High price for democracy By Irfan Husain

High price for democracy

By Irfan Husain 
Saturday, 18 Sep, 2010

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/high-price-for-democracy-890

RECENTLY, I saw a deeply disturbing chat show on a private Pakistani channel. 

Sitting as I was in Devizes, I was far from home, but thanks to the wonders of modern communication technology, I was able to watch a re-run of a chat show that reflected all the confusion, ignorance and prejudice that is so widespread in Pakistan today. 

The popular host set the tone of the discussion by declaring that it was unthinkable that the present government, and especially the president, should be allowed to finish their constitutional term. Basically, he wanted his guests to give their scenarios for swift regime change. Arcane phrases like the ‘Kakar formula’ and the ‘Bangladesh formula’ were bandied about. Both these, of course, are models for military intervention. 

Only one of the four guests had the common sense to reject the host’s repeated claim about a ‘vacuum’ in the country. He pointed out that there were constitutional provisions that permitted the early removal of a government or a president: a vote of no confidence could be tabled, and/or impeachment proceedings launched against Zardari. 

The others (including the host), however, were dismissive of such legal niceties. Short of actually calling for the army to move in, they demanded a quick change in the political set-up, with one loud guest suggesting that the Supreme Court might give the interim government two years before calling fresh elections, instead of the constitutional limit of three months. Does he know something we don’t? 

As the only sensible person on the panel pointed out, the so-called Kakar formula came into being when there was a deadlock between the two major political parties, and the prime minister was at loggerheads with the president. Gen Kakar, the army chief at the time, was called in to arbitrate. He asked for both the prime minister and the president to resign, followed by general elections in three months. 

In the present case, however, there is no deadlock between either the presidency and the government, or the two main political parties. What seems to be driving this demand for change is the angst among the chattering classes, whipped up by the media. This is not to suggest that the present dispensation is a model of good governance and probity. The truth is that the government should accept much of the blame for the flak it is getting, especially over its handling of the flood disaster. 

Having said this, it is also a fact that no government in the world could have been prepared to deal with a natural catastrophe of this dimension. Our bureaucracy, not very efficient at the best of times, simply was unable to cope. And our feudals have connived to save their own lands with the help of local officials. But they would have done this no matter who had been sitting in the presidency. When it comes to guarding their self-interest, nobody is more ferociously protective. 

Of course much of the discussion on the chat show was about allegations of corruption. The angry guest declared loudly that in the PPP’s earlier stint in power, Asif Zardari had skimmed off $4bn, and this time, he had made $12bn. Needless to say, he gave no source for these figures, nor did the host ask him to substantiate his claim. 

In most countries, such wild allegations would have been the subject of a major libel suit. But given our weak defamation laws, and the sad state of the judiciary, nobody even thinks of taking legal action against a person who has made such an accusation, or the chat show host and the TV channel for permitting these unverified charges to be aired. 

None of this should suggest that I hold any brief for Zardari or the government. But I do respect their mandate. As I reply to all the readers who fulminate against them in emails to me: “Vote the rascals out in the next election.” One problem is that in Pakistan, elected governments have a short shelf-life: after around two years, the knives are out for them, and the media begins to bay for blood. Military dictators last far longer. Few accusations of poor governance and corruption dog their open-ended tenures. 

So while this government should certainly be criticised for not doing enough to end the power shortage the country has been suffering from, we should not forget that during Musharraf’s nine years in power, hardly a single megawatt was added to the electricity grid. And while rumours of corruption did the rounds in the drawing rooms of the chattering classes, few of them were picked up by the media. Now, of course, it’s open season on Zardari & Co. Returning to the studio discussion, the angry gent made the startling assertion that the appointment of a new American ambassador to Pakistan signalled a “victory for Holbrooke against Hillary Clinton”, and indicated that Washington had withdrawn its support from this government. How he came to this conclusion will forever remain a mystery, but it does underline the depths of inanity plumbed in the discussion. 

