| January 31, 2003 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 27, 1423 |
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New development initiative
Warped priority
A CLASSIFIED report by a special UN task force paints a chilling picture of the human cost of a possible US attack on Iraq. The report, which was never made public either for internal reasons or because of pressure from the US, was recently leaked to a US-based NGO. The document is a summary of assessments made by various specialized UN agencies and focuses on the effects of a possible war on the people of Iraq. Its conclusions are truly horrific. It predicts that half a million people will require medical treatment following an outbreak of war, with 100,000 civilians being directly wounded by bombing or gunfire. Some 400,000 people will suffer indirectly by contracting diseases caused by damage to Iraq’s sewerage and water treatment facilities. Over three million people, mainly children and pregnant or lactating women, will face malnutrition and require “therapeutic feeding” as a result of disruption in food supplies. The Iraqi state provides citizens with a basket of essential food items free of cost. The destruction of the country’s transport infrastructure could severely disrupt this system and cause a severe deterioration in the health of the population. Meanwhile, any breakdown of electricity supplies will leave millions without drinking water, as treatment plants stop functioning. A collapse of the sewerage system, the UN agencies fear, will lead to outbreaks of deadly diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
The report predicts that as many as 900,000 refugees will pour into Iran following the outbreak of fighting. Two million people will become internally displaced and 3.6 million will require emergency shelters. The condition of the people will be far worse than in Afghanistan following the US attacks in late 2001. While Iraq has roughly the same population as Afghanistan, it is far more urbanized and the people do not have the coping mechanisms that the Afghans have developed. While there are no projections in the report about the number of likely casualties, other humanitarian agencies predict that there will be far more people killed than in the first Gulf War of 1991. The declared aim of the war — to bring about regime change — means that the fighting will be far more intense and destructive and claim many more civilian lives. The tragedy is that the people of Iraq have already suffered immensely following the imposition of UN sanctions more than ten years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly children, have been killed as a direct consequence of the harsh sanctions.
As war rhetoric drowns out the voice of sanity, and an attack on the country becomes likelier by the day, it is time for those contemplating this drastic course to ponder the consequences of their action for millions of innocent Iraqi men, women and children. The undue haste with which the US seems to be pushing towards a highly destructive war is all the more perplexing given that any evidence that Iraq possesses or is developing weapons of mass destruction is still far from conclusive. Given the level of casualties and suffering it will cause, and the regional turmoil it could unleash, a war against Iraq must be averted at all costs. But as warships move to the Gulf and hundreds of thousands of troops seem ready for the kill, it seems that the unfortunate people of Iraq are destined to see death and destruction rained on them on a frightening scale.
THE Tameer-i-Punjab Programme announced by the provincial chief minister the other day envisages the construction of roads, sanitation improvement, provision of potable water and infrastructure relating to health, education and power. The plan may not be free from political exigencies, but it cannot be denied that an initiative was needed to foster grassroots uplift. Under the move, schemes would be identified and initiated by MPAs within the limit of Rs 10 million announced for each one of them for development in their constituencies. Since funds would be handled by the agencies involved in the projects, an effort seems to have made to prevent misuse of resources in the name of development.
Involvement of political representatives can be a motivating factor in development provided the right safeguards are provided against misuse and corruption. In the past, much waste and corruption, coupled with poor utilization, characterized initiatives aimed at promoting grassroots development. There was also much heart-burning among opposition politicians over denial of uplift in their constituencies. Fears had earlier been expressed by the local representatives that uplift under the supervision of assembly members might lead to a diminution of their own scarce resources. Although it has been clarified that the funds for the MPAs would be provided by the government from its own kitty and not from the development budget of the local bodies, the chances of overlapping of functions and clash of interests in identification and implementation of projects remain a strong possibility. Given the critical role of local government, the absence of a consensus among key players in development could be a major impediment. Thus an effort has to be made to promote a harmonious relationship between the MPAs and local government representatives so that schemes could be identified on the basis of genuine need and no unnecessary hurdles are put in their way.
A two-year time frame has been set for completion of schemes. As such, it is necessary that funds are released on time and implementation work taken in hand without delay. Also, prioritizing of projects is required in view of pressing needs of the people in the backward areas. Schemes for potable water, sanitation and health infrastructure should have precedence. Above all, stringent safeguards against waste and corruption as well as effective inter-sectoral cooperation geared to promoting grassroots progress are important conditions for good results.
IN pursuit of the NWFP government’s unflinching and zealous drive to stamp out obscenity and improve everyone’s morals, the Peshawar police have gone ahead and issued a warning to the city’s eunuchs to “confine their activities” to their homes. The reference here, apparently, is to the musical trade employed by many eunuchs to earn a living. The police have asked them to not even hang their musical instruments outside their homes. It is quite perplexing how something that has long existed in our society, though at the fringes, has suddenly become offensive or immoral. After all, the reason that this group of people has managed to earn whatever meagre livelihood it can out of music and song is because there has been a demand for these as a mode of entertainment.
It seems rather extraordinary that the Frontier police authorities should have thought it fit to go after, of all people, eunuchs, regarding their role as entertainers as a threat to society’s morals. Surely, the police have actual criminals to catch and apprehend, and other more pressing duties regarding maintenance of law and order. As it is, eunuchs are a much-maligned, pitied and derided section of our society and their low status has probably more to do with social prejudices rather than any criminal propensities of their own. We are a society that does not look very kindly on people who do not fit easily into the established norms or mores of conduct, and that is the main reason why groups like eunuchs continue to be treated as objects of ridicule and scorn. But that is hardly a justifiable ground for the NWFP police to try to make their existence still more miserable.