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debate It is both the nature and the magnitude of the urbanisation process that is significant with important implications for the understanding of politics, poverty, empowerment, gender, governance, culture, inequality, informality and marginality. By Reza Ali In our article, ‘How Urban is Pakistan’ published in 1999, we analysed the preliminary results of the 1998 census, particularly regarding urban population. We noted that city populations were higher than what official data was prepared to reflect, pointing to the issue of definition, specially the change introduced in the 1981 census and the use of administrative boundaries that contributed to the ‘under-estimation’ of the urban population in the census (Box 1). trade Revenue
degeneration Live and
let live issue Despite
all the barbarity
The toleration of intolerance The current virulent strain of intolerance in Pakistan is not only eroding the country from within but also weakening the very essence of humanity within us By Yaqoob Khan Bangash It is no news
that Pakistan is going through a very turbulent time. Not only is the
country beset by an armed challenge to its authority by the Taliban,
various economic and social challenges have laid bare the weak and
vulnerable structure of the country. While certain elements
of our society have shown remarkable resilience in the face of great
adversities, certain sociological, political and religious changes have
significantly altered the nature of our society. Pakistan is no longer the
region where the mystic Mian Meer was friends with the Sikh Guru Arjun,
and even laid the foundation stone of Sikhism’s holiest shrine,
Harmindar sahib — the famed Golden Temple — in 1588, and where Baba
Farid Gang Shakar’s poetry became an integral part of Sikhism’s holy
book, Guru Garanth. Nor is it a place where
the maverick mystic Shah Hussain fell in love with the Hindu boy, Madho
Lal, in the sixteenth century. It has, unfortunately I
think, become a place where no level of difference is tolerated. Pakistan
is now a land where the slightest of difference can lead to violent
attacks, death and destruction. Pakistan is now a country where even the
different schools of thought in Islam are not tolerated, let alone other
religions and traditions. The recent bloody Sunday
attack on a church in Peshawar was a watershed in the history of
inter-religious relations in Pakistan. Not only was it the single most
destructive attack on Christians in Pakistan’s history, the choice of
All Saints Church was also poignant. Out of all the churches in Peshawar,
All Saints Church, erected in 1883, resembled the ‘inculturation’
motive of the Church of England’s mission in India. The church was built in
the style of a mosque replete with minarets and niches, and Persian and
Pashto inscriptions. It, however, did keep its traditional Christian
cruciform design. The rationale behind the building was that Pakhtun
Christians should worship in a Christian church which resembled their
culture and traditions, and not of distant England. Having a replica of an
English parish church, however beautiful, would have still made the
structure look and feel alien. Therefore, traditional mosque-style
architecture was employed so that not only the local Christians feel at
ease in the building, the surrounding Muslims also do not feel that an
alien structure has arisen among their midst. Its success, both
construction and usage wise, was testament to the fact that Christianity
— which in fact predated Islam in South Asia — was indeed now a local
phenomena. The use of mosque-style architecture also exhibited a
comfortable syncretic outlook where styles emanating from both religions
could feel at ease in one structure. The attack on bloody Sunday also
challenged this notion. Intolerance does not
only manifest itself in mass murder, as in Peshawar, but also exists in
efforts to limit discourse. Therefore, in another way, equally disturbing
was the news from Lahore where a furore was caused over the attempt of
Lahore Grammar School, a leading private school of the country, to teach
its students ‘Comparative Religion.’ This subject, which is the norm
in most sensible countries, caused such a fracas that the government of
the Punjab intervened and banned the subject. The perverse and wicked
mind of a television anchor further added fuel to the issue by simply
lying about the whole scenario. So what was the school,
a pioneer in so many best practices in schooling in Pakistan, trying to
achieve? According to the school principal at LGS, the rationale behind
the course was that her ‘...institution believes in inculcating values
such as tolerance and empathy in all our students. Comparative Religion is
essentially a history of religion. It is not merely comparing religions;
we aim to educate our students about Islam, Christianity, Buddhism,
Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism and their fundamental teachings. Doing so, we
believe, will enlighten our students about the importance of peaceful
coexistence.’ So, in a nutshell this
course taught students what these other religions were about, what they
believed in, what practices they had etc. So what is wrong with such a
course? Surely any good history course does the exact same thing, and the
only difference here is that this one focused on religions. In a world
where people hate other religions without knowing anything about them,
what is the harm in actually being informed about those religions? At the
very least it might bring that level of misinformed hatred down and ease
tensions. Such a course might actually inform students of the shared
ethical basis of most world religions as well as their similarities, and
differences, in an objective manner. However, such an endeavour was
ill-fated in an increasingly ill-fated Pakistan. According to a newspaper
report, the Vice-Chancellor of the oldest educational institution in
Pakistan, Government College University, said that “students of primary
and secondary grades should not be taught comparative religions as they
were not able to analyse the contents. He was of the view that the schools
should not select such syllabus which could become a reason to confuse the
students.” The news report did not directly quote the Vice-Chancellor
and I earnestly hope that it is a misquote or a mistake; otherwise, the
Vice-Chancellor does not know anything about education. Education is simply the
pursuit of knowledge through reason — one of the highest goals of
humankind. Clearly there are subjects which are taught at different
levels, but to claim that middle school students are not able to
‘analyse’ and will be ‘confused’ by the simple narration of
religious principles is ludicrous. If this is indeed true then most
religions which teach their precepts to young children have been striving
in vain. If children can have the capacity to understand their own
religion at a young age theologically, then they can surely understand
other religions and their basics in a historical narrative. Two other ignorant
allegations were also hurled against the school. The first charged that
the school had dropped the study of Islamiat in lieu of this course.
However, the principal clarified that: ‘we have not abandoned teachings
of Islamiat; we do so from classes 2-10 at the end of which, the students
appear for the subject’s board exam.’ Therefore there is no
‘threat’ to the study of religion as a subject in the school and it
continues to be taught in its theological and philosophical domains.
