Madressah reform HOUGH religious schools have been part of the social l fabric of the subcontinent — and indeed the larger Muslim world — for centuries, madressahs took on a geopolitical character in the 1980s in Pakistan, as many became recruiting centres for the Afghan ‘jihad’. There has been no looking back since then where the mushrooming of seminaries is concerned, even if the state’s fervour for transnational ‘jihad’ has cooled. Today, tens of thousands of religious schools exist in Pakistan — 35,000 as per official figures — in which around 3m pupils are enrolled. And while many such institutions do not promote militancy and extremism, a significant number do. The Lal Masjid debacle of 2007, and the subsequent reign of terror unleashed by the banned TTP, are two major examples of the cleric-madressah nexus violently defying the state’s writ. Sectarian terrorism is another manifestation of the problem. Madressahs flowered under the watchful eye of one military strongman, Ziaul Haq; then, another general, Pervez Musharraf, took up the gauntlet to ‘reform’ madressahs, partly at the prodding of the West to tackle the ‘war on terror’. Many madressah reform initiatives have come and gone since the Musharraf era, with the state unable to address the problem in a progressive manner. In the latest development, over Rs1.2bn have been earmarked for the Directorate General of Religious Education, overseen by the federal education ministry, that will register and regulate seminaries. Registration is a positive step, but curriculum reform is needed as well, not only to excise sectarian and hate material from madressah courses, but also to equip seminarians with the skills that will enable them to find gainful employment once they graduate. With millions of students studying in seminaries, and thousands graduating every year, one must ask how these madressah alumni will be absorbed by society. After all, the country only needs a certain number of clerics; where will the rest go? In the worst-case scenario, they may be attracted to militancy or remain jobless. That is why it is important to teach marketable vocational skills in madressahs, so that seminarians can join the labour market, and contribute to the economy. Of course, many in the clergy have always opposed and will continue to resist madressah reform as they think the state is encroaching on their ‘turf’. Yet the state must press on with the reform project not only to address the threat of growing extremism, but also to add qualified individuals to the labour market. Many low-income parents send their wards to madressahs so that they will be fed and have free lodging. This can be addressed by improving the public education system —a long-term project — and offering free school nutrition programmes. Ignoring the ever-expanding growth of madressahs is a recipe for continuing societal disorder.Barbaric mentality OME quarters are relentless when it comes to shaming S women for simply existing. Blood-curdling misogyny moves heaven and earth to keep women on the periphery of society. Recently, a senior zoology teacher of a degree college was coerced by clerics in Bannu to “denounce Charles Darwin’s theory of biological evolution and mixed gender gatherings, and declare that women are inferior to men”. The matter took an uglier turn when. the academic was forced to provide an extensive undertaking whereby he yielded to the mediaeval notion of “women’s inferiority to men in terms of wisdom”, and even absolved the celebrants of Domel in Bannu district of all responsibility if any harm was to happen to him. Thisincident not only testifies to a base commitment towards the apartheid of women, it also highlights a dangerous mindset that abhors all civilised norms. The fact that primitive recesses that employ religion as a weapon of absolute control over females still exist in a country that elected a young woman prime minister twice, is exasperating. What more will it take to secure a woman’s place in the public sphere? Our society should know better than any other that this version of misogyny is more than just relegating women to the status of lesser mortals. It is an outright rejection of their presence. In such a trenchant patriarchal matrix, the idea of consent is a far cry. In truth, exercising authority is a hazard. Their survival lies in surrendering to misinterpreted ideologies that make them unequal, voiceless underlings. It does not help thatPakistan’s feminist movement is as polarised as society: one side upholds women’s rights according to its own opinion of religious belief, while the other advocates a secular stance that stresses on detaching faith from sociopolitical discourse. Finally, for ‘imprisoned’ women to breathe easy, enlightened voices — including men, the clergy, activists and human rights groups — must break their vow of shocking silence.Holding centres NTERIOR Minister Sarfraz Bugti has announced that all I ‘illegal immigrants’ awaiting deportation from Pakistan to their respective countries will be put in ‘holding centres’. While briefing the media on Thursday, Mr Bugti ruled out an extension in the Oct 31 deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave, and shared the government’s ‘repatriation plan’ in the lead-up to the date. He gave assurances that the detainees will be provided medical facilities and food and that children, women and the elderly will be treated with “utmost respect”. He said the government will no longer ‘compromise’ on the issue, which the military has said is paramount for national security. Mr Bugti’s briefing has raised several questions and concerns, not just about the logistics of implementing such a plan, but also about the unforeseen aspects of mass deportation. Firstly, let us address the logistics. According to international media reports, three such centres have been set up in KP, each capable of holding 5,000 people. As many holding facilities are being set up in Balochistan. This raises a fundamental question: how will such a massive number of individuals — of which Afghans alone number 1.7m according to Mr Bugti — be accommodated across the country? Are the facilities available adequate? Will the government provide clear and detailed plans for the practical execution of this policy or will we be left to imagine virtual concentration camps? State media is already referring to them as “detention centres”. Secondly, there is a pressing concern regarding the Oct 31 deadline for mass deportation. Such a swift and rigid timeline raises not just humanitarian concerns — as these pages have mentioned — but the sudden ejection of such a significant number of people might also have economic consequences. Many of these ‘illegal immigrants’ have likely, over the years, integrated into Pakistan’s workforce, contributing to various sectors. Their abrupt departure could create labour gaps and impact local businesses. Furthermore, the mass expulsion raises the likelihood of families being separated, inadequate access to legal processes, and the risk of leaving vulnerable individuals without support. It’s essential for the government to provide clarity on whether these individuals will have access to legal representation, especially if they contest their designation as ‘illegal’. A rushed and inhumane approach could have far-reaching consequences for the individuals involved and for Pakistan’s reputation on the global stage.oo eee HOODBHOY - No innocents in Gaza The West's blank cheque for Israel is a renunciation of universalism and an endorsement of tribalism. AHEAD of the invasion, the Jerusalem Pose quotes Israeli defence minister Avigdor Liberman: “There are no innocentsin Gaza.” The Post's comments section mostly shows support for Liberman. The West largely concurs, Photo: US President Joe Biden hugs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on arrival at Tel Aviv airport. In the backdrop Stand hulks of Gaza’s bombed-out buildings, 4 million terrified Palestinians fleeing their homes, and the rubble of Al Ahli hospital. But even before 500 bloodied and broken bodies can be picked up, Biden rushes to whitewash Israel by affirming that Hamas, not Israel, had blown up the hospital But a New York Times analysis of Oct 24 casts doubt on Tsrae's official elaim that an errant Hamas missile was responsible, Even before this hospital’s bombing, WHO pointed out that Israel had targeted and heavily damaged four of Gaza’s 35 hospitals. For decades, Israel has been the tail that wags the American dog. Netanyahu has often bragged that whatever he does marters little because he has “the American leadership in his pocket”. He is right. When cabinet minister Rafael Eitan once boasted that Palestinians living under Isracli occupation were like “drugged cock roaches in a bottle”, none on Washington’s Capitol Hill protested. ‘Stop! Lest we descend into an abyss of hate, let's understand thar Israel and America are not alone in committing crimes against humanity. A full gallery of rogues cannot be fitted into any decent-sized building. Of course, one must avoid whataboutery else every crime can then be absolved by pointing to yet another crime. But Focusing just on one set of crimes while ignoring others is also a whitewash, Most importantly, the underlying pathology of human behaviour would then be unexposed. ‘Consider, for example, the Saudi-UAB-led war against impoverished “lowlife” Yemenis and a Gaze-like blockade from which 85,000 children starved to death. Or, closer to home, the Pakistan ‘Army's operation in East Pakistan, which killed several hundred thousand Bengalis and sent mil- lions fleeing into India, In Gujarat, Narendra Mod's government casually looked on as 2,000 innocent Muslims were slaughtered. Such episodes of war and butchery are no less horrific than the ongoing carnage in Gaza. They force us to recognise that all mortal conflicts come from tribalism — the