The adjournment of the implementation case of the NRO judgement to October 13 and creation of a full court bench to hear the review petition of the federation against some unwarranted parts of the NRO judgement by the Chief Justice of Pakistan has poured cold water on the hopes of those who have been giving dates for a change of government. Most disappointing, for these conspiracy mongers, was the meeting between the president, prime minister and the chief of army staff (COAS) at the Presidency that sent a loud message favouring the current democratic dispensation. But this was not to bring an end to the rumours; the conspiracy theorists go far beyond the wild imagination of potential conspirators.
A section of the media continues to propound all variants of government change and one is at a loss to make anything out of what is being so vociferously dished out on one TV network/newspaper or the other. If you probe these armchair theorists and question the speculative linkages, contradictions in their story, reliability of their sources and ambiguity of their forecasts, you get nowhere as they would struggle to take you somewhere. What is, after all, at the heart of all these wild speculations that have so far been proved wrong in the past two years? Are they a pathetic reflection on the sorry state of affairs of our country, which finds no recipe for its protracted and multiple predicaments? Has the system become so unstable or ungovernable that it requires, at best, a democratic and constitutional change and, at worst, a military or popular revolution? Has the clash between the judiciary and the executive reached a point where there is no way out left for the adversaries to hold back their guns? Or is it the government failure that requires immediate uplift or change?
Are there such interested stakeholders or power players whose prestige, interest and power are in jeopardy at the hands of the sitting president or the Gilani government? Has the government really failed to an extent that there is no option left for a more powerful establishment but to bring a change through whatever means? Are the Americans and other international players finding it difficult to do business with the civilian leadership or are they are now close to throwing in the towel on what they may perceive as an incorrigible state? Has the international community arrived at the conclusion that the government is so corrupt and inefficient and the Pakistani establishment so adamant not to change that they are left with no option but to apply a squeeze? Is it the same amateurish, egotistical and selfish old powerplay that is causing so much uncertainty? Has a section of the media gone crazy? There are, however, more questions than answers.
Indeed, more than the speculators, there are speculations that come out of uncertainties abounding and continuing tension among various pillars and the institutions of a floundering state that is at war with itself and others. Given the economic meltdown, shortage of energy, continuing terrorism and lawlessness, a bigger military engagement on both the fronts and increasing expenditure on the war on terror, stiffening conditions of the donors in the absence of viable economic growth/investment, scarcity of resources in a dependent economy devastated by massive floods and one of the most inefficient and corrupt bureaucracies in the world (not the creation of this government), the national scene is prone to any kind of destabilisation regardless of who runs the government. Governance is only relatively relevant to a manageable situation. It is least relevant to a void or zero-sum-game being played by various actors of the state.
A major catalyst can explode the uncertainty and hopelessness into a devastating destabilisation. This could come in a myriad ways and for myriad reasons: an escalation of intrusion by the NATO troops on our side of the Durand Line, which is likely to increase if we do not do our part against the sanctuaries in North Waziristan or elsewhere; yet another terrorist attack by non-state actors in India; a high profile target killing; a thoughtless confrontation between the executive and the judiciary; a mass strike against even a genuine effort at increasing revenue or drastically cutting down the untouchable non-productive expenditure; a glaring and ghastly corruption case of the top guns; a conflict with NATO or/and Indian forces; stoppage of aid and assistance and exposure of big financial cheating on the part of our institutions and a simple fiscal breakdown when the fiscal deficit crosses eight percent of the GDP as is being anticipated.
The crises are truly apocalyptic and are much bigger than the capacities, talents, resources and faculties of all institutions and the political forces put together. What the executive is not doing may make no big difference, what the judiciary is doing may be self-defeating, what the military establishment is doing may be absolutely untenable, what the bureaucracy is doing may not produce any semblance of good governance and what the media is doing may be the last nail in everybody’s coffin –not just Mr Zardari’s or politicians as a class. Everything is on the boil, everything is in the doldrums and everyone is spoiling. To make things worse and leave the country without a recipe is that the state has become a battleground among various institutional fiefs run by narrow-minded egotistic patriarchs who refuse to gently work within a system and without a clear direction.
