|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
history issue A
new counterterrorism doctrine health Challenges,
opportunities A
healthy peace Nagging
distractions
If bricks could speak... Once a symbol of the deep connection between liberal England and nationalist India, as well as a sign of Indian independence, Bradlaugh Hall now lies in ruins By Yaqoob Khan Bangash The writing of
history revolves around personalities and events; seldom have buildings
been the subject of historical research. But it is buildings in which
these great people live, write, argue, and die. It is these buildings
which witness the mesmerising speeches of statesmen, the deafening shots
of an assassin, the silence of a writer, and the hushed sighs of a victim.
In South Asia, buildings
have little value. Apart from the grand monuments, such as the Taj Mahal
or the Mughal forts, few buildings are well-kept. Even important sites are
often encroached upon, vandalised, and at times arbitrarily altered or
badly restored. This lack of appreciation of ‘edifice history’ means
that no one cares to preserve a period house, an old mosque or structures
associated with particular events. The fascination with the ‘new’
deeply permeates the South Asian mindset, and as a result relegates
history to often boring textbooks. Learning history through
vision, experience, or contact is increasingly impossible in modern South
Asia. Therefore, it is no
wonder that hardly anyone has ever heard of ‘Bradlaugh Hall’ in
Lahore. The 3000 capacity hall, which was the centre of intense political
discourse in Lahore for almost half a century, and which was the main
office of the Punjab Congress Committee for decades, now lies in a
dilapidated condition, padlocked, with a crumbling roof and a fast
flourishing business in drugs centred on it. Only the foundation stone,
which notes its opening by ‘The Hon. Surendera Nath Bannerjea, on
October 30, 1900,’ gives the visitor the sense that the imposing
redbrick building set back on Rattigan Road might have had an illustrious
past. When my friend casually
mentioned Bradlaugh Hall some time ago, I admitted to have heard about the
place, but had no clue where it actually stood. Thanks to his resolute
interest, he found out the exact location of the hall and after some
searching we finally found the once significant and vibrant Bradlaugh
Hall, forlorn and forgotten. The website of the
Indian National Congress rightly notes that the contribution of British
people towards Indian independence is often ignored and mostly
underplayed. However, Englishmen, and indeed some Englishwomen, were
critical in the development of Indian nationalism, especially during its
early phase. While most students of Indian history might have heard the
name of Allan Octavian Hume, the founder of the Indian National Congress,
and Mrs Annie Besant, the leader of the Home Rule League, few might
recognise the name and importance of Charles Bradlaugh, the atheist Member
of Parliament [MP] who was controversial both in England and in India. Charles Bradlaugh was
elected MP for Northampton in 1880, but was unable to take up his seat in
parliament because he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.
An avowed atheist and republican, he was first imprisoned in the clock
tower of parliament for attempting to take up his seat without swearing
the Oath, and then fined fifteen hundred pounds in 1883 for voting
illegally in parliament. His insistence on ‘affirming’ rather than
swearing an Oath to the Crown deeply divided parliament and after much
wrangling he finally took the oath ‘as a matter of form’ in 1886 and
took up his seat in the Commons. With his strong support of secularism (in
1866, he co-founded the National Secular Society), birth control,
republicanism, Irish Home Rule, and women’s suffrage, Bradlaugh was a
thorn in the side of a deeply conservative late Victorian England until
his death in 1891. Charles Bradlaugh’s
death in 1891 drew thousands of mourners. Among them, significantly, was
the twenty-one year old Mohandas Gandhi, who was then studying in London
to become a Barrister. Undoubtedly, Gandhi had come to pay homage to the
great friend of Indian nationalism who had staunchly supported Indian home
rule. Bradlaugh had a deep
concern for India. He tabled draft reforms of the Indian councils in
parliament, which later crystallised in the Indian Councils Act 1892
allowing for greater self-government. More importantly, Bradlaugh wanted
the Indians to become better politicians. He attended the 1890 session of
the Indian National Congress where he strongly argued for more political
activity and greater efforts for gaining increased self-government. He
also made tangible his connection to India and bought a track of land in
Lahore, on Rattigan Road, with a view towards developing some kind of a
political space. It is said that the
Punjab government was so wary of his presence in Lahore, that they asked
him to leave, whereby, he bought a boat and embanked on the river Ravi,
claiming that he was not legally on ‘Indian soil’ then. Even though
the government finally succeeded in making him leave, Bradlaugh made his
mark on the Indian political landscape. Within a decade of his
death, his friends in India built the imposing ‘Bradlaugh Hall’ on the
land he had bought a decade earlier, allowing for a purpose built space
for political debate. Over its nearly half a
century of active existence, Bradlaugh Hall experienced many shades of
Indian political opinion. Almost immediately the hall became the chosen
venue of political debate in Lahore, and broadly the Punjab, and everyone
from the Congress, to firebrand nationalists, to committed socialists,
held their conferences in the hall. The existence of a purpose built,
affiliation free, and easily available space spurred on a marked increase
in political engagement and debate, allowing for a wide range of opinion
to be discussed, developed and disseminated. Perhaps the greatest,
and most controversial, moment in its history came when the Punjabi
politician, Lala Lajpat Rai, the Sher-e-Punjab [lion of the Punjab],
heeded the call of Mahatma Gandhi to boycott British run institutions, and
established the ‘National College’ on the premises of Bradlaugh Hall
in 1922. The intention behind this ‘National College’ was very
interesting. Since the advent of
British rule, Indians had accepted wholesale British institutions — from
Councils to hospitals to schools. This was something Gandhi wanted India
to ‘unlearn,’ and develop its own policies and methods. After all, why
should India adopt Western styles without question when it was itself heir
to great traditions? Few people understood this, and only three people,
quite independently, tried to ‘nationalise’ education at least. One
was Rabindranath Tagore, who established a school at Shantiniketan, which
later developed into the Visva Bharti University, and the other was Abdul
Ghaffar Khan who established Azad Madrassas in the Frontier. The third was
obviously, Lala Lajpat Rai. This
‘nationalisation’ of education was very significant, because it
provided Indians with ‘Indian’ education — seeped in their own
traditions, culture and language. If such nationalisation of education had
continued, and developed, perhaps Pakistan at least would not have been in
the sorry state where our students do not know any language adequately —
they do not know their mother tongue well enough, cannot understand good
Urdu, and are barely proficient in English. Such confusion is certainly
the result of adopting a foreign system of education without question and
adaptation. Established during the
height of the Non-cooperation Movement, the first mass nationalist
movement in India, most Indians who joined National College were
revolutionaries. Among these firebrands was the enigmatic Bhagat Singh,
who studied at the college from 1922 to 1926, meeting his future
co-revolutionaries at Bradlaugh Hall. It was, of course, in retaliation
for the fatal beating of Lala Lajpat Rai in October 1928 during the Simon
Commission protests, that Bhagat Singh killed the Assistant Superintendent
of Police, AJ Saunders, and was subsequently hanged on March 23, 1931 —
becoming a legend. The 1920s was a time of
intense political activity at Bradlaugh Hall: Mahatama Gandhi presided
over the convocation of the National College, Maulana Azad gave fiery
speeches against the Simon Commission, and the All India Communist Party
held its sessions there. During that time, Bradlaugh Hall epitomised the
breadth and depth of the Indian political spectrum. From the older Lala
Lajpat Rai, and the old moderates, to the young and dynamic Jawaharlal
Nehru, and IK Gujral, many politicians experienced the charged atmosphere
of Bradlaugh Hall. For the self-government starved Indians, it acted at
the same time as the Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, the House of Commons
floor, and party headquarters. Till the end of the Raj and the partition
of India, Bradlaugh Hall remained the Punjab headquarters of the Indian
National Congress, and as such a bastion of Indian nationalism, in a
building built on an Englishman’s land and named in his memory.
