| 05 October 2004 | Tuesday | 19 Shaban 1425 |
As Gaza burns & bleeds
Rain havoc in coastal Sindh
The prime minister's visit to Quetta where he announced three-billion rupee fund for Balochistan comes as a positive development in a crisis that threatened to spin out of hand if remedial action was delayed.
Mr Shaukat Aziz's advice to the provincial government to discard a policy of adhocism and instead adopt a five-year development plan for the province makes sense. He has also made suggestions about sectors on which the policymakers should focus.
The Baloch should find this in their own interest since it allows them the opportunity to plan their economic and social uplift, especially when they have been provided with a substantial fund for the purpose.
The federal government has also promised to hold talks for a new NFC award soon and has held out the assurance that Gwadar port will become partially functional in January.
It is in the context of these moves to give a boost to development in the province that the parliamentary committee formed last week to help resolve the problems and grievances of Balochistan assumes crucial significance.
While one appreciates Islamabad's move to provide funds to Quetta, it is important that the Baloch are left free to decide for themselves how they would want to spend the money made available to them.
The parliamentary committee should facilitate the creation of a group comprising mainly planners from different regions of the province who should also be drawn from major political parties.
These representatives will have to determine the economic priorities of the province and how to allocate money for different projects for development. It is important that the Baloch are closely involved in the planning process to ensure that the locals are inducted into the projects and they get a fair share of the jobs thus created.
If the Baloch do not have a sense of political participation, the allocation of a large fund would serve little purpose. They would continue to feel marginalized, convinced that the development has been planned for the benefit of outsiders.
Some of the opposition parties have tried to politicize the formation of the Balochistan parliamentary committee. While the PPP has objected to the composition of the committee on the ground that the opposition has been given a very small representation in it, Mr Akbar Bugti has expressed reservations about the large size of the committee.
He believes that a committee of four or five members would have worked more effectively. The MMA is also unhappy at being "under-represented". This speaks of a reluctance on the part of the political parties to cooperate in efforts to remove Balochistan's political and economic grievance or an absence of mutual trust.
Endless confrontation will lead to a situation which is in nobody's interest. Let a beginning be made so that the crisis in Balochistan is defused. The concerns of the Baloch need to be addressed.
They should be reassured that economic development in the province is to benefit them primarily and the military will not enhance its presence there to control policymaking in Quetta under the guise of its war on terror.
Similarly, the Baloch should receive their due share of royalties on Sui gas and the planned Iranian-Indian gas pipeline to pass through the province. The idea is that Balochistan should not suffer from a sense of deprivation and discrimination. This has been its lot in the past and nobody wants a repeat of that situation.
As Gaza burns & bleeds
More than 60 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the ongoing Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip since last Tuesday. The number of those killed in the violence since the beginning of the second Intifada four years ago exceeds 5,000 - over 4,425 of them Palestinians.
It is not a numbers' game but their sheer proportion shows how unequal the two sides are in this conflict. The deadly, advanced war machine unleashed by Israel on the mostly civilian Palestinian population accounts for the high number of deaths on the latter's side.
The fact also perpetuates the vicious circle of violence, forcing the desperate Palestinians to respond to helicopter gunship and tank-mortar attacks with crudely put together 'home-made' missiles.
With so many civilians dead, homes demolished, orchards and farmland confiscated and with no end to their misery in sight, a significant number of Palestinian youth has been radicalized by militant organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
This has only weakened the Palestinian Authority and other secular forces in the occupied territories which are opposed to violence and seek a negotiated settlement of the conflict with Tel Aviv.
From the latter's point of view, it is hard to see how the average Israeli's security can be guaranteed under the circumstances created and perpetuated by Mr Ariel Sharon. But Mr Sharon is not the only one to be blamed for the Palestinians' predicament. The guilt for this must be shared by the world community, especially the Quartet comprising the US, EU, UN and Russia who, by their sheer apathy, have not only abetted in Israel's crimes but also seen the roadmap to peace all but abandoned by Tel Aviv.
America may be too engrossed in its 'war on terror', the imbroglio it has created in Iraq and the heated presidential election debates at home, but this should be no reason for the rest of the Quartet to ignore Israel's excesses in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine.
It is ironic that the West should find the time and energy to bail out the victims of the ethnic conflict in Sudan but have no concern whatsoever for the Palestinians.
Rain havoc in coastal Sindh
The rain over the weekend in different parts of Sindh, particularly the coastal areas, has caused widespread damage to crops and properties. While the worst seems to have been averted as the cyclone that hit the province had dissipated much of its energy before reaching the shores of Pakistan, it still left behind a trail of damage and destruction, including loss of life.
Despite the early warnings given about the impending calamity, it seems that the provincial government had not made adequate preparations to minimize losses. The warning of the impending storm was not communicated sufficiently forcefully over the electronic media but was restricted to some advertisements in newspapers.
This is ironic because most fishermen and residents of the coastal areas are largely from poor backgrounds and mostly illiterate. The warning of the storm was spread instead by word of mouth in the whole area by the fishermen.
The post-storm arrangements made by the provincial government are also said to be inadequate. Journalists visiting the affected area say that there are no relief camps set up for victims and that the much-publicized mobile dispensaries are rarely seen.
Last year, when rains lashed the coastal areas of Sindh, particularly Badin, more people died as a result of inadequacy or absence of medical care in the aftermath than during the downpour.
Even today, many of the families affected by floods in Badin have not been paid the money promised by the government last year in compensation for their losses. One hopes this time the provincial administration will wake up in time to assist the stricken people and that there is no repeat of last years's situation.