Impact

The "Ganwaar" Politicians By Jyoti Malhotra

2011-09-02T17:02:00.000+05:00

In this season of parliamentary discontent in Delhi, take a listen to what the new heroes of the land — civil society activists and, may I have the courage to add, Bollywood heroes — have to say about elected members of parliament. They are “anparh” (illiterate), “ganwaar” (rustic) and have “looted” the country.

Anna Hazare, the self-professed Gandhian, has watched from the enormous stage that has been his world for the last 11 days, reclining on his white pillows and mattress, with an enormous portrait of Gandhi as his backdrop. Now it seems there’s even a statue of Hazare in the back rooms, perhaps in anticipation of sainthood being conferred on him. It’s a marvellous ad campaign, to be sure.

But back to the newfound praise for our parliamentarians from these activists, even Om Puri, whose brilliant cinematic renditions of stories from a poverty-stricken country will remain forever etched in our memory, couldn’t help himself. He, too, fell for the middle-class syndrome that best defines itself with the following phrase: Indira Gandhi was right to impose the Emergency in the mid-1970s because at least the trains ran on time!

This reminds me of the people’s outpouring in favour of army chief general Pervez Musharraf when he mounted his coup against Nawaz Sharif in 1999. Pakistanis, it was said, were so fed up with the grease on which every layer of their nation was being built that they welcomed a man who promised to wipe it clean. At the time, it didn’t matter that he was in uniform.

Make no mistake, the Anna Hazare campaign is predominantly a creation of the television media, which has forced parliament on its knees. Irom Sharmila, a Manipuri woman, who has been on hunger strike these past 11 years against the army’s presence in her native Manipur — she is being force-fed through a tube and divides her time between the hospital and home — is largely ignored by this same media, largely because she hasn’t encapsulated her message in stronger and simpler terms.

Television likes it black and white, at least in India, and you have to understand the power of its simplicity. So when Anna Hazare intelligently tapped into the enormous resentment and anger against a system that Indians know leaks from every sieve, and he couched it into a so-called ‘Gandhian’ struggle against the political class, it was a tailor-made campaign for TV.

Everyone knows that corruption touches our political masters too. Phrases like ‘horse-trading’ abound each time there’s a political crisis in any part of the country. When you hear stories of elected representatives being ‘sold’ for a mere Rs250 million as in Karnataka recently, or the sight of millions of rupees — with the image of Gandhi flagrantly visible on TV — then the shudder courses through all our beings.

But what about epithets like ‘ganwaar’ and ‘anparh’ that the civil society has painted the entire political class with? Fact is, just because I’m literate didn’t make me less corrupt. In fact, one of the reasons the constitution has stood the test of time is because the illiterate and the rustic have contributed beyond measure to building our nation — and they may or may not be corrupt.

Anna Hazare’s greatest contribution has been to put the issue of corruption, back and front and centre. It is his if-you’re-not-with-me-you’re-against-me campaign that smacks of George Bush.

In India, that will increasingly provoke a guffaw. And laughter, as we all know, is the deadliest weapon.

Building a New Civil Society By Yaqoob Khan Bangash

2011-09-02T16:57:00.000+05:00

These days we are constantly lamenting the fact that our government is falling apart fast. The law and order situation in the country is deteriorating daily, there is no electricity, clean water, etc. While it is apt that we try to focus and help rectify the problems of governance, we also need to focus on building up a strong civil society. It is perhaps even more important now to have strong, organised and very local level civil society organisations so we can weather this storm.

Pakistan has always had a very weak civil society and a great dearth of civil society organisations. Gauging by the number of registered NGO’s, Pakistan has about 12,000 to 15,000, while India has over three million — we have a few very good organisations, but we need a lot more of them.

When I was a child living in Lahore, we used to know our neighbours. Nearly every evening, a lot of the people from the area used to go walking in a nearby park and as a result chatted with each other and knew about each other’s problems and issues. Now, I only know one family on the street, and even when their house was burgled a year ago, no one had a clue about it for days. This lack of contact, hence interest and concern, within even small localities is adding to the deterioration of the social fabric of the country. This aspect is also adversely affecting our security. Again, when I was a child, the local community had arranged for a night watchman to go around the whole area (of about 50 houses), blowing a whistle. While this was not the best of ways to prevent theft, it was a local community-led initiative and did indeed work for its time. Now, even that level of organisation in the civil society is absent.

This is the time for Pakistan’s civil society to mobilise drastically and organise at the local level — and here, I am not only taking about NGOs but also local level ad hoc organisations and committees.

In 1961, Rushbrook Williams, a former member of the Indian Civil Service and then a fellow of All Souls, Oxford College, wrote a glowing book on Pakistan. The premise of the book was the Basic Democracy model of Ayub Khan. Excepting the obvious motives of the dictator of the time, what was distinctive about the idea was that it organised people at a very local level. Professor Williams extensively toured East and West Pakistan, and saw, in both wings, people involved in development projects at the very local level. Organisation at the ward level was key to making things happen and getting people involved. We need to follow such a plan, but now outside the ambit of the political system — it must be civil society led.