Bradlaugh Hall was, therefore, at once a symbol of the deep connection
between liberal England and nationalist India, as well as a sign of Indian
independence. Just as libraries are
important for intellectual discourse and parks for sporting and
recreational activities, public spaces like Bradlaugh Hall are important
for a constructive and vibrant political milieu. For nearly half a
century, Bradlaugh Hall was utilised by different religious and ethnic
communities, hosted often conflicting viewpoints, and gave rise to
divergent political agendas. However, it still remained an open space for
all, signifying inclusiveness, tolerance and dialogue. Thus, it became the
political microcosm of a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-party
India. It was perhaps poetic
justice that the political role of Bradlaugh Hall ended with the partition
of India. How could a place where Hindus, Muslims, Zoroastrians,
Christians, and even atheists, had shared a platform, retain its role in a
country founded specifically for one community? When again would people
like Bi-amma (the mother of the Ali brothers), Gandhi, and Subhas Chander
Bose, be able to share the same podium? How could the place which was home
to the party which declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ (complete independence) as
its goal during its 1929 session in the same city, co-exist with a party
which demanded a separate ‘Muslim homeland’ just a few miles away in
1940? The post-1947 life of
Bradlaugh Hall has witnessed it being a storage house, a steel mill, and
till latterly a small technical institute. Today, it stands decaying,
locked and forgotten. The relegation of Bradlaugh Hall to the memory of a
few historians, or the old grandmother who can still remember Gandhi
spinning at the wheel outside it, is probably apt since Pakistan had also
forgotten the people associated with it. The national outlook of
Lala Lajpat Rai, who established the Gulab Devi Chest Hospital in Lahore
(opened by Gandhi in 1934) in memory of his mother who died of
tuberculosis on the same spot, the revolutionary spirit of Bhagat Singh,
and the nationalist Indian Muslim outlook of the Ali brothers and Maulana
Azad, are also forgotten in Pakistan. Bradlaugh Hall needs
restoration and reopening again as a space for constructive political
debate, just as Pakistan needs reopening to the committed, broad-based,
and refreshing political debate Bradlaugh Hall once epitomised. The writer is
Chairperson, Department of History, Forman Christian College, Lahore capion Bradlaugh Hall: Witness
to history. caption Tagore and Gandhi. caption Controversial Charles
Bradlaugh.
issue The
concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere crossed the
alarming level of 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold, in mid-May this
year, posing serious threats to the human life and economic activities on
the globe. Deep divisions between
the developed countries of the North and the developing states of the
South about cutting the atmospheric emissions have largely contributed to
this phenomenon. Under the landmark 1997 Kyoto Protocol, it was obligatory
for the developed countries to cut down carbon emissions to the 1990 level
by 2012. Well before the deadline, the developed nations managed to get a
big breather — at least five years extension under Durban (South Africa)
accorded of December 11, 2011. Environmentalists
criticise the Durban package — as did many developing countries during
the 13 days of hectic talks — for failing to move faster and deeper in
cutting carbon emissions. Logically, the time to act is now, scientists
maintain. They say that unless carbon emissions, chiefly CO2 from power
generation and industry, level out and reverse within a few years, the
earth will be set on a possibly irreversible path of rising temperatures
that lead to ever greater climate catastrophes. The developing states
want the US and other developed countries to cut the emissions the most,
arguing that historically it is the industrialised world that is
responsible for contributing 70 to 80 per cent of the carbon pollution in
the atmosphere. For over 200 years since the industrial revolution, it is
the industrialised North that has emitted large amounts of CO2 and other
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But, the US and other developed
states argue that the developing countries like Brazil, China, India,
South Africa and South Korea, which are growing rapidly, should also
control the emissions. The greenhouse gases,
like CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, build-up in the atmosphere and lead
to climate change or global warming, posing grave threats to human
civilisation. In other words, when CO2 rises into the atmosphere, it
screens the sunlight, allowing the sunlight in but preventing the heat to
leave. By the year 2100, the
global average surface temperature on earth, as estimated by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), might increase by 1 to
3.5 degrees Celsius (about 2 to 6 F) with an associated rise in sea level
by 15 to 95 cm (about 6 to 37 inches), posing extreme dangers to human
life in low lying regions and low-lying Island States, like Venice and
Fiji. But, the environmentalists forecast that due to greenhouse gases
global temperature can increase by three degrees Celsius by the year 2040
and by the end of the century by five to six degrees Celsius, generating
sand/dust storms, micro cloudbursts and tsunamis, if urgent remedial steps
are not taken. As concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has reached new heights, scientists
believe any rise above 2C threshold could trigger far reaching and
irreversible changes, both over land and in the seas. Global warming at 3
degrees can result in the crossing of many “tipping points,” including
instability in the South Asian summer monsoon, near disappearance of the
Arctic summer sea-rise and degradation of the Amazon rain forest,
rendering any remedial action ineffective. In case global warming reaches
4 degree C, climate scientists warn, only one-tenth of the global
population will survive. The highlands, in
particular, are vulnerable to ‘Glacier Lake Outburst Floods’ as
overall glaciers retreat and additional snow melt can increase the amount
of water dammed in the vicinity of a glacier, and the added pressure
enhances the likelihood of disastrous outburst flooding. The effects of
global warming, observed over the last century, include: Increase in sea
level by 1-2 mm, retreat of glaciers, decrease in snow cover, shifts of
plant and animal ranges, increase in coral bleaching, earlier flowering of
plants and insect emergence. The main factors contributing to climate
change are: burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions and
