Local government in the capital

If all goes according to plan, citizens of Islamabad will finally get to vote for their own local government in this year's local bodies elections. The National Reconstruction Bureau chairman stated recently that local body polls in the capital, as well as in the cantonments, would be held this year together with the local government elections in other districts of the country.

Apart from the cantonment areas, the Islamabad Capital Territory is the only district left in the country where the Devolution of Power Plan-2000 has not materialized yet and where no local government is in place. Elsewhere in all other districts, local governments were installed by 2001 through local body polls that were conducted in five phases in 2000-2001.

The sub-sector in Islamabad which will be housing the new GHQ, together with the already existing naval and airforce complexes nearby, will probably become a brand new cantonment in the capital territory that will not be included in the Islamabad district local polls.

Whether local polls in this new cantonment will take place this year together with the local polls in other cantonments in the country remains to be seen. Local body elections in the ICT, and the cantonment areas all over the country, were supposed to be held soon after the 2000-2001 local government polls.

The then interior minister had promised that local polls in the ICT would be held by September 2002, before the general elections in October 2002. In July 2002, a constitutional petition was filed in the Supreme Court by a citizen seeking a court injunction on holding local government elections in the ICT.

It was not until October 2, 2002, that the ICT Local Government Elections Ordinance was promulgated by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. It was obvious by then that local polls in the ICT would have to wait until after the general elections.

The new federal government that came into power after the October 10, 2002, general elections promised to hold local polls in the ICT "soon". Citizens of Islamabad have been waiting for this "soon" to happen for the past two years now.

It is obvious that in any change in the structure of power, those forces who feel that they are losers under the new structure would oppose the change. The buck for the delay in holding local polls in the ICT was being passed between the interior ministry and the NRB. The CDA in particular is also known to have reservations about the establishment of a local government in the ICT.

In February 2001, it was reported in this newspaper that CDA had recommended that local body elections in the ICT be held only in the rural areas and that local polls in the urban areas should be withdrawn in "national interest"! In early January 2005, it was reported in another English daily that CDA was apprehensive about local polls being held in the ICT, particularly because of the fact that the Nazims would not be able to handle the security situation in the capital efficiently!

Since Islamabad is the home of top federal officials and foreign diplomats, and is usually visited by many foreign dignitaries, security is obviously a major concern of the federal government.

Especially so since there have already been several abortive assassination attempts on the motorcades of the president and the prime minister when the latter was prime minister-designate, although these attacks had occurred outside of the Capital.

Is this, perhaps, one of the reasons why, as reported recently in Dawn, a suggestion emanating from the prime minister's office was even mooted to place control of Islamabad traffic in the hands of the "incorruptible" National Highway and Motorway Police?

The controversial removal of four district Nazims by the Sindh government last month and the en masse resignation of all 24 district Nazims in NWFP in June 2003 are examples of the kind of political turmoil that can occur because of conflicting interests between local governments and the provincial governments.

Such conflicting interests are exacerbated by the lack of a well-defined framework of rules and a monitoring mechanism to ensure administrative and financial discipline among federal, provincial and district authorities.

Teething problems of the local government system have also been attributed to the anomaly that local body polls are party less whereas provincial and federal elections are party-based.

The likelihood of a similar kind of political mess in Islamabad cannot be ruled out once a local government is installed. Especially so if care is not taken beforehand to define in clear and precise terms the authority and jurisdiction of the new positions and offices vis-a-vis the old, remaining or revamped positions and offices under the new structure of power.

With a local district government in place, the control of CDA and the ICT police is supposed to come under the elected District Nazim rather than under the federal government through the interior ministry.

Unless the line of jurisdiction and powers regarding the local administration of Islamabad is clearly drawn among the federal government, the interior ministry, CDA, the ICT police, the nazims, the councils, the various appointed district officers, etc., etc., the possibility of interest clash, authority clash and political clash between and amongst all these stakeholders can turn Islamabad topsy-turvy. Such a scenario will only serve to deprive citizens of the full benefit of the devolution of power.

A farewell to arms

India celebrated its Republic Day on January 26 as usual with a massive display of lethal arms interspersed with smartly turned out marching columns of military, paramilitary and police personnel. The King of Bhutan was the chief guest.

