| October 16, 2002 | Wednesday | Sha’aban 9, 1423 |
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Not a spit and polish game
Teachers’ protests
THE seventh summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, which groups Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrghyztan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, ended in Istanbul yesterday. Ruffling through the ECO clippings file, from summit to summit, one comes across statement after statement on intent with little to show by way of implementation. Even the latest declaration states that the participants noted that for the past 10 years, “their efforts focused on the establishment of multi-sectoral institutional dialogue capable of transforming the desires and hopes of 350 million people of the ECO region for economic development and mutually beneficial economic cooperation into a tangible reality.” Thus, a decade has been taken up simply by “multi-sectoral institutional dialogue”, which itself sounds like an elaborate cliche. One would have thought the time to move towards the specifics would now have come. But the declaration simply says that the member-states “would now ensure that the forces of regional cooperation, impulses of shared cultural and social affinities and the principles of mutual benefit would continue to guide them in their efforts to achieve economic prosperity in the region and their successful integration into the world economy”.
In this connection, the declaration stressed the need for the creation of a favourable climate for economic utilization of the rich economic potential of the ECO countries. This is another bland assertion that does not really show anyone the way ahead. Like the RCD before it, the ECO appears also to be turning itself into a talking shop. But before sinking into total cynicism and despair, a couple of things need to be noted. There appears to have been an effort to muster support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan following the stingy backtracking by the major powers on their earlier pledges. An ECO fund for Afghanistan was set up, although each country will have to decide how it can most easily take part in it within its own budgetary constraints. Afghanistan desperately needs the help of its neighbours in terms of both economic assistance and technical cooperation if it is to settle down as a stable political entity.
Obviously, the development of road and rail links within the ECO region will also greatly benefit landlocked Afghanistan. Iran is helping rebuild a road to Herat and on to Kabul, and a Silk Road development project is also in the works. A container train service between Istanbul and Almaty in Kazakhstan is said to have become operational, but it is not clear whether a passenger train has also begun to operate on the same route. But, as a deputy secretary-general of the ECO had recently pointed out, much work has to be done on identifying missing road and rail links and in finalizing common rail tariffs and customs regulations. The task, he said, is to reconcile “political ambitions with technical potential”. If the ECO concentrated on what is doable rather than spend its energies in abstract discussions on mega plans, it may yet avoid meeting the fate of its predecessors. For a start, as the declaration suggests, the transit trade agreement of 1995 and the transit transport framework agreement of 1998 should be quickly brought into force.
IMMEDIATELY after Pakistan’s humiliating defeat by Australia in the second Test match at Sharjah within two days, Gen Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the cricket board, resigned, accepting full responsibility for the debacle. This is as it should have been but President Musharraf, beset as he is by a multiplicity of problems in the post-election situation, has asked the general to continue in office. The president must obviously be very fond of Gen Tauqir. Otherwise, there’s no way he could have been asked to carry on. It must be said in the PCB chief’s favour, though, that Pakistan were without the services of senior and experienced players like Wasim Akram, Inzamamul Haq and Yousaf Youhanna. In fact, they were more like a junior string with a lot of promise but little in the way of experience against Australia which must surely be the strongest and the most competitive side in the world today. We fielded a side which was way beneath Australia’s immense all-round capacity.
It is not that the result might have been different had the PCB been headed by another chairman. The ultimate loss of the series 0-2 was a foregone conclusion. In Colombo, Shoaib Akhtar nearly won the game for Pakistan almost single-handed but their inexperience and, at times, irresponsible, batting let them down. Even so, Pakistan were not disgraced but at Sharjah, where they were expected to do much better, they went down without putting up even the semblance of a fight. If it were possible for Pakistan to go lower than rock bottom, they did just that.
However, it is not the loss against Australia, but a much bigger setback that we should be bemoaning after the World Cup in South Africa early next year. On current form and with the manpower available to us, we do not have even half a chance in the World Cup tournament. Saeed Anwar is a bit of a liability as an opening batsman and he should be the first to realize that he is well past his best and call it a day. Imran Nazir has immense talent but does not have the tenacity that wins matches. The same can be said of the others down the line. Shoaib Akhtar is fast and ferocious but one man never won a team game.
A change at the top in the PCB just now may destroy whatever little chance we have of doing well in South Africa. It may be too late in the day for Gen Tauqir Zia to step down but step down he must. Cricket, he must remember, is not a spit and polish game. But not to take too pessimistic a view of things, it must be remembered that so far as Australia are concerned, our best is not good enough for them. That is how we capitulated in the 1999 World Cup and this is what we have done at Sharjah.
THE nationwide protests by university teachers against the proposed model university act and the government’s plan to revamp higher education continue without either side thinking of initiating any kind of dialogue. Teachers protesting in Lahore have now issued a warning that if the government does not drop its controversial plans, they would march on Islamabad. Demonstrations against the proposed reforms have been going on for many weeks in cities all over the country, especially Lahore and Karachi, and have led to hundreds of hours of teaching time being wasted.
It should be clear to all that the truth is not all on one side in this debate. It also remains beyond dispute that our universities need a complete overhaul and democratic management. However, the teachers should realize that nothing is going to be achieved by repeatedly going on strike or by staging an endless series of rallies. The government too, especially the Commission for Higher Education, whose chief is the education minister, should realize that more damage to academic life can be averted by initiating talks with the teachers. For now, both parties, especially the teachers, seem to be using the media to air their grievances instead of speaking directly to each other.