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Editorial And Opinion 22 February 2021
Editorial
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Implementing the SNC

Editorial

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February 22, 2021

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It appears that the government is bent upon throwing the education sector of this country into
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a mire of uncertainty. As if the controversy involving the introduction of a so-called Single

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National Curriculum (SNC) was not enough, now the availability of textbooks has become a
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major concern for children and parents alike. According to news reports, millions of children
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may not receive their textbooks in time when they get into the next level of their schooling. In
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a surprise move, the government of Punjab has prohibited private publishers from printing
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books and supplementary material under its new curriculum policy. The Punjab Curriculum
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and Textbook Board (PCTB) has introduced a new No-objection Certificate (NOC) criterion
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for hundreds of private publishers who have been involved in printing and publishing
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learning and teaching materials for the schools of Punjab.

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This is a major stumbling block in the smooth running of the system in the province. Printers
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and publishers of educational material are now required to not only pay heavy fees but also
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arrange for 7.5 percent royalty. This sector which is already under pressure due to the closure
of schools in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, has been protesting against the PCTB.
The board has cancelled old NOCs and now thousands of employees find themselves under
the strain of losing their jobs. First, the SNC itself was not a welcome move as it was not
under the purview of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, ten years
after the 18th Amendment transferred education at all levels to the provinces. Then the
government clarified that the SNC simply set some minimum standards, and now this
condition of new NOCs in Punjab. To top it all, the government of Punjab is trying to enforce
the SNC by imposing the 30 ‘model books’ as the syllabus to be used in all schools and

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whoever prints these books has to pay the royalty to the Board. In addition, a new fee of
Rs450, 000 has been imposed on publishers who want to print just one book. All this will
result in much higher prices for the books. There are hundreds of private publishers who print
thousands of books and supplementary material in an academic year.

Many educationists have complained and written about the SNC and its inappropriate
implementation but both the federal and the Punjab governments appear to be in no mood to
take any advice. The PCTB seems to be in a great hurry to oblige the federal government by
going headlong in the implementation of the SNC without considering the pitfalls in its way.
The board can at best be considered a regulator but now it is trying to play the role of a

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competitor against private publishers and printers. The imposition of new NOCs is a step in

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the wrong direction and curbs the private sector in provision of printing and publishing

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facilities. Competition laws do not allow for such monopoly by the Board. When the new

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academic year is not that far, generating new obstacles is not a good idea by any standards.

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The use of additional books and supplementary material for education is a fundamental right

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of a free and open society, and this right must be respected.
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Cyber report
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February 22, 2021

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Harassment, extortion, hacking, and other crimes committed over the internet against users of
social media often go unacted upon in our country and have been frequently ignored even
after the setting up of the FIA's Cybercrime Wing. According to figures recorded by the
Digital Rights Foundation, which acts against harassment and other offences over the
internet, there was a huge surge in crimes and acts of harassment during the pandemic. DRF
says that it noted a 70 percent increase in cases of crime over the net, with most coming in the
form of attempts to extort money, harassment of people using their personal information
available over the social media, hacking of WhatsApp and other forums as well as other kinds
of crime.

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The organisation has also noted that the helpline it has run for four years was made available
for 24 hours, 7 days a week for four months between July and September when lockdowns
and the impact of the pandemic were at the peak. During 2020, it recorded 3298 phone calls,
an average of 212 a month. The largest number of calls, over 600, were recorded in July. It
seems the lack of activity and the forced enclosure of people within their homes led to them
finding new means to make money, possibly because of desperation, and harass people, more
notably women, over social media. Punjab recorded the largest number of cases with 57
percent, followed by Sindh with 11 percent. In each of the other provinces and the federal
territory of Islamabad, the figure was far lower.

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The findings by the private organisation suggest a need to bolster efforts to deal with

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cybercrime and also issue warnings to people so that they can protect themselves against

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scams and other means to extort money from them. Such scams have been commonplace in

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2020. We need more such helplines and more people who are aware of what kinds of

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problems arise over the internet. Women as well as juveniles, who may be using forums that

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are not suitable for their age, are of course especially vulnerable. A campaign is required to
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check this, bring down cybercrime levels and restore the internet to normalcy.
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OPINION
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Deworming at school
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Opinion
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Dr Naazir Mahmood
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February 22, 2021

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The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK and works in Islamabad.