Secondly, some quarters charged that the course violated Article 22 of the
constitution. However, if one actually reads the article it states that
‘No person attending any educational institution shall be required to
receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or
attend religious worship, if such instruction, or ceremony or worship
relates to a religion other than his own.’ Clearly the above is
referring to ‘religious instruction’ which means that no one should be
required to study a religion theologically if they are not a part of it.
The article does not preclude the study of the history of religions, or a
mere learning about what they are. Such an interpretation would mean that
we would not be able to study ancient India since that is all about the
Vedic religion, we cannot study Ashoka since he focuses a lot on Buddhism,
the Reformation and Renaissance — the critical periods in Western
history — would have to be left out because they are primarily about
religion, and so on. Perhaps the real scare
in this saga is that students might begin to ‘think’ from this course
— something which still scares traditional minded ‘academics’ and
others in Pakistan. As several people have noted, critical thinking and
questioning is mostly discouraged in Pakistan. As a matter of fact, even
asking a question from a ‘senior’ teacher or professor is considered a
heinous crime, and tantamount to rejecting their ‘authority’ —
whatever that means. One of the fundamental
responsibilities of educators is to help develop the conscience of their
students and thinking is a critical part of it. Freedom to think, which
also means freedom of conscience, is an integral part of human development
and without it civilisation cannot progress. In fact, the Western world
only began to experience rapid progress when freedom of conscience started
to be guaranteed. Freedom of conscience is the fresh air in which
humankind is truly free. However, sadly such a right is yet to be realised
in Pakistan and the reaction to this episode is a sad reminder of it. Ultimately the two sad
episodes above show the high level of intolerance present in our culture,
and its multifaceted nature. On the one hand, the presence of another
religion is not tolerated in Peshawar, and on the other even the teaching
of another religion — even as history — is not allowed in Lahore. We
also have had several recent examples where Shia Muslims have been
similarly attacked because their ‘religion’ is suspect. Attacks on
Sufi shrines in recent years is yet another illustration of unacceptable
‘religion.’ All these attacks on non-Muslim as well as Muslim places
of worship should make us wonder what ‘religion’ is indeed acceptable
to the perpetrators of these attacks. In most religions of the
world — Sophia — wisdom — is one of the main attributes of God, and
wisdom is most readily obtained and nurtured in academia, be it the
gymnasium of ancient Greece, the great universities and monastic
institutions of medieval Europe, the Darul Hikma of medieval Baghdad, or
institutions like Lahore Grammar School and Government College in modern
day Pakistan. Academia is where people
experience real learning and real freedom, where the greatest ideas in the
world are incubated, discussed and realised, and where, if properly
channelled, God can be understood. The current virulent strain of
intolerance in Pakistan where nothing except a jaundiced and myopic view
is acceptable is not only eroding the country from within but also
weakening the very essence of humanity within us. I hope the above two
incidents not only shock us but also lead us to action to stem this
toleration of intolerance. The writer is the
Chairperson of the Department of History, Forman Christian College, and
tweets at @BangashYK. He can be contacted at: yaqoob.bangash@gmail.com.
It is both the nature and the magnitude of the urbanisation process that is significant with important implications for the understanding of politics, poverty, empowerment, gender, governance, culture, inequality, informality and marginality. By Reza Ali In
our article, ‘How Urban is
Pakistan’ published in
1999, we analysed the preliminary results of the 1998 census, particularly
regarding urban population. We noted that city populations were higher
than what official data was prepared to reflect, pointing to the issue of
definition, specially the change introduced in the 1981 census and the use
of administrative boundaries that contributed to the
‘under-estimation’ of the urban population in the census (Box 1).
In a
later version published as ‘Underestimating
Urbanization’ after the final results of the census had been
released, we noted that leading Pakistani demographers and social
scientists had commented and raised questions on the apparently low urban
population reported in the 1998 census, considering it inconsistent with
trends and evidence-based research. They argued that the urban population
as a percentage of total population could not be less than 40 per cent and
could be up to 50 per cent. (See Why
is it important to look at the urbanisation process? As we had argued
earlier, in
transitional societies, urbanisation and its key characteristics are major
determinants of the political process. Urbanisation has an impact on the
realisation of political rights and participation in political processes,
on the relationship of and responsibilities between the citizen and the
state and the related institutional structures, on the nature of the
breakdown of existing societal structures and the forging of new and
complex ones, and on the composition of revenue base and the criteria for
resource allocations.
There is a critical need to recognise and understand the urbanisation process: here, we look at the process to present estimates of urbanisation and rural population. In
preparing estimates of urbanisation and rurality, we draw from our earlier
work, and, use the latest available census pertaining to 1998. However,
before we proceed with the estimates, we need to discuss the matter of
definition. This is important because the use of varying definitions may
not capture the degree of population agglomeration, and, changes in
definition complicate comparisons over time. Similarly, global population
and urbanisation databases, such as that maintained by the United Nations
since 1950 (and other agencies) are derived from national data based on
country-specific definitions used by various countries (Box 3 and 4),
international comparisons are made more difficult. This should not be
interpreted to mean that the national definitions are flawed, but that
they distort cross-country comparisons and, in many places, the implied
urban/rural dichotomy is inadequate to reflect the degree of
agglomeration.
What then is urban and what is rural? Census offices usually define what
is ‘urban’ or metropolitan for census purposes and assume the
‘residual’ to be rural (See Box 1 for
Life changes in a variety of dimensions along this route: from fields and
intensive cultivation, villages and small market towns, to larger towns,
small cities and the cosmopolitan city and is not a single homogenous
activity — it is multi-functional and diverse. Categorisations are
largely becoming irrelevant as people live their lives in different ways
rendering conventional definitions obsolete and many social, cultural,
economic and environmental issues are inadequately addressed by current
approaches separating ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ agendas.
