A confusing scenario

THE government loudly denies the allegation, but the impression persists that it is an active player in the electoral game. The impression is due to the manner in which the electoral process has been managed, the restrictions placed on rallies and public meetings, and by the repeated assertions that neither Mr Nawaz Sharif nor Ms Benazir Bhutto will be allowed to contest. There are reports also of positive intervention on the part of the government, in the sense that a breakaway faction from the Nawaz Muslim League is alleged to enjoy governmental patronage. The election scene in Pakistan has never been distinguished by a debate on issues of daily concern to the public; no leader has ever talked of the urban mess or of the decline in agriculture or the social problems created by the feudal hold on politics. But this time the news stories and the general discourse appear even more to be restricted to the fate of individual political leaders and a medley of permutations and combinations among the bewildering number of political parties that we have. Some of the religious parties have got together in a grouping of their own, and it is not clear what role it will play as a spoiler. There are differences even within the PML(N) and the PPP, with workers of both parties confused by the insistence of their respective leaders to continue to pull the strings from exile rather than trust those on the spot. Even the list of candidates for the MQM is to be announced by the party’s leader from London.

An interesting recent development has been the acceptance of Mr Nawaz Sharif’s nomination papers and the rejection of Ms Bhutto’s. The Muslim League leader has withdrawn his own nomination papers from a Lahore constituency in a show of solidarity with the PPP chairperson and in protest against the refusal of the returning officer in Larkana to admit Ms Bhutto’s nomination. Mr Sharif’s lawyer has been quoted as saying that the authorization necessary to enable withdrawal of the PML ‘quaid’s’ papers is being delayed by the Pakistan embassy in Saudi Arabia, where Mr Sharif lives in exile. But it is also said that Mr Sharif has withdrawn his papers from only one Lahore constituency and continues to be a candidate from another area in the same city. The real story behind Mr Sharif’s gesture is not known, but it is certainly unusual and, if well intentioned, marks a welcome development in our politics, which has mostly been distinguished by vindictiveness and personal enmity. If the country’s politicians could maintain this spirit of accommodation and solidarity in the interest of democracy, the course of our political journey might yet be different.

The government has been unable, or hasn’t cared, to explain the inconsistency that has enabled Mr Sharif’s nomination to be accepted and that of Ms Bhutto rejected, both the leaders having convictions against them. However, the reaction from state-controlled PTV shows that the authorities have been piqued by this particular turn of events. It may well have helped muster support for those most reviled by the government and making martyrs out of those whom it accuses of looting the nation. The government says it is determined to hold fair elections, an objective that commands universal support. This can best be achieved if the rulers, even at this late stage, can withdraw themselves totally from politicking, which includes abjuring making partisan political statements, and concentrate all their energies on convincing the people that the actual election arrangements are as foolproof as can be humanly possible.

KCR is dead — finally?

NOBODY took it seriously when it was announced not once but several times that the government was going to revamp and revive the Karachi Circular Railway. The report, therefore, that it has finally shelved the KCR plan should surprise no one. The plan was never “on”; it was merely talked about at meetings and “presentations” that sounded so impressive. Beyond that, this government, like the previous ones, never had any real interest in Karachi’s transport problems or the realization how important a mass transit system was for a city of over 10 million. The so-called revived plan was to revitalize the KCR as an alternative to the elevated light train project. This project itself was supposed to be an alternative to the underground train scheme that had been prepared in the 1970s. The Ziaul Haq government scrapped it, and it went to the credit of the late Mr. Junejo that he took interest in Karachi’s transport problem.

The underground project was modified, and a new elevated light rail plan was discussed and debated for more than a decade and then finally adopted. Even funding was secured, and a multinational company — the Indus Mass Transit Company — was created as part of an agreement involving foreign parties. In fact, a prime minister even laid the cornerstone for the project. However, it too was shelved after millions of rupees had been spent simply on bureaucratic formalities. Now for the last five years we have been hearing about the KCR revival — only to be told now that Islamabad has no money for it.

Now a trial balloon has been released in the form of a German magno-metro project. Like all such projects in the past, this one too will only make newspaper headlines, without any practical results. The situation on the ground will remain the same, because neither the provincial nor the federal government has the political will to give the nation’s premier city a fast and efficient mass transit system.

Rape victim’s plight

THE terrible ordeal of a young woman from Tharparkar, who was raped by two men on two different occasions, has provoked an angry reaction from the local community. Despite two months having elapsed since the first incident occurred, the authorities have still not arrested the two accused. On the contrary, the Hindu woman from the Meghwar community, who was the victim of the crimes, has now gone into hiding following threats from her tormentors. Padu Bai was raped by an influential local goldsmith in early July and again, some weeks later, by a police constable in cahoots with him. After being threatened with dire consequences if she dared lodge complaints against them, the young woman decided not to report the incidents. However, when local human rights groups, journalists and councillors learnt of the incidents, they persuaded her to lodge two separate FIRs against the rapists at the Chachhro and Mithi police stations. Despite this, the influential accused have managed to evade arrest and are still at large.

There have been a number of protests in the area against police inaction and the district council has tabled a resolution demanding that the authorities take notice of the case. It is a terrible reflection on our society that those who committed this unspeakable crime against a poor and defenceless woman are still free while the victim has had to go into hiding. The government must promptly intervene as it did following the Meerwala incident. The state must show that its stern and timely action in the Meerwala case was not just a flash in the pan but represents a new resolve to take a hard line on crimes against women - whether these are committed in the name of customs, religion or naked power and influence.