There are at least two types of deworming: mental and physical. Mental deworming involves
getting rid of parasites that may sap your intellectual energies. Reading good stuff and
writing about it can be seen as mental worming, which I usually practice. But this article is
about physical deworming.

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Education is not – and should not be confined to – reading and writing alone. Good education
involves ensuring both the mental and physical health of children. That is one reason why
schools should also serve as centres of recommended medication and vaccination. There is a
nation-wide deworming programme that needs our attention. Since there is too much politics
in our mainstream media, we hardly get to know about good activities and developments
taking place, and some outstanding international and national organizations that lead such
programmes for better health and education in our society.

Evidence Action (EA) and Interactive Research and Development (IRD) are two such
organizations whose primary concern is better health service delivery. Countries such as

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Pakistan badly need some reshaping in their health systems. A good health system should not

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work in isolation; it should strive to promote integrated care for all its citizens. For that, we

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need improved health infrastructure that is vital for better access and quality of health

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services. The problem that under-resourced countries face is that governments alone are

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mostly unable to bridge the gap between demand and supply of medical care, both preventive

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and therapeutic.
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EA and IRD’s activities include expansion of vaccine coverage and offering integrated health
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services for TB and other diseases. One of their flagship programmes is school-based
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deworming. For this purpose, close coordination is achieved with the government at different
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tiers of governance. Luckily in Pakistan, irrespective of the political party in power, the
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government machinery is helpful in its implementation of the deworming programme.

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Schools – both private and public – are galvanized and teachers get training to administer
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deworming tablets to children of five to 14 years of age. Mostly the worms that infect
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children are soil transmitted and require immediate treatment.

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Moist and warm climates where hygiene is poor and sanitation facilities are not up to the
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mark, children are more likely to get affected by worms that hinder children’s growth. This
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stunted growth may be a result of a child’s nutrient uptake that worm infections hamper.
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Anemia and malnourishment are also common among children infected with worms. Many
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parents keep complaining about their child’s mental and physical development without
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realizing that they are common among children infected by worms. Though parents don’t
want to see their child’s health at risk, when it comes to deworming there are misplaced
apprehensions.

Mothers feel concerned when their children feel too tired to focus on their studies or to
perform physical tasks, but the same mothers tend to be apprehensive when it comes to
deworming. Pakistan is already perched on one of the lowest ranks on the UN’s Human
Development Index (HDI) and the WHO classifies Pakistan as a high burden country for
worm infections in children. Hence there is a need for a nationwide deworming campaign

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with the help of the government. IRD collaborated with Evidence Action’s Deworm the
World Initiative, and Indus Hospital was ready to join hands.

When the WHO-recommended survey was conducted in 2016, samples were collected to
analyze types of worm infections. After the survey, Evidence Action and IRD devised a
programme for schoolchildren to raise awareness about hygiene, sanitation, and worm
infections. Then Evidence Action coordinated with the government and the IRD to provide
deworming medication to every consented school with the help of WHO global drug
donation programme. Though worm infections are not widespread throughout Pakistan,
children in northern districts are particularly vulnerable to worm infections. The same applies

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to Karachi where high prevalence of worm infections affects children.

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Evidence Action and IRD proposed a nationwide programme for the school-based

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deworming approach. This approach utilizes existing educational infrastructure to deworm

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school age children with a pill, and school teachers conduct drug administration. Such mass

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drug administration is a low cost and impactful method especially in underdeveloped and

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under resourced communities. So, now what are the challenges that have prompted the
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writing of this article? The deworming campaign will take off this week in Islamabad and, so
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far, cooperation from the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and Private Educational
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Institutes Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) appears to be forthcoming.