While most of the programme caused me to shake my head in wonder and bafflement, I was deeply saddened to see the stance taken by one participant. I refer here to Iqbal ‘Groovy’ Hyder, the ex-PPP senator and minister. To see my old friend holding forth on the need to use any means to oust the present lot was very depressing. While I respect his democratic credentials and the role he has played to defend human rights in Pakistan, I was shocked to see him advocating the overthrow of a legally formed government. 

Now Iqbal is perfectly at liberty to criticise this government. As an old PPP member, I can see why he has turned against his old party. The graft and incompetence of this government must be deeply painful for him to behold. Its lack of principles and repeated gaffes are a far cry from what old PPP stalwarts like him would wish to see. 

However, there is a difference between being critical of Zardari and wanting to get rid of him at any cost. Putting up with him for the rest of his term might seem a bitter pill to swallow, but nobody said attaining a working democracy was easy.

irfanhusain@gmail.com

In the throes of violence - Kuldip Nayar - September 17, 2010

Source : www.dawn.com

I recently interacted with some Kashmiri young men in Delhi. There was no doubting their indignation and exasperation. The killings in the valley, almost 90 since June, were very much on my mind and I wanted to know what could be done.

“Why don’t you leave us?” one said. Another was more specific. “We want azadi.” What is the population of the valley? “Please include Muslim areas in Jammu and Ladakh.” This would come to about one crore or a little more. They said: “It is not a question of numbers but one of feelings. We just do not want to be part of India.” Yet another said, “We do not want to be part of Pakistan either.”

I vainly argued how a country with one crore population could sustain itself without any help from either India or Pakistan. “There is the entire Muslim world to help us,” they said.

I told them that this bothered me and that bringing religion into their protests showed that they wanted to establish another Muslim state on India’s border.

What would be the repercussions in India which was trying to stay above the waters of communalism and remain secular? Their reply: “We want azadi.”

I have not visited Kashmir for more than six months. Yet I have kept myself quite up to date by watching on television several incidents of stone-pelting, burning of government buildings and firing by security forces. (The Indian media has been covering the events in detail.)

It looks as if the whole valley has come on to the streets, the angry young men leading the mob. Maybe it is a particular group of people which is instigating them but whatever its number it is a determined lot. And it would be foolhardy not to take into account their anguish, particularly of those who have lost their dear ones in the firing.

New Delhi and Kashmir’s chief minister Omar Abdullah believe that anger could be assuaged if the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), which gives extraordinary powers to the military in a disturbed area, is amended suitably or abolished.

The problem has been politicised and New Delhi has known it all along. That it should have been sorted out by this time goes without saying. The more a solution is delayed the more knotty the problem will become.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark that there was need to address issues of trust deficit and government performance cannot remedy the situation.

By shifting the responsibility of its follies to the ruling National Conference, which with all its limitations has stood by New Delhi from day one, New Delhi is only proving that it has committed one mistake after another, without realising that it would have to pay for its lapses some day.

Each time an economic or employment package is considered a panacea for all troubles. The challenge from the days of Sheikh Abdullah is how New Delhi gives Srinagar a sense of identity without letting Kashmir translate that status into independence?

That there is no alternative to talks goes without saying. But the talks with the type of fundamentalists who are in the forefront will be difficult to conduct because they are the ones who incite people in the name of religion. They have pushed Kashmirayat, a pluralistic concept, to the back burner and brought fundamentalism to the fore.

Yet New Delhi has to separate these elements from those who want to rule democratically and in a pluralistic way. But this does not mean that India has all the time to sort out the fundamentalists. Ultimately, it depends on what New Delhi is willing to offer in terms of political power.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is the biggest impediment. It has politicised the issue and refurbished parochialism. At the back of its mind is the Hindutva philosophy which, it believes, cannot cope with a Muslim-majority territory.

Already Narendra Modi of the Gujarat carnage notoriety has started attacking New Delhi for not being tough on Kashmir. The world knows what his toughness means.

He is also preparing the Hindus for the verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute scheduled to be announced on Sept 24. Both communities are on the edge.