Not all politicians have behaved, but most have, even though they are cursed as a class by a time-tested design. Parliament has done a remarkable job; so has a policy of reconciliation that has resulted in stable coalition governments, passage of the 18th Amendment and the NFC Award with consensus. But the politicians are resourceless, powerless and helpless. What they could do, they have not or could not do given the legacy of authoritarian emptiness. A poor team at the Centre and no team in the provinces have made things worse. Keeping ministers with bad optics was another handicap, which is the characteristic of the court of sycophants that our personality-centred parties maintain. But what is the alternative?
This country has seen all variants of governance — military, quasi-military, civilian-authoritarian, technocratic regimes, liberal-democratic, conservative-democratic, socialist-populist. Those who are talking about a revolution are only calling for anarchy. There cannot be a Khomeiniite, Kemalist or Taliban-like revolution in Pakistan, as the country is divided among over five dozen sects, ethnic, terrorist militias and extremist groups with a small time Ayatollah waiting to take over his party of the would-be fief at war with all other fiefs. Do not tell me about these technocrats who have served every other dictator and have brought the country to a pass. But the responsibility squarely lies on the government and it must act by radically reforming itself and showing the door to all who have brought it to such an awkward position. Let it convene a national conference with all stakeholders on board to evolve a national agenda of change for the better and it can hire the services of able technocrats to achieve national goals and reform governance.
Things can get better if parliament puts its act together and creates the broadest national consensus along rational, democratic, tough and forward looking lines on the following issues and put every institution in its due place, as suggested by the Citizens for Democracy:
1. All organs of the state to work within the parameters of the constitution and frustrate any effort at change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means while remaining within their limits, respecting each others’ legitimate constitutional space, people’s mandate and ensuring independence of the judiciary, a free media and a transparent and accountable governance.
2. All major political parties and stakeholders must sit together to evolve a National Agenda on (a) terrorism; (b) the economy (macro-economic policy, state corporations, taxation, non-development expenditure, energy, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood- and terrorism-affected); (c) foreign policy; (d) national security and neighbours; (e) transparent and accountable governance and across the board accountability and (f) Balochistan.
3. All state and non-state actors, institutions, political parties, civil society and above all federating units must join their forces to take the country out of its current predicaments on short-, mid-, and long-term bases for peace and prosperity within and without.
The writer is Editor of South Asian Journal. He can be reached at imtiazalampak@yahoo.com
VIEW: Of conspiracy theories and recipes —Imtiaz Alam - Sunday, October 03, 2010
ANALYSIS: Is the party over? —Salman Tarik Kureshi - Saturday, October 02, 2010
I had suggested in these pages last week that the two-alliance political polarity slowly emerging in Pakistan was already acquiring its right wing, centred around the PML-N, but that its left wing was still to evolve. Some friends have disagreed. What about the PPP, they say. Its current failures notwithstanding, is that not the core entity for culturally liberal, socially egalitarian democrats?
In today’s piece, I would like to revisit certain points in the PPP’s history and show how it has lost its social democratic compass, as it sails towards political irrelevance.
Initially formed at the residence of J A Rahim in Karachi, the PPP was officially launched at a convention at the Pak Tea House, Lahore, in November 1967. The party was a child of the 1960s — a decade known the world over for its non-conformist, anti-establishment upsurge and its passion for social justice. Vigorous espousal of democratic, pro-poor values caused the PPP to emerge strongly in the assemblies and amongst the hungry, justice-seeking people at large.
Some contended that the PPP was in fact an establishment ploy, with a temporarily out-of-work politician (the late Mr Bhutto) mouthing radical democratic and socialist slogans only to deceive the masses. Well, whatever his private promptings, the objective actions of Mr Bhutto in power included fathering a national constitution, thereby placing himself alongside such illustrious democratic figures as Thomas Jefferson, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Jawaharlal Nehru and Tunku Abdur Rahman. As regards his socialist credentials, we have the evidence of the four waves of nationalisation carried out by his government. Many of course contend that these nationalisations destroyed the backbone of the economy; the fact is that at the time socialism-without-nationalisation would have been something of an oxymoron.