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A major challenge – just like in polio vaccination – is achieving the targeted coverage in the
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population. That means not only giving pills to all children enrolled in government and
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private schools but also to school-age children who may not be registered in any schools for
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various reasons. Cooperation from head teachers in schools will play a crucial role as a
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certain level of community mobilization helps enhance coverage for medication. The schools
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where head teachers and teachers take it upon themselves to promote and raise awareness
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about the importance of deworming, community members and parents show more willingness
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to send their children for medication.

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After community mobilization, next is the government’s commitment to display its resolve to
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public health, especially to the health of children. Even private schools show better
cooperation when the government is willing to go an extra mile. Though the current
government is already showing commitment, an involvement from the high ups will surely
boost the campaign. Just like in the polio campaign, there is a need to dispel the impression
that the drug is harmful in any way; it is absolutely not. All speculations must stop and the
government should use state media to broadcast messages promoting the deworming
campaign.

There is a need to introduce life-skills based instruction at all levels of education in the
country. Life-skills involve not only personal hygiene and some civic sense but also a

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responsibility to be a conscientious citizen of society – a citizen who can make decisions

about the efficacy of science in countering diseases, both mental and physical. Science does
not claim to be a panacea to all ills, and it also recognizes its limitations. The present Covid-
19 pandemic is a case in point. Evolution spurred the virus to action, and science was not
slow in responding to the challenge. Abracadabra and mantras are not treating Covid, science
is.

Due to a lack of trust in science resulting in the refusal of many parents to administer polio
vaccines, Pakistan is one of the last two countries where polio still infects children. Though
worm infections are not as devastating as polio, they have their harmful effects on children.

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Malnutrition in children, especially in those belonging to lower socio-economic strata, keeps

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them lagging behind in their performance. Now, it is up to our parents and teachers to make

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sure that each child in the targeted district gets medication.

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The deworming week’s activities were already in full swing last week. We must appreciate

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the government officials who are making it possible, and the partners including Evidence

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Action, the IRD and Indus Hospital which are all working tirelessly to improve healthcare in
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our society. Indeed, despite prevalent cynicism in society, there are organizations and people
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who are offering hope to us. Let it be a successful campaign, which will kick off in Punjab
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and KP followed by GB and Sindh in the coming weeks and months. And to all parents and
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professionals involved in this campaign, society owes you a big thank you.
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Email: mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk
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The path to peace

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Mark M Ayyash
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February 22, 2021

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On January 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his Twitter account a
Likud election video in which a map of the entire territory of historical Palestine appears
under the words “one state”.

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This was not the first time that a prominent Israeli politician has publicly expressed his
dedication to the vision of Greater Israel – a Jewish nation state that is sovereign over all
lands between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Palestinian territories.
In fact, such declarations are so common in Israeli election campaigns that Netanyahu’s tweet
barely generated any serious discussion in the international arena.

But international observers did not remain silent about Netanyahu’s latest ode to “Greater
Israel” simply because they viewed it as electoral bluster meant to drive votes towards the
Likud. They ignored the tweet because they have long been aware that Israel wants to expand
its sovereignty over all of the land.

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Indeed, while many still occasionally employ the empty rhetoric of “salvaging the two-state

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solution before it is too late”, no serious observer believes that the creation of a sovereign

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Palestinian state is an actual goal of Israel, or any of the hegemonic world powers such as the

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United States or the United Kingdom.

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Today, the “two-state solution” is nothing more than a distraction. It is a myth used by Israel
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to divert attention from its efforts to make the dream of Greater Israel a reality. Israel’s
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actions, from relentless settlement expansion to systematic dehumanisation of Palestinians,
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make it clear that it has no intention of ever allowing the formation of a sovereign Palestinian
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state.
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Based on what Israel does, not what its Hasbara says, there are only two possible ways
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forward from the current status quo: the formation of a single apartheid state over the entire
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land of historical Palestine, in which only a handful of Palestinians live as second class
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citizens, or a decolonised one, where all citizens enjoy equal rights and freedoms regardless
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of their ethnic and religious backgrounds.

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It is not hard to imagine how the first scenario would play out. Apartheid rule has been a
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defining characteristic of settler colonies like Israel throughout history.