Some argue that the panacea is to concede the right of self-determination. Today’s world which is a witness to economic unions and common markets does not recognise any group of people or area which raises the standard of separation.

No state can accede to this principle because it gives sanction to centrifugal forces and fissiparous tendencies. Were the principle of self-determination to be applied in Southeast Asia, many states in the region would face the prospect of disintegration.

New Delhi’s mistake is that it has left the Kashmir problem unattended to for such a long period. It proves the charge that many elements have come to develop a vested interest in the status quo.

Manmohan Singh is quite right when he says that he is willing to talk to any party or group so long as it does not project or support violence. However, the hard-liners have spelled out certain demands. Talks have to be held without prior conditions.

Once New Delhi and Srinagar have come to terms, they should talk to Islamabad. Even otherwise, all three can sit across the table. The participation of Pakistan is necessary because all agreements, beginning from the one at Tashkent to that at Shimla, mention Pakistan as one of the important parties.

Moreover, not long ago, India and Pakistan had almost clinched the issue if former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and former Pakistan foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri are to be believed.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi.

Benazir doesn’t need a monument - Kamran Shafi - September 14, 2010

Source : www.dawn.com

IT was almost beyond belief to read only the other day that the federal government was going to build a monument to honour Benazir Bhutto of most fond memory, slated to end up costing up to Rs1bn after the inevitable cost overruns. And this while the floods are not yet done wreaking their havoc across our sorry country.

Whilst I count myself among those who have the utmost respect and affection for Benazir, not least because I knew her to be a good woman, a most bright and gifted politician, and most of all a lady with immense courage and guts, I have to say that it is a very bad idea indeed. An idea that needs to be scrapped immediately if not sooner.

The reasons are many: popular political leaders such as Ms Bhutto simply do not need a huge and fancy and expensive monument for people to remember them by. Political leaders live in people`s hearts, not in lifeless concrete and stone. Case in point: do the people vote for the PPP because there is a monument built in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto`s honour?

More critically, does this country have the funds to spare for such an expensive venture when we are tramping the world, begging bowls in hand asking for handouts? Especially at this fraught and most difficult time?

Monuments are hugely wasteful projects which are no good to man or beast and serve only to satisfy the ego of the person who comes up with the bright idea of building one. Recall please, the ugly structure raised by the Commando “to the Pakistani who has given up his today for a better tomorrow” nonsense in Islamabad. What good has that huge waste of money done to anyone? All it has really done is to add another ugly structure to the many others that grace our capital, and to spoil the natural beauty of Shakarparian Hills.

No less a person than the president himself should announce that the monument will not be built and the funds set aside for it will be used to provide building material to those who have lost their homes in the floods, and for other flood relief measures.

The finest way to remember Benazir is to find and prosecute her murderers to the full extent of the law. No better monument could be raised to her memory than to lock up for all their days on this earth those who conspired to have her killed; and those who, by their acts of omission and commission, helped the criminals in their vile enterprise.

It is important too, of course, that our succeeding generations know how and where another politician was heartlessly killed in the Citadel of Islam by installing a simple black granite slab at the site of her murder, inscribed simply: `Benazir Bhutto 21st June 1953 – 27th December 2007. Assassinated after addressing a public meeting in Liaquat Bagh`. Under this inscription should come the names of those who also lost their lives on that fateful day.

So then, whilst the disgraced trio has slunk back to the Fatherland under cover of darkness lest they be set upon by the fans they have let down so badly, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) goes on defending them stoutly to the amusement of the rest of us. We are now told that the money found in Salman Butt`s room was fees for him participating in the opening ceremony of a business (a barber`s?) somewhere or other in England. Really, we must be taken for complete fools by the PCB.

As if the disgrace brought by the three accused were not enough, bowler Wahab Riaz will be questioned by the police today (Tuesday). He bowled seven wide and 13 no-balls in two innings, which are the likely subject of the probe. As if that were not enough wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal is also under investigation by the International Cricket Council “in relation to” Pakistan`s matches during the T20 tournament in the West Indies during April and May this year!

