Opinion:

Information black hole

By Sanaullah Baloch | 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

MEDIA coverage on Balochistan continues to diminish or is suppressed even as the human rights crisis deepens and violence expands in the province. Nothing of the socio-economic plight of the Baloch is being reported or analysed because Islamabad has successfully turned Balochistan into a black hole where retrieving news or information is concerned. Fewer news stories appear, largely because Islamabad refuses to permit access to seasoned journalists and human rights reporters. Relief workers have been terrified into silence. In recent months reports of the suspension of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and then the wrap-up of its mission in conflict-ridden Balochistan didn`t generate much debate in the media. The ICRC`s departure from the province will adversely effect whatever little if anything at all remains of human rights in the province. Indeed, the abduction of UNHCR`s John Solecki, and later the kidnapping and killing of an ICRC worker Khalil Dale were gruesome acts. These high-profile incidents led to an exodus of the already dwindling number of humanitarian workers. Subsequently, the Solecki incident generated waves of `kill and dump` actions, which resulted in the death of many senior and mid-career Baloch activists. And now there are fears that the ICRC`s wholesale departure from Balochistan will further encourage aggressive action against dissident Baloch activists. The ICRC was perhaps the only international organisation capable of monitoring rights and demanding some serious answers from the Pakistan government regarding the abuse oflocal and international laws concerning the treatment of dissidents. It had turbulent relations with the government. There were tensions on issues such as disappearances, kill and dump incidents, torture and harassment of political activists including journalists. In 2011, the ICRC, whose responsibilities include monitoring violations of international humanitarian law in conflict-hit regions, was disallowed access to prisoners in Balochistan to see if there was implementation of the provisosof Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, covering the treatment of people in conflict zones. The ICRC raised its concerns and made it clear that the government was not allowing it access to scores of prisoners arrested on charges of militancy and terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Balochistan. According to the ICRC, its last visit to Balochistan prisons was in July 2008. In a war-like situation, where conflicting parties rarely trust each other, local and international NGOs, especially the reputable and experienced ones, can act as mediators to help alleviate or

solve

problems

of

humanitarian

nature.

But in the last decade hardly any well-known organisation, social activist or journalist has been allowed to visit and freely report on the conflict in the region. In 2010, during the devastating floods, the National Disaster Management Authority did not allow international donor agencies, aid organisations and NGOs to visit and directly assist the flood-affected people of the province. In 2006, the Unicef country chief was harassed because an internal assessment report on the plight of the Baloch internally displaced persons (IDPs) was leaked to the media. According to the report, the IDPs, mostly women and children were living in makeshift camps without adequate shelter in Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Quetta, Sibi and Bolan districts. The Unicef report said that 28pc of five-year-olds were acutely malnourished, and more than 6pc were in a state of `severe acute malnourishment`, with their survival dependent on receiving immediate medical attention. Over 80pc of deaths among those surveyed were those of children under five. Since 2001 several journalists have been killed along with allegedly hundreds of motivated political activists seen as `would-be rebels` by the perpetrators. Senior and vocal politicians are forced to live in exile. Hardly anyone is left to fearlessly speak out on the appalling conditions in the region. This has helped suppress data and reports about Talibanisation, presence of drug cartels, corruption and human rights issues such as disappearances, killings, displacement. The kidnapping of local NGO workers, doctors and lawyers has aggravated the situation, with many political observers of the view that this will lead the human rights crises to escalate. In Balochistan, the resolution of the issue of `enforced disappearances` involving the clandestine workings of security forces has been demanded for years by human rights groups. Meanwhile, the Nawaz Sharif government lacks a courageous and clear policy on Balochistan. The security forces are the prime beneficiary of the long-standing conflict. Security checkposts in Balochistan`s north, south and western regions generate millions of rupees. And any political solution to the conflict would minimise the role of the security forces. Bodies such as the ICRC must be protected and encouraged to work in areas relating to humanitarian needs and given access to detainees and detention centres to monitor the treatment of prisoners. The situation in Balochistan needs a political, mature and daring solution such as a comprehensive peace agreement with the real stakeholders to gradually end the conflict. This could be achieved through sincere efforts on the part of the government and by engaging expert mediators and guarantors. The deal must address issues such as the cessation of hostilities, the restructuring of an ethnically imbalanced security structure, demilitarisation of allegedly state-backed militias,