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In a nutshell, settler colonialism is a type of colonialism that functions through the

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replacement of an Indigenous population with a settler society that, over time, develops a
national identity and claims sovereignty over the colonised land. To achieve their goal of
becoming fully sovereign over the land they colonised, settlers first expel or eliminate the
majority of the Indigenous population. They then establish a system of segregation, or
apartheid, to cement their supremacy.

Excerpted: ‘The path to peace in Israel-Palestine is through decolonisation’

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The Ladakh compromise

Opinion
Ejaz Hussain

February 22, 2021

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This Valentine’s Day, China sent special white roses with a letter to India’s ‘glorious seven’

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– Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, Raksha Sachiv Ajay Kumar, Generalissimo Rawat, General

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Naravane, Lt-Gen Mohanty, Lt-Gen Paramjit Singh and Lt-Gen Joshi.

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The disengagement agreement between Beijing and New Delhi mirrors the Treaty of

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Versailles (1919) dictated to Germany by the winning powers – Britain, France and US. The
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German plenipotentiaries, Muller and Bell, simply subscribed to its Ts & Cs, but after
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returning to Berlin they admired the French pastries/coffee they had in Jardins du chateau de
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Versailles.
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Another comparison of the India-China disengagement can be made with what Hitler
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prescribed to Neville Chamberlain at Bad Godesberg on November 24, 1938. After returning
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to London, the Tory prime minister – avoiding the word ‘appeasement’ – called it "peace for
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our time”.
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Rajnath Singh, after receiving a copy of the diktat from China, gave a speech at the Rajya
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Sabha on February 11, saying: "the agreement that we have been able to reach with the
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Chinese side for disengagement in the Pangong Lake area envisages that both sides will cease
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their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner”.

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According to the agreement, which I call India’s acquiescence, the Chinese PLA troops will
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gradually withdraw to the northern bank of Pangong Lake’s Finger-8 position. In reciprocity,
Lt-Gen Menon’s Fire and Fury (XIV Corps) forces will retreat to Dhan Singh Thapa Post
near Finger-3. Both sides agreed to dismantle infrastructures built since April 2020. They will
also observe a moratorium on patrolling/reconnaissance.

Both sides will address the other territorial issues like Hot-springs, Gogra, Depsang and
Naku-la, in due course. They will ensure disengagement along the 3,500 long Line of Actual
Control. These terms of peace are nearly the same as were discussed between India’s MEA
Jaishankar and Chinese FM Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10, 2020.

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India has formally acknowledged China’s military dominance in the 60,000 sq km Ladakh
region. By withdrawing from Pangong Tso’s south bank, the Northern Command has
conceded its tactical advantage on the entire Kailash Range. This means that China will gain
control of the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers. The over-militarised subregions of Kargil and
Leh have become vulnerable to the PLA, which means that XIV Corps HQ may be relocated
from Leh to the south – Jammu and Himachal Pradesh.

The government of Pakistan in a timely manner demonstrated its geostrategic prudence by

issuing the country’s political map in August 2020, according to which Ladakh’s other
district Kargil has already been included in it.

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Indian politicians have lambasted the Modi government’s capitulation to China. Congress MP

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Manish Tewari has stated: “By signing this humiliating agreement, India’s ability to negotiate

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has been severely conscripted, owing to its diminished net national power over the past 80

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months of BJP rule….ravaged economy, coupled with cut-to-bone defence spending has left

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India increasingly vulnerable”.

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Rajya Sabha member AK Antony, who was India’s defence minister (2006-2014) and Kerala
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chief minister (2001-2004) commented: “this disengagement agreement is a complete
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surrender of our rights….it has embarrassed the Veergati (martyrdom) of Col Santosh Babu
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and twenty others, and over a hundred critically wounded Deshbhakt Sainik (patriotic
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soldiers)”.
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The Bharat Shakti dreams of Ajit Doval, Nitin Gokhle and Happymon Jacob have been
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shattered. The Indian intelligentsia is demanding answers to questions raised in the 1963
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Henderson Brooks-Bhagat Report that analysed India’s 1962 war with China. They
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declassified the commentaries of Neville Maxwell. Several retired officers are seeking the
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actual reasons behind the resignation of then Indian army chief General Pran Thapar just after
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losing the Sino-Indian war of 1962. They argue that India lost a second war to China in 2020
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the way it lost the first in 1962, but if General Thapar could step down in 1962, General
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Rawat must resign now.