The key features of the urban context have been defined as proximity,
density, diversity, dynamics and complexity. Population density, an urban
core and proximity to city can be considered the key indicators that
define the conceptual framework of agglomeration economies and rent. These
critical factors have been used to create an agglomeration index as an
alternative measure to adequately capture human settlement concentration
rather than rely on ad-hoc and non-comparable definitions that, because of
their implied urban/rural dichotomy, may not adequately reflect the degree
of urbanisation ( Population density is an important criterion for economic behaviour —
to have a thick market, there must be a certain mass of people. Densit
Lack of an urban core and low overall population
density impacts ability to diversify economic base compared to cities. The
most extensively researched source of evidence for the claim that
proximity is good for productivity is from studies of areas of dense
economic activity: doubling of size increases productivity from 3-8 per
cent — from a town of 50,000 to one of 5 million means a 50 per cent
productivity increase. Further, this effect is larger in higher technology
sectors. What does · Population density, and · Urban core and proximity. Figure 1 presents the population density recorded in the censuses 1951 to
1998 with estimates for 2013. Overall population density in
Figure 3 shows population in relation to proximity (expressed as travel
time, primarily a function of distance) to city (i.e. urban core, assuming
the core to be a single
In the framework of the critical factors and using criteria and
thresholds that we establish, we can proceed to estimate the urban and
rural in In the base case criteria, we consider (a) all areas with scattered
populations (i.e. low population density), all areas that do not contain a
town (i.e. urban core), and all other areas beyond a given travel time
(i.e. proximity to city) to be rural: the base case criteria are: 250
persons/skm; absence of a town of 50,000 within the area; and a travel distance of more than 75-minutes to a city; (b) a city
core (100,000 or more in a single Pakistan census urban place) and its
linked built-up and surrounding areas as ‘urban’
area provided they have a minimum density of 500 persons/skm (overall). Of course, this leaves a gap between what we are considering rural areas
and urban areas. As mentioned earlier, the categorisation of rural and
urban appears inadequate and imprecise and there does not appear to be a
natural dividing line or break point between the two: the urban/rural divide appears as a gradient, rather than a dichotomy.
Behaviour and conditions change drastically along the gradient, and there
seems no compelling reason to segment them into just these two categories. We, therefore, introduce the concept of an ‘urbanizing’
area to classify areas which clearly are not rural since they have both an
urban core and an overall density higher than the criteria we are using to
classify the rural although they have not achieved our criteria for urban
areas but could be considered in transition.
We categorise all areas that have (i) a population density more than 250
persons/skm (overall) and 400 persons/skm in the urban core, (ii) a town
(i.e. urban core) of 50,000 or more, and (iii) lie within a 75-minute
distance of a city (100,000 or more) as ‘urbanising’
areas. The base case criteria we use for an urban
area is significantly higher than what is considered ‘urban’ in most
of Europe, Oceania, the The estimates of the population in the rural, urban and ‘urbanising’
areas for the four provinces, based on base case criteria, are given in
Figure 4, and Table 1 provides a comparison of these estimates with the
1998 census.
In looking at the comparisons, it should be borne in mind that while the
census has only two categories — that defined as ‘urban’ with all
the ‘residual’ non-urban areas treated as rural — we classify all areas in one of our three categories using defined criteria for
each. It will be seen that our ‘urban area’ estimates in the case of
Punjab and K-Pakhtunkwa are higher than the census urban population by 27%
and 3% respectively; our higher estimates are partly due to the use of
administrative boundaries of the city by the census resulting in the
exclusion of suburban development (see Box 2) that forms an integral part
of the city is excluded from consideration in the census but gets included
in our estimates. On the other hand, our estimates for the urban area in Sindh are lower by
18% compared to the census due to the exclusion of small rural towns from
our estimates for their lack of urban core (i.e. below our threshold size:
town of 50,000 population) and lower density, but are included in the
census due to their administrative status, while in Balochistan, we do not
find any area which meets our criteria for urban (primarily due to the
density criterion). The main differences are in the case of our rural estimates: since (i)
our ‘rural area’ estimates are derived from defined criteria for the
‘rural’ while the census assumes all the population outside the city
boundaries to be “rural”; and (ii) we introduce the concept of an
‘urbanising area’ for the areas that clearly are not rural (they have
both an urban core and an overall density higher than the criteria we are
using to classify the rural) while they have not achieved the base case
criteria for ‘urban area’. The introduction of ‘urbanising
area’ brings into play the various elements of our criteria: in
Punjab and K-Pakhtunkwa, due to higher densities, presence of urban core
(town of 50,000 population) and proximity to city (within 75-minute of a
city of 100,000), a very significant population classified as rural by the
census falls in our urbanising area (the census classifies all areas
outside city boundary as rural — the ‘residual’ approach); in Sindh,
certain areas classified as urban by the census do not meet our criteria
for an urban area but qualify as urbanising areas; and in Balochistan, the
Quetta area containing the only city of the province, is considered as an
urbanising area due to lower overall population density. There is a
significant part of the population living in areas that are no longer
rural but at different stages of urbanisation. To
sum up in the The
definition, and the consequent flawed understanding of the urbanisation
process, has led to serious policy distortions. It is both the nature and
the magnitude of the urbanisation process that is significant with
important implications for the understanding of politics, poverty,
empowerment, gender, governance, culture, inequality, informality and
marginality. Based on an understanding of this process, many
concepts have to change and policy interventions repositioned.
trade Rejoice mango
lovers. The fruit of your first choice — mango — will now be available
round the year to satisfy your taste buds. Some Pakistani growers
have introduced dehydrated mango in slice and cube form for the first time
in this part of the world. The pioneers displayed dried slices and cubes
of the ‘king of fruits’ at a trade fair organised by the Multan
Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the beginning of September, this year.