identification with your own group and a separation of ‘us? from ‘them’. You mourn the death of your own tribe's member and kill the other with relish — as Hamas does. But Hamas is weak and ean kill only a few, while Istael is strong and is extracting revenge in proportion to its strength. In evolutionary terms, tribalism derives from the territorial competition between small tribes during the formative period when our ancestors ‘were hunter-gathererson thegrasslands of Africa some 80,000 years ago. A pessimistic view is that tribal identities are forever fixed by our genes. Ergo: human nature is fixed, unchangeable, By this logic, we cannot stop humans from. fighting any more than we ean stop eats and dogs from fighting, But this view was challenged with the advent of modernity and industrialisation. As societies became more diverse and complex, tribal identities weakened. You could belong to bigger and bigger entities, such as large nation states, with all behaviour being rule-based. ‘The appearance of international law gave a framework for resolving conflicts between states and delivering human rights to all. Signed by most countries, the UN Declaration of Hnman Rights is the finest document ever pro- duced collectively by humans and the strongest negation of tribalism. But this great hope for peace is diminishing because of increasingly selective adherence ta international law. The Russian invasion of Ukraine — with the Russians seeing Ukrainians as deviant members of their own, tribe — was justly condemned by much of the ‘world. Europe and the US loudly denounced an. aggression aimed at eliminating Ukrainian history and idemtity. ‘These very countries — with scarcely any dis- sent in their high circles — have handed Israel a blank cheque for genocide. What else to call it? ‘The world’s most densely populated strip of land has all exits controlled by the Israelis who have denied food and fuel to the population while relentlessly bombing it from the air. What explains Western support for Israel? ‘This needs some reflection. Istacl has historically served as America's ‘watchdog in an oilrieh region, But oil isno longer #0 big a factor. The discovery of oil shale and large-scale fracking has made the US far less dependent on Middle Eastern oil. ‘More importantly, Israel is a colonial settle state like the United States, Canada and Australia, In cach of these states, indigenous populations were first overpowered, whittled down in numbers through systematic disposses- sion, and reduced to irrelevance. An occasional sop is thrown at the survivors. American Indians get casino licences, Canada’s original inhabitants are remembered through museums and arte- facts, and Australian aborigines get some perks. ‘At the deepest level, the ‘Western tribe’ identi- fies culturally with Israel. The new tribalism is not ethnically or religiously based. Orthodox Jews may have growing nuisance value in Israel bur as yet have no real role in key decision-mak- ing, Common identification comes from sharing 2 similar way of life and similar mindset. Tr isa big step backward for humanity that major countries which once sought de-tribalis tion (Pakistan never even tried walking this path) are retribalising and turning into civili- sational states. Europe, the avantgarde of modernity and birthplace of humanism, is turning inward ina bid to protect the ‘European way of life’. Though not all, several civilisa- tional states are very cruel to those they see as the other. Israel to Palestinians is the obvious example, but so is India to its Muslims and China to the Uighurs. In Israel-Palestine, there is little prospect of anything except an action-reaction cycle. Tsrael ‘will work yet harder to eliminate the Palestinians as a people. In turn, Hamas will speak ever louder for the Palestinians and seek to kill more Jews. Until the Palestinians find home, the ‘world should not expect differently. m ‘The writer is an Islamabad:-based physicist and author.BY SHAHID KARDAR UNCONVINCING chants for the privatisation of bleeding SOEs are being raised in Islamabad. Presently, there are approximately 215 of them, of which 170 are commercial entities (with 475,000 employees), which have rarely achieved a five per cent return on their assetsin three con: secutive years. Between FY2013-14 and 2018-19, the top 10 loss making SOEs accumulated losses ‘of more than Rs2.1 trillion, with the government having provided them Rs2.5tr between 2018 and 2021, including a subsidy of Rsier. Asan ardent supporter of a more deregulated, open, market-based economy, one regards priva Hisation as just one of the instruments in this direction. However, as argued earlier, the major. ity of these SOEs would have ta be liquidated or ‘wound up, not being marketable on an ‘asis, run: hing concern’ basis, One such example is Uhat of PIA, which is being offered as the first candidate for privatisation, and whieh, the privatisation minister informs us, has an accumulated