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China had annexed half of Ladakh in 1962; it has captured another one-quarter in 2020. One
retired colonel, who was an instructor at the over-rated High Altitude Warfare School
(HAWS) at Gulmarg, contends that it is easy to project the notion of surgical strikes on
Pakistan but why conceal the surgical surrender to China?

Today’s reader of strategy and tactics looks beyond Clausewitz, Liddell Hart and
Eisenhower. S/he will ask why Lt-General Harinder Singh moved his troops to the Pangong
Lake in the first place? Certainly, as the current commandant, he may not convince his cadets
at the IMA, Dehradun. Why is the Indian Army in the north playing with China the game of
Fingers: finger-8 for the PLA and finger-3 to the XIV Corps?

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There is a Russian proverb: ‘Never finger a sleeping bear, his fingers are sharper than yours’.

Historically, Napoleon’s armies played the game of fingers when they tried to invade Russia,
but French Marshal Augereau’s fingers fell short of Russian Imperial Marshal Kutuzov.
Napoleon never recovered from that humiliation.

During World War I, German General Carl Hoffmann tied his fingers at the Eastern Front.
He was decisively beaten by Russian Field Marshal Aleksei Brusilov. As a result of that,
Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Again, during World War II, Hitler’s Generalfeldmarschall Brauchitsch played the game of

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fingers with Marshal Zhukov and, consequently, Nazi Germany lost the war.

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General Rawat is a wise commander, as is General Naravane. If Premier Modi has the

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demeanour of Adolf Hitler, at least Rawat shouldn’t be behaving like Field Marshal Keitel,

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whom Kleist used to call ‘Lakeitel’ (personal servant).

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The ongoing farmers’ rebellion may escalate the downfall of the BJP government. The Bharat

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Sena’s defeat-with-humiliation against the PLA has demoralised junior officers/soldiers.
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Kashmir will imperil India’s security once the military lid is removed. The growing China-
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Pakistan maritime cooperation is menacing Indian presence in the Indian Ocean. The Biden
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Administration may downgrade its strategic partnership with India. US-China relations may
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soon enter competition mode by giving up Trumpian belligerence. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
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Nepal have started making independent policies. The people of Pakistan have rejected
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ineffectual/atrophic political leadership. The incumbent government is gradually achieving

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political stability and bolstering national security.

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India needs to do some reality checks before it is too late. Treat all regional countries with
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respect, abandon the confrontational approach towards neighbours, redirect resources towards
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emancipation of over a billion poor masses and invest in their wellbeing. Remember, a nation
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that continues spending more money on the military than on social uplift ends up in eternal
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spiritual doom.
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The writer is a London-based analyst on South Asian security.

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Rising inequality
Opinion
Sam Pizzigati

February 22, 2021

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Back in April 2017, only a few months after Donald Trump’s inauguration, one of world’s
most prestigious medical journals, the London-based Lancet, established a special
commission to keep tabs on “Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era.”

The panel’s 33 commissioners – medical professionals of all sorts, along with assorted

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notables in legal and economic circles – have just delivered their final report, and media

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outlets worldwide are taking notice. They’re headlining the commission’s most stunning stat:

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that some 200,000 fewer Americans would have died from the coronavirus if the United

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States had treated Covid with the same level of public health competence that its peer

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developed nations have demonstrated.

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“President Trump’s time in office,” the Lancet commission charges, “brought misfortune to
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the USA and the planet.”
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The 45th president, the commission adds, expedited the spread of Covid with his “contempt
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for science, facts, and equity.”

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The Lancet commission analysis abounds in the particulars. Pre-pandemic, for instance,
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Trump eliminated the National Security Council’s global health security team. His 2017
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hiring freeze left almost 700 federal disease-control positions vacant. That “compromised
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preparedness,” as did his administration’s move, early on, to halt a “nearly completed effort
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by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop airborne infection control
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standards for workplaces.”