This was perhaps ironical. Bhutan is a tiny landlocked country, effectively a protectorate of India, and boasts of no military ambitions. Did the king feel assured or threatened by the display of India's nuclear capable missiles developed with two specific neighbours in mind, one of them sharing a land border with Bhutan itself? If India's chief guest felt threatened or insecure by what he witnessed on the cold foggy morning in New Delhi, it would be something for India to come to terms with.

If not, and if he believes Bhutan is better off without a military prowess of its own, then the king would be offering an important lesson to the entire world to ponder. The sad fact for India is that its military pursuits have only made its neighbours less trusting of its size, much less of its intentions.

And this can hardly be repaired by even more acquisition of military hardware. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese nationalists and Tamil separatists have both traditionally distrusted New Delhi.

This is strange since India has helped stave off serious threats to the government in Colombo on at least two occasions since 1971. It has also promoted equal rights for Sri Lankan Tamils in the Sinhalese majority nation.

The Indian Navy helped the Maldivian president thwart an insurgency during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure. Mrs. India Gandhi dispatched the Indian Army to help create Bangladesh out of East Pakistan.

India provides the vital land corridor to Nepal which is Kathmandu's lifeline. And yet all this help is quite useless, as any Indian who has visited these countries would tell you.

The anti-India feelings in all of these countries run deep. There was a time when India and China had shared a common vision of the future despite their dissimilar struggles against colonialism and in spite of their nagging border problems.

However, the so-called Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai phase of the 1950s is considered by today's militarist ideologues as a maudlin period in India's foreign policy. With Pakistan too, despite the bitter partition and the 1948 standoff in Kashmir, relations were kept civil, even cordial.

Guess who was the chief guest at India's Republic Day in 1955, exactly 50 years ago? It was the head of state of Pakistan, no less. The Hindu reported the event thus: "In New Delhi, the President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Pakistan's Governor-General, Mr. Ghulam Mohammed, watched a march-past by troops, workers and school children.

The President took the salute at the parade made up of nearly 400 service personnel and a number of vehicles. Hundreds of people from all walks of life witnessed the biggest ever ceremonial military parade and cultural pageant.

The pageantry procession presented the culture of almost all the States in the Republic. Among the floats, for the first time, was one representing the erstwhile French settlement of Pondicherry, now merged with India.

The sun was shining brightly after three days of murky weather as the crowds patiently watched the parade, which took over two and half hours to pass the saluting base.

Among the distinguished visitors from Pakistan, besides the Governor General, who watched the parade were Dr. Khan Sahib, Minister for Communications, and Major-General Iskander Mirza, Minister for Interior."

Not that all of 400 service personnel and "a number of vehicles" were the icons of India's military might at the 1955 Republic Day parade, a laughable thought by today's standards.

But with its new found military might is India more secure then it was 50 years ago? Which Pakistani leader or any other head of state in the region would gush about their faith in Indian leadership today the way Governor General Ghulam Mohammed greeted Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru? "I have come here not as a politician, but as the Head of a State bringing peace and goodwill with which any problem can be solved and I have more faith in Mr. Nehru than you have," Mr. Ghulam Mohammed told reporters in his arrival statement on January 25.

He was accompanied by Dr. Khan Sahib, minister for communications. The Hindu's account gives another peep into the atmosphere of that occasion. "Mr. Ghulam Mohammed was greeted by the President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr.S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President, Prime Minister Nehru and Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Pakistan High Commissioner.

Looking affectionately at Mr. Nehru, Dr. Khan Sahib remarked to Mr. Khanna, the Union Rehabilitation Minister, 'Jawaharlal Nehru has become a little older.' Mr. Nehru laughed, when he heard it, but admitted, 'Yes, a little.'

Fortunately a view is now gathering force among influential quarters in India, that militarism has not served any useful purpose for this country. As the Times of India noted last week, the Republic Day has been reduced to a meaningless display of state might over the years.

"We are supposed to celebrate our democracy by swaying to the beat of jackboots and the whirr of tanks. It is time we defined nationhood in more civilized terms. Plainly put, it is indefensible that we spend over Rs 700 billion on defence when 350 million people - or our total population at the time of Independence - still go hungry.

A government that claims to have come to power on a pro-poor mandate must effect a major transfer of resources from defence to development." Taking a lesson from the 1955 Republic Day parade could be a good beginning.

* * * * *

Noted historian Romila Thapar has declined the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian awards. Her argument is disarming. She says she has accepted awards only from fellow historians and this Prof.