Countries in the West have only developed after strong civil society organisations have filled the gap left by government agencies, which is inevitable in almost every country. For example, in the United Kingdom, there is a very good network of local primary schools, mainly sponsored by the local parish church with primarily parent residents of the area on its board. So while the state provides good secondary and tertiary education, the local community has a significant role at the primary formative level. Similarly, neighbourhood watch committees are very active in most of the UK, providing very ground level support to the government agencies in law enforcement.

In Pakistan, our usual refrain is that the government has failed us and, therefore, anarchy must ensue. While the government is indeed unable to fulfil its very basic roles, we must not forget that there is a very strong role that we as citizens can also play. Almost every aspect of civil life is deteriorating, but rather than becoming despondent, we need to see this as an opportunity to build and strengthen our civil society organisations and networks.

Is Pakistan Suffering from Too Much Democracy? By Jonathan P. Middleton

2011-09-02T16:51:00.000+05:00

Out of a fiery and war-torn haze, a new zeitgeist in Libya will rise with tomorrow’s dawn, a future many hope will be one of a functioning democracy. As we see Karachi ablaze, with over a hundred people killed in a week, people are asking, will Pakistan ever escape its own haze and become a functioning democracy? But is that the most important question to ask?

Commentators expend considerable time asking whether Pakistan is ungovernable and, increasingly, the answers appear skeptical. LUMS professor, Mohammad Waseem, has called the situation symptomatic of the institutional weaknesses within the Pakistani state. Some time ago, Medha Bisht, writing for the Kashmir Sentinel, posed the same problems when asking is “Pakistan collapsing?”

The frames used for analysis invariably involve economic factors, foreign intervention, the ‘Three As’ (Allah, America and the Army), colonialism and elitism. The list could go on ad nauseam. These are important, but another way of looking at the recent disturbances in Pakistan is to consider if Pakistan actually has too much democracy rather than a dearth of it.

The thought that a state can have too much democracy appears antithetical to the ideals of freedom and rationality. The reason the question is worth asking is because it allows us to see events in Karachi and elsewhere in another light. Theorists and social commentators often compound two separate but linked ideas about democracy. On the one hand lies what might be called ‘democracy from below’. This can be seen in the more immeasurable ‘feelings’ of democracy. It can take the form of, for example, people understanding the role they play in the decision-making process. Alternatively, it could take the shape of forming groups, civil society in a de Tocqueville an sense, in an attempt to influence the world around them. On the other hand sits what we might call the institutions of democracy, such as parties and elections. What it takes for a successful democracy is the linking of both these forms. However, when they fail to link up and one becomes too powerful for the other, democracy can be weakened.

Pakistan, especially in urban areas, does not seem to have a problem with civic organisations. Political activism is evident on its streets even if you look beyond the activities of local and national political parties. On one end of the spectrum are the numerous religious organisations which are present all over Pakistan. The work of the Edhi foundation, for example, is clearly inspired by the faith of Abdul Sattar Edhi. Such organisations represent sites of microprocesses of democracy. They are where for the majority of the population politics becomes a verb and political action takes place. They may not be democracy with a capital ‘D’ as we usually accept it, but they are democratic with a small ‘d’ in how they encourage public participation in politics. On another end of the spectrum are organisations like Kuch Khaas in Islamabad. Those sitting in the cafe in Kuch Khaas may seem a world away from the ambulance runners of the Edhi organisation and, in many ways, they are. However, both represent the strength of public participation in Pakistan, a healthy sign of the democratic process.

The problem arises because this world of small ‘d’ democracy and that of capital ‘D’ democracy fail to line up in Pakistan. Far too often, local political parties and national parties have failed to represent the people. This leaves a disconnect between what is happening at the local and national arenas, and results in growing frustration in those at the bottom of society. Because the avenues for public participation are limited due to the infrastructural weaknesses of Pakistani democracy, local participation often spills out of the formal avenues of activism and onto the streets.

Thus, what could be contained and channeled if the systems were in place takes the form of unruly activism. The question is not whether Pakistan can function as a democracy. It already does, although an imperfect one. The question is whether it has too much democracy for the institutional systems it has in place. To this the answer is clearly yes. Re-engaging the politics of the street with the politics of the state may not solve all of Pakistan’s problems, but it would be a start.

Flaws in US Perception of Pakistan's "Democracy" by Syed Mustufa Kamal

2011-07-16T13:52:00.000+05:00

In the past five years, time and again, the armed forces of Pakistan and the US administration have both said that they are committed to supporting democracy in Pakistan. And, according to them, the current regime and the political system in Pakistan does fulfil democratic norms. In order to support and encourage the current so-called democratic system, the US has provided $1 billion over and above the $1.5 billion that is to be given to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Bill (of course, this is notwithstanding the current suspension of $800 million in military aid).