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Few Americans will find the commission’s core charge – that the Trump years undercut
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American public health – particularly surprising. But the Lancet commissioners also have a
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deeper point to make: The health of the American people was hurtling “on a downward
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trajectory” even before Trump took office. Between 2014 and 2018, well before the
coronavirus, the United States experienced the first three-year decline in life expectancy since
World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic.

“Stagnating longevity,” the Lancet commission notes, has always “signaled grave societal
problems.” In the United States, most of those problems revolve around our staggering
inequality. Since the 1980s, the commission details, “the disparity between social and
economic classes has widened” as unions have lost clout, trade policies have disappeared
high-paying jobs, and tax and social policies have “increasingly favored the wealthy.”

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“This widening income inequality,” the commission posits, “has widened inequalities in
health.”

Adds the panel: “Many of President Trump’s policies do not represent a radical break with
the past but have merely accelerated the decades-long trend of lagging life expectancy that
reflects deep and long-standing flaws in U.S. economic, health, and social policy.”

Even President Barack Obama’s landmark health care achievement, the Affordable Care Act,
“owed more to neoliberal tenets than to the progressive precepts of the Roosevelt era,” the
commission argues. The ACA left “nearly 30 million uninsured” and funneled new public
dollars “through private insurers whose exorbitant overhead and profits drain funds before

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they reach the clinic.”

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These arrangements, the Lancet commission continues, “reinforced decades of market-

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oriented reforms that made profitability the fundamental measure of performance, drove the

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commodification of care, and increasingly vested control in investor-owned conglomerates.”

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Trump’s policies, in short, have been no aberration. They represent instead “an aggressive
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acceleration of decades-old trends toward deregulation and market-based reforms” that have
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helped massive investor-run health-care systems buy up independent hospitals and physician
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practices and use “their monopoly power to leverage higher fees.”

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“Venture capital and private equity firms,” the commission notes, “have pushed
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dermatologists they employ to boost revenues by promoting cosmetic procedures,

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implemented billing practices that saddle emergency patients with surprise bills, and closed
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urban hospitals sitting on valuable real estate.”

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For-profit hospitals overall, meanwhile, “often select services on the basis of profitability,
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resulting in loss of emergency services and harm to communities.” The resulting “lagging life
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expectancy” has “coincided with growing income-based and education-based mortality gaps
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among adults.” By 2014, well before Donald Trump, the nation’s wealthiest 1 percent were
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living, on average, 15 years longer than the poorest 1 percent.

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Mortality numbers like these helped move the White House to Donald Trump in 2016. His
county-level vote share in 2016 closely correlates, the Lancet commission points out, “with
mortality trends.” Counties where over 60 percent of locals voted for Trump had higher life
expectancy in 1980 than those counties where over 60 percent went for Hillary Clinton.

Excerpted: ‘American Social and Medical Disorder: The ‘Pre-Existing Condition’ That
Doomed the US Covid Response?’

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Response to climate change

Opinion
Mansoor Raza

February 22, 2021

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The danger is clear and present. Pakistan ranked 153rd in a list of countries emitting

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greenhouse gas. According to some research, it is also the fifth most vulnerable country in the

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world to climate change.

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The country continues to face floods, air quality deterioration, pollution of water sources, soil

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erosion, heatwaves etc. One can easily identify these effects of climate change in a city like
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Karachi. The enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions causes a rise in temperature and
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we saw how the city faced heatwaves in the previous years. The response of the civil society,
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political actors, and academia to the threat will determine the future of Karachi.
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The following lines as extracted from discussions conducted by NED University of

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Engineering and Technology, Karachi and Bristol University UK, are an attempt to highlight
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some salient points around the issue.

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First is the response of the civil society. Though the civil society is generally designated as a
third entity and outside of the government, philosophically it is a buffer between the
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oppressor and the oppressed. In terms of environment, its functions come in four domains.
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The first type of environmental CSOs work at the policy level may be semi-implementer
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(funding for the partners) and their primary framework is conservation for sustainability. The
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second type of environmental CSOs are rights-based and work for environmental justice. The
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community is the centerpiece in the working of those CSOs.