What the devil we are still doing in England I, for one, simply do not know, losing every single match that we are playing. Are these `fixed` too? As suggested earlier we need to get out of international cricket for some years and clean up our act, otherwise there is more disgrace in store for us as a dispirited and undermined team struggles to find form.

Let me end this bit with another unbelievable piece of PCB news. Mr Ejaz Butt, the head honcho of the PCB knew of and himself announced the police questioning that Wahab Riaz will be subjected to, but the manager of the team Mr Yawar Saeed was the last one to find out that one of his players will be so questioned — surely more irrefutable proof that Pakistan cricket needs an urgent overhaul.

And yet another mind-boggling statement from Prime Minister Gilani: instead of simply saying that Musharraf is a citizen of Pakistan who can return whenever he so wishes, at which time he will not only be produced in the Balochistan High Court which has already issued a summons for his production, he will also be properly charged under Article 6 of the constitution, Gilani says that when he arrives in Pakistan the chief justice of Pakistan will receive him. I ask you! n

Or is it that the prime minister is so unnerved by rumours of an impending change that he makes these outlandish statements at quite regular intervals? As said before, the only hope of saving democracy which is under assault from many directions is for the major political parties to get together on one platform over the heads of their respective attack dogs. I have to once again appreciate Mr Nawaz Sharif`s firm stand against any undemocratic attempt to undermine the system.

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk

Scraping the barrel - Kamran Shafi September 7, 2010

Source : www.dawn.com

WHAT else again, but the disgrace heaped on our country by these hoodlums who also go by the name of cricketers? How much more disgrace will be piled upon this country by these Yahoos, and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), both prime collections of clowns and jokers? I mean what the devil is going on?

The ICC gives us the time and the opportunity to withdraw the three named and (hopefully) shamed players from the T20 and the one-day series and we go on insisting we will not. And then, when the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspends them, we have the gall to say we still think they are innocent and that the ICC overstepped its authority; that it is a conspiracy; that the videos were doctored; that Indian bookies were the ones really to blame, and so on.

What in the world is wrong with us? Why do we strike attitudes and then fall flat on our faces, every single time? Why do we repeatedly shoot ourselves in the groin — shooting oneself in the foot is far less painful so it`s the groin for us — making ourselves the laughing stock of the world?

Instead of taking the high road in matters like this and saying that what has been alleged is serious stuff, and that if the charges are true we will take the most stringent action to wipe out corruption in our cricket, we try to obfuscate and sidestep and lie. News of the World

We will simply not do the right thing, ever. Instead of facing the facts, we went and challenged a newspaper such as the , a tabloid known for dirty tricks I know, but part of a multi-billion pound media empire, which the very next week came out with more lurid stories about Pakistani cricket and the veritable death throes it is in. News of the World

Now there are allegations that all Pakistani matches are `fixed`, through the mouth (and video) of batsman Yasir Hameed who apparently told the that every single match that Pakistan plays is `fixed`!

Most critically, where in the world is Ijaz Butt, the present undertaker of Pakistan cricket, who is finally interring its putrid corpse; people like the Commando`s favourite Nasim Ashraf already having performed the last rites? Which seven-star London hotel is he lurking in, leaving the high commissioner to do his dirty work? This is not a bilateral matter between the court of St James and the government of Pakistan, so why is Butt himself not facing the music?

And now for the discomfiture of our slow and ponderous prime minister (who just a few weeks ago made the silly remark that now that COAS Kayani had got a three-year extension everybody would complete their tenures — I ask you!) as he watches the army project itself at the politicians cost. Which, be as it may, even I, as a former soldier, was dismayed to see army trucks carrying relief supplies for the flood-affected, emblazoned with banners announcing `In tough times Pakistan Army is with you` and other such.

This is highly unprofessional behaviour: if the army is distributing food and other supplies to Pakistanis in trouble it is the right and proper thing to do: it is the Pakistan Army after all and the food and supplies belong to the people of Pakistan in the first place who pay for the army`s upkeep through their very noses.