loss of S713 billion (growing in excess of Rs150bn per annum), having lost $7.1bn since 2012. Tt has only 19°aireraft operational (compared to Air Blue’s 12), 15 of these are leased (six of which are grounded), costing $5 million per month. And the value of its assets is nor enough to discharge its liabilities. ‘The reported decision of the government par. tially recognises that PIA as structured today cannot be privatised as one entity, and that its non-core functions and assets will have to be hived off and its debt liabilities of close to Rs300bn will need to be taken over by the gov- ‘ernment (mostly covered by government guaran- tees) and parked in another corporate body. The core assets identified for sale are routes, landing, rights, core engineering services and air service agreements, Tn my opinion, there is need for greater clarity ‘on what we consider as assets that are being sold, our expectation of their value as against thei actual market value, and what the buyer would perceive or regard as the remaining liabilities they would be required to pick up. ‘The most prized asset(s) would be routes, Janding rights/slots in major international air. ports and the respective time slot ‘owned’ by PIA. The only publicly available information is the 2016 sale by Kenyan Airways of its morning, slot in Heathrow for roughly $75m. What would be the ikely value of PLA‘ slots today — higher What would be the real value for the buyer of the 19 aircraft owned by PIA, considering their age and flight worthiness? As for the leased air craft, the buyer is unlikely to either induet all of them into the fleet (by signing off on the leas- ing agreements) or to take over their outstand- ing liabilities. The government would be advised to settle with the lessors out of court. Any attempr at arbitration is likely to turn out to be rather costly. ‘As for properties owned or rented by PIA, itis not that obvious why the buyer would, for rea- sons of efficiency, retain all of them for its opera- tions. Many of the owned properties would then, eventually be up for sale, Furthermore, many of There is need for greater clarity on what we consider as assets that are being sold. its offices globally, being superfluous for its func tional needs, would likely be closed. A key question that may have to factored into the sale agreement would be the future (and fre- quency) of flights to, say, Gwadar, Sui, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Skardi, Gilgit, exe— destina- tions to which private airlines are not flying cur rently. With the public sector PIA not flying to these terminals, would the private sector take: over these routes immediately or would there be a need for, say, a two-year slack subsidy, the budgetary burden of which could be lessened/ adjusted against the transfer of rights for Haj flights to the new buyer? The buyer would then examine the cost of other liabilities, those pertaining to the bloated, workforce. Data is not available on the number of employees tied to PLA’s core functions — their numbers in excess of requirement for operations. (the number of ‘ghost employees’ is anyone's Privatising PIA as going concern? guess), their skill set and pension liabilities. The buyer would expect pension liabilities of retired, ‘employees and the entitlement to date of the pre- sent to be picked up by the government, It is not clear how much of the existing workforce they would be prepared to retain, while being asked to pick up the golden handshake tag for the ones: they decide to lay off, in which ease they would, obviously discount the offer price accordingly Itremains tobe seen if foreign investors would, bbe interested in this transaction, given the coun: try’s image owing to the security, political, eco: nomic and regulatory environment in compari: son with other options globally. And, what tax and other concessions would they seek? To this end, we would have to be mindful of the divi- dend outflows in foreign exchange, with the resulting impact on the current account and its financing, PIA’s proposed divestment can tick all the boxes for the following, generally accepted, prin: ciples of privatisation if the transaction is also carried out in an open and transparent manner, with adequate preparation and time to get the best price for the public asset: a) The transfer should improve the effi. ciency, cost-effectiveness and service delivery of the entity being sold. b)_Itshould improve market competitiveness in general, and in the sector in particular. Considering the number of private airlines already in operation, the sale of PIA's core func Tions and assets should make the market more competitive. © Divestment should not result in the trans- fer of wealth to the buyer and the outcome should be in the public interest, Finally, since money is fungible, the receipts from this transaction shonld not serveasa source for financing unproductive government activi ties and poorly