A rationale for releasing this aid is that the US president has to certify every year that all the attributes of democracy exist in Pakistan. One should not have any doubt about the good intentions of both the Pakistani establishment and the US administration for democracy in Pakistan, but allow me to differ very respectfully from the concept of democracy which the US has about Pakistan.

Democracy in Pakistan is not of the people, by the people or for the people. On the contrary, it has been dominated for the last 63 years by 35-40 feudal families, big landowners and industrialist families. Pakistan’s political parties are mostly dynastic in nature and only family members make it to parliament, or become ministers or attain the post of prime minister. And, in most cases, the situation of ordinary people in their constituencies does not change for the better.

Mr Altaf Hussain (founder and leader of the party that I am a member of) calls this a game of musical chairs, and argues that this should not be mistaken for democracy. This rotten and corrupt political system will again cultivate dictatorship in the country, so much so that people will get tired of it and welcome any change, even if it is unconstitutional. The US seems to be happy with what is clearly a shallow and unreformed democracy in Pakistan.

Can the honourable US President Barack Hussein Obama imagine cities being run without any elected local government in his democratic country? Can he imagine his democratic country having rulers who take billions from banks and don’t ever return the money, and yet claim to be loyal leaders of the people?

Can he ask the rulers of so-called democratic Pakistan whether they know anything about the problems faced by the general public regarding the delivery and provision of basic services and civic facilities? Or how so-called democratic rulers have allowed the holding of elections in some parts of the country where women, by agreement of all main political parties in that area, are forbidden from casting their votes? Can Mr Obama imagine a federal government that does not delegate its powers and authority to the states or local counties/districts in a democratic country?

As for the military, General Kayani’s efforts to restore democracy and support the current regime for the last three-plus years is well-known. However, the current military leadership is not going to last forever. The circumstances that Pakistan presently finds itself in could give rise to a situation where the military may have no choice but to intervene. And, assuming that the intervention takes place, what if the military general has a mindset and ambitions like General Zia? One can only imagine the impact that this would have on Pakistan and on the world.

To prevent this from happening, we need to listen to what Mr Altaf Hussain is saying, in particular his call for the abolition of feudalism through drastic land reforms in Pakistan and a system where ordinary Pakistanis can hope to be elected to parliament. Complete autonomy should be given to the provinces without any interference from the federal government, and each province should have full rights to its wealth and full financial and administrative powers. This system should also be put in place in Fata.

Corruption Inc. By Mehreen Khan

2011-07-16T12:59:00.000+05:00

Corruption, over the past three years, has reportedly reached a figure which defies hyperbole. Transparency International estimates that Rs3 trillion has been bled out of the economy by the Zardari-Gilani government. It seems such a fantastic number, almost too large to even comprehend. Yet this news story did not even make the front pages, indicative of a society now inured to dishonesty and wrongdoing.

Irrespective of whether the figure is correct or not, it is instructive to examine how societal values became so degraded that such a news story provokes not even a functional denial from the government nor a whimper from civil society. The current government, led by the PPP and in which several friends of the president have high posts, knows that no matter how much the media bleat on about graft and financial scandals, it does not matter one bit because the public remains unmoved and no entity has the ability, the courage or the resources to take action. The chief justice and the Supreme Court, despite their huffing and puffing, have been unable to blow the house down on corruption, cronyism and abuse of power. Opposition parties, including Nawaz Sharif’s, also tarnished by sleaze, disingenuously use corruption as a stick to beat the government with. Yet they have no desire for any substantive change in the system, of which they themselves aspire to be beneficiaries when ‘their turn’ arrives.

How did our society become so tolerant of such blatantly corrupt practices? Was it always like this? You ask the elders of society and they narrate that in the 1950s and 1960s making a living was hard. The new nation was beset with millions starting new lives, a nascent economy and negligible infrastructure or industry. Unemployment was very high. Young men were desperate for jobs. People preferred to eat only two meals a day but would not countenance running a household on the proceeds of crime or corruption.

Yet such solid values, the fundamental creed that you live on what little you have but you never steal or cheat to get ahead, seem almost apocryphal now. Instead, we live under a system where people are let off for wrongdoing because of their family ties, their baradari, their connections. The lack of consequences for wrongdoing permeates every sphere of our lives. There are no legal consequences for breaking the law and there is no social disgrace for being corrupt. In fact, being corrupt is socially acceptable, even as an aspiration to becoming wealthy quickly, by any means necessary. It is seen as an achievement, an acceptable route for success, of gaining social status, worthy of emulation, even envy.

All of us collude and contribute to this erosion of basic truths. Corruption is unethical, dishonest and immoral. Period. Justifying bribery as ‘understandable’ in some cases, such as policemen or public servants, whose salaries are a pittance, is a travesty against those who eke out an existence on that very pittance, making do and supporting families until old age. There are tens of millions of such people, office workers, junior grade public servants, ordinary folk who support their entire families on the same salaries that others use as an excuse to indulge in blatant bribery and dishonesty.