Of course, if the relief goods had been bought with the profits of the army`s commercial activities such as real estate businesses; retail shops; bakeries and restaurants; cement, fertiliser and sugar manufacturing industries, then the banner could (rightly) have read `donated by the CSD`, `donated by Askari Bank` or `donated by Fauji Cement`, and so on.

Also, there should have been an `on hire` plate displayed on the hood of the trucks (as used to happen in days gone by) telling the world that these commercial undertakings had hired army transport, according to the rules, to do their good deeds.

Armies the world over help out during calamities: why, even the New Zealand army has been drafted just two days ago to help clean up the mess after the earthquake that hit that lovely and peaceful country. Just the other day the Australian army was called out to help the affected people in the worst floods in 10 years. I saw no banners on New Zealand or Australian army trucks announcing the army`s kind help to its countrymen and women.

I do wish the army would rid itself of this superiority complex sooner rather than later and start considering itself as just another department of the Pakistani government which it is.

We must note too that when the Pakistan Army is called out to help the civilian authority in natural disasters or in internal security (IS) duties, it is called out in `aid to civil power`.

Under this arrangement a certain amount of daily allowance is also paid to all ranks, and quite rightly, for the days that they are engaged in such duties away from the unit lines/residences. Even during the so-called Baloch insurgency in the `70s when my battalion was posted in Kalat and then in Khuzdar we received DA which was a welcome addition to our salaries.

The DA, and the same amount was paid to all ranks up to lieutenant colonel used to be Rs900 per month if memory serves; I am told it is something like Rs13,000 today. So no one is doing any favours to anyone please, sirs.

On the return of our military delegation from Dulles airport, Washington D.C. just this: where was the American conducting officer who should have met the delegation the moment it set foot in the US, to accompany it during its travels in the US? n

And a personal experience: travelling recently in the US, I saw a US Navy rear admiral go through exact same security checks as anyone else. There is no VIP culture there, gentlemen, no one gives a toss for any number of `stars`.

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk

Needed: the truth - Ardeshir Cowasjee - September 5, 2010

Source : www.dawn.com

IT was William Randolph Hearst, American press baron, who came out with a valid truth: `A politician will do anything to keep his job — even become a patriot.`

We have no dearth of amateur patriots, they are a veritable swarm. One, sitting in far away London Town from where he leads a political party now in coalition, has issued a patriotic call to his fellow patriots in uniform urging them to come to the rescue of a sinking country and act to eradicate the many corrupt fellow patriots, to eliminate the feudal culture which has dragged this country down to where it is, rid it of powerful pressure groups and the so-called elite — in fact, of all those responsible for the appalling state of affairs in which Pakistan now finds itself.

Not an easy task — where does one start? The odd thing is that the general-rouser has inadvertently pleaded for his own and his party`s removal from the national scene.

The caller has offered to lead an uprising similar to that of the 1789 French Revolution, influenced no doubt by his close proximity to Paris. Naturally, this call to arms has drawn fire from all patriots of the professed `democratic` bend, the generals maintaining a discreet silence.

It seems he was prompted to issue his call by the influx of flood-affected Sindhis into the urban fabric of the province, especially Karachi. With rising levels of education, the population increase rate among his community is levelling off, as is its vote-bank. In the last general elections, his party lost two provincial assembly seats of Karachi to a fellow coalition partner — since the Swat debacle of 2008, the number of Pathans in Karachi has been steadily increasing.

Nationalist Sindhi parties (and the PPP), who have witnessed the conflict with some unease, are now entering the fray. Flood-affected (and other) provincials are being encouraged and organised to take over properties (with guns, if necessary) and settle in urban areas to reclaim the cities and capital of Sindh. All of this augurs badly for an already overstressed and beleaguered Karachi.

The extensive damage over the past six weeks to standing crops, farm animals and human habitations in Punjab and Sindh (including a contiguous part of Balochistan) has been triggered by capricious and immoral decisions to breach bunds (dykes) in certain areas. As a result, the tolls in Pakistan surely far exceed the official numbers of 1,600 dead, 2,600 injured, 1.2 million houses and 11,000 schools damaged, and 18 million persons (about 10 per cent of the population) affected. The loss of over 3.6 million hectares of crops and millions of livestock threaten food security and the 20 per cent of the nation`s economy that relies on agriculture.

