Election on schedule

IN the midst of the war in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s pivotal position in the battle against international terrorism, one fact should not be lost sight of: Pakistan must return to democratic rule. A reminder to this effect came on Friday when the State Department said the US continued to attach importance to Pakistan’s return to full democracy. While America’s concern on this score is understandable, the point to stress is that the issue of Pakistan’s return to democracy is too important a matter to be left to the vagaries of domestic or regional situations or pressure from external powers to determine. This should be our own supreme concern under all circumstances.

When the armed forces moved in on Oct 12, 1999, there was anxiety in the country and abroad whether Pakistan was again in for a long spell of military rule. However, the Supreme Court gave the generals three years in which to clean up the Augean stables and go back to the barracks after holding free and fair elections by Oct 2001. Since then, there has been nothing to suggest that the Musharraf government is wavering on the question of holding election by October next year.

Since Pakistan’s emergence fifty four years ago, the country has been ruled by military governments for twenty-six years, which is almost half the period since independence. The result has been a gradual but unmistakable weakening of Pakistan’s state structure. Nowhere is this weakening of the state apparatus and the country’s political system more glaringly visible than in the emergence of powerful militias. Led by religious extremists and ethnic militants, these well-armed militias collect money from the people, at times under duress, and, in parts of the country, challenge the government’s writ. On many occasions, they openly displayed arms in flagrant violation of the law, and governments during the last over a decade have been unable to tame them. Aware of their power, these militias and the political parties which control them often act as a government within government. Wheel-jam strikes and shutdowns are resorted to on the slightest pretexts and force, arson and vandalism are used as weapons for enforcing strikes. The overall result has been a decline in the very concept of civil society. More important, some obscurantist parties use their power and influence to impose their own bigoted version of Islam on the people and the state in total disregard of the norms and principles of statecraft that are critically involved in such matters.

The answer to these anarchic conditions lies in the re-assertion of democratic values. Allowed to choose for themselves, the people of Pakistan have proved during the last five general elections that they reject bigotry and obscurantism for each time they have voted moderate parties into power. In the ultimate analysis, therefore, it is the people of Pakistan who will have to decide how they want the country to be governed and by whom, and in that role they will never be found wanting — provided their right to choose is not taken away from them every now and again. Whether it is peace or war, only a democratic Pakistan can look after itself well. The situation in Afghanistan and its ramifications in Pakistan are obviously highly sensitive matters. But under no circumstances should the Afghan war be used as a pretext for delaying the general election due this month next year. The post-war situation could be even more delicate and challenging, requiring, on our side, a high order of leadership and a government fully enjoying the trust and confidence of the people. Besides, the world too would be watching how Pakistan is conducting its own affairs in the aftermath of the war. Pakistan, thus, has to give a good account of itself domestically, and that is possible only if it is run by a democratically elected government. War or no war, elections must be held on schedule.

Edhi’s jihad

ABDUL SATTAR EDHI, Pakistan’s best known social worker, was recently in Kandahar to meet Taliban officials. His aim: to seek permission from the Afghan authorities to set up a hospital and an ambulance service in the battered city. As soon as permission was granted, the tireless Edhi and his equally energetic wife Bilquis set to work shifting a number of people injured in the on-going air strikes to Chaman and on to Quetta. Edhi also handed over some 20,000 kgs of wheat for the needy and destitute of the war-ravaged country. The good Samaritan has already established an ambulance service near the border post of Torkham to shift injured persons from the adjoining areas of Afghanistan to hospitals in Peshawar.

Over the years, the Edhi Foundation has reached some of the world’s most dangerous troublespots to provide aid and medical services to victims of wars and natural calamities. The Edhi Foundation has carried out relief work in Bosnia, Iraq, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Uganda and Somalia, working in the most appalling conditions. In most of these cases, it was the inspirational figure of Edhi who led the way, rolling up his sleeves and performing the most daunting of tasks without flinching. In Pakistan, Edhi has gradually built up a remarkable network of services catering to millions of people. His fleet of ambulances reaches the remotest corners of the country. His shelters for homeless women, runaway children and abandoned babies provide the most desperate and vulnerable sections of society care and support.

Remarkably, he relies solely on donations from private sources to run his organization. This is a person most Pakistanis can be truly proud of, a role model for all who seek to selflessly help humanity, a man who believes in action, not in empty words. Unfortunately, many of those who are currently speaking so passionately for the Afghan people seem to believe that rhetoric alone can end their suffering. In a shameful display of senseless vandalism, at least a dozen Edhi ambulances were recently attacked and burnt by anti-US protesters. Such zealots must realize that Edhi’s boundless compassion for the suffering and his tireless work on their behalf is also a form of jihad.

Closures in Dadu

AROUND 10,000 girls and boys have had their education cut short in Sindh’s Dadu district in the past seven years because of a shortage of teachers. According to a report, 142 girls primary and 121 boys primary schools have closed down in the district’s seven talukas since 1994. It also says that at least 50 schools continue to operate with no buildings. Unfortunately, the provincial education department is not known for either its transparency or efficiency. One reason behind the mass closure of schools in Dadu is the presence of corrupt and apathetic local education officials. Another factor is the low priority traditionally accorded to education in our scheme of things.

At a time when educational attainment is on the rise in most developing countries, it is scandalous that authorities in Sindh should have allowed a situation like this to develop. A process of revival must be initiated by purging the education department of all corrupt officials. This would have to be followed by placement of trained and qualified staff to teach at these schools. Once they are in place, a strict mechanism of monitoring and regulation would help ensure proper working of the existing and freshly revived schools in Dadu and elsewhere in Sindh.