But, as members of our urban elite never tire of arguing, the PPP is actually a feudal party and Mr Bhutto and other party leaders were feudal lords who hated capitalist material progress. Now, it is true that the Bhuttos were a land-owning family. The fact is that this ‘feudal’ government carried out not one but two waves of land reforms, forcing the landed classes to seek all kinds of subterfuges to cling to some portion of their holdings. It was the pseudo-Islamic propaganda of the middle class General Ziaul Haq that led to the reversal of the land reforms. Less than a dozen years after the PPP’s creation, its charismatic founder was executed on the orders of this usurper.
In 1986, a courageous ray of light shone out against the suffocating darkness of the Zia regime. Benazir Bhutto landed at Lahore to one of the biggest and most tumultuous welcomes ever accorded to anyone until then. She then flew down to Karachi, to the mammoth, million-plus procession — the greatest this city had ever seen — that welcomed her return. It was dark as the procession turned from Nursery into Shahrah-e-Quaideen, but someone in a small jeep in front of the truck in which she rode was shining a spotlight towards her. Her face seemed almost haloed there — she was a fairy princess, defying an evil sorcerer.
In 1988, Zia died and she led her party into the elections that followed.
There is a point about the selection of PPP candidates that went into this election that bears note. Feeling (correctly) that the establishment would shamelessly stack the cards against them, the First Couple of the PPP sought to award party tickets to “sure winners” in the various constituencies, whether these were PPP loyalists or not. This brought on board a crowd of opportunists and even some former functionaries of the Zia regime.
The PPP was successful on 32 percent of the seats polled, making it the largest single party in parliament. But this compared poorly with its earlier performances. In 1970, the PPP had won 81 seats, a whopping 60 percent of the West Pakistan seats. In that election, this party swept Punjab, gaining 62 of the province’s 82 NA seats — an incredible 76 percent. By contrast, in 1988, the PPP’s tally in the largest province was only 29 percent of the 150 Punjab seats. Where the PPP had earlier swept the heavily populated GT Road districts, doing much less well in the comparatively backward feudal domains of the Seraiki belt, the 1988 elections showed an exact reversal. Clearly, the PPP had lost its former vote bank in the heavily populated GT Road belt of Punjab and picked up in the feudal south and west. Thus, the “sure winners” had failed to win and the party had been driven out of its former strongholds into the rural hinterland.
This was also the time Benazir made her first set of ‘deals’ with the establishment and was accepted as prime minister. Whether it was the constraints imposed by her ‘deal’ or inadequate executive competence or alleged corruption, her government accomplished very little in its two abbreviated terms in office. She proceeded into exile again.
But we in this country are desperately short of heroes of any gender. Bibi possessed both charisma and personal courage in extraordinary measure and, exiled again, she very quickly regained her status as the ‘People’s Princess’. After making what this writer considered an entirely gratuitous set of ‘deals’ that included the notorious NRO, she returned to Pakistan. To extraordinary popular acclamation. To bombs. And bullets. And death.
Her assassination was an event of fearful magnitude. The people mourned immensely. It was a savage grief, a violent commemoration. Fire and smoke devoured the peace in our cities, an enormous suttee in reverse. The nation, in general, and her party in particular, have been rendered bereft of credible leadership.
To return to our starting point, the moderate right is programmatically clear and is divided at present only because of personality issues between Nawaz Sharif and others who claim the Muslim League label. But the PPP drifts rudderless in ideological darkness. Dominated by a handful of cronies loyal to the party leader and an elite clutch of smart set cosmopolitans, buoyed up on a know-nothing mass of country squires whose ‘feudal’ label sits incongruously, this has ceased to be a party of the democratic left. It is nostalgia and an absence of alternatives that keeps liberals like Raza Rabbani, Aitzaz Ahsan, Sherry Rehman, Kamal Azfar, etc, clinging to this derelict political hulk.
The writer is a marketing consultant based in Karachi. He is also a poet
Masters of our destiny - Mir Adnan Aziz - Saturday, October 02, 2010
Prone to reckless policies, bad governance and national apathy, we have reverted to bondage. Pakistan, a dream that became reality, has tragically been robbed of its conviction and ideals. The beginning of our history merely marks the point where British bondage ended and that of others began.
We, collectively and individually, are guilty of being dazzled by each of our emperor's new clothes, just to discover his true character. We appear to be addicted to the whip of those who misrule us, those who are masters of our destiny.
