| 28 May 2004 | Friday | 08 Rabi-us-Saani 1425 |
Under cover of terrorism
Newspaper closures
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz's statements on Wednesday, at a pre-budget meeting organized by the Karachi Stock Exchange and at a pre-budget seminar in Lahore, indicate that the forthcoming budget will rightly focus on infrastructure development and poverty alleviation.
In fact, the two can be complementary to each other in the sense that a programme for building roads, ports, railways and other infrastructural facilities is a very good way of generating employment in the short and medium terms and which is also the prime objective of an alleviation move.
Together, they can help lift those in abject poverty to a level where they can at least earn enough to afford the basic necessities of life. Increased spending on infrastructure means increased investment, both from foreign and domestic sources, in the economy in terms of funding to finance projects aimed at the expansion and improvement of the existing network.
When that happens, it is bound to give a boost to industrial production and other related economic and commercial activity.
Hopefully, the approach towards infrastructure development the government has in mind will be labour-intensive so that not only does the country get new and better roads and ports but also there is wider availability of jobs for the people.
Employment generation is perhaps one way of ensuring that the benefits of economic growth and development are widely dispersed. The finance minister has been saying for quite some time that this year the economy will grow by six per cent and has also claimed that GDP will rise to $100 billion.
Other indicators of robust growth often cited by the country's economic managers are a high level of foreign exchange reserves, low inflation and anticipated exports of $12 billion, the highest ever in the country's history.
However, what is left out is that a large part of the population has been left out of the benefit of this growth so far. The Indian elections are a clear pointer to what happens when governments concern themselves only with GDP growth rates and other statistical indicators of growth and expansion to the virtual exclusion of the more important aspects of growth like income distribution, job creation and whether development is taking place in all major sectors of the economy, especially agriculture.
The BJP-led government in India lost in the recent elections not because of lack of economic progress but because of gross neglect of the vast rural poor. Reports also suggest that taxes on goods used by the construction industry will be lowered in the forthcoming budget.
This should give a much-needed boost to a sector with enormous potential to become a major generator of employment in the country. At the same time, the impact of on-going schemes initiated by the government, especially those that provide micro-finance to borrowers in backward and rural areas, also needs to be reviewed.
Have they had the projected impact and, if not, what can be done to make their operations more effective (in lending money to people for self-employment)? Of course, all of this is said under the assumption that spending on health and education will be increased for the next fiscal year.
A healthy and educated population translates into a healthy and skilled labour force with high levels of productivity. Spread of education is also a basic condition for higher level of employment and productivity essential for reducing poverty and human suffering.
Under cover of terrorism
Amnesty International has done well to rap not only the US on the knuckles but also its allies for the way the war on terror is being conducted. In its annual report, AI has said the US-led war on terror is "bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle" and has held the US, UK, many Arab states, Pakistan, India and China responsible for gross human rights violations.
While Britain is holding 14 foreigners without a charge, some other states have curtailed religious and political freedoms and are persecuting dissidents by exploiting the anti-terror war.
The treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is a story unto itself. The accused have been denied the status of prisoners of war and kept in cages. Hundreds of those arrested in Afghanistan had nothing to do with the Taliban or Al Qaeda; they were arrested and taken to Cuba simply because they happened to be there.
Many of them were subsequently released after undergoing humiliation and mental torture for two and a half years. There is no doubt that they would live with this trauma throughout their lives and would never be normal again.
Here one would like to take notice of the arrest of many innocent Pakistanis and other Muslims by some states which were motivated by no other desire except to gain America's favour as loyal allies.
Italy arrested several Pakistani seamen, accusing them of being terrorists. An Italian court later acquitted them. Similarly, some states in Africa and the Baltic region arrested many Pakistanis without evidence that they had anything to do with terror.
The worst case was that of Macedonia which lured six Pakistanis and an Indian into its territory and then had them killed in a fake encounter after accusing them of being terrorists.
Since it is the US which has set the pace, it goes without saying that what can improve matters is a change in America's own perception and conduct of the war on terror.
Newspaper closures
The banning for 30 days of five Karachi-based evening newspapers by the Sindh government following allegations that they were printing "obscene" material will be seen as yet another arbitrary move to gag the press.
The action has been rightly criticized by organizations of journalists and editors. This is by no means an attempt to condone the publication of pictures or stories that are not in good taste.
The real issue here is that of the denial of due process of law under which such deviations can be proceeded against and those found guilty brought to book. The arbitrary closure of the newspapers in question, the arrest of their editors, publishers and printers and the sealing of printing presses, pending proper investigation into the charges, cannot be justified.
Such action presumes those booked to be guilty before they have been so proved in a court of law, and this goes against the grain of natural justice as well as the existing laws on the statute books.
Whether it is shutting down publications or taking action against journalists, the government must follow the law instead of resorting to arbitrary actions.
A climate of distrust has been created where even moves that might seem justified are viewed with suspicion. Sometimes the government itself has been responsible for patronizing journals through the use of official advertising.
A consensus based on consultations between all sections of the newspaper industry must be evolved whereby an accepted code of conduct can be followed in such cases. Meanwhile, the action against the Karachi newspapers must be withdrawn.