We have heard much about powerful political patriots and their ilk attempting to save their lands from inundation by breaching bunds on the opposite side. Tori/Ghouspur Bund on the eastern bank of the Indus above Sukkur was sacrificed in place of (allegedly the technically more appropriate) Ali Wahan Bund on the western bank (who else owns agricultural lands on that side besides federal Labour Minister Khursheed Shah?), and the river merrily haemorrhaged through the districts of Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Shahdadkot, Larkana, Dadu — and may still be doing so.

On Sept 1, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif set up a tribunal of inquiry to probe into the report that “certain main bunds and canal networks were breached by the I&P [irrigation and power] department as well as by certain local individuals to divert the heavy influx of recent floods allegedly to save the properties of influential persons which resulted in colossal loss to the properties of the inhabitants of the areas.”

Headed by a respected judge of the Lahore High Court, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, the tribunal includes Mansoob Ali Zaidi, retired secretary of the irrigation & power department, and Abdul Sattar Shakir, dean of civil engineering at the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore.

The body is charged with seeking out the truth while delving into the causes of the breaches in canal networks, bunds, roads and drains, ascertaining as to whether or not prescribed procedure was followed, establishing malfeasance (if any) on the part of government agencies or others, and fixing responsibility in cases of wrongdoing. When does Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah intend setting up a similar tribunal to examine the Sindh fiasco (as demanded by our ambassador to the UN)?

This is far from the end of the story. In the reconstruction phase, we must expect much more greed, selfishness, corruption and deceit. Armed mafias have already begun to take over land in areas where the water has receded, taking with it markings and boundaries of farms and survey numbers. The most severely affected will be the poor and powerless (who will then migrate to the cities, exacerbating the situations there.)

Rehabilitation of roads, railway tracks, bridges and water/sewerage/electricity facilities will generate opportunities for graft and sleaze. Profiteers, moneylenders and hoarders will come out of the woodwork to prey on those who have lost everything: prices have already begun to rise, and loans will be available at exorbitant interest. n

We in `the land of the pure` have convinced ourselves that the truth is a rare and precious commodity, and that we must be sparing in its use. For 63 years, we have been unable to determine the truth about the murders or assassinations of every prominent figure that has fallen to the gun or the bomb, about the loss of half our territory and about who is actually running this country. Unless we can place a premium on the telling of truth — and the enforcement of the rule of law — our future will become bleaker with every passing day.

arfc@cyber.net.pk

Waiting for Rahul? - Kuldip Nayar - September 3, 2010

Source : www.dawn.com

SOME 80,000 farmers protested near Parliament House in New Delhi last week against the paltry compensation paid by the government for the land it took over in “public interest”. An 1847 act empowers the state to acquire land in dire eventuality.The UP government has taken over hundreds of acres to build an express Yamuna corridor for industry. True, the state is paying more or less the market price, as enjoined by a Supreme Court ruling. But the farmers` contention is that the land is their only asset and if taken away, they are left with only cash which does not provide a living.

Is invoking `public interest` for industrialists justified? Essentially, it raises the old question: how far can land or natural resources be appropriated in the name of development?

A similar situation forced the government to dilute the scheme of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Large tracts were acquired “in public interest” and passed on to big industrial or business houses which would put up a factory on a small tract of land and use the rest, hundreds of acres, to establish hotel and entertainment facilities. There was so much protest that the government had to leave it to the buyer and seller to decide. Now that there is pressure on the UP government — one farmer is on a fast unto death — it can consider applying the same formula.

Therefore, the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act was a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, politics has devalued such an altruistic step. Rising star Rahul Gandhi announced his opposition to the act while addressing the farmers` rally. The government has promised to follow his advice.