What we have never learnt from a "chosen" dispensation, the present one starkly outdoing all others, is how "democratic" rulers operate. Never before did corruption and complete decay of governance stand so thoroughly exposed. The only reason for winning power is control of all aspects of society to ensure self-enrichment. Our political system has allowed criminals to attain and maintain positions of power. In the struggle for supremacy, politicians try to outdo each other in cunning and deceit and shady machinations. They know that, irrespective of the method by which they attain it, success is what really matters.
This gimmickry has become a passion for corrupt politicians. They are undeterred and secure in the knowledge that their fiefdoms remain impregnable. They appear in hordes on the electronic media and gatherings of their devoutly faithful. Armed with photos and posters of their respective leaders (both those who are gone and those very much alive and kicking, both here and living abroad), they utter proclamations and make promises of a much better and brighter tomorrow. Emotionally blackmailed and robbed to the brink of ruin, we still see it as a moment of truth.
Our political system spawns corrupt politicians. Doling out contracts, promoting kith and kin, rewarding criminals with party tickets and high public offices, lapping up kickbacks and commissions are all acceptable. In reality, it is corruption at its crudest. The tragedy of our politics is that corruption and patronage politics have become the recurring baseline of political compromise and consensus among the otherwise bitterly divided political elites. Nothing encapsulates this reality more than the present "opposition" refusing to do anything to destabilise the (abhorrently corrupt and clueless) governing dispensation.
So pervasive is this mass complicity that many of us, while expressing outrage at corruption, indifferent to its manifestation. We morph and adapt. This complicity further destroys an already threadbare social fabric while robbing society of the public pressure necessary to counter such rampant corruption.
Corruption, understandably a global phenomenon, never translates into a breakdown of political, social-sector and administrative institutions in developed countries. Here it gives a fatal jolt to an already impoverished economy. It translates into the morally reprehensible deterioration of infrastructure and social services, which were already almost non-existent, bringing hunger, disease and death. The ever-present solution is to tax the taxed even more. "To tax the community for the advantage of a class is not protection; it is plunder," said Benjamin Disraeli.
Political negotiations and constitutional amendments based on individual self-interests, like the autocratic powers guaranteed to party bosses, compromise on national issues for a third stint at premiership, loss of a seat if the party line is defied, exemption of elections within a party, all result in corruption and political brinkmanship. These are also used as a diversion from economic and national realities.
In the present bleak scenario the only ray of hope is the proactive role of the superior judiciary. It is unfair to think of the judges as saviours while we strengthen those very individuals who tend to use the system as a mere tool to further increase their wealth. When asked about this, the typical answer on the street is: "I do not know and I care less." This national apathy may be a norm but an option we can least afford.
Politics is not just voting for a candidate every five years but a politician's contract with those who elect him. This contract allows the electorate to hold him accountable in case of violation of the contract. Their election gives them an unchallenged mandate for plundering for five years. Elected representatives or those holding public offices elsewhere have the honourable conviction to resign when in case of allegations of minor misdemeanour, as compared to the serious crimes committed by our stalwarts.
Human endurance too has a limit. Can we really afford the moment when crass political deceit and rhetoric are challenged on the streets by those wronged and held hostage to the harsh and cruel realities of their daily lives? Will the political elite not cry foul if the vacuum is filled by those very individuals who will then be branded as usurpers, while most heave a sigh of relief? Is it still not time to stand up when we have legitimised an elite and a system but with no one left to speak for us?
The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: miradnanaziz@gmail.com
ANALYSIS: Ordeal of Hayatullah Orakzai —Farhat Taj - Saturday, October 02, 2010
Hayatuallah Orakzai, 21, is an internally displaced person (IDP) from Upper Orakzai. His family peacefully lived in Giljo, Orakzai, until 2008 when the Taliban came to his village and overpowered the people. In the complete absence of any state protection, his family, like most of his co-villagers, continued to live as quietly as possible without questioning the Taliban order.
His family’s ordeal began when his brother applied for a job in the Frontier Corps (FC). His brother, Mohammad Hafiz, along with a friend, was on his way for recruitment in the FC when they were kidnapped by the Taliban, who had already announced that any tribesmen joining the FC would be killed. The Taliban ordered Hayatullah — via phone — to come to a centre that they had established in a nearby mosque. They demanded Rs 300,000 ransom for the release of his brother. He requested them to give him at least three days to arrange for the amount. They replied that they could not even give him a few hours. They threatened that if they did not get the money within two hours, they would kill his brother. Hayatullah begged them to give him at least 24 hours. They were not willing, but finally one of them agreed and asked the others to give him an opportunity to arrange the money by the next afternoon. Hayatullah went home and began contacting relatives and friends to borrow the money. Early next morning, he received the message that his brother and his friend had been killed and their dead bodies had been dumped in a nearby village.
Nobody dared touch the dead bodies out of fear because the Taliban had left a threatening note. Putting their lives in danger, some of Hayatullah’s relatives brought the dead bodies to their village. The boys had been shot many times in the head; their heads had been blown open. Out of sheer fear of the Taliban, none of the mullahs were ready to offer funeral prayers for the boys. Finally, Hayatullah’s cousin, who is not a maulvi, offered the prayers. The boys were killed because they were recruiting for the FC. No state compensation, even condolence, was ever offered to Hayatullah’s family.
The ordeal of Hayatullah’s family multiplied when the Pakistan Army, stationed in the famous Zargari Fort, called the elders of Hayatullah’s village for a meeting. The elders were told that as there was no health centre, whenever there would be an emergency during the night or a curfew, they must call on the phone numbers provided to them and inform the officers about the details of the town’s people and vehicles so that they could be allowed to pass on the roads smoothly, and so that the army would not shoot innocent people by mistaking them as terrorists. The army officers and the elders discussed the general security situation in the area before the meeting was dismissed. Hayatullah’s father was among the elders.
Soon after the meeting, the Taliban ordered the elders who had attended the meeting to come to their centre for an investigation. Some of the elders ran away from the village. Others thought they would talk it out with the Taliban. The next day the Taliban came to arrest the elders who had attended the meeting. Those who resisted were killed on the spot. Hayatullah’s father, Akhtar Jan, was arrested. The next morning, his father’s beheaded corpse, along with the dead bodies of the other arrested people, was found in a ditch.
Relatives and friends advised Hayatullah to leave the village because his turn could be next. Hayatullah ran away from the village along with his mother and three young siblings. They now live as IDPs in pathetic conditions in Kohat. They have no source of livelihood. No state help or condolence has even been offered to his family after the brutal assassinations of a brother and father. Hayatullah is jobless and asked me to publish his family’s ordeal and request the authorities on his behalf for some state support for his family, as they had lost both its breadwinners due to their association with the security forces of Pakistan.
Hayatullah’s father was a chowkidar in a school. This position became vacant due to his assassination. Hayatullah requested the FATA education authorities to appoint him in that position because it would fetch his family an immediate source of income. Currently, the family has no source of income.
As per the wishes of Hayatullah, I share his family’s ordeal with the people of Pakistan and am now circulating an appeal for help. I am, however, not sure who is the state authority that can provide some help to his family. Is it the political agent of Orakzai? He cannot even breathe without permission from the ISI. Is it the president of Pakistan? He cannot even implement his own orders regarding political reforms in FATA, which he announced in August 2009, due to the ISI’s opposition. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has no jurisdiction over FATA, and the same goes for the government of Yousaf Raza Gilani. So an appeal to the chief justice or the prime minister means nothing. An appeal to the DG of the ISI would be appropriate because his institution exercises absolute control over FATA. But would the DG pay any attention to the plight of people like Hayatullah? It is the ISI that is running the deadly show in collusion with the Taliban through the blood of the innocent people of FATA.
Hayatullah informs me that there were only 25 people in his entire village who were linked with the Taliban. How can it be that 25 men overpowered an entire village? The 25 men had lethal weapons that most people in the village had never ever seen before in their lifetime. These 25 men had been strengthened by scores of non-local Pakhtuns, Punjabis and Uzbeks; the villagers were overpowered by them. The Pakistan Army, stationed in the Zargari Fort, could do nothing to stop the slaughter of innocent villagers like the father and brother of Hayatullah.
I request the philanthropists in Pakistan to come forward and provide some help to Hayatuallah’s family.