The dried mangoes have the taste like the fresh fruit. According to the
pioneers of this technique, 1000 kilogram of fresh mangoes yielded 288
kilogram dried slices and cubes of this fruit. Marketing horticultural
products in dried form is not a new technique. It has been practiced in
this region since ancient time, but the shelf life of vegetables and
fruits dried by using primitive techniques was short. Some progressive
farmers in Pakistan have succeeded in increasing the shelf life of mangoes
by using the hot water technology and state-of-the-art mega processing
plants. Some countries,
including China, are already marketing their apricots, peaches, plums,
etcetera in dried form, beautifully wrapped like expensive candies and
packed in elegantly designed containers. They send packs of dried fruits
as gifts to friends, within the country and abroad, on festive occasions.
The diplomats of those countries use festive occasions as opportunities to
introduce the fruits of their native lands to important people in the
country of their posting. Pakistan has some of the
sweetest mangoes in the world. With a total production of 1.80 million
tonnes, Pakistan is the sixth largest producer of mango fruit across the
globe, however, its exports of the fruit are relatively low compared to
the country’s actual potential. Against a target of 175,000 tonnes,
Pakistan exported 160,000 tonnes of mango, earning $54.85 million in
foreign exchange, till the end of August, 2013. The exporters of mango
fruit are optimistic to achieve the export target set for this year. Last
year, Pakistan exported 118,000 tonnes mangoes for $36 million. These
figures show that though the export of this fruit is rising, it still
remains less than 10 per cent of the country’s total production. Hot water technology and
processing by mechanical plants has increased the shelf life of even the
fresh mangoes up to 40 days by making the pulp of the fruit free from nine
bacteria elements. More shelf life of the fruit, it is believed, would
help in increasing the export of Pakistani mangoes, earning more foreign
exchange for the country and becoming instrumental in the expansion of its
agro-based sector. Till recently,
Pakistan’s focus has remained limited to exporting mangoes to the United
Kingdom and some Middle Eastern countries. In the last two years, Pakistan
has discovered new markets and exported its mangoes to seven new
countries, including China, Jordan, Mauritius, South Korea, Japan and
Lebanon. In addition to trial shipment of mango fruit to Australia, mango
shows were also organised in Malaysia and Singapore this year. As the
mango season coincided with Ramazan this year, there was an increase in
demand for Pakistani mangoes in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the
Central Asian Republics. With a little effort,
the experts believe, the country can appear as one of the leading mango
exporting country on the globe. The major constraint to the expansion of
market for Pakistani mangoes had been related to the country’s inability
to supply competitively priced high quality mangoes in a significant and
consistent manner, in keeping with the international standards and demands
of the supermarket chains. Eyeing to increase its
exports of mangoes to 250,000 tonnes over the next two to three years, the
country has geared efforts to adopting international standards, including
hot-water technology, stringent quality control measures during several
stages of production, processing, packing and export. At present,
Pakistani farmers are processing mangoes in Multan, using a pair of
giant-sized processing plants. As far as hot water technology is
concerned, these plants have two to three times more capacity to process
mangoes than any such plant in use anywhere in the world. One of these
plants has the capacity to process 15 tonnes mangoes per hour and the
second 10 tonnes per hour. The third big plant in Mexico possesses the
capacity to process 4.5 tonnes mangoes per hour. The flesh of mango is
peach-like and juicy. It is rich in sugar and acid. The mango fruit has
best flavour if allowed to ripen on the tree. When ripe, the fruit is
entirely pale green or yellow marked with red. The quality of the fruit is
based on taste and scarcity of fiber. Pakistan is the house of some fine
varieties of mangoes, which are known for their good aroma, excellent
taste and almost total absence of fiber content. Among over 150 varieties
of mango fruit produced in Pakistan, the choicest varieties are: Samar
Bahisht (Paradise’s fruit), Fajree, Chaunsa, Super Langra, Shan-e-Khuda
(God’s magnificence), Anwar Ratol, Lahoti, Ratool, Sindhri, Alfanso,
Dusehri, Roosi Dulhan (Russian bride), Lab-e-Mashooq (Darling’s Lips),
Lab-e-Habshi (Negroe’s Lips), Shaheed-e-Zam Zam and Tota Pari. Some
other varieties include: Kala Pahar (black mountain), Gulab-e-Khas
(special rose), Saleh Bhai, Al-Khausa, Neelum, Baigan Phelli, Seroli and
Batasha. Amongst these, Chaunsa and Sindhri have great potential for
hitting the US and EU supermarkets. In the entire South Asia
Sub-Continent, people relish mangoes and nostalgically refer to it as the
‘king of fruits.’ In fact, the fondness for mangoes in the South Asia
is deep-rooted, and as old as the history of human civilization. No
section or community, including the royalty, the elite, the intellectuals,
the men of letters, is immune from craving for this highly nutritious
fruit. One and all relish the mangoes. It also finds mention in the
Punjabi, Sindhi and Hindi folklore. The rich folk hold
mangoes as a good dessert; while it constitutes an integral part of the
diet of the villagers during the summer and monsoon seasons in Pakistan.
People who go out for picnics during the monsoon season never forget to
carry some mangoes with them. On such occasions, the youth also hold
mango-eating contests. In short, in Pakistan, as in many other regions of
the world, people greatly relish the fruit and its products. Mangoes not only sweeten
the economy and dining table in a variety of ways, they also provide jobs
to millions of people from farms to export houses. From the early stages
till it ripens, mango is processed into pickles (Achar, Chatney and
Murabba), jams, jellies, nectars, juice, syrups and mango pudding and it
involves millions of people, including growers, transporters, retailers,
vendors, juice and ice-cream makers and exporters, throughout Pakistan.
Taste-wise, it is one of the best fruits, which provides dozens of tastes
and attracts people of all ages. Rich in a variety of
phytochemicals and nutrients that qualify mango as a super fruit of high
health value, till recently mango has mainly been used as a fresh fruit.