national and provincial power-sharing, the integration of armed groups into a newly structured indigenous security system and rewriting, with the consent of the Baloch people, all agreements concerned with Balochistan`s national wealth and resources. Something similar to a Marshall plan is needed for the socioeconomic development of the Baloch people as are measures to encourage the flow of humanitarian aid to the region. The writer is a former senator from Balochistan. balochbnp@gmail.com Twitter: @Senator Baloch

Editorial :

Parties and the people

By A.G. Noorani | 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

THE Indian government is working on a bill with unanimous support to nullify a ruling by the Central Information Commission (CIC) that political parties fall within the ambit of the Right of Information Act, 2005. Activist Anil Bairwal of the Association for Democratic Reform said: `Large tracts of land in prime areas of Delhi have been placed at the disposal of the political parties in question at exceptionally low rates. Besides, huge government accommodations have been placed at the disposal of political parties at hugely cheap rates thereby bestowing financial benefits on them. Income tax exemptions granted to the parties and free air time given by All India Radio and Doordarshan at the time of elections also substantially contribute to indirect financing from the aovernment.Thus, the CIC order said, the parties had `been substantially financed by the central government and therefore they are held to be public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act` Political parties `come to wield or directly and indirectly influence exercise of governmental power. It would be odd to argue that transparency is good for all state organs but not so good for political parties, which, in reality, control all the vital organs of the state. ...` Section 2(h) defines a `public authority` to include NGOs `substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by funds provided` by the government, central or state. The CIC`s blanket order is bad. The public has every right to know a political party`s sources of income, its expenditures, the discharge of its duty to audit its accounts, the regularity and

fairness of its elections to the top leadership, the office-bearers and the executive. But nobody has a right to pry into its internal deliberations on matters essentially political; for example negotiations with other political parties, formulation of strategy to be followed inside and outside parliament, on poll alliances and generally on policy formulation. Indian law is deficient on the regulation of political parties. In India the lawevolved in fits and starts. It lacks a parties act which balances accountability with privacy. All this reflects not only a neglect of the law but a profound indifference of the role of political parties in a democracy. There is at least one country whose constitution recognizes the status of political parties as a vital component of the democratic process. Article 21 of the basic law of the Federal Republic of Germany reads thus: `(1) The parties shall help form the political will of the people. They may be freely established. Their internal organisation shall conform to democratic principles. They shall publicly account for the sources and use of their funds and for their assets. `(2) Parties which by reason of their aims or the conduct of their adherents seek to impair or do away with the free democratic basic order or threaten the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be unconstitutional. TheFederal Constitutional Court shall rule on the question of unconstitutionality. `(3) Details shall be the subject of federal laws.

Accordingly the law on political parties was enacted to provide for elections to party organs, including `nomination of candidates for election`, publication of audited accounts and public financing of election campaign returns. A democratic constitution cannot be worked by political parties run undemocratically by a powerful, unaccountable leadership which awards party tickets to candidates and undermines their independence. A political party in India is viewed simply as an instrument for the capture and use of state power rather than as a forum which brings together diverse interests and resolves them by evolving a policy framework that, however imperfectly, satisfies all. Its role is to articulate the parties` grievances and, in turn, educate the people in the art of democratic governance. A political party which refuses to per-form this role debases the political process. To be vibrant and alive political parties enlist activists, popularly known as workers. Besides this, they perform another role. They enable supporters from various walks of life to make their mark in public life, to enter politics by participating in the party`s work. This is where we confront the divide.

In a party run democratically the rise of new talent depends on the support it commands from the rank and file. In a political party run by the party boss and his aides, the rise lies in their bounty. He has to win their favour and emerge as a reduced figure.

