which they received through SMSs. Even a leading cellular company had to publish public notices in newspaper, warning public not to pay any heed to such messages. The recent complaint of the subscribers is that the new prepaid cards of leading companies are already used and there is no forum to complain. The cut-throat competition among the cellular companies has forced them to provide cheaper connectivity to their customers, but most of them, particularly the older ones, could not maintain the quality of their service. Though they offer new packages with reduced call charges, their service is deteriorating due to the increased load on their networks. The efficiency of the cellular companies was exposed when their networks were chocked on the evening of December 27, 2007, after Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The people of Karachi suffered immensely due to the breakdown of mobile services on the evening of December 27 and on the following day, particularly those people who were stuck up in traffic jams. "I could not make a call at my home as I was stuck in heavy traffic jam at Shahrah-e-Faisal," says Faisal Khan, an employee in a multinational bank. He said his wife was also trying to contact him on his cell phone from their home's landline phone, but she could not go through amid jammed networks. The cell phone companies had later admitted that their system received unprecedented traffic, which paralysed their services. The PTA has taken a number of measures to improve the quality of service provided by the cellular companies, including frequently holding Quality of Service (QoS) surveys of cellular phones and then penalising the defaulting companies. The recent QoS was conducted from September 4 to November 16, 2007, by using state-of-the-art monitoring equipment. In this survey, the services of five GSM operators -- Ufone, Mobilink, Telenor, Warid, and CMPak (Paktel) ñ were analysed in selected big and small cities. But these measures have not provided any relief to the customers, particularly those living in rural areas. Unregistered SIMs SIMs (Subscriber Identity Modules), the little electronic cards connecting a mobile handset with the cellular networks, of all mobile companies are easily available at neighbourhood shops. The people can buy them and then get the connection in their name whenever they want. But soon the situation will change, as the government has announced a new mobile connection policy recently, under which the owners of an unregistered SIM or connection would be required to get the connection registered in their name within three months; otherwise, the SIM would be cancelled or blocked. Though the purpose of easy availability of SIMs was to promote the use of cell phones and reduce hassle of public, the wide misuse of the unregistered SIMs has created a nuisance in the society. It has become a major complaint of the law enforcement agencies that the terrorists are widely using unregistered SIMs that are difficult to trace. On the other hand, the subscribers are also bearing the burden; obnoxious calls and SMSs from unknown numbers are their common complaints. Some users receive messages that their numbers have won a hefty sum of prize, so for claim they should call or send SMS to such and such numbers. Subsequently, the subscribers lose their entire balance. Though the PTA has set up complaint centres in major cities, no relief to the complainants is in sight. Though the PTA claims that it has now registered all the cellular phone connections, the registration on fake or multiple ID cards is another major area of concern. The people even do not know how many SIMs have been issued in their names. An Islamabad-based NGO, The Network, which is working for the consumer rights, had once received a complaint from a resident of the federal capital that a cellular phone company has commissioned connections to as much as 49 unnamed people against his ID card. According to PTA rules, only five numbers can be issued on one ID card. Though the government has given the PTA the task to create awareness among the people about registration of SIMs, it would take quite some time for the system to be fully enforced. -- SQ Theft
of a new kind By Sadia Nasir The business of copying or pirating CDs, cassettes, videos, computer software and consumer products is booming everywhere, but the problem of pirated books is the major one in the developing countries. This diversified piracy is negatively affecting international trade and foreign direct investment, by causing huge losses to the producers, publishers, artists and writers. Pakistan has become one of the world's foremost markets for pirated books and this has considerably reduced the market for genuine publishers. With advanced technologies, pirated books are such a good copy of the original publication that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference -- not only is the text copied, but the design and colour are also the same. Pirated or fake goods