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The third type of environmental CSOs work indirectly on environmental issues. For instance,
in EQ 2005, rehabilitation was the key program by various local and global organizations,
and sustainability was the overarching theme of their respective interventions. The fourth
type manifests itself in the form of concerned individuals who mostly use the justice system
and often opt for public interest litigation.

In Pakistan, the response of the civil society by and large is anthropocentric conservation and
has very little to do with deep ecology. The way forward for Pakistani CSOs is to create a
hybrid model for environmental sustainability and environmental justice.

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For the political actors, there are many fronts to tackle. Several plans have been passed in the
post-independence period and there was a sizable analysis done on various attributes
including the environmental aspects. Unfortunately, the plans could not get legal cover and
the recommendations and suggestions could not fulfill the rightful role as was expected out of
them. The situation review of the city is that unplanned densification of inner-city areas,
illegal land subdivisions are continuing without control and there is ribbon commercialization
on the major corridors, paving the way for speculative real estate development.

Natural creeks and storm drains act as city sewers. City waste is informally managed as waste
pickers and recycling industries are informally supporting a major chunk of urban waste. The

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informal sector arranges for public transport to a sizable extent.

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So do we have a plan for the city and a climate change mitigation plan and other attributes?

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Second, do we take measures to protect vulnerable communities, their assets and livelihoods?

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Do we have such institutional arrangements in places that efficiently deal with recurring

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disasters? A very specific direction that needs to be taken is to watch the way development

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projects, especially to those who have a larger territorial and contextual impact, are
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formulated.
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While much research is being conducted in Pakistan but missing is the critical mass of the
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philosophically robust pertinent knowledge base. Moreover, the vision formulation on the
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climate change issue requires critical thinking through which students and teachers can work
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on a paradigm shift. Unfortunately, academic institutions are unable to perform this required
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function. Climate change and adaptation require a new kind of contextual vocabulary and
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inter-disciplinary academic investigation.

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The three sectors – civil society, political apparatus and academia – need to together handle
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the tall agenda of climate change. The sooner the better, as the fate of the people is hinged
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upon the actions of these three sectors. The first thing is to make policymakers and power
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structures understand climate change and its effects. As academia has the relevant data
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(whatsoever) with it, the civil society can easily work with politicians to maintain pressure
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for negotiations. One of the important areas where the civil society, academia and politicians
can work together is a pro-people environment-friendly planning of the city.

The writer is a lecturer at in the Department of Architecture and Planning at NED, Karachi.

Email: mansooraza@gmail.com

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Ecocide
Opinion
Robert Hunziker

February 22, 2021

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Ecocide is the destruction of large areas of the natural environment as a consequence of

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human activity.

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That destruction of “large areas” has grown so conspicuously large, so threatening to all

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species, including human existence, that a group of international legal experts is working to

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submit a draft of a new law “Ecocide” to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) at The
Hague. at
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Stop Ecocide is the group supporting this initiative. The Stop Ecocide website mission
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statement says: “Protecting the future of life on Earth means stopping the mass damage and
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destruction of ecosystems taking place globally. We call this serious harm to nature
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‘ecocide’. And right now, in most of the world, it is legally permitted. It’s time to change the
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rules. We’re working to make it an international crime at the International Criminal Court.”
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It’s no small undertaking. The European Parliament supports the effort, the Canadian
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government is closely following it, President Macron of France champions it, and Belgium
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has already raised the issue at the ICC in its official 2020 statement. Meanwhile, a drafting
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panel of powerful legal minds plans to complete its work for submission to the ICC in June
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2021.
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There’s something horribly disturbing about this effort to label Ecocide alongside (1)
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Genocide (2) Crimes Against Humanity (3) War Crimes and (4) Crimes of Aggression, all
four within the auspices of the International Criminal Court. More on that later, but first the
genesis of ICC goes back to recognition of the necessity of such a court via UN Resolution
#260 in December 1948, in response to the fascists of the prior decade. Thereafter, the UN
adopted the Rome Statute, providing for the ICC on July 17, 1998. That statute at The Hague,
Netherlands is enforced as of December 2015.