Over a century ago, some British politicians were alarmed at the rise of a `mass party`one in which the activists acquire a voice. They received a powerful riposte from Joseph Chamberlain who referred to them as: `those who distrust the people and do not share Burke`s faith in their sound political instinct -those who reject the principle, which should be at the bottom of all liberalism, that the best security for good government is not to be found in excathedra legislation by the upper classes for the lower, but in consultingthose chiefly concerned and giving shape to their aspirations whenever they are not manifestly unfair to others`. These principles are relevant still.

Legislation for the democratic working of political parties is necessary; but far more necessary is a democratic culture of popular participation in political parties. Without it there will be all harness and no horse. Public debate on this matter has been marred by extremist positions on both sides. Both the activists and the political parties have refused to look beyond the legal aspects and reflect on the fundamental questions which touch the very foundations of the polity. What is the role of a political party in a democracy and what is the scope and ambit of the people`s right to know about its workings? These questions must be answered bearing in mind the rival claims of autonomous workings of political parties and politicians` accountability. The writer is an author and a lawyer.
[TOP]

No more room for own goals

By Abbas Nasir | 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

THE Pakistan football team may have lost to the Afghanistan national squad earlier this week in Kabul but none of the three goals conceded was an own goal. That task was left to the players in other fields at home led by the country`s (fairly) heavily mandated prime minister who, on assuming office a little over two months ago, promised he would address the nation only when he had something to say. Obviously, when his `address to the nation` was announced, expectations were raised that some important policy statement would be forthcoming and not a day too late since the country is facing what can only be described as an existential threat. Having listened with rapt attention to Nawaz Sharif`s poorly edited televised speech, my immediate reaction was expressed thus in a Tweet: He spoke, spoke and spoke but said nothing. The mention of poorly edited isn`t to lay the blame for the content on a poor PTV employee. It is

merely to point out the reason for the various jumps and bumps you may have witnessed over the course of the prime minister`s otherwise prolonged, polished performance. Of course it wasn`t the NLE`s (non-linear editor as they`re called in TV) fault that the speech was bereft of content. On reflection, one must add, this initial reaction was a bit harsh. There were hints in the prime minister`s speech which spoke volumes for, and there isn`t a better way to describe it, his confusion. Terminology may not be significant when we lesser mortals use it. The same isn`t true of leaders. The prime minister mentioned the relentless murder and mayhem being visited onthe country by religious zealots as terrorIsm and also stressed the need to stem the tide. But then in a reconciliatory tone he called terrorists responsible for mass murder in the country `extremists`.He offered talks to these extremists and said force will be used against those with whom talks fail. That this carrot and stick wasn`t part of a clearly thought through security policy became apparent a few days on when the Defence Committee of the Cabinet met. Journalists briefed immediately after the meeting reported that it was agreed that talks will be held only with the militants who lay down their weapons. Otherwise The story was force reported as will such by the be electronic used. media.

Hours later the information minister said the prime minister`s talks offer had not been made conditional to the laying down of weapons by the terrorists. The minister lambasted the media for carrying an incorrect story. He didn`t say why it took him nearly eight hours to correct it. The Taliban reaction was quite clear. Within hours of the last meeting of the DCC (it has now been reconstituted and rechristened as the National Security Committee) they claimed responsibility for bombing a military convoy in Karachi and the very next morning a paramilitary convoy in Peshawar. This is in no way to suggest that the information minister, speaking on behalf of the committee chairman, theprime minister, gave a green signal to the Taliban (they need none) to continue with theirattacks butonlyto stress that dilly-dallying has not, and will not, work. The interior minister has already announced that the counterterrorism policy is well under way and should be unveiled by the end of the month. So, wouldn`t it have been better had all government statements on the issue followed, rather than preceded, it? This is being said in all earnestness and not as any leg-pulling. Time and again the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have demonstrated that their actions may make them no better than cavemen but their fighting machine and its propaganda arm are sophisticated and quick on the ball. They`ll seize on any sign that various elements of the country`s ruling elite have differing opinions on how to deal with them and make capital out of it. The institution which has paid the heaviest price for the own goal of ambivalence is the military.