deforestation. Though like other
developing countries, Pakistan’s contribution to global warming is
negligible – as low as 0.43 per cent, it ranks at the top among
countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. According to
scientists, 2010 and 2011 floods in Pakistan, forest fires in Russia,
mudslides in China and droughts in Sub-Sahara Africa were enunciations of
scenarios that experts had been predicting since long due to the impact of
greenhouse gases. In 2010, R. K. Pachauri,
Chief of the Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change told Inter Press
Service that the floods of the kind that hit Pakistan may become more
frequent and more intense in future. Pakistan also figures among the
countries which are at risk of droughts and where agriculture produce is
likely to be affected adversely. In addition to rainfall
variability and changes in the marine ecosystems, evidence shows that most
of the glaciers are melting and consequently shrinking in size and
retreating, posing a serious threat to freshwater availability. In South
Asia, glaciers of Karakoram and Himalaya ranges are reportedly under
threat due to climate change. For example, Siachin glacier is melting at
110 metres per year. And by the year 2100, the experts believe, the
Himalayan glaciers would disappear. Pakistan has some 5,218
glaciers, over 13,680 square km or 13 per cent of mountains in the Upper
Indus Basin, and 2,420 lakes of which 50 are reportedly highly dangerous
and may cause flooding in the plains in Punjab and Sindh. Pakistan’s
Indus delta also remains exposed to sea rise and sea intrusion, causing an
upward shift of almost 400 metres in the coastline. Pakistan is also
experiencing biodiversity loss, shifts in weather patterns and changes in
fresh water supply. The phenomenon of global warming might impact the snow
and rain patterns and the snow melt during the summer. At present,
Pakistani rivers receive 70 per cent of their flow from snow melt. If not
addressed appropriately, these changes could accentuate after 2050. Considered mankind’s
greatest threat, climate change is likely to have profound consequences
for socio-economic sectors, like health, food production, energy
consumption, natural resources management and security. In fact, the
harmful impacts of the global warming are already manifesting themselves
in the form of storms, tornadoes, floods, droughts and increase in natural
disasters to 400-500 in a year against 125 in the 1980s. Global warming is the
price of development that human beings are paying. But, the fruits of
development have been harvested by the rich developed countries where
development activities are contributing in a big way to global warming.
But, developing countries, like Pakistan, with least contribution to this
phenomenon, have to bear most of the brunt of ravages. The rapid rise in
greenhouse gases is reducing our ability to limit warming to safe levels,
lending credence to apprehensions that the prospects of limiting the
warming may close in this very decade. Furthermore, 13 of the warmest
years recorded have occurred within the last two decades and the year 2011
caps a decade that ties the record as the hottest ever measured since 1850
when accurate measures began. Across the world, over
710,000 people died from 1991 to 2010 from 14,000 extreme weather events,
incurring economic losses, in today’s terms, of over 2.3 trillion US
dollars. When seen across this 20 year period, not a single developed
country features in the top 10 for climate risk. Only one — Russia —
features in the top 20 as a result of the July 2010 heat wave, but that
was an exception. The results underscore the vulnerability of poor
countries to climate risks. The experts apprehend
that the climate change would have a wide-ranging adverse impact on human
health: It would increase mortality rates due to heat stress and lead to
increase in the potential transmission of vector borne diseases, including
malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Moreover, it will hardly hit the poor,
who are more dependent on natural resources and have less ability to adapt
to the changing climate. However, increase in winter temperatures in high
altitude areas could lead to decrease in mortality rates. While highlighting the
urgency of shifting away from fossil fuels, this brings to the fore the
need for taking up steps to return carbon to where it belongs — the soil
— through regenerative agriculture. This approach represents our
greatest opportunity to reduce the atmospheric CO2 levels, enhancing soil
fertility and biodiversity as well as the land’s ability to retain
water. The geographical
location and socio-economic fragility of Pakistan, like some other
developing states, make it more vulnerable to the environmental, social
and economic ramifications of climate change, while the lack of
resources/capabilities to adapt to the changes can worsen the situation.
This brings to the fore the need for constant monitoring/research of the
impact of climate change on human life/glaciers, and mainstreaming climate
change into development planning at all levels and sectors. In addition,
the complexity of the problem calls for the need to increased access to
innovative farm production practices and irrigation techniques, and
improving forest management and biodiversity conservation. Adaptation to climate
change, aimed at allowing vulnerable groups to adjust and live with the
change in the environment and economy, would require a heavy expenditure
over a long period of time. Since the phenomenon has been unleashed by the
developed countries’ unhindered pursuit for accelerated development and
material gains, the international community, in particular the developed
states, should make focused efforts to bail out the third world vulnerable
countries from a bleak future, a situation in which they are likely to
land for no fault of theirs. In view of the serious
nature of threats to the mankind and human habitats, one would suggest
that the UN/international organisations and the developed states should
set up a special fund and a dedicated organisation for mitigating the
effects of climate change and providing help to countries affected or
likely to be affected by it. Without international assistance, it would be
very difficult for debt-ridden states like Pakistan to mitigate the
effects of climate change. The authorities in
Pakistan, on their part, need to take up this issue at appropriate fora,
making a beginning by sensitising Pakistan’s ambassadors abroad and
creating awareness within the country about the ways this nation can
contribute to lessening the impact of climate change. The writer is a
freelance columnist based at Islamabad. alauddinmasood@gmail.com caption The poor are the most
vulnerable.