The ICC, after way too many years of consideration and procedural moves, is now officially
recognized by approximately 123 states; however, that recognition is a moving target, as
today’s brand of fascism doesn’t necessarily buy into it. Some signatories have withdrawn,

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like the Philippines (2019) and some countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute
and four signatory states have informed the UN Secretary General that they no longer want to
play ball. These are Israel, Sudan, the U.S. and Russia. Prompting the query: What’s the
common interest in degrading the effectiveness of the ICC? Answer: The distinct likelihood
of being nailed as a defendant.

The Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte withdrew as soon as the ICC opened
preliminary investigations into its drug war. The Trump administration (fascism-lite),
assuming it can be called an administration, which is likely a misnomer, went so far as to
threaten prosecutions and financial sanctions on ICC judges and staff as well as imposing

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visa bans in response to any American charged, especially regarding crimes against humanity

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in Afghanistan. Of course, the US did not ratify the Rome Statute in the first instance, and

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under Trump it went even further down the rabbit hole, openly challenging “the honesty, the

41
integrity, the truthfulness” of the ICC in addition to various harsh (juvenile) threats to the

03
international organization. The world community was not blind-sided by that rogue behavior,

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not in the least. They expected it.
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Still, in all, the most disturbing aspect of the Ecocide movement is the simple fact that it is
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necessary. The initiative speaks volumes about the broken-down status of various
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ecosystems, which are starting to crumble, as some are starting to disintegrate right before
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humanity’s eyes, especially in the far north. In fact, the brutal truth is the Ecocide movement
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may be too late. After all, the planet’s already wobbly.

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The earmarks of a lost planet in its final throes of life support are abundant, for example,
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complex life forms such as wild mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians nowadays only
constitute 5 percent of the planet’s total biomass with the remaining 95 percent livestock and
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humans. As such, cows, chickens, pigs, and humans huddle together in a vast free-for-all,
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chasing nature’s leftovers.

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Two-thirds (67 percent) of all wild vertebrate species are gone in only 50 years. Poof! That’s
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only 3-points off the Permian-Triassic extinction event of 252MYA when 70 percent of
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terrestrial vertebrate species (and 95 percent of marine species) went extinct in the planet’s
worst-ever extinction, aka: The Great Dying. Clearly, today’s Anthropocene Era is already
“in the thick of it.” What of the next 50 years?

And, global wetlands have been hammered, badly destroyed, plowed under to only 13 percent
of 300 years ago, as some insect populations have been decimated by up to 80 percent, just
ask Krefeld Entomological Society (est. 1905) Germany about insect abundance plummeting
in 63 nature preserves, where the environment is protected.

Along the way, human population grows like a weed whilst spraying or implanting toxic
insecticides onto everything in sight. In fact, not much remains that hasn’t been directly or

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indirectly lathered in toxins, including humans and domestic animals based upon, mostly
untested, chemicals; in fact, 80,000 in the US alone. Meantime, one-half of the US population
suffers from a chronic disease (Rand study, 2017): (1) arthritis (2) asthma (3) cancer (4) ALS
(5) cystic fibrosis (6) Alzheimer’s (7) other dementias (8) osteoporosis (9) heart disease and
(10) diabetes, any one of which could have been environmentally induced.

Toxins tyrannize the planet, found everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest, 29,032 feet,
where climbers discovered arsenic and cadmium in the snow exceeding EPA guidelines, to
the bottom of the Mariana Trench -36,069 feet below, where undersea explorers discovered
crustaceans with toxin levels 50 times greater than crustaceans that live within China’s most

8
heavily polluted rivers, and that takes some doing!

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All of which brings to mind a proper description for a planet that’s deadening, on its last leg,

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with natural resources of kelp forests (-40 percent) coral reefs (-50 percent) and all plant life

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(-40 percent) widely decimated, including 103,000 wildfires in the Brazilian rainforest alone

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in only one year (2020) almost entirely (90 percent) of human origin?

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Excerpted: ‘Ecocide’ at
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