After the army chief publicly identified the internal threat from the zealots as his biggest challenge, hopefully, the military`s ambiguity may soon be a thing of the past. But a fear-strapped PML-N still appears uneasy about marching in step, let alone lead. The army has been criticised for acting brutally in Balochistan unilaterally without seeking a national `consensus` for action there but calling for it where use of force against the TTP is concerned. This criticism is valid. But it is equally true that in the largest and most influential province of Punjab, there isn`t even a hint of a fallout from the disappearance of hundreds,perhaps even thousands, of Baloch youth whose `tagged`, tortured, mutilated bodies are later found dumped. Yes, tagged. Almost all dumped bodiescarry identification. There is no ambiguity about the victim and none about who has meted out this `justice` to him. If such own goals lead to an own goal by the separatists who kill innocent workers from southern Punjab, continuing the cycle, so be it. The Taliban are different.

Any use of force will potentially shatter peace in the Punjab heartland, which has more or less remained immune from terrorism that has gripped the rest of the country, as the TTP is bound to retaliate against the military`s soft underbelly. This retaliation can be vicious and bloody and last several months, as its fairly clear now how wellentrenched and resourceful the Punjabi Taliban are. This then is the backdrop against which to see the military`s demand for a consensus before any action against TTP sanctuaries. No matter what the government desires, this problem won`t be wished away.

Neither does procrastination promise deliverance. So, the prime minister needs to focus, assess all repercussions and decide on his chosen course. Then stick with it. There is no room for own goals. The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Dude, where`s my party?

By Irfan Husain | 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

WHEN either a plot or providence removed Gen Zia from our midst 25 years ago, there was much speculation over who was instrumental for our salvation. One contender was the PPP. When this theory was discussed one evening over drinks, my old friend Anis Hyder Shah sneered: `The PPP? You must be mad! That lot is incapable of chewing paan and crossing the

road

at

the

same

time.

Sadly, the party`s performance hasn`t improved since then. As a diehard pipliya, I have supported it often reluctantly, and against my better judgment through thick and thin. Unlike so many others, I found myself unable to switch sides, largely due to an absence of choices. I obviously couldn`t support any of the Islamic parties; the army was out of the question; and the MQM, despite its secular credentials, has a dark side that is deeply offputting. Nawaz Sharif has always struck me as a closet fundo. Also, the PPP is the only major national party that speaks for women, the minorities and the poor. Despite its abysmal performance in its recent stint in power, it did manage to push through some significant pro-women legislation. And its Benazir Income Support Programme did improve the lives of many. As Anjum Altaf wrote in these pages a few weeks ago, Pakistan needs a party of the left. Unfortunately, many leftist parties have eithercrashed and burned, or remained tonga parties with a handful of members. They have been unable to overcome their infighting and their ideological squabbles, thus consigning themselves to irrelevance. Above all, since the 1970s, they were starved of oxygen by the presence of the PPP, a party that supposedly stood for socialist ideals. So rather than setting up yet another left party, it would be far better to somehow rescue the PPP from the band of old fossils who have captured it. Despite the drubbing it received in the recent general elections, I doubt very much if there has been any soulsearching about the causes of its defeat. Introspection is not in the party`s DNA. While Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif were both able to attract millions of young people to their respective banners, the PPP`s appeal for the younger generation has declined over the years. For most of those who voted for the first time in the May 2013 elections, the PPP represented a party of tired old men (and a few women). The leadership lacked ideas as well as ideals, and its pathetic track record condemned it to a well-deserved defeat. The fact that Rehman Malik led the party`s election campaign pretty much says it all. However, despite everything, the PPP managed to win 6.5 million votes in the May elections. While this represents a huge setback, it`s still a significant number of core supporters that can be built upon. But if the PPPhopes to assert a national presence again as opposed to being a rural Sindh-based party it will need to do some serious thinking and some hard grind. The present leadership is clearly incapable of either.

The old guard still retains a sense of entitlement, and in Sindh, at least, they feel their feudal background will continue to win them parliamentary seats. But for how much longer? If they continue to misgovern Sindh in the next five years, the portents for the party`s continued survival are not good. Appointing Qaim Ali Shah as chief minister yet again shows how loyalty trumps competence in the leadership`s eyes. But as Zardari`s term as president draws to a close, and with his departure from Pakistan a

strong

possibility,

there

is

an

opportunity

for

change

of

guard.