Thapar has followed the example of Jean Paul Sartre who refused the Nobel prize for literature because he feared it would interfere with his writing. There are several other good instances that come to mind of those who rejected or returned awards on matters of principle.

The sitar wizard Ustad Vilayat Khan never accepted any award from the government, saying those who decide the winners didn't have a clue about music. Pakistan's revolutionary poet Habib Jalib turned down the prestigious Adamji award on similar grounds.

Beatle John Lenon's decision to return the MBE to the Queen in protest against the Vietnam War had inspired an entire generation of peace niks. But not everyone who ends up accepting these awards need be embarrassed.

Prof. Irfan Habib, a world ranking historian and close friend of Romila Thapar, offers a unique reason why he will accept the Padma Bhushan award this year. He feels that the award, though a subjective decision of the government of the day, might, in his case, encourage municipal authorities in Aligarh to keep the narrow, dirty lanes around his house a bit cleaner.

Counting mistakes

The Arts Council elects at least three office-bearers and 12 members of the governing body every December. As a rule, candidates canvassing for votes call nearly all the members and organize gatherings where voters are informed what steps they would take to promote the fine arts and literary pursuits in society in general and in the Arts Council in particular.

Some candidates pay the annual dues of members who do not visit the Arts Council regularly and send them a letter, along with the receipt, informing them about their candidature and their plans.

It is natural that the candidates who take the Arts Council elections so seriously feel bitter when they fail to win. Quite often, they complain that the elections were rigged.

However, they seldom request the Karachi district coordination officer, who is ex-officio president of the Arts Council, to recount the votes polled by the entire governing body. But this time they did, little realizing that they would open a can of worms.

For instance, Samina Pirzada, who polled 865 votes in the first count, actually received 958 votes. It is hard to believe that the officials of the city government who were entrusted with the task of counting the votes did not count over 90 votes obtained by her.

Similarly, they did not count over 65 votes polled by Kamal Ahmed Rizvi, whose tally in the first count was 879 votes that rose to 945 votes subsequently. One wonders why the votes polled by the president, secretary and treasurer of the Arts Council were not recounted.

After all, the same city government officials had counted their votes. One hopes that counting errors committed by the officials were accidental.

GANGING UP AGAINST SCHOOLS

The ongoing gang war in Lyari has adversely affected the operation of both private and government schools in the locality. Lyari is the poorest among the city's 18 towns and its 1.6 million people regard education as a vehicle for upward social mobility.

According to a resident, most school teachers come from other localities and are naturally too scared to step into Lyari where lawlessness has recently been rampant. They often absent themselves from work.

Also, parents do not send their children to school fearing they might earn the ire of the local mafia types who operate untrammelled by legal restraints. Fed up with the continued breakdown of law and order, a large number of families whose forefathers settled in Lyari a long time ago are migrating to safer localities. Political analysts fear that the long-drawn gang war in Lyari might change its demographic complexion.

SAVINGS SCHEMES

A senior citizen planning her finances for her twilight years visited the National Savings Centre in Khadda Market, as the place is known because of its location in a depression.

Since the centre is reputed to be the best in town because of the efficiency and courtesy of its staff, she was a bit taken aback when she found a woman client arguing with them about her zakat declaration.

The irate lady was hunting through a big thick register for the entry of the details of her savings certificates, but to no avail. She walked out declaring that government officials derive some pleasure out of wasting citizens' time as they themselves attach no importance to time management.

Our friend who was a witness to this scene was somewhat perturbed because this didn't reflect too well on the savings' centre about which she had heard so much. Mercifully her own experience proved to be different.

On a subsequent visit, she learnt that the cause of the furore was a lapse of memory on the part of the client who had forgotten her zakat declaration registration number. That had caused the delay and frayed tempers.

Kudos to the centre's staff for keeping its cool in such trying times. All the entries are still done by hand in registers - and the centre is catering to several thousand clients.

The computers one sees there are virtually used as glorified typewriters to print out letters or certificates - there being no software to computerize the records. Had that been there, the angry customer would have been saved her temper and the consequent embarrassment.

It is also surprising that no written rules are available to guide prospective savers about the papers needed. The flyers which spell out the details of the various schemes are not complete or updated either.

Had it not been for the helpful staff one would have been left scratching one's head about the returns one can look forward to and the deductions one should be prepared for.

In his post-budget press conference in June, