| 12 March 2004 | Friday | 20 Muharram 1425 |
Re-opening Khokhrapar
Tree felling in Lahore
The resignations by an MNA and three provincial legislators from the People's Party must serve to rattle the party and goad its high command into asking itself why.
The three Punjab MPAs, who announced their decision to quit their party on Wednesday, followed MNA Zafar Iqbal Warriach, who had left the PPP a day earlier. This is, however, not the first batch of lawmakers to quit the party on whose ticket they had won their seats in the national or provincial assembly; the process of defections had begun during the agonizingly long search for a majority in a hung parliament.
What the generals wanted was a majority for the "king's party" - the PML-Q, a group of politicians with little in common except the blessings of the establishment. Pressure and self-interest got to work, and several top PPPP MNAs, including Faisal Saleh Hayat, decided to form what became known as the PPP Patriots. Mr Hayat was promptly made interior minister, even though several corruption cases were pending against him.
Also to get a major portfolio was Rao Sikandar Iqbal, now defence minister. Since the latest bout of resignations has come in the wake of Prime Minister Jamali's statement that the cabinet is to be expanded, neutral observers wonder whether those now leaving the PPP will also be rewarded in some form. The legislators themselves have said they are not defecting, but resigning from the party and will seek re-election.
This government has unabashedly kept the two mainstream parties, the PPP and the PML-N, out of all reckoning. However, the PPP's persecution began in 1977 when General Ziaul Haq seized power.
It has both helped and weakened the party - helped in the sense that it has learnt to survive under harsh conditions and weakened it by enervating the party's discipline and organization, making it easier for the weak-willed to leave.
The latter tendency has been on the increase because the PPP leadership in the country looks for guidance to Ms Benazir Bhutto, who has been away from Pakistan since 1999 and is reluctant to delegate power to her lieutenants. Over centralization and lack of internal democracy have been the bane of our political parties for decades.
Ms Bhutto is not the only leader of a major party to be in exile, voluntary or otherwise: the same is true of the leaders of the PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. There have been demands from several quarters that they should return and face the courts.
The government itself has said it has no objection at least in the case of Ms Bhutto if she returns and agrees to face a legal battle. By this line, the government seeks to assume a high moral ground, although its own record with regard to the rule of law and constitutional proprieties leaves much to be desired.
From a long-term perspective, the ostracization of the country's largest parties will help neither the government nor the country. The results of four general elections - from 1988 to 1996 - had aroused hopes that the country was moving toward a two-party dispensation.
But subsequent manipulation of the system has ensured that smaller parties should emerge as a force in national politics and, ironically, this led to the rise of the MMA, which is now one of most vocal opponents of the Musharraf government's perceived liberalism.
If the process of ignoring the PPP and the PML-N continues, then one day the country could be without a national party, with the scene dominated by regional parties. President Musharraf too should realize that when the time comes for him to take off uniform, he might need a constituency of his own that is closer to the policies of moderation that he says he wishes to follow.
With the PPP and the PML-N in limbo, he might have no choice except to fall back again on those elements with whom the Jamali government is at present in uneasy cohabitation.
Re-opening Khokhrapar
It will be noted with satisfaction that technical-level talks between Pakistan and India on the re-opening of the Khokhrapar-Munabao border crossing have concluded on a positive note.
The joint statement issued at the end of the two-day talks reiterates both sides' commitment to re-opening this border crossing between Sindh and Rajasthan, which has remained closed since the 1965 war.
It has been agreed to meet again at a later date to discuss logistical issues and the building of the infrastructure needed on each side to resume the bus service on this sector.
Careful preparation is needed because the 45-km stretch of the road, 35km of it on the Pakistani side, has not been used for nearly four decades. The condition of the rail line that was also in service back in the '60s is said to be even worse, and will require months for fixing.
Meanwhile, the Indians have indicated that they will be able to pave the road on the 10km portion on their side by August. At the next round of talks, the Pakistani side is expected to give the estimated time it needs to get the route operational on its side.
The opening of the Khokhrapar-Munabao border is eagerly awaited not only by members of divided families living in Sindh, but also by businessmen and traders. Its reopening will be particularly welcomed by travellers who do not have the means to go to India by air or by train or road through the Wagah crossing near Lahore.
It will cut down the travelling time significantly for those whose destinations are in central and southern parts of India. For similar reasons, one hopes that the two countries will also move forward on the agreed re-opening of consular offices in Karachi and Mumbai sooner rather than later.
Small steps like these constitute the visible dividends that peace and cooperation between India and Pakistan can bring for the people of both countries.
Tree felling in Lahore
The proposed felling of 1,500 mostly fruit-bearing trees along the canal to facilitate the construction of underpasses indicates how nature is being sacrificed at the altar of development in Lahore.
Earlier, more than a thousand trees were hacked down along the canal to make way for two underpasses. Unfortunately, the protection of the environment is not a matter that is taken seriously by the government agencies responsible for enforcing Pakistan's environmental laws, and they shy away from issuing legal notices to those involved in indiscriminate construction in violation of all rules.
If implemented, this latest proposal will be another blow to Lahore's fast-dwindling green cover. Not only will the move rob the city of its natural beauty that owes much to the presence of trees, it may intensify the already considerable air pollution, thus impacting adversely on human health.
Considered the lungs of an urban environment, trees absorb carbon dioxide and emit life-giving oxygen. They lower temperatures, provide shade and trap pollutants like dust and other particulate matter that can cause respiratory and other ailments.
It is about time the city authorities recognized the long-term benefits of having a lush green belt and took steps to halt the current assault on Lahore's tree population.
They should also set about giving proper care to existing trees and replanting those which have been uprooted - a promise they have yet to fulfil in some cases. At the same time, they would do well to look into alternatives that, without hindering urban development, could provide for trees and give Lahore some breathing space.