designed, leakage-prone mega infrastructure projects, generating low returns, and with limited positive externalities, since itis likely to slacken the effort for much-needed fis calreforms, Our laws also require that privatisa tion receipts be utilised to retire debt and not finance expenditures. = ‘The waiter is @ former govemor of the State Bank.BY ZAHID ULLAH =~ Extreme nation PAKISTAN’s political character is a product of extraordinary circumstances, the British Empire's geopolitical impera- tives, and the absence of a blueprint for the postindependence state. It came into existence in a frenzy of violence, which left over a million dead and some 13m displaced. Historian Ian Talbot argues that Pakistan inherited the more sensi- tive areas of the British Empire, where maintaining law and order took prece- dence over the establishment of demo- cratic institutions. Postindependence Pakistan was an embattled state, as its rivalry with India was born with it. The violent rhetoric of certain Indian leaders, and other pres- sures, led to “cartographic anxiety” — a fear created by the crisis of identity and survival. This fear has, since, impacted its nature and direction ” intensely. Eventually, security personnel con- trolled every aspect of state and society in Pakistan. As Aaron Friedberg has shown in his book, A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia, insecurity can propel a nation to be self-reliant. He explains how a warring, fragmented 18th-century West surged ahead of united China. In Pakistan, how- ever, the civil-military oligarchy weapon- ised fear to fatten the state’s repressive organs. Simply put, democracy and wel- fare were sacrificed at the altar of con- solidating the state caught between internal and external hostilities. Consequently, the military-bureaucratic nexus secured a dominant role that has been either overt as martial law or veiled with hybrid regimes. ‘The oligarchy needed allies as second fiddles and the clergy, political outfits and non-state actors proved amenable. This was hardly unprecedented. A sym: biotic relationship between clergy and state goes as far back as the 10th cen: tury. Muslim scholars, from Al-Mawardi, Al-Ghazali to Abn Jama’a demonstrated a preference to side with power, ostensi- bly to avoid civil war or fiena, and Ibn Taymiyya took the position that an agreement between the military and ulema was imperative for a sound soci- ety. By implication, and as French histo- rian Claude Cahen argued, he took the caliph out of the equation as the cali- phate fell “by right to the effective holder of power”. Saudi Arabia is another example. Then there are religiously motivated actors. Recruited from madressahs, they were considered useful for three reasons — to free a part of Kashmir from India, fight in the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 and be used as a cheap tool to keep foes at bay. According to estimates, there were only around 300 seminaries in 1947. In 2023, the number of registered madressahs is a staggering 35,337 with 22,000 unregistered ones. Such an expo- hential growth suggests deliberation and purpose. All these factors created the polities of jihad and a jihadist culrure. Unfortunately, as noted academic Aasim Sajjad Akhtar observed in 2014, it is “the military establishment's patronage of the politics of jihad that allows the jihadi infrastructure to strengthen further with each passing day”. The following steps, however, can help counter the menace of violent extrem- ism. Firstly, seminaries should be incen- tivised to include scientific disciplines so that religio-scientists like Abbas Tbn Firnas, the world’s first ‘pilot’ who excelled in both religious and scientific fields, can emerge from them, ‘Secondly, non-state actors have their own interests in aligning with the state, such as their desire for an They are Islamic state. manele i With the seventh steps that largest military can be taken inthe world, to counter not need any of extremist: these ‘irregulars’ | to achieve its for- violence. eign policy objec- tives. Moreover, the state must break free from the clergy to provide a level playing field to all political par- ties, and promote democratic values and culture. Finally, free and fair elections for a sov- ereign parliament are the need of the hour. Be it physically, psychologically or spiritually, the populace is spent. Irs capacity to bear the burden of the unac- countable, insulated state that uses par liament as a sandbag is at an all-time low. Clearly, the homogenised, hegemonic, exclusivist, top-down nation-building project has failed to deliver anticipated outcomes. Worse still, it has led to exclu sion, purification, and multilayered fragmentation. Eminent American jour- nalist Clifford May’s sombre insight is timeless: “A state committed to the pur- suit of religious purity will always find some of the subjects in need of cleansing. Down that path despotism lies.” The question is, can