It is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitamin C, polyphenols, and
provitamin carotenoids. The antioxidant vitamins A, C and E comprise 25
per cent, 76 per cent and 9.0 per cent respectively of the Dietary
Reference Intake in a 165-gram serving. New research studies
have shown that polyphenols chemical found in mango can help cure some
forms of cancers, including colon, chest, lungs, bone-marrow and
prostrate. According to Dr S. Tailcoat and her husband, mango pulp, juice,
peel and seed can create resistance against cancer. These research
findings are likely to result in increasing the demand for mango fruits
manifold. The writer is a
freelance columnist based at Islamabad.alauddinmasood@gmail.com
The Year Book
2012-13, released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on September 23,
2013, admits miserable performance during fiscal year 2012-13 — it
collected Rs1939 billion against the original target of Rs2381 billion and
even could not meet the three times revised budget of Rs2007. The
shortfall of Rs442 billion pushed fiscal deficit to 8.8 per cent of GDP
forcing the government to resort to further regressive taxes and begging
before International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders. The collection was
merely Rs57 billion more than what was collected in 2011-12 — this 3 per
cent growth should be read as minus 6 per cent as average inflation rate
during 2012-13 was 9 per cent. In his ‘Foreword’ to
the report, Tariq Bajwa, new Chairman of the FBR, while noting with
concern that original as well as revised targets were missed by a wide
margin, solicited comments of the public on the dismal performance of the
FBR. This is a positive move and a healthy sign — in earlier reports,
self-criticism and quest for improvement were totally missing. The latest report of the
FBR does not mention why the ex-chairman and many others received
‘honourariums’ (six months’ salaries) for their pathetic
performance. There is a consensus that over the period of time, the FBR
has become an institution wrought with corruption and inefficiency. The
frequent occurrences of mega scams — fake refunds, tailored amnesty
schemes, flying invoices, under invoicing, excessive payments of export
rebates, just to mention a few — have increased manifold confirming the
existence of a strong mafia. The fiasco in fiscal
year 2012-13 started with the political posting of Ali Arshad Hakeem as
the FBR Chairman on July 11, 2012 under the direct command of former
president Asif Ali Zardari. Though it was declared unlawful by Islamabad
High Court, but by that time, he succeeded in destroying the collection
strategy for 2012-13. On assumption of charge, he made some tall claims of
surpassing the revenue target of Rs2381 billion by using “extraordinary
managerial skills”, “innovative IT tools” and “amnesty schemes”.
All these proved to be just self-praise as revenues nose-dived during his
tenure. Fake refunds of billions of rupees were issued under his
chairmanship. The same scenario
continued under the caretaker setup. Genuine refunds were blocked
unlawfully and fake were issued causing loss to exchequer. The Federal Tax
Ombudsman (FTO) categorically warned the FBR to be “careful and do not
resort to blockade of refunds.” But they did not heed his advice as
usual. It should be remembered that in 2011, the FTO took suo moto notice
[complaint number 982/2011] of figure fudging by the FBR through unlawful
“borrowing of funds” in July 2011 by the Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs)
from some companies to show higher collection but no action was taken
against the officer involved in this crime despite the matter went to
Public Accounts Committee. This undesirable act continues even today —
the FBR’s officialdom thinks “nobody can touch us as rulers being tax
evaders are in our pockets”. There is no effective
check of the government or the parliament over the FBR. In India, every
year a comprehensive report is prepared by the Public Accounts Committee
of the Parliament where the performance of tax machinery is critically
examined and suggestions for betterment are made — latest report is
available at http://www.itatonline.org/info/index.php/parliament-committee-hauls-up-dept-for-adventurous-assessment-orders/.
Time and again,
different chairmen of the FBR admitted before the Standing Committee of
Parliament on Finance that tax reforms, funded by foreign donors since
2004, have failed to yield desired results. At the end of the five-year
Tax Administration Reforms Programme (TARP), extended for another year,
there was unprecedented decline in tax-to-GDP ratio — from 12.5 per cent
in 2002-2003 to 8.2 per cent in 2010-11. This was one of the lowest in the
world — confirming apathy of the ruling classes who, instead of paying
due taxes, thrive on the national resources meant for the welfare of the
weaker segments of society. Even the new FBR
Chairman is not ready to admit that Pakistan’s real revenue potential is
much higher than lowly targets fixed in the budgets every year The FBR’s Year Book
2012-13 shows that major burden of collecting taxes is shifted on
withholding agents, who are performing the essential state function
without any reimbursement of cost — they incur exorbitant expenses for
performing this onerous task by employing people and providing them
necessary infrastructure. The FBR has conceded in
Year Book 2012-13 that 80 per cent of taxes are being collected by the
withholding agents. The corporate houses in general and banks in
particular have virtually been converted into ‘FBR Collection Houses’.