The younger Bhuttos have shown little stomach for the hurly-burly of Pakistani politics, and who can blame them? So perhaps we can move beyond dynastic politics and get some fresh faces to move up the ranks. Unfortunately, few young politicians have joined the party unless they have inherited constituencies from their fathers. The party has always been a broad church, welcoming people with any or no ideological leanings. From the Baloch parliamentarian who defended the alleged murder of several women by burying them alive, to the guy who said on TV that it was the PPP`s turn to make money, all have flocked to the party when itstood a chance of winning. Until Benazir Bhutto`s assassination in 2007, it has been the Bhutto name and charisma that have been the party`s major attraction. Even after her death, these assets got the party into government in 2008. But without any member of the family around, rebuilding and re-branding the party will be an uphill task. Sadly, I don`t see any senior members who could shake the PPP up. A handful of people have shown great integrity: the names of Raza Rabbani, Sherry Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira spring to mind. Perhaps they and some others will be able to depose the shop-worn leadership that has broughtthe partytoitsknees. Any effort by Zardari to run the party from Dubai after his departure must be resisted. Theharderquesdonishow to make inroads in Punjab, KP and Balochistan, and how to attract younger members. Clearly, the old mantra of roti, kapra aur makan is a nonstarter. So, too, is the slogan of nationalisation. The PPP needs to reinvent itself as a modern, progressive party with a message for the poor, and with answers to our pressing problems. In the recent elections, the PPP could come up with no convincing reason why people should vote for it. Both the PML-N and the PTI could, and were rewarded. The latter, in particular, achieved a stunning breakthrough. I know the task ahead is difficult, and hoping for a PPP revival is a victory of hope over experience, but I want my party back. m irfan.husain@gmail.com

NA and local languages

| 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

BALOCHISTAN National Party MNA Esa Noori was disallowed from speaking in Balochi during the National Assembly`s current session. He was asked to speak only in English or Urdu. Mr Noori ..

said Balochi is his mother tongue and he cannot properly express himself in Urdu or English. He wondered whereelse he could freely talk in his mother tongue if not in parliament. The happening was new for the NationalAssembly. We Punjabis are facing such things for long. The late Fazal Rahi spoke in Punjabi in the Punjab Assembly for the first time after independence but was stopped by [then] speaker Manzoor Wattoo. ... Speakers Hanif Ramey and Pervaiz Elahi nevertheless lifted the ban. ... There is hardly any civilised country in the world where people are disallowed to speak in their local languages as had been witnessed in the Punjab Assembly. The recent incident in the National Assembly made one believe ... it was aPunjab forum. The Assembly is an institution of the people. Its mandate is to protect their rights. ... Language is [one of the] main components of their rights. ... Actually, all attempts are being made to eliminate the original languages of the land. Everyone knows thatPakistan is a multilingual country. And Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi are its original languages. Of themSindhi has got its due rights. Pashto too is following suit to some extent whereas Punjabi and Balochi are suffering the most. Punjabi, which is the language of 66pc of Pakistanis, is being marginalised much more than in the past. Disallowing local languages in the Assembly is regrettable.

What is required is to employ translators. All should be allowed to speak in their mother tongues. ... (Aug 21) = Selected and translated by Intikhab Hanif.

Tough decisions Steel Mills` future

| 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

PAKISTAN Steel Mills is close to being shut down unless the government injects a huge equity to keep it afloat. This is probably the only action the government can take to save the country`s largest industrial complex from death, whether it plans to sell or revive it. The options are few and the costs formidable for all stakeholders the government, the economy and the employees. The complexities involved forced the Economic Coordination Committee to defer the decision on its future on Thursday.Itgave three days to the finance ministry, industries and production