The policy
speech by United States President Barack Hussein Obama, mapping out new
counterterrorism doctrine, is extensively realistic and could be
instrumental in putting an honourable end to the Global War on Terror (GWoT)
for Washington. The policy direction, which the new doctrine contains,
could be effective measures to counter extremism and terrorism. In the policy speech,
President Obama, admitting the mistakes and flaws committed in the
conceiving and execution of the GWoT, also suggested rectification
measures. Obama’s speech may sound idealist and a departure from the
well-entrenched realist American foreign policy traditions but as realism
has failed to buy Americans the most sought after value, security, it is
indeed a time to let idealism play its role in putting an end to the one
of the longest war of the modern history and human suffering thereof. The announcement by
President Barack Obama to restrict the use of drone attacks in countries
with which the US is not at war will have major repercussions for
Pakistan. In a related development, President Obama has also announced
shifting of the control of drone attacks from the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) to the country’s military. To date, the CIA has carried out
the largest number of drones strikes anywhere in Pakistan’s Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Tens of the al Qaeda commanders and
fighters of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been killed in these
strikes, but a large number of non-combatants have also perished in these
attacks. Resultantly, Washington has been facing extreme pressure from
human rights groups both within the US and outside as well as political
circles particularly in Pakistan. Despite announcing to
reduce the number of drone strikes, the White House justified the large
number of drone attacks in recent years. In a bid to deflect criticism, it
argued that drone strikes were the most ‘discriminating’, meaning
having caused extremely limited collateral damage relatively to other
strikes. Although this argument has a substance, it cannot be used as a
blanket justification for using the lethal weapons in a foreign land. Sounding as a typical
idealist democrat, Obama said that the US was at a crossroads after
spending over one trillion dollars and paying the sacrifice of around 7000
lives over the last one decade in the GWoT. He said, “We must define the
nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us.” This
policy direction was indeed required on part of Washington as the GWoT has
been seemingly futile and rudderless. In times of crippling
economic situation, Washington had no other option but to define the
contours of the remaining part of the war. Speaking in idealist overtones,
Obama said, “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is
not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.” This means that
idealism has started overtaking the naked and ruthless realism of American
foreign policy. The inability of the US to win the war in Afghanistan and
elsewhere in the World against terrorism may come as a resounding reminder
to the American realists that there have been some real problems with
their prescription and doctrine. Making the right
analysis of the US interventions in the 21st century, President Obama said
the US military entanglements in foreign lands did not ensure security of
American mainland and instead fomented radicalism. Obama said, “A
perpetual war — through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments
— will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways.”
Obviously this has been the lesson which anyone with an average intellect
could decipher from the events and incidents in the Af-Pak region. The US
has been losing an increasing number of soldiers in Afghanistan without
any sight of victory. If one does retrospective analysis whether extremism
in the name of religion has grown or has reduced it transpires that it has
exacerbated. Thus, it means that the GWoT has failed to achieve its
objectives. The most important part
of President Obama’s new counterterrorism doctrine is emphasis on the
need to locate the root causes of extremism. He maintained that although
the attacks in the West continued while referring to the Boston and London
strikes, but stressed that Washington should seek to address the
“underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism.” The panacea
which he suggested was expanded foreign aid and diplomacy. The doctrine in
this regard is quite realistic because it has been due to the failure of
diplomacy that wars have raged in the 21st Century. A part of the blame in
this regard can be attributed to the conduct of diplomacy in the
full-blown public and media lens. In our era, the diplomats have also been
playing to the gallery instead of focusing on their primary objective of
furthering their respective interests through negotiations, tact and
compromise — the very ingredients of diplomacy. A deeper look would
reveal that even in a country like the US, if not entirely, a significant
part of the foreign policy particularly related to defense has been
formulated by the military and the intelligence agencies, which had
disastrous consequences. Insofar as provision of
foreign aid is concerned, obviously this can go a long way in mitigating
the sufferings of people in the Af-Pak region as well as Iraq, Yemen and
North Africa, where al Qaeda has cultivated strong basis. Apart from it,
foreign aid could increase the capacity of both the state institutions to
provide good governance which is the main cause of rampaging extremism and
terrorism in these regions. However, in order the aid to be effective it
needs to be given in the right hands. The most important issue
regarding terrorism which the US faces right now is the issue of
home-grown terrorists. Obama, realising the problem, said that after a
successful fight against al Qaeda in the Af-Pak region Washington should
now focus on the problem of home-grown terrorists. It means that there is
a need to have a critical analysis of the American society and understand
the dynamics of deviant behaviour displayed by Muslim Americans and that
why many of them have decided to become terrorists. Dismissing that al Qaeda
is a serious threat, Obama, like a true statesman, argued, “In the years
to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves al Qaeda
will pose a credible threat to the United States. Unless we discipline our
thinking and our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need
to fight.” This is where Obama calls for soul-searching and wants a
reassessment of the societal and social and state institutional processes
of the US which have been contributing to the menace of extremism in the
US society. Now this is the most apt approach to addressing the issue of
religious extremism and terrorism because this means finding faults within
than without. Now whether the American state institutions and policymaking
circles would concentrate on what their scholar president has directed
them to focus on is anybody’s guess. Obama also called for
formation of a special court to assess and give a go-ahead to drone
strikes. This aims at inclusion of a third branch of government into the
decision-making and execution of these lethal attacks. However, the
attempt by President Obama to give a legal cover to lethal part of the
counter-terrorism strategy may not turn out to be very successful in
achieving its aims. In a nutshell, President
Obama’s recent policy speech regarding the priorities and challenges of
the US existing policies has put an end to the notion of a ‘perpetual’
war. This would scotch many conspiracy theories regarding the covert
intentions of the US in the Af-Pak region. At the same time, Obama’s
speech has also laid the foundation of a new national security framework
which is more realistic, comprehensive and noble vis-a-vis the existing
paradigm which has been unrealistic, incomprehensive and ignoble. The writer is a
political analyst and researcher who hold doctoral degree in International
Relations:razapkhan@yahoo.com caption A typical idealist
Democrat.
