| 28 November 2004 | Sunday | 15 Shawwal 1425 |
Thar coal project
A looming scourge
The government's decision to call off military operations and remove checkposts in the Wana area deserves to be welcomed. What remains to be seen is whether the end of the operations will lead to a durable peace and the area's return to normality. Friday's jirga at the Governor's House in Peshawar, where the withdrawal announcement was made, was attended by 400 tribal elders, including the three militants who had accepted the government's amnesty offer. Under the agreement, the tribal elders promised to maintain peace and not to give shelter to foreign militants.
In return the government pledged to end the military operations, remove the checkposts and release innocent prisoners. Sent into the Wana subdivision of South Waziristan in 2002, the troops have been engaged in operations which have lasted longer and turned out to be more intractable than were originally anticipated. Both sides suffered casualties, but the real victims were the people of the Wana area.
A large number of innocent civilians died, and the authorities even imposed Wana's economic blockade. Which only served to hit the local people economically. In the process, there were many ceasefire agreements, which turned out to be temporary, with both sides accusing each other of bad faith.
The most celebrated of the ceasefire agreements was on April 24 that led to the famous "Shakai embrace" between Nek Mohammad, now dead, and the area's corps commander. Nek Mohammad reportedly went back on his words after the ceasefire and was killed in action, though he insisted that the agreement did not stipulate that he should hand over foreign militants.
The withdrawal decision only increases the government's responsibility. Foreign militants are still there, and they are well armed. They are there because they enjoy the support and protection of certain sections of Wana's population. To that extent, the authorities rightly expect the maliks to abide by the agreement. But the government must keep its own part of the bargain.
To begin with, it must pay compensation to families which have suffered death and destruction. A large number of people fell victim to collateral damage, and houses and shops were destroyed. More important, the government must make a determined effort for the Wana area's economic upbuilding.
The tribal areas are a great anomaly in the 21st century. Created by the British, they served their imperial interests. However, for Pakistan to accept these areas which are beyond the pale of normal law is anomalous. It is also known that many people commit heinous crimes in other parts of Pakistan and then escape into Fata because normal laws do not apply there.
While an immediate abolition of Fata is not possible, what the government can do is to take steps that would ensure the tribal areas' gradual integration into the national mainstream. This can be done by spreading education, bringing in electricity, improving agriculture, setting up industries, building roads, bridges and hospitals and improving the lot of tribal women. Before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the tribal area had many industries.
However, the subsequent war and civil war, the influx of Afghan refugees and Fata's militarization as a base for the Taliban's operations led to the closure of factories. This destroyed the area's economy, caused massive unemployment and increased poppy cultivation and heroin smuggling. Only peaceful conditions can lead to a revival of Fata's economy and make a dent in poverty. A population satisfied with its economic condition is less prone to extremism and violence.
Thar coal project
The news that a Chinese firm would be performing the groundbreaking ceremony for a coal power project in Thar in the coming year is reassuring. Pakistan faces a power shortage and new power generation units will have to help reduce the gap between demand and supply in the coming years. In the case of the Thar power project, the advantage is that it will run on coal found in the region. Being an indigenous fuel, the power produced at the Thar plant would be cheaper.
This will reduce the country's dependence on imported furnace oil. With international oil prices at record high in the past couple of months, any local source of fuel is welcome for Pakistan. It reduces Pakistan's import bill and saves precious foreign exchange. As local natural gas reserves are expected to run out in the next thirty years or so if no new discoveries are made, it is important for Pakistan to look for new sources of energy. The Thar coal project is a good example of alternatives being explored.
Thar is one of Pakistan's most deprived areas. Its people largely live in abject poverty and under harsh natural conditions. Most of them eke out a living though subsistence farming or by raising livestock. The Thar coal power project promises to bring economic opportunities to the area and needs to be encouraged at every stage by the government. The miserable conditions in which the Tharis live are bound to change if the project is implemented in real earnest.
This project needs to be followed up with the other opportunities promised to the area by the government as part of its relief package. These include better roads as well as more schools and hospitals. Also, the government plans to implement a water supply scheme and a programme for rural electrification. Given the potential that Thar offers, one can hope of more investment in the region provided the government is able to put in place the basic infrastructure it has promised for long.
A looming scourge
On December 1, Pakistan will have good reason to observe World Aids Day with the rest of the international community. While HIV infection and Aids have a low prevalence rate in the country - unlike the situation in neighbouring China and India where they have assumed frightening proportions - there are several areas of growing risk that could quite possibly lead to a health crisis in Pakistan in the near future.
This makes it all the more necessary for the National Aids Control Programme to disseminate information about the disease and to take preventive steps to ward off the coming storm. The latter should include measures aimed at ensuring that people entering the country, including migrant workers and arrivals from high-risk regions like sub-Saharan Africa are not HIV carriers.
So far, the public has been reluctant to talk about the disease that is spread chiefly through sexual contact. Owing to cultural and religious factors, people - including those at most risk of contracting Aids such as long-distance truck drivers and migrant labourers (both categories usually have multiple sex partners), habitual drug addicts and sex workers - are generally unwilling to disclose details for fear of becoming social outcasts.
It is out of this fear that many with all the symptoms of the disease, refuse to get themselves tested and why many cases of HIV/Aids go undiagnosed so that medical circles can only conjecture about the actual number of HIV/ Aids patients in the country. While no doubt, with the help of UNAIDS, health authorities have tried to create greater public awareness about the disease and its spread, more needs to be done to create greater awareness of the primacy of prevention. The government must not slacken its efforts at this stage, for prevention, besides being a less costly option, is the only way out for a disease that has no cure.