| August 30, 2002 | Friday | Jamadi-us-Saani 20, 1423 |
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Time for a decision
The other cola war
THE problem of trafficking in humans affects many countries and spans international borders. It has numerous dimensions — economic, social and political — and is felt most acutely in poor countries and countries ravaged by wars and natural disasters that leave the economically disadvantaged vulnerable to exploitation. The Pakistan government has now approved an ordinance that seeks to control trafficking in humans within and through the country. The ordinance, whose text is not yet available, is said to define the many aspects of the problem and prescribes heavy penalties for those caught trading in humans, recognizing the fact that there are organized and powerful criminal groups engaged in the racket. It addresses the issue of women and children being smuggled for purposes of unlawful entertainment and sexual abuse.
Statistics are hard to come by in our country, especially with regard to matters of social concern. But a US State Department report in June, which may have spurred Islamabad into action on the issue, had put Pakistan, along with India and Bangladesh, in the category of countries that did not yet fully comply with minimum standards. It described Pakistan as a “country of origin, transit and destination for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and bonded labour”. There was also mention of women and girls from the rural areas being brought to the cities for sexual exploitation and forced labour as well as of the practice of smuggling boys to the Gulf countries to serve as camel riders (the United Arab Emirates has since reportedly moved to prevent this practice). A recent newspaper report from Lahore had revealed how women were being lured abroad by unscrupulous persons who had set themselves up as “art promoters” and organized “cultural delegations”. Pakistan’s problems have been aggravated by the prolonged chaos in Afghanistan: first there was the civil war, then the viciously anti-women rule by the Taliban, and now the war against Al Qaeda. All these factors have lent a spurt to smuggling of Afghans across the border, and it is quite possible that women from Central Asia are also being routed through Afghanistan and the border areas to serve as sex slaves in the Gulf and in western countries. The demand for cheap domestic help creates its own momentum for the smuggling of people from Bangladesh, and there is also the question of people being fed on false promises and fleeced by exporters of manpower.
To its credit, even before the American report, the government had set up checkpoints at over one dozen border posts to identify women and children who might be victims of trafficking. It is important to find out how these border posts, whose staff is said to include women personnel, are working, because prevention and proper interdiction will be crucial to the effective enforcement of the proposed new ordinance. And of course unless all countries in the region cooperatively address the underlying economic and social causes that condemn millions of unfortunate souls to seek release in slavery, trafficking will continue to provide a lucrative source of income to criminal gangs. There are so many areas in which member-countries of Saarc can work together: this is one of the most pressing.
THE Punjab government’s dithering on the issue of denationalizing the province’s colleges and universities does not seem to be helping any of the parties concerned with the matter. By not acting with a certain degree of decisiveness on what is undoubtedly an issue of critical public importance, the government risks losing credibility, besides keeping students, teachers and the people at large in a prolonged state of confusion and uncertainty. The colleges concerned, and their students, too, are in a state of limbo not knowing when the government will take a final decision. Some of the province’s best institutions like Kinnaird College, sensing that denationalization was on the cards and believing that they would then get autonomy and degree-granting status, had gone ahead and created new programmes of study. Hundreds of students enrolled in these programmes, are now in a quandary as to their future. Though fully aware of these concerns and anxieties, the provincial authorities seem caught in a state of indecision, unable to make up their minds on the course of action to follow on the question of denationalization.
While all this goes on, the concern of the teachers in the government-run institutions over the implications of the proposed denationalization has steadily grown. While some are often accused of being incompetent and irregular, it needs to be recognized that many of them are assailed by a fear that they will lose their jobs once the colleges are handed over to the private sector. Clearly, the issue is a sensitive one and requires careful handling and a clear policy from the Punjab government. On the one hand, there are students and parents who are eagerly waiting for the decision to come through because they think greater autonomy would mean better quality education, and on the other, there are teachers with many years of service at government institutions, who are understandably worried about their future once the proposed change-over takes place. The Punjab government needs to act quickly on this issue. Perhaps, a committee can be set up to go into all aspects and implications of denationalization and make appropriate recommendations. The purpose should be to help expedite a final decision on the crucial issue and not delay it further.
UNTIL a few months ago it was impossible to imagine that the cut-throat ‘cola war’ being fought for a share of the global market by two US-based cola manufacturers would have a third rival to contend with. Recent reports from the Middle East say that the Iranian-made Zam Zam Cola is fast capturing the huge beverage market in the Gulf region after a successful unofficial public boycott of American-owned cola beverages in these countries. The boycott has come about as a reaction to the US policy on Palestine and its intelligence agencies’ hounding and harassment of Arabs living in western countries, particularly the US.
The Iranian cola’s sale began in Dubai a few months ago and spread to the rest of the UAE within weeks, driving the manufacturer’s annual turnover to over $160 million as of June. It is now widely available in Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia — the last being the latest addition to a growing number of countries in the region where public boycott of American products has resulted in heavy sales losses for these within months. Zam Zam Cola is also set to hit the beverage stalls in Lebanon, Syria and Denmark — the last being its first European importer — any day now. Just goes to show how in the post-September 11 world consumer behaviour has become a means of venting public anger in a region where people are utterly frustrated when it comes to making their political views effectively known.