Food for thought Migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels have complicated our food intake patterns. So ‘eat whatever you want but mostly plants’ and ‘avoid whatever your grandmother would not recognise as food’ By Syed Mansoor Hussain For centuries,
food that was eaten was pretty much unchanged in a particular area. There
were differences in quantity, richness and style but the essential
ingredients were the same. However, the last few decades have seen a major
transformation in what we eat. The major reasons for these changes are
migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels, increased
amounts of processed and refined foods, sugary beverages, fast foods and
greater consumption of meat. In a country like
Pakistan where a majority of people are still living on the edge of
poverty, many of the above factors are less important but we still see
rising incidence of ‘chronic’ diseases that are at least partially
related to diet. In particular, we are seeing more obesity in younger
people, a virtual epidemic of high blood sugar (adult onset Diabetes),
high blood pressure, increased incidence of blockages of heart arteries
(coronary artery disease), and complications from these conditions. As far as adult onset
Diabetes and obesity are concerned, these are definitely related to what
we eat. The more we eat of refined starches like white bread and white
rice, refined sugar and high fat diets, greater the incidence of obesity
and Diabetes. And Diabetes as well as a high fat diet definitely increases
the risk of coronary disease. Also we are eating more processed and fast
foods that contain greater amount of salt and that contributes to the
incidence and severity of high blood pressure increasing the risk of brain
damage (strokes). Even though modern
medicine has made great strides in controlling Diabetes, high blood
pressure and high blood fat levels, that can lead to coronary disease and
other complications like damage to limbs and the eyes or kidneys, proper
diet still forms a an important part of prevention as well as treatment of
these conditions. But I really want to talk about what normal people eat.
Clearly there are no absolutes and the Internet and magazines are full of
different diets and lists of miracle foods that would make us live
forever. The first thing to
remember is that an average person, weighing around 65 to 75 kilogrammes
who does not work as a day labourer or a farmer needs to consume around
two thousand calories a day. Any excess intake will be stored in the body
as fat. We don’t have to weigh ourselves every day to find out if we are
putting on weight. Our clothes will tell us that. But being slightly
overweight is not all bad and recent ‘studies’ suggest that people
with some extra fat have a better survival when they become seriously sick
compared to those that are thin. Clearly the important
thing then is to eat enough to maintain a certain weight. Here diet as
well as the amount of physical work we do is both equally important. Food
is the primary source of energy but types of food we eat is also
important. Different types of food provide a variety of nutrients and
minerals that the body needs besides just calories. It is for this reason
plain sugar and foods heavy in sugar are often called ‘empty
calories’. First about fat in our
diet; without fat we would not consume what we call ‘fat soluble
vitamins’. So some fat is necessary but it does not have to be only of
animal origin (ghee). Much is made about the source of a particular fat or
oil but basically it is the quantity that matters. Olive oil or other oils
from seeds all have their supporters. Another source of ‘good’ fat is
nuts but these are too expensive for most people to use as a primary
source of fat in their diets. The important thing, however, is to cook
using as little fat or oil as possible. Next is the question of
proteins as in meat. Some animals, especially cattle, in west are bred to
provide fatty meat — the ‘marbled steak’ for instance. From having
meat as the main source of calories, we now believe that meat should be
used more as a ‘side dish’. And it should be lean rather than fatty.
Fish and poultry have less fat than beef or lamb. That makes them a better
choice as a source of protein. Fish also provides certain oils that are
felt to be beneficial. However, legumes (daals) and beans are also an
important alternative source of proteins. The ‘lowly’ egg has come
back in fashion as a source of fat, proteins and minerals. But eggs cooked
without fat. The primary source of
calories for most people is the carbohydrates as in bread, potatoes and
sugar. Here it is important to understand the concept of ‘glycaemic
index’ or how rapidly a carbohydrate is absorbed into the blood after it
is eaten. Generally speaking, purer a carbohydrate is like sugar or
refined starches (white bread or white rice), the quicker it is absorbed
and produces a physiological response that can be detrimental in the long
run. In general, whole wheat, multi-grain flour, brown rice and unrefined
sugar are better. Another major advantage of whole wheat type starches is
that they contain dietary fibre that has distinct advantages when it comes
to intestinal health. As far as ‘plants’
are concerned, this includes vegetables as well as fruits. These provide a
large number of nutrients that are vital for health. In general,
vegetables should be eaten as close to uncooked as is possible. Another
interesting fact about ‘plants’ especially fruits is that the more
colour they have the better they are in terms of important dietary
supplements called ‘anti-oxidants’. And plants are also a great source
of fibre that as I have mentioned above is important to keep our
intestinal systems working efficiently. Another source of
calories and minerals especially calcium that is needed for bone strength
and of fat and proteins is milk and dairy products. We go through periods
where one type of dairy product is thought of as better than another.
Essentially all of them are useful but not as the primary source of
calories. Yoghurt especially that contains live cultures is accepted as a
good source of dairy intake. So, some basic ideas
that have evolved over the last few years. Multiple small meals are better
than two or three large ones. Drink a lot of water but avoid sugary drinks
like sodas and fruit juices sold in cartons and avoid processed food and
fast food. And then there are two general guidelines that I find
particularly useful. The first is that ‘eat whatever you want but mostly
plants’. Second is that avoid ‘whatever your grandmother would not
recognise as food’. The writer is former
professor and Chairman Department of Cardiac Surgery, KEMU/Mayo Hospital,
Lahore: smhmbbs70@yahoo.com
Challenges, opportunities For some, it is
painful to think of all the art and the skill that has died with the ban
on Basant — the vibrant colours, the festivity, the string and the
kite-making, the flying techniques and, most significantly, the youth who
lost their livelihood. For some, kite-making was a family enterprise. 30-year-old Nasim Bano
is one of the many who fell prey to the circumstances after the ban on
kites. “String and kite-making was our business, we weren’t dependent
on anyone for our living. But the ban on Basant took everything away from
us. As a youngster, this was a skill and business that I inherited from my
ancestors — thinking that our future generations would also benefit from
it.” “There was a time when
we as a family were deprived of even having a single proper meal in a
day,” she says with teary eyes. Bano, a resident of Kot
Lakhpat, Lahore, has studied till 5th standard. She is married and has the
responsibility of six children on her. “I wish I had completed my
matriculation that would have given me an opportunity to take up an
alternative. But now I’m trying to make ends meet so that I can at least
feed my children,” she says. According to the Kite
Flying Association of Pakistan, around 3,30,000 people have lost their
jobs due to the ban. However, in 2006, kite flying was banned in Punjab
due to the rampant use of glass-coated or metal kite-strings, also called
the killer kite thread, which took the lives of several motorcyclists. Since then, the debate
whether the ban is justified or not, or the government should have tried
to regulate the making of strings continues with less focus on the
individuals who lost their bread and butter. Kite-making has always
been a business restricted to the informal sector. It was the work that
kept both women and men earning. It was shared by entire families, who
could earn up to Rs 2,000 a day. Today they are broke with no work to do.