have a market worth billions of dollars in Pakistan -- with pirated books
having Another form of piracy is the photocopying of the whole book, which is more common in educational institutions. The books mostly required for professional education, such as medical and engineering, are very expensive and are extensively photocopied. The students and teachers are either unaware of or are unconcerned about the breach of copyright acts when they photocopy whole books. This has led to a serious drop in the sale of books, particularly the textbooks, inflicting great losses on the genuine publishers. The consumer items that are pirated mainly include: electronic goods, medicines, chemicals, DVDs and CDs. All the big cities have become business centres of pirated goods. The consumer brand names are facing problems due to counterfeiting of their products, which not only affects their reputation but also inflicts huge losses on them. Some reports indicate that the piracy of software in Pakistan is increasing at an annual rate of 86 per cent and is threatening the very existence of the software industry. "The global software industry suffered a loss of $ 39.58 billion from piracy in 2006, while Pakistan lost $143 million in the same year," according to a research report. Pakistan has also become a centre of pirated audios and videos. According to a study conducted in 2007, the country exports about 15 million pirated CDs and DVDs every month. As a result, Pakistan is under increasing international pressure to control its increasing level of piracy and introduce effective domestic legislation on copyright and trademark violation. In addition to these, unauthorised satellite dishes and cable TV connections are also adding to the problem. The booming piracy business and export of pirated items from Pakistan is causing huge losses to foreign companies and publishers, in addition to depriving the government of billions of rupees in revenue, which can be collected through the enforcement of firm intellectual property rights' laws. The prices of pirated goods are much lower than the original ones, and the people want to buy goods at lower prices. The distributing companies are facing huge losses because of the downloading of music, MP3 and other audio files online. According to a BBC news report, the International Federation for Phonographic Industries (IFPI), in a letter to the prime minister of Pakistan in 2005, wrote that the illegal replication facilities in the country were doubling their copying capacity every 18 months and were producing in excess of 230 million copies per year, which were exported across the world. The government has established the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) to effectively manage intellectual property and enforcement coordination in Pakistan. The private sector is also working with the IPO to tackle these problems more effectively. There have been a few crackdowns on the piracy infrastructure in the recent past; however, any substantive result has not been achieved as yet. Also, there is a lack of public awareness about intellectual property rights and how does piracy affects the economy. Very few people are aware of the fact that copying a movie, photocopying a book or replicating products using false names constitutes an infringement of the intellectual property rights. Even a fewer people are aware of how does piracy affects them. The basic aim of intellectual property rights is to promote respect for industrial property and copyrights of artists, writers and publishers. The international conventions grant artists, writers and publishers exclusive rights to authorise publication, reproduction or translation of their work. Similarly, the consumer companies also retain rights over their trademark. Lack of intellectual property rights' laws affects international trade and foreign direct investment, as the original producer, artist or publisher faces loses as a result of piracy. Some steps have been taken to control piracy, like discouraging the sale of pirated books -- the Pakistan Intellectual Property Solution plans to set up stores in big cities to sell books of British publishers at cheaper rates. Lest one forget, the National Book Foundation was set up to reprint and translate foreign books with the permission of the original publisher. However, the foundation has so far failed to meet its desired objectives. There is also a need for dealing strictly with local book markets, which are the hub of pirated books. To discourage the sale of pirated books and photocopying, the educational institutions need to well stock their libraries so that students who cannot afford the original textbooks may be able to consult them. Also, the government should provide some subsidy for the publication or import of books, as this may help in containing piracy, particularly of textbooks. However, governments alone cannot effectively control piracy; the publishers should also try to reduce the prices of books, so as to make them affordable for the common people and students.