Those who accept and advance such mitigations for corrupt practices have corroded the precepts of right and wrong in our society. They are responsible for inculcating dishonesty as a socially acceptable way of life. Excusing bribery, corruption and crime on the basis of economic need is an insidious disservice to everyone, especially those it claims to empathise with. It has culminated in a society where the rule of law is just a silly rumour and a government which is unashamedly scaling the heights of sleaze. The ruling party now seems to practice corruption as a valid aspect of governance, a privilege of power, a right since it is in power. The result is ‘Corruption Inc.’, a publicly-owned company, which we bought shares in the day we failed to challenge our fathers, uncles and friends for living on the proceeds of dishonesty and deceit.

Education - Doing The Doable by Marvi Memon

2011-07-16T12:53:00.000+05:00

To reform Pakistan requires will, ability and direction. However complicated the issues, without the above-mentioned components any reforms will be a non-starter. The reason one has been suggesting that the current dispensation step down is because the country’s exchequer is not infinite and the patience of our suffering millions is not boundless. Those who don’t spend their time in drawing-room analysis but on the streets of Pakistan will know that the ground reality is that chaos reigns supreme and there seems to be little semblance of the government’s writ.

It is imperative that we develop an alternative government plan, with a clear policy consensus developed for each key area, in order to have some direction before the next elections. To date, no policy discussion by the current political leadership has taken place on such matters. Frankly, most Pakistanis who understand the objectives of the current political leadership also accept that those who are part of it simply do not have what it takes to carry out any meaningful reform. It is for this reason that those eager to be part of the reform team for Pakistan must join hands now, so that by the time elections come around, solutions can be provided to the electorate. The agenda for political alliances must be based on clearly defined policies so that no compromises on principles are made at any later stage.

The foremost task is to set some goalposts for each of these key policy areas. Since education is the most critical fuel for a knowledge-based economy, we need to develop a ‘new deal’ on it. This is the need of the hour because long-term growth will not be possible, no poverty reduction strategy will succeed and no development will occur unless literacy levels are high.

The following list of recommendations might seem basic to some cynics, but these measures have not been taken by any government:

1) With the consensus of the provinces, unify the system of schooling, syllabus, curriculum and examination. This should also apply to degree-awarding institutions for various levels of higher education.

2) Establish a basic minimum standard for a school’s premises/infrastructure and teaching staff. Penalise those who have acquired posts in education administration through nepotism and connections.

3) Undertake mapping of all existing schools in every district of the country so that a ‘gap analysis’ can be carried out on deficiencies. This should include the identification of all ghost schools and absentee teachers. This can rectify shortcomings, which should be done on a war footing by according it the highest policy/implementation priority.

4) Accomplish the linking of education with the general public, through employment generation. Some kind of mechanism should be set up so that the demand for various kinds of degrees in the job market vis-à-vis demands from employers is coordinated with what our universities and colleges are teaching.

5) Secondary education should be made mandatory before social security benefits from the state can be received.

6) A link should be established between research in agriculture and improvements in the agriculture sector.

7) Vocational training should be encouraged so that labour productivity is enhanced.

8) Women, minorities and ethnic groups should be given equal opportunities to education.

9) Centres of excellence should be set up and promoted, with links to international institutions.

10) Funding for education should also be found from international sources and this should be linked to the academic performance of the respective institution.

This list is not based on any drawing-room analysis. It is based on travelling in the field, talking to teachers and lecturers and other educational staff, the National Commission for Human Development employees and so on. The condition of our schools is terrible and this decay in our education sector is having a negative impact on society. The above is doable but it requires immediate focus and the will to do it.

Money For Nothing & Cheque For Free by MIranda Hussain

2011-07-16T12:37:00.000+05:00

Could it be that Pakistan has finally been written off as a bad investment by the US, the country’s largest financial benefactor? Or that Washington’s attention has simply moved on? Much of the musings in recent days has surmised that while Pakistan-US ties have plunged into the trust deficit abyss, both sides somewhat reluctantly recognize their mutual dependence in fighting terror. But this may just be wishful thinking.

Washington is suspending its annual military aid to Pakistan by a third, due to concerns about the latter’s dubious cooperation record on the anti-terror front. And to be sure, American grievances are not without substance. Osama bin Laden was infamously found holed up in Pakistan. Soon after, US officials alleged that intelligence-sharing with Pakistan resulted in terrorists at bomb-making factories being tipped off before any strikes were made.

Thus far, the US State Department has made moves to assure Islamabad that civilian assistance will continue, yet how long this will hold is anyone’s guess. Admiral Mike Mullen has said — without elaboration — that the Pakistani government “sanctioned” the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. It is unlikely that the top American military officer could issue such on-record comments without a green light from Washington.

Unfortunately, this seems lost on the Pakistani civilian leadership, which appears to be outsourcing responsibility to keep the dollars flowing. The ISI chief was dispatched this week to Washington to meet the interim CIA director. At the same time, General Petreaus, who is set to take over the CIA, was in Pakistan to meet the army chief.

