| July 5, 2003 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4,1424 |
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Lost in Nadra’s warren
Acid attacks
THE results of President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Germany and France should be seen in the light of the need for Pakistan to strengthen its relations with Europe. Coming in the wake of the president’s visit to the US, his European tour may not seem to have produced the kind of economic and military package Pakistan received after the talks at Camp David. There were no aid promises from Europe, though Germany lifted the sanctions on military sales, while Pakistan and France pledged to deepen economic cooperation. However, given the position which France and Germany enjoy in Europe now, the outcome of the president’s visit should not be seen from the narrow perspective of economic and military gains alone. France and Germany constitute the heart of Europe. The results of World War II and the emergence of two superpowers eclipsed their position in Europe and the world, but they are back on stage now. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the cold war and the reunification of Germany have once again shifted the focus of European power and gravity to “old Europe.”
This Franco-German-dominated Europe is a towering reality. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union might have moved eastward, bringing within their fold quite a few countries of East Europe, including a big country like Poland. But that does not diminish the importance of the close French-German relationship round which the EU and Nato revolve and will continue to do so. The manner in which the US conducted its war on Iraq — bypassing the UN and treating its Atlantic partners virtually with contempt — seems to have made Paris and Berlin realize the dangers of a world order that is hostage to America’s unilateralism. In this, they are not alone. Russia too had opposed America’s war on Iraq and had, like France, threatened to use its veto to block a US-crafted resolution in the Security Council. A multipolar world is nowhere in sight, given the preponderance of America’s military and economic power. Nevertheless, the capitals of “old Europe”, besides Moscow and Beijing, are keen to evolve a world order where the UN would not cease to have its vital role and where America’s wish would not be everybody else’s command.
Pakistan’s problem has always been excessive dependence on America. This has often cost Islamabad dearly. While the relationship with China, mercifully, has remained steady and warm, Pakistan has not shown any particular keenness to change its America-centric policy. Its defence establishment has always remained American-oriented. This has made Pakistan’s security vulnerable to the politics of “sanctions”, “suspensions” and so forth of America’s policy of arms supplies and sales. The cut-off of all US arms supplies during the 1965 war and the sordid F-16s episode will continue to haunt US-Pakistan relations for a long time. Against this background, it is essential for Pakistan to diversify its political, economic and military relationships and lessen its dependence on the US. France and Germany are highly developed countries with advanced scientific and technological assets and potentials. Pakistan can gain a lot from them by having greater cooperation in cultural, scientific and technical fields. There is also enormous scope for German and French investment and joint ventures in Pakistan, though significant foreign investment in Pakistan will remain conditional on a distinct improvement in the political and law and order situations in the country.
THE National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has declared December 31, 2003, to be the final date after which the existing national identity cards will have no validity. Advising the people to get the new computerized identity cards before that date, the chairman, Nadra, said the authority was issuing some 20,000 cards daily against its capacity of 100,000. He revealed that out of a total of 30 million applications so far received for the computerized national ID cards (CNIC), 28 million have already been processed. This may be true but it is also true that a large number of the processed cards have not been delivered yet to the applicants. Bagfuls of the CNICs are lying in the godowns of the General Post Offices across the country as Pakistan Post Office has officially declined to deliver them. In announcing the deadline and asking people not to apply for a CNIC again if they have already done that once, the Nadra chairman did not explain the reasons for the non-delivery of a huge number of the processed cards.
Nadra Swift Centres are generally helpful in tracing undelivered cards and directing the citizens to the relevant post office where these might be found, but the post offices refuse even to acknowledge the receipt of any CNICs. This anomaly leaves the citizens confused and now they are being told that their old ID cards will not be a valid document from January 1, 2004. The swift centres are clueless about the registration of minors, who require a Form ‘B’ to get enlisted on a parent’s passport. Also, the regional passport offices insist on seeing the ‘old’ ID cards before renewing or issuing a new passport because they have not been officially notified that the CNICs are a valid identity document. Nadra has yet to publicize the locations of its 122 centres, which may be approached for registration. Unless it removes these anomalies and uncertainties afflicting its operations, people will remain confused and troubled about the availability of their CNICs, especially in view of the approaching deadline for the validity of the old ID cards.
WITH the eleventh incident in recent months of acid-throwing, Bahawalpur seems to be earning the dubious distinction of a place most ridden with acid-related crime. In the most recent case, a local councillor suffered severe burns on his face and upper body and is said to be fighting for his life after a rival threw acid on him. In the past few weeks two people have died and almost a dozen have suffered serious burns and have lost their eyes or their face permanently disfigured. Women have usually been at the receiving end of acid attacks, often from a jilted or rejected suitor seeking revenge, but that now seems to be changing with men also being targeted in several recent incidents.
Whatever the gender of the victims, the local authorities and the police must act to catch those behind these attacks and adopt a strategy to prevent the possession and use of acid by people seeking to settle scores. The police must pursue all such cases seriously, something which several acid victims say has not been happening so far. The nexus in many of our rural and small-town areas between the local police and criminal elements is well-known and is probably one reason why those indulging in such acts of violence often go scot-free. Senior police officials must take action against all field officers who fail to move against those involved in incidents of acid throwing. Equally important, the local administrations should set up a monitoring system to check the sale of acid so that it is purchased only by those who need it for laboratory or industrial use. This should not be difficult because most of our cities and towns have centralized wholesale markets where chemicals are sold and distributed. Shopkeepers in such markets should be warned against selling acid to customers without ascertaining their credentials and the intended use of the lethal chemical.