In rare cases have those affected been able to shift their line of work,
but even then they are reported to not be as prosperous as they used to
be. “Kite-making was
totally a home-based work done by families that brought them decent
income. Due to unemployment and increasing poverty, young girls were
forced into prostitution while the young men took up odd jobs,” says
Maria Kokab, Programme Officer at HomeNet, a national NGO. Having closely monitored
the ordeals of the kite-makers, HomeNet decided to raise voice for the
women kite-makers, who had no alternative skill and many of them were
supporting their families. “Where unemployment
and inflation keep increasing on weekly basis and population ratio is also
on the rise, it becomes imperative to encourage the cottage industry and
informal sector employment. The “Empowering Home-based Workers”
project for kite-makers initially engaged 500 women workers in order to
give them alternative employment — something that the government failed
to do,” Maria says. It was not an easy ride
for the resource group as it faced difficulties in reaching out to the
young kite-makers who were neglected and isolated. Though they were in
large numbers, they were not ready to share their problems due to the ban
and police raids on their homes. When the focus groups
tried to understand their problems, they were threatened by police who
assumed that they are going to restart their kite-making business. “In
some cases, men stopped their women from meeting our team. But slowly, we
built their confidence, had long meetings with the male members of their
families and convinced them to join training,” Maria says. The ‘National Policy
On Home-Based Workers’ reveals that most of the home-based workers, who
represent 60 per cent of women workforce in the country, are piece rate
workers involved in manufacturing and post-manufacturing tasks such as
embroidery, carpet weaving and handlooms, wood work, bangle making, dates
cleaning, packing prawn peeling and many other similar tasks. The project began from
two cities of Punjab, Lahore and Jhang. Considered a hub for kite-making,
Walled City, Kahna, Kot Lakhpat, Shahdara, Imamia Colony and Guddi Market
in Lahore were focused. Kasur, Gujranwala and Faisalabad were other
important districts of Punjab where a large number of women kite-makers
were targeted. Nasim Bano is one of the
home-based beneficiaries of HomeNet. Her eyes shine when she begins to
talk about the project, “For me this opportunity came as a big relief.
We have been imparted skills like needlework, knitting, dastkari,
stitching, dyeing etc. I recall the time when I wasn’t employed; I
didn’t even have the money to get my shoe stitched. But today, I can sew
shoes — that is something that I learnt at one of the training
workshops,” she says. Bano doesn’t want to
look back as she plans to start her own stitching school. “My area (Kot
Lakhpat) has a lot of young female workforce but there are no means to
engage them. With the help of HomeNet, I want to set up my own stitching
school where I could pass on the skills to the youngsters in my
community,” she says. The writer is a staff
member. Twitter: @nailainayat caption New opportunities.
lesson Schools in Gadap Town are getting clean drinking water and functional washrooms, thanks to HANDS By Shahid Husain About 25
kilometres from the Karachi city in Al-Haj Dur Mohammad Baloch Goth, in
Malir district, Gadap Town, is situated a beautiful school named
Government Boys Elementary School. Its magnificent Neem trees and chirping
birds remind one of Tagore’s Shanti Nakatan. There are 220 students and
a team of 11 dedicated teachers — three of them female. Mohammad Aslam, 40, the
headmaster of Government Boys Elementary School told TNS that about 100
years ago a person named Dur Mohammad Baloch migrated from Turbat in
Mekran Division in Balochistan and settled down in this village. In the
beginning, he involved himself in agricultural pursuits, but one fine
morning an idea clicked his mind that he should establish a school for
village children. “Initially, the school
was established in 1933 in Mirpur Sakro because Dur Mohammad Baloch could
not get land in Dur Mohammad village,” headmaster Aslam said.
Thereafter, the school was shifted to Damloti, the place from where the
people of Karachi used to get drinking water. “The school was then
shifted to Sheedi Khan Goth and in 1948 it was relocated to its present
premises in Darsano Channo in Union Council-2, Gadap Town, Malir,” Aslam
said. Malir in Sindhi language
means “fertile” and it happened to be the food bowl of Karachi until
it was devastated by “Reti Bajri mafia” that devoured its sand and
gravel and destroyed Malir River. The buildings in Karachi city have been
constructed with the sand and gravel of Malir River but at a heavy cost.
The river that received water from the hilly tracts of Gadap has been
totally ruined. So have the fertile Malir valley and its farm houses. A few farms exist but
the vast majority of agricultural land has been acquired by builders. The
“Reti Bajri mafia” operates in connivance with police, land mafia,
bureaucrats and feudal lords. HANDS, the brainchild of
eminent pediatrician Prof. A.G. Billoo has done a remarkable job. It has
provided filter plants to hundreds of schools in Gadap town and taught
hand washing with soap to students as well as teachers, ‘chowkidars’
and other staff of schools. “HANDS have taught our children and staff
hand washing according to WHO standards,” Aslam said. “Many important
personalities hail from our village and some of them have studied at this
school,” Aslam said with a sense of pride. “Abdul Hakeem Baloch, MNA-elect
from PML-N, Ghulam Hussain Baloch, Director Finance, government of Sindh,
Mohammad Saddiq Baloch, DEO, Elementary Schools, Karachi and Ghulam
Mustafa Baloch of non-governmental organisation SPO studied at this
school,” Aslam said. “I am headmaster at
this school since 2011. Our students get filtered water thanks to HANDS.
It has also constructed five washrooms. Nine classes are functional,”
Aslam said. “But we have
persistent problems too,” Aslam said. “One is loadshedding. On an
average, we face loadshedding for over 7 hours daily. Sometimes, we
don’t have electricity for three days,” he lamented. “We don’t
have funds to hire ‘chowkidars’. Hence there is always a threat of
theft,” he said. The school is neat and
clean. “However, every month there is a cleanliness drive and all the
students and teachers participate in it,” said Bilquis Rehman, General
Manager, Communication & Information, HANDS. Amir Ali, 14, a student
of class VIII, said shyly he wants to become a doctor. His father Umeed
Ali is a police constable. He has 5 brothers and one sister. His mother is
a housewife. Abdul Khalil, 25, is a
voluntary teacher. He is Matriculate and has also acquired a degree in “Shahadat-e-Alamia,”
a religious degree equivalent to Masters. “I volunteered so that kids of
my village may become educated,” he said. It was now noon but Neem
trees had kept the school cool. The school bell rang and young kids came
out from their classes in a queue and dispersed. Yet another school
visited by TNS was Hashim Khaskheli Government Girls Primary School. It
has 150 students from Class I to V. It was established in 1995. HANDS have
entered into partnership with the government school and conducted
renovation, planted trees and installed swings for children. Safia Tareen, who works
for HANDS, lives there and teaches hand washing with soap to the students.
There are 7 teachers in the school whose educational qualification is from
Matriculation to BA. TNS also visited GGBPS
Primary School Hashim Jokhio in Gadap Town. Prominent documentary
film-maker, author, environmentalist and leading debater of yesteryear
Javed Jabbar who graduated from the University of Karachi in the 1960s
shot his famous film “Ramchand Pakistani” in 2007 at this school.
There are 10 girls in the school. The rest of the students are boys. There
are five teachers; one of them is female. Headmaster Mohammad Azam,
Matriculate from a school in Memon Goth, told TNS that HANDS constructed
washrooms in the school. “There are three
washrooms; all functional,” said Saeed Ahmed, an engineer from HANDS who
lives there. The washrooms had WCs and clean towels too. They had overhead
tanks and were connected to a big underground water tank through pipes.
One could also find green Peepul trees and beds of ornamental flowers. TNS also visited
low-income locality called Surjani Town where HANDS has constructed a
filter plant. Kids as young as 4 were collecting drinking water in bottles
from the filter plant. The demand for water in
Gadap Town is 45-50MGD but it’s getting 18MGD, an engineer from Karachi
Water & Sewerage Board, who requested anonymity, told TNS. “Summer
brings crisis here,” he said. “We are focusing on distribution of
water.”
peace The seminal
trait of a state is the monopoly that it exercises over violence of any
kind. Thereby, the state is enabled to act as a bulwark against any
subversion or anarchy directed either from within or without. If divested
of that singularly important attribute, the political formation called
‘state’ starts to implode. Beset with the process
of implosion, the Pakistani state is struggling hard to defy the challenge
posed to its very existence. Plagued with militancy and terrorism, ruling
Pakistan will not be plain sailing. The fragmented state in which Pakistan
finds itself provides a conducive environment for non-state actors to
prosper to such an extent that they could mount a challenge to the
state’s existence. The foremost challenge
facing the in-coming government, therefore, is to restore the position of
the beleaguered Pakistani state so that it is able to regain the monopoly
over violence. This is possible only if these non-state actors are
rendered toothless and subsequently obliterated, but not, of course, at
the cost of civil liberties. Ensuring the civil
liberties of all its citizens, irrespective of the religious or sectarian
persuasion they adhere to, is imperative for the peace and prosperity of
the country. However, the only plausible recourse to perform that
herculean task is to disarm the countless factions and bands imbued with
militant zeal, contesting the supremacy of the state with impunity.
Forging a broad consensus among the political stake-holders will be the
first and the most important step. The writer of this narrative believes
that Nawaz Sharif, with decades-long experience of practical politics
under his belt, has the requisite capacity to bring the divergent
political voices together. This expectation is
worth nursing, despite the likely incumbent’s previous propensity to
accumulate over-riding authority in his own person. The rough ride that he
had to endure during his days of incarceration and subsequently in exile
seems to have done him considerable good, as demonstrated by the political
acumen he has exhibited in his post-exile period. Having said that, the
political will and persuasive skill that is needed for performing the task
before him will be an ordeal of gargantuan proportions. This requires the
dexterity and skill of a super-statesman. Whether Mr Sharif will measure
up to that extraordinary level, the coming months will reveal. Given the difficulty of
the task in hand, one must not be under any illusion in this particular
regard. Pakistan is currently one of the most difficult countries to
govern. Endeavours made to begin the process of disarming the many armed
factions may not yield immediate results, however, the first small step in
the direction of non-violence will, in itself, be an immensely creditable
feat. One must qualify here that I am not proposing non-violence in the
Gandhian sense. Non-violence has its moorings in our own ethos too. A
centuries-old ethos which was embedded in South Asian Muslim traditions,
which has allowed socio-cultural pluralities not only to exist and
sustain, but to thrive. In the current
situation, a stride, however small it may be, to cultivate such plurality
is likely to generate a discourse at the national level which eventually
will permeate down to the grass-roots level. Eventually, it will sprout
and start blooming and will serve as a viable alternative to the order
punctuated by militancy and violence. Besides, it will strengthen the all
inclusive nature of Pakistani nationalism as prescribed by the founding
father which has been jeopardized by belligerent religiosity, expressing
itself through violence. Pakistan is in dire need to break away from a
monolithic ideological formulation which has become anathema to its very
existence. Thus, this is the most appropriate time to undertake such an
initiative. Of equal importance is
the reconfiguration of the nationalist ideology, with its character
embedded in cultural plurality. Any variant of nationalism rooted in
monolithic ideology sustains itself through coercion and force. In a
country with a multiplicity of cultures and social values, the state must
remain neutral. In the current situation, any religious narrative is bound
to have a very strong sectarian ring to it. In the case of Pakistan,
it will virtually be impossible to segregate Islamisation from
Sunnification. Hence the minorities and the Shias will suffer social and
political exclusion, if not complete extinction. Outfits like
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Jaish-i-Muhammad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, to name only a
very few, must be done away with. The fact that needs to be stressed here
is that any nationalism predicated on religious ideology engenders social
and sectarian fissures, which will eventually jeopardize its very
existence. Ironically, therefore, religion, instead of providing the
culturally or religiously disparate factions with a glue, becomes a
fissiparous force. One may draw consolation
from the fact that Mr. Nawaz Sharif and his close coterie of companions
are trying hard to distance themselves from the Ziaul Haq’s legacy,
which is a very felicitous development. In the light of the party
programme of the PML-N, it can very safely be inferred that the resolution
of the substantive issues will be its priority. More so it will not
squander this opportunity of placating reactionary forces, as it has in
the past. It is quite pertinent to
mention here the intimacy that the Prime Minister-elect enjoys with Saudi
dynasty is seen by many with the pinch of salt. If USA flouts Pakistani
sovereignty through drone attacks, Saudi Arabia allegedly does the same by
funneling the funds to the organisations and outfits that foment one
particular creed through militant means. Since 1980s, Pakistan is
being used as a battleground for the ideological clash between Saudi
Arabia and Iran which has resulted into a complete laceration of its
social fabric. Hence, Pakistan will have to eschew from all sorts of
hegemony, material or ideological in order to restore its prestige and
honour among the comity of nations. In order to do that, the resource
generation primarily from within the country is extremely important and so
is looking into its own history for moral and ideological guidance. Continued reliance on
the foreign assistance will not help us to ameliorate ourselves from the
lowly status of what Fraz Fanon termed as the Wretched of the Earth.