Effective policing is a workable proposition for maintaining urban safety By Dr Noman Ahmed Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) recently admitted that his force was unprepared to combat the rioting that broke out after the assassination of twice former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007. He, however, assured that the process of capacity building of the force would be accelerated. Unfortunately, the steps being mulled by the concerned authorities -- for instance, the setting up of a separate police unit for watch and ward of industrial units -- are entirely cosmetic in nature. The urban centres in
Sindh and other provinces, like other places, appear to be under grave
threat It goes without saying that the wedge that divides the public and police is expanding fast. A sizable number of citizens consider police as a part of the security problem rather than a solution. They have many valid reasons for this self-derived conclusion. The police have deserted the people in dire straits during the December 2007 mayhem and in many similar situations. Unless the trust is not revived, assuring public safety shall remain an elusive dream. Sir Robert Peel, who is considered as a doyen of modern police services, elucidated basic principles for the force as early as in the nineteenth century: prevention of crimes and disorder (at all costs); ensuring public approval to enhance performance; developing confidence in public to observe and report crime (without fear and favour); diminishing use of physical force across rising public cooperation; constantly enforcing law without prejudice of public / governmental opinion; using force only after exhausting all other options of persuasion, advice and warning; keeping away from the jurisdiction of judiciary; and self-evaluating performance against crime / disorder prevalence are cardinal principles followed by the police in civilised societies. In sharp contrast to this near ideal situation, our domestic scenario is anything but satisfactory. Under the smoke screen of terrorism and extremism, we are made to believe that fundamental procedures of governance no longer remain valid. Increase in the illegal possession and use of arms is the foremost issue confronting us. On the one hand, the sophistication and precision of technology has made possible the detection of even insects on the ground; while, on the other hand, there is absolute reluctance to nip in the bud the manufacturing, marketing, disposal and use of illegal arms. In the Lal Masjid episode, many security analysts considered the accumulation of arms by the alleged jihadis as the main reason for compounding of the situation. If the political will and administrative resolve is developed to control the spread of arms, a significant headway can be made in improving the law and order situation in the country. Next in the line is the process of issuing licences for arms, which is found to be cumbersome. As many areas in the country have the custom of openly displaying arms, the same can be regularised by taking appropriate measures. This cannot be done without taking the political parties, communal groups and tribal chieftains into confidence. There could be an all parties' conference, only to deliberate on this issue that is threatening the life and liberty of the common people, both in urban and rural areas. Needless to say, without imposing a strict and potent regulatory regime on the availability, display and use of arms, public safety cannot be ensured. For maintenance of the law and order at the macro level, a few considerations need a threadbare analysis. The disappearance of all district administration and police personnel from the residential areas in general and the sensitive locations in particular in the aftermath of Benazir's assassination must not go uninvestigated. The common people are given this oft-repeated message that the law and order cannot be maintained without the deployment of paramilitary outfits. Despite spending a hefty budget on the establishment, the law-abiding taxpayers lose life and property in each instance of violence. Flashy changes are brought about with fanfare only to fail in the testing times! The Karachiites may not have forgotten the Muhafiz Police Force, which was raised recently at the expense of millions of rupees to the exchequer. No official of this force or of any other security forces was visible at the time of recent anarchy in Karachi. Having fortified themselves in the confines of police stations or cantonments, these symbols of the establishment left the ordinary citizens at the mercy of terrorists and hoodlums. Declining competence, inability to cope with normal duties, politicisation of essential security services and clandestine manipulation by secret agencies has marred the daily life of the common people beyond limits. This calls for one thing: besides the government, people will have to play a pro-active role in maintaining security. From personal experiences on the evening of December 27 in Karachi, and eyewitness accounts of colleagues and friends, it was adequately confirmed that Karachi was at the mercy of mercenaries of sorts on that unfortunate day. Dozens of vehicles, shops and installations were torched within minutes. Stranded passengers and traumatised pedestrians received advice from spirited citizens in different neighbourhoods, who were found performing different essential tasks. Informing the motorists / passengers about potentially dangerous points, indicating relatively safe areas for temporary refuge, and escorting women and girl students to their homes were some of the noble deeds done by them. The people even opened their homes for the stranded folks to spend the cold and fearful night of December 27. Similarly, many residents provided food and supplies to those in need on the streets. Mosque managers let in the panicked passers-by. Scores of injured were transported by rickshaw drivers at the risk of their own lives and vehicles. It must be pointed out that without this much needed support, the citizens of Karachi may not have found relief from the sporadic violence and lawlessness. Like many previous instances of similar nature, these events display the tremendous potential of resident communities to manage some of the basic local affairs. Maintenance of the law and order, therefore, is one of the responsibilities that can be shouldered by the mobilised communities. A basic form of neighbouhood unit can be created through pro-active support of local government units. Community policing to combat street crimes, and for watch and ward; protecting and maintaining public spaces, such as parks and other amenities; reporting municipal disorders to the concerned functionaries; managing streets and lanes; liaising with the local union council, town municipal administration and district administration / police; ensuring order in festivals and religious occasions; and indulging in community welfare work for common good are a few things that can be done by these bodies. The existing legislation has the provision for such bodies, in the form of Citizen Community Boards (CCBs). The Local Government Ordinance, 2001, and the Police Order, 2002, also support the setting up of such bodies.