This is not the first time that the government has allowed him to take the credit. Only a few days ago he succeeded in having a project wound up in Orissa where the tribals were up in arms over the installation of a factory next to a mine-mound they worshipped. The centre is probably right in rejecting the project on environmental grounds. But must it seem to be done at the behest of Rahul Gandhi?Politics is very much there because the tribals, once the vote bank of the ruling Congress party, have left it. His address to them in Orissa that he was their “sepoy at Delhi” is sheer propaganda for the Congress which has appointed him the secretary general. It is conceded that development may need to step on the toes of environment or natural resources. But such decisions are rarely explained to the public in detail. There are many instances where a party in power for sheer graft has tilted a particular decision. So long as there is no transparency, government action would be seen with suspicion.

At least the farmers in Punjab have a grievance. On reports of rotting food grains, the Supreme Court appointed commissioners to ascertain the fact. They have reported that as much as 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of grain have already gone bad. They dubbed the negligence by officials as genocidal and recommended that responsibility and accountability be fixed at the highest level.

They also warned that this is just a third of the wheat lying in the open since 2008-09 in Punjab, and the entire lot could have become unfit for consumption as the Food Corporation of India norms allow grain to be exposed to nature for only a year. In Haryana too, 31.574 MT of grain have been lying in the open since 2008-09.

The rice grown in Punjab last year has not yet been picked up; godowns are packed to capacity. The new crop is still to arrive. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, ordered by the Supreme Court to distribute for free the rice which is lying in the open, dilly-dallied before the court snubbed him. Pawar`s heart is more in cricket than in his ministry — a sensitive person would have resigned long ago.

The mishandling of food grain is only one example. The shame of the Commonwealth Games is another. The government doesn`t seem to be doing anything competently, reflecting some kind of panic in the ruling party. Elections are three and a half years away. No doubt, the party has lost some ground because of its ridiculous stand on the nuclear energy bill.

Yet no viable opposition is emerging. The communists, reduced from 60 to 16 in the Lok Sabha, look like losing even their citadel, West Bengal, in the state election next year. The Bharatiya Janata Party is not gaining either. It will soon be in the midst of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi controversy — the court judgment is due this month.

In fact, this is an ideal time for the Congress to rise above politics and take decisions that have long been pending. For example, the draconian laws which have shrunk space for democracy need to be withdrawn, particularly the Armed Forces Act which gives security forces the right to kill without accountability.

The 10-year-old agitation in Manipur would end if the 52-year-old act was withdrawn. Even otherwise, the democratic face of the polity has become deformed by giving the armed forces the power to kill on suspicion. The very name of the act evokes anger in Kashmir and in the north-east.

Still, the government continues to make mistakes. It has decided to enumerate castes for the census which started in the beginning of the year. The Manmohan Singh government has undone the work of decades that Jawaharlal Nehru and his successors had put in to efface the curse of caste from Indian body politic. Caste was the British government`s innovation to create dissensions in the country.

One would have expected Prime Minister Singh or the powerful Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take control of the situation. But it is Rahul Gandhi coming to the people`s rescue. Rahul Gandhi is being projected by the ruling Congress as the next prime minister. How will the country run till then?

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi.

Hanging by a thread - Shafqat Mahmood - Friday, October 01, 2010

Source : www.thenews.com.pk

Brinkmanship is the name of the game in our blessed land. The government makes threatening noises to take on the Supreme Court and then subsides at the last minute. On its part, the court seems ready to deliver the ultimate blow, and then becomes "cool as ice and deep as an ocean," in the words of the chief justice.

The game does not stop here. The military, according to the New York Times, has given an ultimatum to the government to clean up its act, or else. What if Zardari and company say no or dawdle about doing a bit here and a bit there, leaving their crony core intact? Will the generals cry foul and pull the plug on them?

It is turning out to be an intricate chess game and Zardari is a good tactical player. He may not be wise, in the sense of understanding the larger scheme of things, but he is canny. He is good at calculating what others can or cannot do and has no shame in beating a hasty retreat if things become hot.