Pakistan afford despot- ism in the 21st century? = The writer teaches at Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan.BY AJAZ AHMED Pakistan dawdling away FINANCING a sustainable and resilient economy is not an option for Pakistan, but a critical step that is integral to the coun- try’s just, inclusive, and safe future. This requires transforming and restructuring, almost all sectors of the economy to adopt low-carbon and climate-resilient path- ways. However, any meaningful progress in this regard would be impossible without having sufficient financial resources, as large-scale investments are required to reduce emissions and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Since Pakistan already has a crippling economy with limited fiseal space and high debr, climate finance is the only rea- sonable option that may enable some pro- gress towards a low-carbon and climate- resilient economy. This, however, needs a holistic approach with a common under- standing and the consensus of all key stakeholders, Similarly, clarity of information on potential sources of climate finance and efforts to access those in a timely fashion are essential to availing climate finance resources. For example, the second bien- nial communications by developed coun- try parties to the UNFCCC reveal that Canada plans to double its commitments in terms of the provision of climate finance from CAD2.65 billion to CADS.3bn, New Zealandaims to release NZD1.3bn, France intends to provide €6bn, Germany plans to increase its provision of climate finance to €6bn, Italy committed €2.6bn, Japan's ch mate finance commitment is JPY6.5 tril- lion by 2025, while Switzerland anticipates to deliver CHF400 million by 2024. Such information could be useful in reaching, out to potential donors and developing country parties which are willing to release funds to invest in climate mitiga- tion and adaptation activities. Nonetheless, the second biennial com- munications by developed country parties to the UNFCCC require clear identifica- tion of needs and priorities for a low-car- bon and climate-resilient economy. In addition, the developed country parties are highly keen on country ownership, effectiveness, inclusiveness, transpar ency, and accountability of support pro- vided to developing countries. Similarly, developed country parties prefer that bilateral support involve con- sultations with national and subnational governments, the local authorities, civil society, and implementing partners to align support with national plans and poli- cies and identified needs and priorities. ‘This means that there is a serious need for some homework. Moreover, developed country parties also expressed their concerns about unstable political and economic circum- stances, changes in priorities, debt vul- nerabilities, investment barriers, foreign exchange risks, limited technical capaci- ties, gaps in regulatory frameworks, and lack of good-quality data in developing countries. Pakistan, unfortunately, ticks all the boxes, and this should be a cause of concern regarding the smooth supply of not only climate finance but also the soon- to-be-materialised Loss and Damage Fund. Hence, addressing these concerns is fundamental to building mutual trust and thereby accessing climate finance resources. That being said, there is a dire need for a climate finance éeosystem in Pakistan to enable the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. This necessi- tates removing technical, policy, and insti- tutional impediments to enable the access, mobilisation, and implementation of cli- mate finance in Pakistan. For example, Pakistan has an unfriendly and hostile domestic financial system — which obstructs interna- Resources tional financial flows, resulting in are available _ the financial and business isolation to facilitate ofthe country. zecess to Tecikbaniars climate inevitable for Hinance: inclusive and complimentary climate finance flows into Pakistan for a just transition. ‘Technical support and resources are available to help and facilitate developing country parties in accessing climate finance, obviously for those who are seri- ous and keen. There are several entities operating at the global and regional level which help enhance recipient countries’ access to climate finance by working with climate finance donors. For example, the Pacific Resilience Partnership supports project develop- ment, networking, and coordination to access climate finance. These resources and facilities could be leveraged by Pakistan to improve its access to climate finance. However, what is missing and is earnestly needed is to adopt a comprehen- sive approach and put concrete efforts into fixing technical, institutional, and other gaps which impede Pakistan's progress vis-a-vis climate finance. = ‘The wnter has a PhD degree in economics Durham University UK and works as the director of rasearch programmes for the Social Protection Resource Centre Islamabad.