Withholding agents incur substantial cost for complying with tax
collection provisions on behalf of the government (man-hours,
infrastructure use and stationery, just to mention a few) and then face
penal actions for alleged non-withholding of taxes. Corrupt officials are
making lots of money encouraging unscrupulous elements not to deposit the
withheld tax in the government treasury and instead, share the same with
them. The FBR’s book
contains the same lies that its bosses keep on repeating in public and
before Standing Committees of Parliament that “our tax base is
narrow”. They claim that only those who file returns are taxpayers. In
fact, millions are paying income tax at source. The total number of income
taxpayers alone is over 50 million — there are active 50 million mobile
users who pay 15 per cent income tax both on postpaid and prepaid
connections, though number of return filers by business people is less
than 500,000. Had the FBR allotted National Tax Numbers (NTNs) and issued
notices to mobile users paying Rs60,000 or above as annual bill, it could
have proudly said to have registered taxpayers of at least 15 million. Our
tax base in not narrow, number of tax filers are pathetically low for
which entire blame rests with the FBR. If the new chairman is
really serious in revamping the FBR and tapping the real tax potential of
Pakistan, he must consider the fact admitted in Year Book 2012-13 that
there was 31 per cent decline in 2012-13 in tax collected by the FBR
officials — this alone reflects their own efforts compared to tax coming
through withholding regime (59 per cent) and voluntary payments (33 per
cent). Out of total collection
of income tax at Rs739.7 billion, the collection on demand was Rs89
billion — only 12 per cent of total collection, whereas in 2011-12 it
was Rs130 billion or 17.6 per cent of total collection. It proves beyond
any doubt the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the FBR as revenue
collection agency of the state. The writers, tax
lawyers, are Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Live
and let live Islam, a
religion of peace, is followed by a section of people who do not believe
in a pluralistic society. They aim to convert all other religions into
their group. Why can’t they accept another person with different ideas
and beliefs? Where is religious
pluralism — the outcome of an attempt to provide a basis in theology for
tolerance of other religions and sects. 9/11 affected every aspect of our
life. It has turned us intolerant even of the harmless communities of our
society — the Christians. But Quran says: “Let there be no compulsion
in religion” Surah Baqrah, Ayat 256). Why do we coerce people in the
name of religion? All Saints Church of
Peshawar was blown by two suicide bombers of Jandola group, a broken
fraction of the TTP, also considered as the Punjabi Taliban, headed by
Asmatullah Muawaya. They don’t want to negotiate with the government of
Pakistan. The attack took place at a time when the country’s army and
political parties were in the process of conducting peace talks with
Taliban militants. When non-Muslim citizens
live under Islamic sovereignty, they enjoy a special status and are known
along with other minorities as ahl adh dhimma or dhimmis. Dhimma is an
Arabic word, which means safety, security, and contract. Hence, they are
called dhimmis because they have agreed to a contract by Allah, His
Messenger, and the Muslim community, which grants them security. Ibn Ishaq in his seerat
(biography of the Prophet) states: “When the delegation of Najrani
Christians came to the Prophet at Madinah, they entered his mosque in the
afternoon to meet him. It was their prayer time, so they began to perform
their prayer in the mosque. Some Muslims were about to prevent them from
doing so, but the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said, “Let them pray.”
So they faced eastward and performed their prayer. In addition to the
covenant made by the Prophet with the Christians of Najran, which placed
them under the protection of Allah and his Prophet and provided for the
safeguard of their wealth, religion, and churches, the one made by Umar
ibn Al Khattab with the citizens of Iliya (Jersusalem) stated: “This is
the protection which the servant of Allah, Umar ibn Al Khattab, the
commander of the faithful extends to them (non-Muslims): the safeguarding
of their lives, property, churches, crosses, and of their entire
community. Their churches are not to be occupied, demolished, or damaged,
nor are their crosses or anything belonging to them be touched. They will
not be forced to abandon their religion, nor will they be harmed. None of
the Jews will live with them in Illiya (Jersusalem).” (Tarikh At-Tabari,
Volume 3, p. 609) Our Prophet (peace be
upon him) said that security of the minorities is the primary
responsibility of the Muslim state. When the Bamiyan’s
Buddah statues were bombed, I wondered why. Who were they harming? It’s
not Islam which is intolerant but few people who do not accommodate
others; who try to coerce against the spirit of Islam. Islam replaced earlier
religions in the very beginning. However, its practice in Pakistan and in
the subcontinent in general is different than in the Arab world. Spiritual
as well as publically conformist, most Pakistanis are influenced by Sufism
and integrate local paraphernalia such as visiting the shrines of saints,
devotional songs and dancing. Pakistan is generally composed of a society
that is tolerant and pluralistic, believing in religious harmony.
Extremists, on the other hand, take a different view: they believe the
accommodation of other religions as a dangerous deviation from Islam. “If you want to
understand inclusiveness and tolerance in Islam, you have to turn to
spiritualism which will lead to the core of tolerance,” says Sidra Aziz
Alizai, a researcher in Peshawar. Taliban are using Islam
as a means to influence the people in Pakistan. Pakistanis’ anger at the
Taliban is counterbalanced by anger at the US policies in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, especially drone attacks on Pakistan’s tribal belt and Iraq.
They believe that the US is following a distinct anti-Muslim policy. The
question is why should the Pakistani Christians bear the brunt of the US
wrong policies? These extremist
elements, organised in the 80s, stepped into war with lofty assurances
that “their version of ideology is the solution”. They did not lack
for listeners or, within a few years, for dollars provided by the US
administration. Petrodollar spawned funding for the most radical Muslims. Their ‘great
expectation’ has been that a return to strict Islam would provide the
strength for a final victory over the US. A strict Islam has gained
momentum after the Taliban customised religious vocabulary and visuals for
political ends. In Peshawar University, people jokingly say that in
paradise, wine will be alcohol-free. It’s high time to
preach legitimate co-existence. We committed serious crime against our
people by keeping them illiterate and promoting intolerance. Islam can be observed in
ways that complement pluralism rather than suffocate those practicing
other religions. Live and let live must be the slogan of the time. No one
has the authority to act on Allah’s behalf, that too will tantamount to
blasphemy. The author teaches at
the Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar).
syedshaheed@hotmail.co.uk
issue The government
of Pakistan has decided to privatise 26 per cent shares of Pakistan
International Airlines (PIA) under a deal with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF). The Fund set up certain conditions for release of loan to
Pakistan and privatisation of loss-making State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs)
was one of them. The government believes
it is the only way to take the national flag carrier out of the crisis and
save the billions it has been doling out to the ailing organisation.