The writer is a PhD Research Fellow with the University of Oslo and currently writing a book, Taliban and Anti-Taliban
The real rulers - Saleem Safi - Saturday, October 02, 2010
During the incumbency of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, his close circle of kitchen cabinet played the despicable role of pitching the government against the judiciary and the COAS. But during his hard times, none of these "advisers" were seen standing firm behind their leader Nawaz Sharif. Then, party loyalists like Sardar Mehtab, Siddiqul Farooq, Javed Hashmi, Pervez Rashid or Maj (R) Aamir were at the receiving end of the revengeful counter-attack from Musharraf regime, while all important characters of that kitchen cabinet were praising Musharraf or became silent spectators after establishing covert contacts with the new regime.
The story of Musharraf's fall was like Nawaz Sharif's as far as the role of such "advisers" and close circle lackeys was concerned. The most important role in the downfall of the Musharraf regime was played by this devious group acting as "advisers" to the president. The group was neither led by a general nor a politician. Rather a very mysterious character headed the group of close circle of cronies working as a kitchen cabinet of the president. The bad advices and machinations of this group turned Musharraf against capable friends like Gen (R) Ihsan, Lt Gen (R) Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Gen (R) Aziz Ahmad, Lt Gen (R) Amjad and others, and pushed him into the lap of people like Salmaan Taseer. This very group was the architect of Musharraf's deal with the Chaudhrys and the formation of the PML-Q. They also convinced Musharraf to create the MMA to counter the political clout of the PML-N and the PPP. The secret deal between the ANP and Musharraf was also a handiwork of this cabal.
Actually, Musharraf's kitchen cabinet had installed Jamali and then Shaukat Aziz as prime ministers. The leader of this group spread baseless reports regarding the chief justice and convinced Musharraf to take measures against him. After this blunder, the group constantly assured Musharraf that the Supreme Judicial Council will not reinstate the chief justice. After the reinstatement of the chief justice, some of the civil and uniformed well-wishers and advisers stressed upon the president to mend fences with the chief justice. But this group and its leader were persistently advising the president and ultimately convinced him to impose an emergency in the country. This group had also put him on the warpath with the media. In his last days, this cabal also made efforts to create misunderstandings between him and his generals, but in vain.
This group was the spirit behind the colourful nights at the Presidency in order to please the president into making decisions of their choice. The backchannel diplomacy and plans for a secret deal with India were also a brainchild of this very group. The leader of the kitchen cabinet, neither a general nor a politician, was also the sole authority to deal with the Americans as well. The media and the people vented their anger and frustration at the political faces of the Musharraf regime, while the real hands behind the scene were never exposed or targeted. Musharraf was a puppet in the hands of this kitchen cabinet which would pull strings according to the plan. At times, Musharraf even acted against the wishes and advices of the army high command. All wrong decisions were obeyed by the army command due to discipline, and the politicians due to political compulsions. The prime motive behind every action and move of the Musharraf kitchen cabinet was self-interest. Interestingly, these real rulers neither got any mention in the print media nor the electronic media, nor are they being dragged into courts of law.
This close cabal and its leader played with the destiny of this country for nine years and went into oblivion once Musharraf was ousted. One of them tried to achieve the same position which he enjoyed during the Musharraf government.
Ostensibly, Asif Zardari has been surrounded by the PPP leaders. The people, the media and the judiciary are venting their anger against these very faces. But factually, Zardari has fully fallen into the hands of this sort of a kitchen cabinet. This cabal of master puppeteers has created a distance between the president and PPP loyalists like Amin Faheem, Aitzaz Ahsan, Raza Rabbani and Safdar Abbasi. They have played their hand to convince Zardari to go back on his promises with the PML-N and sent him on a warpath with the media. The same faceless group prepared him for a dangerous duel with the judiciary. They are frightening Zardari of the army. This kitchen cabinet consists of five ministers and a governor. The people and all other stakeholders must think about the accountability of this cabal so that future rulers remain on guard against such despicable faces. These criminals are readily identifiable as they include faces never seen in broad daylight. Rather, they are hovering in the corridors of power every evening making arrangements of colourful nights for their "victims".
During the Musharraf government, this group was led by Tariq Aziz, while in the Nawaz Sharif era the group was led by Saifur Rehman. As far as the Zardari government is concerned, it is not yet clear who leads the group. But it is believed that a retired bureaucrat, a doctor, a federal minister and a governor are in the run to become the Tariq Aziz or Saifur Rehman of this government.