Yet none of this may actually mean much. The US has demonstrated that it does not need Pakistan’s cooperation in taking out high-level al Qaeda operatives based in its territory, as underscored by the Osama bin Laden raid. This will likely prove equally true when it comes to the new al Qaeda chief, Ayman alZawahri, whom the US believes is in North Waziristan. The Pakistan Army has refused to go into that tribal area, opting instead for Kurram Agency. Thus, from the US perspective, if it is doing all the heavy lifting, what need is there to pay Pakistan for a deal not done?

The most significant indication of the American take on the bilateral relationship has come from Leon Panetta, the former CIA director, who is now defence secretary. True, he may have sounded like a broken record when, in Kabul, he yet again declared that the US was in reach of “strategically defeating al Qaeda”. However, this time a new verse was mixed into the long play. The greater threat to the US, he said, hailed from Yemen and going after these targets was one of Washington’s top priorities.

The US first launched a covert drone programme in Yemen in December 2009. US sources credited nearly a decade of intelligence gathering in Pakistan, making the task in Yemen that bit less daunting. Indeed, it could be said that the Pakistan foray has proved a constructive learning curve in other ways too. Like Pakistan, Yemen has also been accused of diverting US military hardware, as well as a US-trained counterterrorism unit, from the fight against al Qaeda. And like Pakistan, the Yemeni president agreed to CIA drone strikes, while publicly lying to his people about the programme’s existence.

Panetta has also singled out Somalia as a target for taking out al Qaeda. Local militant group, al Shahab, which the US considers a terrorist organisation, has aligned itself with al Qaeda elements in the country. It is also believed to be sheltering the masterminds of the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. But while it remains to be seen whether Yemen and Somalia will become the new AfPak, one thing is clear. Islamabad has failed to recognise the dwindling currency of its geostrategic importance to the US. It has also spectacularly failed to learn from past lessons; when this happens, the dollars almost immediately dry up.

Impact: Evolution Rather than Revolution by Ahmed Mughees

2011-07-14T14:08:00.000+05:00

Impact: Evolution Rather than Revolution by Ahmed Mughees: "It has rather become a custom, a fashion to proffer quixotic solutions like a sudden political putsch, or some sort of knee-jerk change as..."

Evolution Rather than Revolution by Ahmed Mughees

2011-07-14T14:07:00.000+05:00

It has rather become a custom, a fashion to proffer quixotic solutions like a sudden political putsch, or some sort of knee-jerk change as a viable solution to otherwise extremely intricate problems occupying our national matrix.

This approach is simplistic and the result of a well-intentioned but misplaced hopefulness, a sort of self-deceptive naivety. Before making such statements what we all should ponder is whether an abrupt change is the real solution to the multifaceted problems we as a nation face. Will sudden replacement of the present setup usher in a new era of prosperity overnight? Will that become the panacea for all the ills plaguing our national fabric?

The air is filled with much talk of revolution. For saner minds, a more pragmatic assessment reveals that all idealism and yearning for a change aside, political maturity and national stability come through a prolonged and sustained democratic process. Democracies are never perfect. They will never be. But we as a nation have to show some patience and let this process evolve into a self - sustaining and self perpetuating mechanism in which the common man, in the long vistas of time, will wield real power, the power to cast his vote according to the call of his conscience at the right time.

Some media hawks and overzealous political whiz-kids, inspired by recent uprisings in the Middle East are demanding a change on the same patterns. It is juvenile to say the least. Pakistan is not Tunisia, neither is it Egypt. We have an elected government, an elected parliament, an independent media, and an active judiciary. We can air our grievances openly, we can vent our spleen without any fear, we can criticise any wrongdoing and we can take our pleas to the judiciary.

We have a lot of room to breathe, whereas in Middle Eastern countries the suffocating despotism sparked violent unrests. In those countries, long-entrenched potentates had suppressed their people so much and for so long that people had no choice but to rise up. We need not travel down the same road. It leads to mayhem and bloodshed. We already have our plate of national challenges full, we need not bring more issues on to it. So what is the way forward? Should we keep whining and grousing?

What are our options? Our options are very much clear. Soon we will have new elections. This is going to be the second time that an elected government is going to fulfil its mandated tenure. It will go down as seminal achievement in the democratic history of Pakistan and will help the tradition of democracy in taking root.

In our quest for long-term stability, we should support this peaceful and regular process instead of standing up for some unknown, irregular and spasmodic changes. History has witnessed even vanguard revolutionaries being hoisted on their own petard by the disruptive masses. For us the solution lies in the evolution of the democratic setup and not in some sort of revolution whose ramifications are invariably unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Education Needs Political Will by M. Saleem Ansari

2011-07-14T14:05:00.002+05:00

The recent allocations for education in the budget for 2011-2012 of Sindh (Rs26.80 billion) and Punjab (Rs64 billion) have shown an increase in the education sector. It shows a rise of 15 per cent in Sindh. However, the fact is that education, despite being on the top priority of each government, practically has not been seen in deprived and wanted areas. Progress is being made but at snail’s pace. So we remain in the position of mark time.

