| 04 June 2004 | Friday | 15 Rabi-us-Saani 1425 |
The strike phenomenon
Haj policy
The Indus River System Authority has set up yet another special committee to probe the question of water shortage in rivers following complaints by Sindh. The shortfall this Kharif season was expected to be less than five per cent but this has not been the case, and it has turned out be much higher.
Because the issue has been badly politicized over the years, Irsa is refusing to give out the exact percentage figure pending the findings of the special committee. As with other inter-provincial matters, such as the NFC award, a water sharing formula acceptable to all four provinces has proved elusive since 1991 - the only time Irsa was able to achieve a consensus among the provinces on the issue.
The probe now being commissioned into the current season's shortfall has taken a long time in coming, and it won't serve any purpose other than perhaps becoming a point of reference for next year because the Kharif sowing season ends on June 10. Which means that the damage done to this year's Kharif crop in Sindh cannot be undone.
By its very mode of functioning over the decade, Irsa has shown itself to be a largely redundant body and little more than a bickering forum for the provinces to vent their anger and frustration.
Experience has shown that even though the water body comprises technocrats and experts, it is not immune to political grandstanding and manoeuvring. Irrigation experts, engineers and bureaucrats serving on Irsa represent the four provinces and the federation, with each group lobbying and pushing for its agenda to the exclusion of all other considerations.
The officials are seldom seen exploring the ways and means to share the scarcity at hand, which is the real issue. At every meeting, there are allegations of foul play attributed to one province by another matched by counter-allegations of inefficient working of the provincial irrigation departments, and nothing ever gets resolved.
The annual formula to share water resources is often imposed by Islamabad in the end, with the provinces grudgingly accepting it but then going back to bickering soon thereafter. This is precisely what has happened this year too.
The fact is that owing to a host of natural and environmental factors as well as poor maintenance of the irrigation system, there isn't enough water in our rivers to satisfy everyone's needs.
On an average 40 per cent of the available water is lost to salinity and leakages, the figure now being 51 per cent for Sindh, where such perennial problems have assumed alarming proportions.
However, an acute shortage can still be equitably shared by the provinces given a sincere approach all around. For this Irsa or any such alternative mechanism will have to become and remain apolitical.
The initiative towards this end will have to come from the political leadership at the provincial as well as federal levels. Having said that, the country's irrigation system needs to be refurbished and thoroughly overhauled to plug leakages and reduce wastage of the available water.
Also, the government needs to think seriously about building several smaller reservoirs along the course of the Indus where water can be stored for use during the lean season.
Pending a national consensus on the construction of certain controversial projects, such as the Kalabagh or Bhasa dams, small reservoirs along the river system can help lessen the impact of scarcity.
The strike phenomenon
Another countrywide strike has been called for today, this time by the MMA. On Wednesday, government leaders met Maulana Fazlur Rahman, MMA secretary-general, to persuade him to withdraw the strike call.
But the maulana refused to do so. Going by what he told Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq, the MMA is angry with the government on several counts. First, it wants to protest against the assassination of Mufti Shamzai; then it has serious reservations about the way the Sindh government handled the situation after Monday's imambargah bomb blast.
But what it feels most angry about is the killing of 12 people in last month's by-elections. In brief, the MMA loathes the Sindh administration. Its leader insisted that the strike would be peaceful.
However, going by experience, strikes in Pakistan tend to be violent. Obviously, party activists forget that it is the right of a citizen to follow or not to follow a strike call.
He can open his shop or run his minibus, or decide not to do so, depending on his inclinations or political affiliation. To coerce someone into observing a strike is undemocratic and a violation of legal and human rights.
Strikes have hurt Pakistan immensely in terms of economic losses. According to a study by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a single day's strike results in losses amounting to Rs1.18 billion. The government loses Rs154 million in taxes.
The figure reaches a staggering level if one calculates the losses from two decades of strikes in the country, especially Karachi. Those calling for strikes forget that in the process they punish the people.
Those who suffer most are daily wage earners, besides patients, who are unable to reach hospitals. Sometimes, ambulances are blocked by angry mobs - or even burnt. Leaders cannot brush aside these excesses by blaming these on anti-social elements.
A party giving a strike call owes it to itself and to the people to restrain the crowds which every strike unleashes. It is time all political parties stopped giving strike calls as the only means of pressuring the government on a given issue.
Haj policy
The most disturbing aspect of the new Haj policy is a 20 per cent increase in air fares despite an assurance by the minister concerned to make the utmost efforts to maintain the previous package.
In terms of quota, however, there is good news for those waiting to perform Haj. Keeping in view the increasing number of applicants, persons below 18 years and those who have performed Haj during the last five years, have been excluded.
Under the government scheme all arrangements, including passports, visas, boarding and logistics, will be managed at its level while group organizers and Haj service agents will be responsible for all their arrangements. In the light of previous experiences, however, such promises will carry little conviction with would-be pilgrims.
The complaints about last year's Haj arrangements must be addressed in right earnest. With an increase in numbers the challenge is mounting. In the case of Pakistan, the age factor makes the problem more daunting while from many other countries younger people opt for Haj.
In this context, the accommodation and transport problems have to be tackled more carefully. Advance preparations and planning are essential to make arrangements work.
In view of the mounting rush, distance and cost factors, the task of management has become more complex. Unfulfilled promises are most worrying for the pilgrims. For this both the official machinery and private operators must be made answerable as last-minute let-downs can be galling.
Performing Haj is increasingly proving to be a difficult exercise. State resources and individual efforts are coming under greater strain with every passing year.
Unless an honest endeavour is made to absorb these pressures, the exercise can assume unmanageable proportions. It is the duty of every Muslim country to meet the emerging problems and complexities to enable its citizens to fulfil the obligation of Haj.