Critics of this proposed plan claim the decision has been taken in haste
just to satisfy the IMF. For example, they state
it is quite evident from so many examples that privatisation in Pakistan
never produced desired results. There are issues in this decision of
selling 26 per cent shares with management control as nobody is clear
whether the subsidiaries of the airline would also be given under the
control of the new management or not. The government has not provided any
roadmap in this regard as how just a management control can save the
airline from deep-rooted issues responsible for its downfall. Some of these issues
include political appointments, corruption, inefficient technicians,
outdated and isolated engineering base, maintenance issues, depleting
routes, non-airworthy aircraft, imprudent contracts, declining service
standards, lack of reliability and punctuality, pilferage and theft, lack
of quality manpower, training and job rotation, ageing fleet, overstaffing
and high loans resulting in high finance cost etc. The question that arises
here is whether it will be possible for the government to find a buyer in
the presence of all these ills? In case there is a buyer, will it be
possible for the government to fetch a good price is another question? Looking at the past
experiences of privatisation deals, one finds the desired results could
never be achieved. To the contrary, these have resulted in downsizing,
increasing costs, creating mistrust among employees, suffering to the
customer and no remedy to affectees. There are fears the same will happen
in case of PIA privatisation. Suhail Baloch, convener
Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE), complains employees
have never been consulted both by the airline management and the
governments regarding how they can help improve the airline. Instead,
privatisation of PIA is always posed as panacea for all the ills this
airline is suffering from by dint of corruption, non-professional high
officials, political interference etc., he adds. His point is that
unfortunately the employees are mostly blamed for the ills of PIA whereas,
in his opinion, it is the top hierarchy which rots and has been appointed
on the basis cronyism and nepotism. All the previous governments
considered PIA as their personal property by appointing their friends and
relatives for their political gains. So, if privatisation is
not viable then what is the solution to the crisis? Suhail, who is also
president of Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA), tries to answer
these questions saying the government should implement the orders of the
Supreme Court of Pakistan by appointing honest and capable chairman and
managing director on merit; constituting a judicial commission under a
serving judge of the apex court to investigate the airline’s downfall
and holding the responsible accountable; and making the grounded fleet
airworthy. The proposed plan is
being seen with skepticism for one major reason — the dubious handling
of aviation matters by the PML-N government. First the government
appointed a Canadian national as the aviation advisor despite having no
commercial airline industry experience and then Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was
included in the Aviation Committee despite the fact that he owns AirBlue
and has direct conflict of interest with PIA. There was more to come; the
government then promoted a matriculate pilot to the post of Deputy
Managing Director (DMD) in the airline. Regardless of the fact
that the said privatisation is workable or not, there is no doubt the
announcement has rung alarm bells among the PIA staff. In a bid to
convince the rulers that they can themselves bring the airlines out of
crisis, they are coming with different solutions every other day. One such official says
PIA has never worked on how to increase its routes; in fact the network is
shrinking with the passage of time. The poor marketing is responsible for
that as they did not even go for code-sharing with other airlines, he
adds. The official, who does
not want to be named, says the management did not try to expand the fleet.
The optimum number of aircraft in proportion with the current route
network should be 40 to 50 (both wide body and narrow body), but PIA’s
fleet comprises 34-38 (official quotes vary) aircraft. Out of these, only
20 are operational while the rest are not airworthy at the moment. The
reason, he says, is financial crunch due to which the management is not
able to buy spare parts and has cannibalised these 14 or so aircraft to
keep other 20 or so airworthy. Though the airline faces
a loss of Rs3 billion a month, the official believes over-staffing is not
a big issue but fuel cost is as salaries constitute almost 21 per cent of
the total revenue which internationally is around 35 per cent. This is
despite the fact that the employee-to-aircraft ratio in PIA is around 500
against the internationally desirable ratio of 100. Currently, the fleet on
average is 26 years old, which is why PIA is losing up to 55 per cent of
its budget on fuel against the international standard of 35-45 per cent,
says the official, adding: “Rest is corruption and inefficiency which
eats up huge revenues.” As for overstaffing, PIA
is running many departments which other airlines have outsourced, so
employee base is not an issue as long as they are not burdening the
balance sheet. Aviation expert Shakil
Aftab Kashmirwala tells TNS that downsizing or retrenchment is not an
option for PIA while domestic, regional and international competitors keep
expanding in all directions that are 100 per cent owned by their states. While supporting the
government decision to privatise PIA, he thinks this is not the right time
as currently PIA is in such a bad shape that the government would get
nothing for its privatisation as the losses are huge. He said the human
resource in the airline would deliver, if the management is in right
hands. Kashmirwala, who has 28
years of airline industry experience and happens to be the only Pakistani
having successfully served as a CEO of a foreign national flag carrier
Eretrian Airlines, says the main objective should be to increase
airline’s revenue per kilometre and cutting down costs wherever
possible. Simultaneously, he says, more revenue streams will have to be
re-established by reviving ground handling unit, catering, duty free
sales, engineering & maintenance, training school and hotels to make
it a profitable airline. He says in the short
term fleet would have to be made airworthy with upgradations of seats,
lavatories, cabin and galleys. Catering, ground handling services,
passenger services will have to be improved. Above all, it’s the quality
of service which will make the difference. The airline should realise it
is high time that people should be able to book/purchase tickets,
pre-assign seats, select meals, purchase ground transport, hotel rooms
etc. through website. shahzada.irfan@gmail.com
An insight into Pakistan’s history to look at both the contributions of Christians as well their persecution at the hands of the majority By Tahir Kamran Christians,
according to th 1998 census, constitute 1.59 per cent of Pakistan’s
population, making them the second largest religious minority. This rather
meagre number of Christians in Pakistan has worked to their disadvantage.