This status quo, though, has never been compromised by the people at the helm of affairs and that is why education, despite its slow progress, always remains a top priority. As a vibrant nation, we are alive to a low literacy rate in the country. In every subsequent annual budget, therefore, an increase in the allocation of education sector is reflected.

Unfortunately, owing to the telling factors from time to time in the country, the education budget could seldom be utilised in full. The other factor is that poverty in the country has continued unabated over many decades, therefore the parents, mostly illiterate ones, prefer their children to start doing menial jobs instead of sending them to schools.

Education for all is good, but now the time has come for schools to disseminate quality education. Media and computer in unison have immensely given a great boost to information and knowledge, now easily accessible to many in the country. In the teaching and learning process new thoughts, approaches and attitudes are being developed rapidly every now and then. Schools can occupy an important place, leading to the spontaneous growth and prosperity of a country if curriculum, textbooks and teaching methodologies are up to date.

Quality schooling for the young ones is essential to create an understanding of the country’s real problems, filtering the process for betterment. Different segments of society are coming forward in the propagation of education, and some of the chains of reputed educational organisations have set a praiseworthy standard for quality education.

It is pertinent that the HEC, provincial education departments, universities and boards should monitor education activities in the country with the latest techniques and tools. Education needs priority at all times.

New Province in Sindh? By Haris Tohid

2011-07-14T13:01:00.002+05:00

Within a few hours on Sunday, graffiti appeared in different parts of Karachi in favour of a Mohajir province. Mobile phones bleeped as sms messages started to announce the holding of a protest near Orangi town to demand a separate province for Mohajirs, the Urdu-speaking community. With the country already in a domestic and international crisis, it is a highly inappropriate time to demand a separate province.

The development could possibly mean that the residents of Sindh should brace for a political showdown on the ethnic battlefield between the two top political stakeholders in the province, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. This is not the first time that there have been calls for a separate province. The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 was immediately followed up by calls for a “Sindhu Desh” in Sindh, but the cause never gained momentum.

Leaders of the MQM accuse Sindhis of refusing to accept the Mohajirs who arrived from India after 1947, and not letting the immigrants assimilate with the local population. Sindhis rubbish this accusation by saying that, of all regions of what is now Pakistan, only the residents of Sindh who welcomed the new arrivals with open arms. It is as if those who sprayed Karachi’s walls with graffiti to demand the separate province believed the recent killings in Orangi, in the northern outskirts of the city, were aimed at exterminating the Urdu-speaking community in the city.

Advocates of a new province accuse the law enforcers of apathy in the pursuit of the armed elements who carried out the killings, and say this alleged reluctance is a sign of some deep-seated grudge against Urdu speakers. However, the MQM is against the division of Sindh, although it does favour formation of new provinces in other parts of the country. The PPP and Sindhi nationalist parties are also against the idea of splitting the province. So who could be behind this idea? Is it the “third element” that Interior Minister Rehman Malik talks about so often?

Great! Punjab for Punjabis, Sindh for Sindhis, Balochistan for Baloch, Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa for Pakhtuns and “Mohajirabad” for Mohajirs, or whatever the name chosen for that new province. But those who demand the creation of new provinces in Pakistan on the basis of ethnicity forget that, regardless of their respective ethnicities, the people of all parts of the country share a common culture and history.

Despite a sense of alienation that some Mohajirs from different parts of India might have in Karachi, they have far stronger bonds with Pakistan now than they have with the country of their ancestors. This is natural, because most Mohajirs are second- or even third-generation Pakistanis.

Let us assume that this is a demand that is worthy of consideration. But then the aspect of demographics comes in, and unless that critical element is taken into consideration, the demand would at best be a non-serious one. In addition, no discussion of Karachi’s demographics can be complete until it involves the city’s steady ruralisation, especially in the last three-and-a-half decades. Ever since independence there has been an influx from all part of Pakistan of rural poor seeking work in the country’s industrial and commercial hub. The same applies to Sindh’s other urban centres, which also have large Mohajir populations.

A population census is now overdue. But according to estimates the population of Karachi is around 18 million. Of the major ethnicities populating this microcosm of Pakistan, Pakhtuns are three million, Bengalis two million and Sindhis one million. The bulk of the rest of its population are Mohajirs, who are an estimated six million.

Since 1988 the MQM (then named Mohajir Qaumi Movement) has made an impressive showing in Sindh Assembly elections and local bodies polls in Karachi and in Sindh’s other urban centres. On that basis it claims the right to rule and represent Karachi and urban Sindh. Devolution of ministries took place after the promulgation of the 18th Amendment, but the implementation of measures related to devolution seems to be faltering, especially in Karachi’s case.

Karachi, being more than one-third the population of the whole province, must have its own police force, composed mostly of those settled in Karachi. This could prove to be the most effective measure for the improvement of the law and order situation. A policeman with a local background is likely to be more effective against crime and violence than one with his roots elsewhere in the country.