The writer works for Geo TV. Email: saleem. safi@janggroup.com.pk
Cordova House - Nauman Asghar - Friday, October 01, 2010
The centre is named after Cordova in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Cordova is famous for the coexistence of Muslims, Christians and Jews under the Moors. In America there was religious freedom, until the Sept 11 attacks sparked the debate of whether Islam poses a threat to American values. 9/11 was a traumatic incident that took the lives of 3,000 innocent people. But rather than investigating the underlying causes that prompted 19 radical Muslims to crash hijacked planes into the Twin Towers, the coterie of neocons launched a crusade against Islam.
President Obama strongly defended the Cordova Centre project during his speech at an Iftar dinner at the White House. He asserted that "Islam is a part of America" and also expressed appreciation for the contributions of American Muslims in the strengthening of the United States. The president's remarks triggered a furore as the opponents of the Ground Zero mosque were already indignant when the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the project in May by a vote of 29-1.
But two days later, President Obama, in efforts to control political damage caused by his comments in favour of the Cordova Initiative, diluted his stance against the bigots. Perhaps the president has forgotten that the building of the centre will be a true victory of the voice of reason over the voice of dogmatism.
Those who object to its construction view the project as primarily an affront to the relatives of 9/11 victims. The sceptics hold the stance that the centre will become the breeding ground for militant Muslims and that thus the project will present a security threat to America. A dispassionate analysis makes it crystal clear that all these objections are preposterous and ridiculous. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, himself acknowledged the fact that American Muslims felt as much grief over the shameful incident of 9/11 as did other Americans.
The critics must keep it in mind that blocking the construction of the Islamic centre will imperil the United States' centuries-old values of religious freedom and political liberty. In addition to offending the religious feelings of American Muslims, it will allow extremist elements to fan inter-religious dissensions in the flourishing cosmopolitan cultural atmosphere of the United States. Republicans Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich miss the point that promoting inter-religious harmony and cooperation is the only tool against religious fanaticism. The Republicans seem to be on a mission to mislead public opinion by twisting facts, whether it is on the question of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or that of Cordova House.
The supporters of the project say that the centre will be a symbol of tolerance and pluralism. The centre will not entirely be a place of worship. Instead, it will provide a forum for a host of cultural activities to the citizens living in the neighbourhood. The objective of the proposed centre is to foster inter-faith harmony and provide people of diverse backgrounds a place of learning, dialogue and understanding. Besides, this initiative will also allow Muslims a golden opportunity to clear out misunderstandings clouding their faith and repair strained Islam-West relations.
The truth is that the people who want to establish the centre are themselves Americans. The construction of the mosque near Ground Zero is aimed at bridging the differences and bring the people from different faiths closer by highlighting the commonalities. The support of other religious communities will go a long way to defeat the pernicious agenda of extremists to ignite conflict between Islam and other religions.
The founding fathers of America envisioned their country as being dedicated to democratic ideals. To deny a religious community its legitimate freedoms because of the criminal acts of a few rogue elements will be betraying the vision for which the "Land of Liberties" was founded.
If US authorities succumb to bigoted feelings on the issue of the complex, it will strengthen the hands of extremists and they will play up this issue to popularise their slogan that Islam is at war with the West as a whole. President Obama should stick to his guns and refuse to give in to the pressure of rightwing hawkish Republicans. At present the world stands in dire need of promoting common ideals of humanity.
The writer is an advocate and teaches Constitutional and International Law at the Punjab University. Email: naumanlawyer@ gmail.com
Loan write-offs & tax evasion- Huzaima Bukhari &Bukhari Dr Ikramul Haq - Friday, October 01, 2010
The powerful ruling elite having the support of traders and clergy is bound to resist any move aimed at recovering the wealth amassed by them -- this money is their main source of power. The privileged classes, despite all their differences, are united as far as financial corruption, tax evasion, plundering of national wealth are concerned.
They feel threatened whenever a public debate takes place in media about their tax declarations and figures of loan write-offs.
Tragically, the apex court did not decide the issue of loan-write-offs though suo moto action was taken in 1996 and 2008. In 2008, according to press reports, the Supreme Court took serious notice of the fact as to how banks wrote off a staggering amount of Rs 125 billion as "bad debts" during 2000-2006, against Rs 30 billion written off during 1985-1999. According to reports, larger numbers of loans were written off under Circular No 29/2002, issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), of which major beneficiaries had been politicians and industrialists.