Treading
a wrong path By Huzaima Bukhari and Dr Ikramul Haq Every society tends to
ignore its more troublesome characteristics. In most cases, they are taken Against this background, let us look at the prevalent cynicism among the youth in Pakistan. From different platforms (official as well non-official), young men and women are told that they live in a God-given country, achieved in the name of Islam after sacrificing thousands of lives in a long struggle against the infidels. Having been reminded of this fact, they are called upon to sacrifice their lives for the defence of the ideological frontiers of the state. These quarters make efforts to convince the youth that, because of the great sacrifices of their elders, they have unprecedented opportunities that could have never come their way in an undivided India. The purpose of all this is very clear: to leave the youth with the illusory conviction that the mere fact of achieving independence is sufficient to prevent them from thinking what happened in this country after 1947. Knowing fully well the emptiness of such sermonising, the youth draws its own conclusions about the social realities on the basis of its daily experiences. However, in shaping the overall behaviour of the youth, political oppression of the past six decades has played the most significant role. A Pakistani hardly 45 years old has, in such a short period of his life, seen two wars; three martial laws and one military-dominated civil rule (starting on October 12, 1999); assassination of twice former prime minister Benazir Bhutto; complete strangling of the judiciary; suicide bomb attacks; political torture of the crudest form; mass imprisonments; victimisation of people in the name of religion; sectarian and ethnic clashes; and, the most painful of all, public and political hangings during the period of dictator Ziaul Haq, especially that of Zufikar Ali Bhutto. All this has inculcated in the youth the deepest sense of cynicism -- for them, the only reality of life is an endless struggle for adjustments with a system based on oppression, inequality and injustice. To have grown up in families where unquestionable obedience to parents (authority) is expected, money and power have become the most cherished values for the youth. Also, they see on a regular basis the obvious contradiction between the espoused values and the actual practice of their elders. This has resulted in what can be termed 'institutionalisation of hypocrisy', as the gap between the espoused values and the actual practice has become the 'fundamental truth' of life. The Pakistani youth faces a number of problems, like unemployment, deteriorating academic standards, political violence on the campuses, pressures of rigid family system and alienation. But like other sections of the society, the youth, too, is divided -- some of them are defenders of the status quo, while others oppose it and aspire for a change. The youth's revolt or organised opposition to the established system, as we have witnessed in the West during the 1960s, is almost non-existent in the Pakistani society. But, of course, it is understandable in a peculiar socio-political milieu, in which it is very difficult to organise students and other young people as an effective political force. Nobody, except the religious groups, has tried to use their potential for bringing about a positive change in the society, though they have displayed their strength during the campaign against dictator Ayub Khan. In our present-day reality, the most disturbing aspect of the youth's behaviour is the growing use of narcotics, especially heroin (65 per cent of drug addicts are young). This phenomenon cannot be viewed in isolation from the existing socio-political and economic realities. The concern shown by the concerned authorities always tends to ignore the relationship between drug abuse and the existing social pressures. The end result is misconceptions about the issue. Instead of looking into the factors behind drug addiction, the concerned authorities are busy expressing their concern about the rapid increase in the number of addicts every year. More than three decades ago, on the New Year's Eve, Mahir Ali, a journalist friend, wrote: "Nineteen eighty-four is here. And the people have a choice. If they have no raison d'etre, why don't they smoke heroin instead?" The same is true, I think, even in 2008. Who is responsible for the 'heroinisation' of Pakistan? Thank God, the concerned authorities have failed to see any foreign hand in this entirely self-created problem! A countrywide survey on drug addiction, carried out by the scribes, estimates the rate of drug addiction at more than 15 per cent among the youth. In 1997, the total number of addicts in the country was 3.01 million, which has now increased to more than 4.5 million. According to a conservative estimate, the rate of increase is 40,000 per year. The most disturbing fact revealed by the survey is the growing number of heroin addicts in the country, with the average age of users falling below 24. According to an estimate, there are about two million heroin addicts in Pakistan. A survey of 10 colleges and two universities of Lahore, conducted by the scribes in 2007, revealed some horrible facts related to drug abuse among the students. According to the survey, the majority of students surveyed (67 per cent) reported using one or more drugs. This and many other surveys clearly show the rising number of young drug addicts in the country. A number of research studies done in Western countries associate drug experimentation with the failure of the education system to meet the needs of the youth for personal identity, self-esteem and social competence. The important question is: how much is drug use related to our value system? In our society, the increasing drug use among the youth is a manifestation of non-conformity and of a quest for self- expression in a social setup that has little or nothing to offer to them. They are victims of the authoritarian attitudes of parents and teachers; are against social restraints; and, above all, are faced with lack of love and affection. To add to this, nobody is willing to understand their problems sympathetically. No solution in sight The state of transitionist vs tranformationist debate in the post-Benazir Pakistan By Arif Azad Pakistan's never-ending