Nagging
distractions The relations
between the Army and Nawaz Sharif’s earlier administration were at its
lowest around September 1999. Then COAS Gen. Pervez Musharraf flatly
denied “any differences with the government”, following the US warning
against any “unconstitutional move” to remove the elected government
in Pakistan. Then Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, and Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, based on intelligence reports, accused the Taliban
government in Afghanistan of facilitating the trained and armed sectarian
groups in Pakistan. The Pakistan Foreign Office, speaking for the Taliban,
flatly denied the assertions. Interestingly, then Foreign Minister Sartaj
Aziz had no prior knowledge of the Foreign Office spokesperson’s denial
(Dawn September 23 to October 9, various dates). While the COAS was
denying any possibility of Kargil investigation, the prime minister called
his Indian counterpart to improve relations. In Washington DC, when asked
how long in her view the Nawaz Sharif government would continue, “Before
December they will go” was Benazir Bhutto’s response. She welcomed the
coup on October 12, 1999 within hours of its success. The 2013 election
results have brought Nawaz Sharif back to the PM’s House. Many analysts
have been counseling and cautioning Nawaz Sharif to avoid déjà vu all
over again. A cursory reading of the conditions in 1999 makes many to
believe that the differences in 1999 were over the foreign or the defense
policy. This hypothesis gained
coinage as the Kargil incidence happened right when Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif was making an all-out effort to improve relations with India. While
the Indian prime minister was enthusiastically welcomed in Lahore, the
COAS refrained from showing up. The Kargil incidence, soon after the
Indian prime minister’s visit, destroyed any goodwill generated during
and after his visit. Nawaz Sharif was visibly annoyed when he had to rush
to Washington DC to salvage a rapidly worsening military and foreign
policy disaster on the mountains in Kashmir. The Kargil incidence,
just like the prior armed or political conflicts with India, reflected the
internal political dilemmas in Pakistan. The stark reality is that
whenever Pakistan is in deep internal economic or political crisis, either
the relations with India take a turn for the worst, or Pakistan finds
itself in a war or war-like state. In 1965, after the
coerced election victory, President Ayub found himself in a perilous
political crisis and the whiff of coup grew against him. The escalation of
the conflict in Kashmir was a part of the strategy to regain the lost
political ground. However, that did not save him for long. Similarly, the
war in 1971 was essential to cover up a momentous political disaster in
East Pakistan. The army coups in
Pakistan tend to develop around some contrived calamity. Gen. Ayub took
over in 1958 after Khan Qayoom started a march to destroy the scheduled
elections. The 1977 coup of Gen. Zia followed a deliberately designed
political crisis after the elections. The Kargil incidence was part of the
series of false dilemmas that crop up in Pakistan at various points to
create the environs for a change at the central government. The annoyance of the
prime minister over Kargil was enough to develop a consensus for the coup
within the GHQ. That conflict, not in any way, shape, or form, confers the
problems were over the foreign or defense policies. The sharp differences
were already there as was evident from the forced resignation of Gen.
Karamat a year before the Kargil incident. The Kargil incidence was
the public face of developing consensus for the coup within the officers
and had nothing to do with differences over foreign or defense policies.
Historically, all Pakistani political parties and the GHQ agree over the
vital foreign and defense policy goals. Often even the priorities are
identical too. Kargil strengthened the
view that relations with India are a separating line. However, looking at
the history, all the army ruled governments worked to improve relations
with India. It is an erroneous assumption that the usually sour relations
between the civilian governments and the GHQ are over these two policies.
The abstract fear of India did influence the army before the 80s.
Presently, the manipulation of the public opinion has ensured that the
Army will maintain its pivotal position in the Pakistani politics, even
after extensive relations with India are established. Disconnect between the
civilian governments and the Army brass is primarily on the style of
governance. The army, over the last several decades, has developed a sense
of entitlements and the Generals find it difficult to stay away from the
daily operations of civilian administration by the civilian
representative. The elected governments often reach the PM’s House after
several years of bitter political struggle. They have to appease their
followers, assembly members, and make deals with the other power brokers.
While the leaders attempt to maintain their political base, the nagging
criticism of the state functioning over trivial issues from both the
military and the civilian bureaucracy linger. The hammering and the
constant nagging of the outgoing People’s Party government over the
internal issues from the military bureaucracy turned it into an
ineffective government. President Zardari and his prime ministers had
given up all pretenses of control of the foreign and defense policy very
early on in their administration. The attempt to recover some ground
through the Kerry-Lugar Bill designed with the help of former ambassador
to the US, Hussein Haqqani, also backfired on the PPP government. The new administration
of Nawaz Sharif will again face the similar issues. Mr Sharif, though with
a comfortable majority, still faces a daunting task to keep the military
and civilian bureaucracy at bay. The irritable army-civilian relations
will continue. The international support that he already enjoys is wider
than the PPP administration ever had a chance to develop. That gives him
an edge and many eyes would be on Sharif’s admin on how it copes with
the meddling and the micro management of Islamabad from the offices in
Rawalpindi.
|
|