Any Christian who has the means to do so has already moved out of
Pakistan. Those who fall in the lowest strata, lacking this recourse, are
condemned to live an uncertain life. At any moment a bolt may fall from
the blue and a Shantinagar-like incident may unleash terror, resulting in
the death of many. Pakistani soil appears
to have become accustomed to sucking the blood of hapless Christians in
order to sustain itself. Thus, when 81 Christians
were blown up in a Peshawar Church last week, one felt a sense of déjà-vu
of what happened in Sangla Hill, Kasur, Bahawalpur, Murree and Gojra in
the past. Churches were set ablaze, houses ravaged and properties of the
Christians destroyed. The miscreants could not be identified, charges were
not pressed, and perpetrators went free. This inaction encouraged
a repeat of the ‘heroics’, which was done with impunity. One may
argue, as does Shaun Gregory, that the Muslim majority and non-Muslim
minorities are two components of the Pakistani polity with different
rights as well as obligations — the status of the people in the
minorities is markedly different from those hailing from the majority. To counter that
widely-held impression, Pakistani State and society will both have to
initiate a process whereby the minorities are integrated well as a part of
its citizenry. The works of Francis
Nadeem, Joshua Fazal Din, Peter Jacob, Michael Nazir Ali and Patrick
Sookhdeo provide an insight into Pakistan’s history which has been
largely ignored. It, therefore, seems necessary to highlight the
contributions of the Christian community for which we have to peep into
the past. Punjab’s Christians
first espoused the All-India Muslim League’s political struggle in 1928
when Christian leader L. Ellia Ram boycotted the All-Parties Conference
called by Moti Lal Nehru, as did the League. The Lahore Resolution of
March 1940 became a benchmark of the cordiality that Christians extended
towards the Muslim League. According to Chaudhry
Chandu Lal, thousands of Christians participated in the Muslim League’s
annual meeting. Unlike Christians in Bombay, Goa and Madras, those in the
Punjab lent unequivocal support to the cause of the Muslim League.
Important among such Christian leaders were S.P. Singha, C.E. Gibbon, R.A.
Gomes, S.S. Albert, Fazal Ilahi, Alfred Prashad, F.E. Chaudhry and Raj
Kumari Amrit Kaur. In the elections of
1945-46, three Christians were elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly
who subsequently voted for Pakistan. Father J. Saldanha considered this if
not ‘decisive’, at least ‘a small sincere contribution’ on the
part of the Christians. Their leaders recorded their statements before the
Punjab Boundary Commission and requested that “the Christian population
may be counted as part of Pakistan”. Just after partition, on
Aug 17, 1947, a church in Karachi held a thanksgiving service for the
creation of Pakistan in which, Christian sources assert, Quaid-i-Azam also
participated. At the outset, Pakistan
faced severe dislocation arising from partition. 7.5 million refugees came
to Pakistan. Majority of them were consigned to refugee camps in Lahore
and other points where food and shelter were inadequate. The monsoon had
also set in, giving rise to epidemics. Many contracted cholera. In dire
circumstances, Christians came to their help. In 1947, about 70 to 75 per
cent of the paramedical staff in the hospitals was Christians. They looked
after the ailing and injured refugees. While shedding light on
the contribution of the Christians in helping out migrants, Victor Azriah
says, “Its classical example stays alive in our history when the Hostel
of F.C. College, which was closed at that time, had been converted into
full-fledged hospital known as United Christian Hospital.” Furthermore,
Christian educational institutions provided shelter to many refugees in
the wake of mass migration in 1947. In 1951, the provincial
elections for the Punjab Assembly were held, and the Christians were
well-represented. The faction of the Muslim League that won the elections
included three Christian members of the provincial assembly — B.L.
Rallia Ram, Fazl Illahi and S.P. Singha. Chaudhry Chandu Lal was elected
Deputy Speaker. Despite the nascent
process of marginalisation of the Christian minority, their influence was
still palpable. When in 1952, seven Christians were burnt alive in Matta
village, the accused was prosecuted and justice was dispensed. But, it was
not to last long enough. Things gradually started to change. The recent
incident in Pashawar was ‘the unkindest cut of all’. Ayub Khan’s era was
marred with the first atrocity against the Christian minority. The gory
incident took place in Martinabad village in Sheikhupura District, when
blasphemous remarks were found chalked out on a school’s boundary wall.
As a consequence, the Muslims of the neighbouring 14 villages raided the
Christian villages Youngsonabad and Martinabad. Christians of the area
tried to plead their innocence, but their requests fell on deaf ears. An
attack was launched, but under the command of Youngsonabad’s Chaudhry
Diljit Lal, it was successfully thwarted. Eventually the tension was
dispelled by police from Nankana Sahib. It was consequent to
Ziaul Haq’s policy of Islamisation, hinged on such exclusionary measures
like Blasphemy Law (in 1982 and 1986), that subsequently put the Christian
community in jeopardy. That law gave a plausible pretext to the religious
zealots to deploy it against Christians and other minority groups. The
number of incidents of collective violence against Christians was
witnessed in utter disregard to the legal process during the last 20 years
or so. The Shantinagar tragedy
in the Khanewal district provides an illustration of excesses against
Christians. In April 1997, in the Tibba Colony, there was an
unsubstantiated claim that a Quran was burnt. Thirteen churches and 1,500
houses were burnt down as a result. Furthermore, in November 2005 in
Sangla Hill, District Sheikhupura, Yousaf Masih was accused of burning
pages of the Holy Quran and more violence ensued: three churches, a
convent, a girl’s hostel, a school and a priest’s home were set ablaze
by a mob of between 1,000 and 2,000. The pattern persisted: in Chungi Amar
Sadhu, Lahore, Yunus Masih was charged with blasphemy in September 2005.
He was beaten by a gang with billiards cues. In 2009, in Bahmniwala
village, nearly 110 Christian families (about 700 people) were forced to
leave their homes by a gang alleging that Christians showed disrespect
towards the Prophet. Houses of eight Christians were set ablaze. In Gojra,
nine Christians were killed and their houses ransacked. Despite all this
barbarity, there is hardly any plan or policy being devised by the State
to ensure safety of the minorities, what to talk of their integration into
Pakistani society irrespective of any discrimination. The writer is a noted Pakistani historian, currently the Iqbal Fellow at the University of Cambridge as professor in the Centre of South Asian Studies
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y is
a proxy for market thickness. Dense proximity of a diverse pool of skills
provides agglomeration benefits: drives agglomeration economies that are a
defining feature of cities — transport, infrastructure, amenities —
also bear on these economies. Density also affects unit cost of investment
— fixed facility costs or higher mean travel cost to facility.
Low-density areas may be too small to support competition in product and
service markets, leading to capture by local monopolies.