He understands well that the space for the military to take any drastic action has shrunk after nine years of Musharraf. It has not disappeared, but Zardari knows that the generals' ability to dictate terms is relatively circumscribed. He would give in if he sees a red line but is quite ready to blithely ignore pre-danger yellow signals.

It would be a judgment call for him to figure out whether the latest pressure from the military to improve governance is the last chance saloon or not. His prime minister does not think so because he is not ready to fire any allegedly corrupt minister. Is he being foolhardy, or is this the party line?

There is little doubt that some sort of crunch time is approaching. The military is deeply perturbed about the state of the economy, and it is not the only one. There is a deep sense of malaise in the country about what lies ahead. Inflation is projected at 25 per cent; investment is at a standstill and government on the verge of bankruptcy.

Not all of it is due to corruption in high places, but add incompetence to this and it becomes a lethal combination. The new economic team led by Hafeez Sheikh has good credentials with Nadeem Ul Haque in planning and the superb addition of Shahid Kardar's steady hand at the State Bank. The question is, will they be given space to turn things around?

A terrible bleeding wound are the state-owned corporations, and it is here that corruption in high places is having a serious impact. The power sector is the worst, with WAPDA taking the lead in questionable practices. The Steel Mills saga is widely known. The story of its pillage is a textbook study in loot and plunder. PIA is virtually dead and on life support.

One can go on and on. Every state enterprise of this poor nation has been a happy hunting ground for crooks. Virtually on a daily basis, the newspapers report one shenanigan after another, but no one in government is bothered. The recent appointment of a jailbird crony by the prime minister with no qualification as head of the OGDC indicates a certain contempt for public opinion.

There is little doubt that this state of affairs is having a serious impact on the economy. People and politicians are corrupt in many countries of the world, but their economies are stronger and can easily absorb corrupt practices. Obvious examples are Japan, Italy and even India, where what the corrupt politicians take away is a miniscule proportion of their economy. In Pakistan's case, it is significant because the cake is smaller.

The million-dollar question is how can this paradigm be changed? No one wants democracy to suffer, even the military, from all accounts. There seems to be no stomach within it for any kind of overt intervention. It has understood very well after long years in power under Musharraf that it has no magic bullet to solve the nation's problems. It is good to see generals now freely acknowledging privately that they have little training or know-how to rule the country.

The media has been shouting about corrupt practices from the rooftops but is having little impact. It imagines itself to be the new player in the power equation, but if the politicians develop a thick skin and are willing to live with the barbs thrown at them, it becomes impotent. It has no answer to being ignored.

In theory, the ultimate game-changers are the people. If they rise up and demand better governance, the rulers cannot ignore them. But there seems little chance of any kind of concerted movement on their part, crushed as they are under the weight of inflation and the sheer struggle for survival.

The politicians in opposition like Nawaz Sharif, who would want a change in the style of governance if not the government, are apprehensive about damaging the system if they push too hard. Any attempt by them to mobilise the people seems unlikely.

This brings us to the last resort, the judiciary. The Supreme Court has been pushing in all directions. It has shot down dubious appointments and through suo moto actions has stopped many a corrupt practice. In the process it has taken some negative propaganda, but it has persisted.

The problem for it is that it is in the end a moral institution with certain constitutional powers, but no ability to enforce its writ if the government of the day decides to ignore its directives. This has been the case for a while now and the NRO decision is a classical example.

Irrespective of whether it is a good or a bad judgement, the government of the day has no choice but to implement it. This the Zardari team has refused to do and the impatience in the court is increasing. If nothing substantial comes out by Oct 13, the outcome for Gilani and company could be serious.

One last piece of the puzzle in our context is the attitude of the Americans. According to the New York Times article, if there was any soft spot in the past for the Zardari regime in the US, it no longer exists. With a fair amount of American money in the pipeline, they--and their allies in Europe and Japan--are very concerned about corruption and bad governance.

It has taken a while, but now the military, the judiciary and the Americans seem to be on the same page. This combination of forces in the Pakistani context is a lethal brew. It would be wise for the Zardari-led PPP government to recognise that the time has come for it to clean up its act, or it will be curtains.