As for the latest bout of violence in Karachi, it is strange that the two largest political forces in Sindh decided to make things even worse for residents by their actions. The leaderships of the PPP and the MQM must keep the precarious situation of the country in mind before taking rash decisions.

The Right to Information by Zahid Abdullah

2011-07-14T13:00:00.000+05:00

If only good intentions could be translated into concrete actions, the functioning of the Punjab government would be more open and transparent and its bureaucrats and public bodies would be much more accountable to the people of Pakistan.

As the cliché goes, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. This is so true and applicable in the case of Punjab. The Punjab chief minister has repeatedly given expression to his good intentions and has made tall claims about good governance. However, in the absence of a provincial right to information law through which citizens could verify these claims by having access to documents pertaining to the functioning of the provincial government and the way public funds are being utilised, these claims lack legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

As a result of the persistent efforts of concerned citizens, the Punjab government has done some work in the shape of a draft law — the Punjab Freedom of Information Act 2010. However, the Punjab government is dilly-dallying on the issue of turning this draft into law by putting it up in the provincial assembly for approval. What are the provincial government and bureaucracy afraid of? Are they afraid of citizens coming to know how much funds are siphoned off from development schemes? Are they afraid of light being shed on files containing incidents of maladministration? Are they afraid of irrefutable documentary evidence coming to the fore showing how the luxurious lifestyle of the ruling elite and their cronies is supported by citizens of the province, financed by taxes paid through the nose?

There are many instances of such grandiose lifestyles but the scarcity of space warrants just one example: spend just one night in any ‘rest house’ and see how the ostentatious lifestyle of the provincial rulers, their wives, offspring, siblings, relatives and cronies is being subsidised by the poor of the province. On a tangent, our civil, military and political elite has built these rest houses where they ‘rest’ when they are tired of (mis)ruling us, where they are fed at the expense of the poor. Their energies thus revitalised, they start (mis)ruling us with a vengeance. This is why laws pertaining to the right to information are important as they provide us evidence about the deeds of elected and public representatives — evidence that is strong enough to withstand the rigours of any court of law.

Power and information are intrinsically linked. The greater hold on information and its resources means a greater level of emasculation of power and secrecy in the way it is wielded. In other words, the democratisation of information or free flow of information in the public domain results in the sharing of power and knowledge about the way it is exercised. That is why ruling elites everywhere in the world have resisted the enactment of the right to information laws.

In this backdrop, flimsy as it may sound, the excuse offered by Rana Sanaullah, the provincial law minister, for not enacting Punjab’s right to information law is hardly surprising. At a seminar held in Islamabad some time ago, he told the audience that the Punjab government is awaiting the enactment of a federal information law so that the provincial information law could be enacted in line with the spirit of the federal law. Is the Punjab government incapable of enacting an effective right to information law for its 100 million citizens? Now that Article 19A has been inserted in the constitution, the right to information is a constitutional right of the citizens of Pakistan. Instead of offering lame excuses, the Punjab government should enact a right to information law which can serve as a role model for other provinces as well as the federal government. In this regard, the draft freedom of information law can be a good starting point. In its title, it should be referred to as the Punjab Right to Information Act and not as the Punjab Freedom of Information Act as is presently the case. Furthermore, the preamble should specifically mention that it is the constitutional right of the people. The draft law restricts access to information to the residents of the province whereas it should give access to all citizens of Pakistan. As it stands at the moment, only residents of Punjab can have access to information. Furthermore, its scope needs to be broadened and NGOs should also be brought within the purview of the law.

In India, the right to information law is being used as an anti-corruption tool. Ordinary citizens submit information requests to get things done for which they had to bribe public officials prior to the enactment of the law. For example, people have submitted information requests demanding access to certified information pertaining to steps taken on their applications regarding pensions, gas/electricity meters, passports etc.

Using the right to information law, a poor woman sought certified information about the steps taken on arresting the murderer of her husband, which gave impetus to the investigation efforts. Now that the people of Pakistan have the constitutional right to have this anti-corruption tool, the federal and provincial governments are duty-bound to legislate on this issue.

The challenge for our federal and provincial governments is to enact effective and powerful right to information laws, just as in India, if they are serious about eradicating corruption and improving service delivery of public bodies.

Crisis in Pakistan

2011-07-12T20:40:00.000+05:00

Pakistan is experiencing a major existential crisis. But crises are mixed blessings which can lead to regression or progression. They can cause a breakdown or become a fertile ground for a breakthrough. Some Pakistanis are worried that Pakistan, like Iraq, is heading towards a civil war where thousands of innocent men, women and children will be killed because of the violent confrontation between different ethnic and religious groups. It is so sad that, even in the 21st century, millions of innocent Pakistanis are caught between religious fundamentalism and Western imperialism while the Pakistani military and government are unable to provide safety and security to their citizens. Since September 11, 2001, Pakistanis have been pushed into international religious, economic and political wars. In the eyes of many foreign powers Pakistan, a nuclear power, has become a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any time.