ministry and the Steel Mills management to agree on one of the three solutions liquidate the company, turn it around or sell it. The three solutions involve different sizes of equity injections. The company`s liquidation will cost a whopping Rs40bn. If it has to be saved, the finance ministry will be required to pump Rs28.5bn into it immediately. Its privatisation in the present circum-stances is hardly an option unless the government wants to give up the `national asset`. By the end of the last fiscal, the company had run up total losses of Rs86.3bn while its liabilities soared to Rs98.6bn, resulting in negative equity. Currently, it is operating at 11pc of its capacity this despite the Rs50bn pumped in to keep it alive over the last 12 years. Many say the government and the Steel Mills would have been better off had the Supreme Court not revoked its sale in 2006. However, it is sheer waste of time to cry over milk that was spilled seven years ago. It`s time to take a decision, even if it is not liked by the opposition or the employees or someone in the government, and then stick to it. But before deciding, the ECC must also look into the merits and demerits of a Russian offer of financial and technical assistance of $1bn to rehabilitate and upgrade the Steel Mills. Maybe, it will prove to be a better option than the solutions considered so far.

Flaws in the system By-election results

| 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

SOME wins, some losses, the PML-N on top, PTI underlining its status as a credible political force, the PPP and ANP scoring victories in Punjab and KP respectively that have pulled them back from political oblivion Thursday`s by-elections produced the expected grab bag of results. With the by-elections coming so soon after the general election, they can hardly be interpreted as the electorate`s view on the performance of the national and provincial governments. In any case, byelections are notoriously difficult to interpret, even if held well into an assembly`s term: negative voter opinion on a government`s performance is usually countered by the fact that byelections are held on a political government`s watch, meaning the state apparatus is often tilted in the government`s favour. The large number of by-elections did though underline some severe provincial differences. Consider how while rural Sindh was electing a woman to a National Assembly seat, the uberconservative belt of KP was yet again barring women from voting. While undoubtedly a localised affair in which all political parties and the local administration play their part, the time has come to take forceful punitive measures and also work out a preventive scheme for future elections. In matters of conservativeculture, it can`t simply be left at beefing up security outside women`s polling stations. What`s needed is a proactive approach that works with local community leaders and politicians to educate them on women`s rights and make them aware of sanctions that may be imposed if there is a repeat at the next election. But the matter is not one

for the state alone to enforce compliance with; why do the political parties themselves tolerate such practices? The obvious explanation is that in a highly competitive political environment, no party wants to alienate its local support base by sanctioning or suspending party members and candidates who try and keep women out of the voting process. But surely what may be difficult to achieve in isolation for the various parties, it is possible to do from a joint platform. Assemblies that have a significant number of female legislators can surely lead from the front on a cross-party basis. Lost in the `who-won, who-lost` frenzy was another important point: why do election laws permit candidates to contest more than one seat in a general election, forcing so many costly and timewasting by-polls? Given that most party heads have at some stage contested multiple seats, the parties would prefer to remain quiet on this matter. But it is a waste of money, time and resources.

Spring to chilly winter Mubarak out of prison

| 8/24/2013 12:00:00 AM

FROM an air force pilot to a royal 30-year furlough in the presidential palace to an accused in a cage, Hosni Mubarak is now out of prison. He could have been a free man but for the Egyptian prime minister, who, using his emergency powers, ordered that the former dictator be kept under house arrest. The change in Mr Mubarak`s fortunes is as much amazing as it is ironic.

What greater irony could there be in the generals` two hare-brained decisions? One takes a former dictator out of prison; the other sends a democratically elected president to jail? No one ever voted for Mr Mubarak as president during his three-decade stay in Kasr Gomhouria where he lived in royal splendour, while the whereabouts of Mohamed Morsi, for whom millions of Egyptians voted, remain known only to his captors. Mr Mubarak at least had the benefit of an open trial; Mr Morsi doesn`thave even that. Mr Mubarak still has to face one charge the killing of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters. Mr Morsi, on the other hand, handled the demonstrators with considerably less force. The Arab Spring has now become a chilly winter, with democracy trying to find a warm place for itself. What began as a struggle for democratic rights has channelled into hideous zones. Syria has become a sectarian battleground, while in Egypt the army is slaughtering citizens demanding a return to the Arab Spring`s moral fibre. The generals have messed up. Using Mr Morsi`s mistakes as a pretext, they have usurped power, and the way things are going it is difficult to see how Egypt can return to democracy. The saner way out for the generals is to seek a negotiated settlement with all political parties, halt brutal crackdowns and announce an election date.