oscillation between military dictatorships and hamstrung democratic Writers like Augusto Roa Bastos, Alijendro Carpentier, Mario Vargo and Gabriel Garcia Marquees have written a number of novels that have come to be known as 'dictatorship novels' -- a new genre in countries blighted by the curse of dictatorships. In all these works, a clear repulsion is voiced against military dictatorships, banana republics and the larger-than-life-cults of leaders. As a result of such robust resistance from civil society and intellectuals, many of Latin and South American countries have emerged out of the long years of dictatorships and are back on the path of democracy. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be happening in Pakistan. Debates in the country on the issue of civil and military relations are being muddied with each passing day, leaving more heat and fury than illumination. One illustration of this trend is manifest in the debate that recently bubbled in some newspapers and magazines between transitionists and transformationists. The former contend that political parties need to engage with the army in a collaborative relation to prepare the ground for transition to democracy. The latter, on the other hand, believe that the army itself is the biggest obstacle in preparing the ground for transition to democracy. They, therefore, argue that unless the political parties adopt a confrontational stance against the army, the chances of a genuine democratic process in Pakistan are doomed. It is also important to note that the debate between the transitionists and the transformationists was framed just ahead of the forthcoming general elections. Prior to the elections, there was a slow build up of Western pressure on President General (r) Pervez Musharraf to accommodate more inclusive, liberal and moderate elements in the next government. This line of thinking was also advocated regularly in these newspapers and magazines. In most of these narratives, Musharraf was portrayed as the liberal reformer who had somehow sleepwalked into the embrace of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). For Pakistan to remain under his 'soft dictatorship', it was proposed repeatedly, Musharraf should seek out his allies among the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Strangely, nowhere in these editorials and op-ed pieces was the criticism of the military fast entrenching itself into every nook and cranny of the national life mounted as a matter of democratic conviction. With the passage of time, this became the accepted wisdom in the policy and political circles. To the surprise of many, the late Benazir Bhutto fell for this line and began feeling out the military-led government to find terms of compromise. A widely unpopular deal with Musharraf was struck, leading to her return on October 18, 2007. For a time, it looked things were going the transitionist way; the PPP, the country's most popular political party had accepted the realist position and come to an understanding with the military ruler, as desired by the transitionists. From then on, every political move began to be read under the over-arching theme of transitionist / transformantionist binary. The biggest problem with the transitionist argument was that it was conceding too much to Musharraf in terms of his inherent willingness to restore democracy and share power with the civilian government. The optimism of the transitionists ran against the tenor of Pakistani politics, where the military rulers have always looked down upon the politicians and refused even to make a gestural nod in the direction of transferring power. More worryingly, the transitionists seemed to lay the entire onus of the transition business on the politicians, who were required to carry the burden of bringing democracy to Pakistan, without corresponding obligations on the military to begin to cede power to the elected government. These problems in the transitionist argument were fatally exposed when Musharraf declared emergency on November 3, 2007. At a stroke, the steps envisaged in the transitionist camp were reversed. Another hole in the armoury of the transitionist camp was bored when Benazir was assassinated on December 27, 2007. As the widespread suspicion of eliminating the most progressive and moderate politician of the country fell on the establishment, the notion of the establishment sharing power with the moderate progressive elements also suffered an irreparable blow. A few weeks later, Musharraf further muddied the transition debate by asserting that Benazir was unacceptable to the military. Where do all these developments leave the transitionist camp? There is not much steam left in their argument as a result of various actions taken by Musharraf since November 3, 2007. The house of cards, upon which transitionist camp had built its case, has collapsed; and the transformationist camp seems to have won at least for the time being, as evidenced in the falling popularity of Muhsharraf. In the long term, only a democratic government can provide solutions to the multi-layered problems being faced by the nation today. With every new military regime, a whole set of new problems are created to prolong the dictatorial rule, but the long term damage done to the country's capacity to absorb these shocks further undermines its flawed progress to democracy. In today's Pakistan, social and political contradictions have reached such an unprecedented level that the time-frame and the unexpected outbreak of assumed regard for democracy in the establishment may be a case of too little, too late. South American and Latin American countries have already shown the way as to how to divorce military from politics. In this regard, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani's recent announcement to recall all armed forces' personnel working in civilian departments is a step in the right direction. This is hardly an endorsement for the transitionist position, though. Unless there is a genuine desire in the top brass of the army to hand over power when a new civilian government is formed after the elections, Pakistan's journey towards stability will remain as elusive as it has been so far.