During the self-proclaimed "transparent era" of Musharraf-Shaukat, the loans write-offs in just seven years (2000-2006) crossed the figure of Rs125 billion, whereas in the much-publicised "corrupt eras" of elected governments (1985-1999) it was just Rs 30 billion. This comparison speaks for itself and does not require any further comment. The country's banks and other financial institutions wrote off an amount of over Rs 30 billion during the governments of Muhammad Khan Junejo, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. During the two tenures of Nawaz Sharif (1990-93 and 1997-99) total loans of Rs 22.35 billion were written off -- in his first tenure, a total of Rs 2.39 billion were written off and during his second, the amount went up to Rs 19.96 billion. The written off loans during the two tenures of Nawaz Sharif constituted approximately 74.5 per cent of the total of Rs 30.18 billion, written off between 1986 and 1999. During the two tenures of late Benazir Bhutto, a total of Rs 7.23 billion loans were written off, constituting 24.2 per cent of the total written off loans -- Rs 494.97 million in her first tenure and Rs 6.74 billion in the second term.
During the Musharraf-Shaukat era, an unholy alliance of bankers, businessmen-cum-politicians and bureaucrats managed to plunder the public money through an amnesty scheme from SBP, whereas banks had liquid securities to recover the loans. The SBP in the suo moto case submitted before the apex court that amongst the beneficiaries of Circular No 29/2002 were two sitting chief ministers of PML-Q regime.
The ruling elite skillfully engineered the amnesty scheme to get the benefit of write-offs and a consequential concession in tax law for no-taxation of benefits derived, whereas their personal wealth kept on increasing. All these beneficiaries of loan write-offs still possess assets worth billion of rupees. The criminal culpability of successive governments in this matter has tarnished the image of Pakistan in the eyes of the global community as a haven for the corrupt, plunderers and tax evaders.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1996 (Reference: Dawn dated October 16, 1996), took suo moto cognisance under Article 189 of the Constitution of Pakistan, took up this issue and the expressed intention of studying all the laws governing loan write offs. The apex court vowed to make authoritative pronouncement that "would eliminate the chances of misusing the laws for siphoning of public money." There is no record of what happened to that public-interest litigation case, it appears from the recent proceedings that the case is still pending after a lapse of 14 years.
The public interest litigation originated from a reference filed by then President, late Ghulam Ishaq Khan against a PPP MNA Rao Rasheed Ahmad, who as a member of loan write-off committee blatantly ordered the write off of a loan to his wife. There have been many such examples where the rich managed to plunder the savings of small depositors in a shameless manner. An unholy alliance of bankers, businessmen-cum-politicians and bureaucrats has destroyed the entire banking/financial system.
The politics of writing-off of loans in this country requires proper investigation and study as it will unveil may "big names" that are responsible for corruption and failure of the democratic process in the country. The country lost billions of rupees in the form of public revenues because of bad debts written off by the banks on the directions of the SBP. The Government of Pakistan, SBP and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) never considered the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan in this regard, showing a loss to the public exchequer of Rs 120 billion as far back as 1992. It is a matter of record that the
Board of Revenue in the presence of this audit report from the auditor general of Pakistan, issued another circular-instructions on February 4, 1993 vide its letter No 13(26)/IT-1/79 giving further concessions to the banks. The cases relating to plundering of public money to the tune of billions and blatant abuse of powers by rulers and their henchmen pose a serious threat to democratic culture.
The unscrupulous landed aristocrats and businessmen (some of whom are now politicians and elected members), state functionaries and corrupt bankers joined hands to deprive this nation of billions of rupees and colossal public revenues. The managers of the State Bank and FBR should be taken to task to explain who had asked them to issue "administrative instructions" in gross violation of law for loan write offs and giving tax benefits to the beneficiaries. The inquiry into loan write offs will reveal the modus operandi under which public money was siphoned as well who were the real beneficiaries. If we want to establish true democracy in Pakistan, the public money looted by these criminals should be recovered and all those who facilitated them should be punished.
The writers are tax lawyers, authors and teach at LUMS.
Emails: huzaima@huzaimaikram.com and ikram@huzaimaikram.com