Priorities in Sindh

WITH the election on Monday of Ali Mohammad Mahar as chief minister, Sindh enters a new phase of transition to civilian rule. The parameters within which this government has to operate are the same as those in the other provinces. However, Sindh has some problems peculiar to it. These include ethnic tensions, a stagnating economy, a deteriorating education system, and a nightmarish law and order situation. The first job of any government is to maintain conditions of peace and protect life, honour and property. From this point of view, all Sindh governments since 1977 have proved themselves to be thoroughly incompetent. The ethnic massacres and riots during the days of Ziaul Haq have left scars on the body and soul of Sindh. The democratic governments (1988-1999) did no better either, with the political scene characterized by factional fighting, extrajudicial killings, and “wheel jam” strikes.

The overall result of this long spell of instability and violence has been economic stagnation. Local and foreign investment continues to be shy and no industrial expansion is taking place. If there is any investment, it is in the construction and services sectors, especially on the fast food front. But these two sectors alone cannot provide jobs to the swelling ranks of the educated unemployed. Colleges and institutes are producing thousands of IT professionals each year, but there are not many jobs for them. Because of 9/11, the prospects of overseas jobs for professionals have dwindled, thus worsening the overall unemployment situation. The province needs investment in a big way in the industrial sector. That, however, would not be possible without a distinct improvement in law and order. Agriculture has fared no better because of the shortage of irrigation water. The lack of normal flow at the mouth of the Indus has led to sea water moving deep into coastal areas and creating a widespread problem of salinity, seriously affecting farming and fishing.

As for Karachi, it is a story unto itself. Because of the rapid increase in population from both natural growth and a rural influx, its population has crossed the 10-million mark. This has put further strains on civic services, especially water, electricity, sewerage, and traffic and transport. The mass transit scheme has long been abandoned. There has also been a dangerous rise in crime and acts of terrorism, some of these involving the killing of 11 French professionals and an attack on the US consulate. Illegal immigrants have contributed in no small measure to crime and terrorism, for the vast slums of Karachi serve as a haven to alien criminals and terrorists.

The new government must, therefore, pay attention first and foremost to law and order. Peaceful conditions alone can create a favourable climate for investment and a turnaround for the economy and for creating more jobs and improving education. The government must prove its ability to run the province on democratic lines and ensure good governance. The Mahar government is a weak coalition with a contrived majority in the assembly. Many fear it would fall victim to internal bickerings. In the recent past, three Sindh governments created a mess of things because the coalescing partners failed to work harmoniously. This must not happen again. All coalition parties must make a serious attempt to work as a team and make a resolve to strive unitedly for the welfare of all sections of Sindh’s population.

Extremism in full cry

THE Bharatiya Janata Party’s resounding victory in the Gujarat election has stunned Indian and international political pundits, not so much because the ruling party has improved its standing in the state but because it won a two-thirds majority vote simply by stoking communal hatred. Analysts are raising questions about Narendra Modi’s ominously-dubbed ‘Gujarat experiment’, fearing the BJP might create and ride a similar communal wave to victory in next year’s elections in 10 other states. Rights groups have condemned the way Mr Modi has ruled Gujarat ever since he came to power in October 2001, especially in the aftermath of the Godhra train incident in February last. The ensuing reprisal attacks against Muslims left 2,000 dead and tens of thousands homeless. Comprising nine per cent of Gujarat’s 50 million-strong population, Muslims have never felt this insecure and marginalized in Gandhi’s home state since partition.

In line with his superhawkish approach, Modi chose to sail through the state election on what may seem a bizarre plank to the outside world: ‘vote for the BJP or surrender to Pakistan’. But this has been a consistent theme song of the extremist RSS, of which Mr Modi is a die-hard member. The electorate swallowed the extremist nostrum hook, line and sinker in a state struggling with a prolonged drought and lack of power resources, and still reeling from the destruction caused by last year’s earthquake. The BJP now has 126 of the total 182 seats in the Gujarat assembly, with the Congress getting only 51 — three seats less than the last time state election was held in 1998. Indeed, Mr Modi, flanked by India’s hawkish deputy prime minister L.K. Advani and law minister Arun Jaitly — all from Gujarat — has shown the moderates like Mr Vajpayee within the ruling BJP what their party can achieve by fanning communal hatred and paranoia. Need one say that if the BJP were to get away with such a vile strategy, just to remain in power, it would finally spell the death of Indian secularism — Nehruvian and constitutional. Thus, the onus of saving secular politics from extinction is now on all those who oppose the RSS-BJP agenda of enforcing Hindutva.

Bomb plot arrests

THE Karachi police have detained three persons on charges of carrying out a suicide bomb attack directed against American diplomats. One of those arrested is also said to be linked to the blast outside a Karachi hotel in May that killed 11 French naval technicians and three Pakistanis. If the police’s claims are based on facts, then the force must be complimented on this breakthrough. A successful attack against US diplomats could have had immense ramifications, apart from the personal tragedy that would have been caused. But relief that a deadly plot has been unravelled is coupled with concern that terrorist groups continue to be active in the country, apparently finding Karachi’s huge melting pot a particularly congenial place for their operations. Both domestic militant organizations and those that are a spillover from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan seem to be conniving and conspiring. Among those rounded up is one person who reportedly trained at a camp in Afghanistan run by the Harkat Al Jihad Al Islami; he is also implicated in a sectarian murder. So, both the ‘jihadi’ and sectarian dimensions overlap, although initially it took our government quite a while to stop making a fine distinction between the two tendencies.

The end of Taliban rule and the change in Pakistan’s policies should have led to a heightened sense of anticipation among law enforcement agencies that the so-called holy warriors from Afghanistan would find their way into this country to link up with their local counterparts. The Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case was a brutal reminder of what was going on. It is vital for national security that all terrorism-related cases are thoroughly investigated and well prepared so that we do not have the spectacle of courts being constrained to free leaders and activists of banned organizations because of lack of evidence.