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construction industry in the last five years, the ship-breaking activities
at Gaddani have been slowing down since 1999, which was the best year in
the recent past for the industry ñ 64 vessels with 926,067 LDT were
imported to be broken into scrap. Consequently, the ship-breaking industry
contributed Rs 3.54 billion to the national exchequer in 1999, which
declined to Rs 2.41 billion in 2002.
of more than Rs 1.035 billion in customs duty, sales tax and income tax.
The industry paid Rs 2.69 billion in customs duty alone during the
four-year period between July 1982 and June 1986. The provincial
government of Balochistan earned Rs 22 million annually through licence
fees and lease money during those years; while Gaddani Town Committee
earned over Rs 30 million every year through Octroi duty, making it
Pakistan's richest local body in terms of population-revenue ratio.
professional political analyst. He has a vast knowledge of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan region. Khattak remained in jail as a political
prisoner in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's tenure, while he went into exile for
years during the Ziaul Haq era.
been trumped as news only by the ongoing strangulation of the Gaza Strip
by Israel in typically self-righteous fashion. In the post-second world
war period, both Suharto's Indonesia and Israel have been major clients of
the United States, as of course Pakistan has been for a large part of its
existence. Suharto presided over the single biggest wave of killing and
torture against internal dissidents in any country in the post-war period,
while Israel is nothing less than an organised apartheid state.
subscribers in the country crossed 76.6 million in December 2007 and it is
growing with each passing day. On an average, 2.3 million subscribers were
added every month during 2006-07. With such a marvellous growth, the
revenues of the cellular companies are also sky-rocketing. The full-page
advertisements in leading newspapers and long-duration advertisement on
various television channels for launching of new packages are a proof of
the windfall profitability of the mobile companies.
65-70 per cent share and the remaining going to consumer items --
notwithstanding the fact that piracy is not only morally incorrect but
also a violation of the intellectual property rights. The academic market,
in particular, has completely been flooded by pirated books. Illegal
reproduction of books has become a well-organised business and the books
are reprinted at a much cheaper price then the original publication.
Mostly pirated books are sold through small booksellers, who are not very
prominent and are not accountable to the laws.
of violent attacks, routine crimes notwithstanding! It is disappointing to
note that the various high-ups have so far been unable to combat or avert
suicide bombers. The innocent citizens are, thus, exposed to the most
serious threat of such bombings, while the possibility of formally
locating the culprits is almost negligible. In order to protect the common
people, the administration shall have to turn to the very basics.
for granted, because their recognition would be painful for those who want
to maintain the status quo. There is nothing surprising, then, if military
rulers in Pakistan show little concern when their actions subject the
citizens to the greatest psychological strains. This indifference is
usually disguised by a kind of rhetoric, which prevents real understanding
of the situation.
governments has been a subject of great fascination and heart-burning in
equal measures. In the rest of the world, there is a clear line dividing
dictatorships and democracy. Military dictators are taken to task for
their constitutional and human rights deviations when they exit from
power, either under domestic or external pressures. General Augusto
Pinochet, the formidable dictator of Chile, is a leading example in this
regard. Alongside political movements seeking the exit of dictatorships,
there has surfaced a large body of literature that analyses and charts the
ill-effects of military rules.