Many Pakistanis are concerned that over the next few years their mother land might again be divided into religious and secular states similar to the events in 1971, when East Pakistan became Bangladesh. “Can Pakistan survive?” has become once more, a million dollar question, as maintaining independence this time might be as difficult, if not more difficult, than gaining it half a century ago. Abul Kalam Azad had predicted in 1947 that if Pakistan separated from India on religious basis, it would further divide fifty years after its birth. It is ironic that Pakistanis, as a nation, even today, have not been able to find satisfactory solutions to the following problems.

1. SOCIOECONOMIC PROBLEMS

Even after decades of existence there is no equal distribution of wealth and resources. Pakistan remains a feudal society where 90% of its wealth is owned by 10% of people. Industrialization has suffered because of the unpredictable economy and politics. None of the governments, military or civil, had any effective plan of action to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor.

2. EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS

Rather than increasing, in the last sixty years, the literacy rate has decreased as the schools have not kept up with the population explosion. Sadly, most people in the villages cannot read or write. There is no national standardized educational system. Because of the large number of children, many poor parents, who do not practice family planning, send their children to madrassas, religious schools, as they get free food and shelter in those institutions.

Pakistan is the only country I know where many children do not get their primary education in their native language. Rather than studying in Punjabi, Pushto, Balochi and Sindhi, many children are taught in Urdu, English and Arabic which are not their mother tongues.

3. HEALTH CARE PROBLEMS

While many Pakistanis suffer from physical and emotional problems, there is no adequate health care system in place. Many pregnant women remain anemic and there is a high infant mortality rate. Children still suffer from starvation because of pervasive poverty. Many patients with emotional problems only see a psychiatrist when they get violent and have a nervous breakdown.

4. RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS

Because of religious teachings in the families, schools and communities, many Pakistanis have grown with a religious rather than a secular world view. This trend intensified when Pakistan transformed into Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Ironically in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s time Ahmedis were declared non-Muslims. The process of Islamization of Pakistan accelerated during Zia-ul-Haq period when religion was introduced to all aspects of life. The more religion entered politics and the separation of mosque and state became blurred, the more Pakistan traveled on the path of becoming a theocratic state.

5. IDENTITY PROBLEMS

There was a time when some of my Pukhtoon friends used to say that they have been Pathans for 5000 years, Muslims for 1500 years and Pakistanis for 50 years, but the identity of Pakistanis has changed over the decades. There are many Pakistanis who identify with Arab and Muslim culture far more than their own ethnic and native culture. Their names are Arabic and they greet now with “Allah Hafiz” rather than “Khuda Hafiz”.

6. POLITICAL PROBLEMS

It is unfortunate that after all these years an autocratic political system prevails in Pakistan. People are more familiar with army generals and dictators than democratic minded political leaders. Democracy has not thrived in Pakistan since many religious leaders consider it a Western and un-Islamic system. Social, political and religious intolerance has increased over the decades. It is also sad that popular political leaders like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto did not die natural deaths, one was hanged and the other assassinated.

7. HUMAN RIGHTS PROBLEMS

Pakistanis have suffered for decades because their human rights have not been protected in the communities as well the courts. Whether they are women or children, Ahmedis or Christians, Shiites or atheists, the rights of minorities are always threatened. The Pakistani Constitution does not ensure equal rights and privileges to all citizens. Pakistan still struggles between the secular British and religious Arabic laws and traditions. Pakistan has not resolved political conflicts between different provinces.

FUTURE OF PAKISTAN

In the next few years Pakistanis need to make many significant choices otherwise international powers might dictate certain decisions as they see Pakistan as a failed state that exports “terrorists” and having nuclear weapons, has become a threat to world peace. If the British Empire can lose her colonies, the Berlin wall can come down and the Communist World can disintegrate, Pakistan can also divide further and the map of the Middle East can change in the next decade.

For Pakistanis to make sure that Pakistan not only survives but also grows and thrives and joins the modern world by becoming a progressive and democratic state, they need to take following steps:

1. The gap between the rich and the poor has to decrease.

2. The curriculum of schools need to be reviewed so that children can receive scientific and secular education in their mother tongue. In addition, they need to develop critical and creative thinking.

3. Health care education and free health care needs to be provided to all citizens.

4. The Pakistani Constitution has to become secular and humanistic so that all citizens, especially women and minorities have equal rights and the blasphemy law is abolished.

5. Pakistanis need to become aware of their own cultural traditions and Asian identity rather than primarily identifying with a Middle Eastern identity.

6. All political parties need to present their 5 to 10 year plan to deal with serious economic, religious and social problems so that people know which party will serve them the best.

7. All political parties and citizens need to make sure that army officers stay in the army barracks and not take over the parliament in the future.

For some people it might seem like a dream but all nations have to dream before the dream comes true. If Pakistanis did not fulfill that dream, I am afraid their dream might turn into a violent nightmare in the not so distant future.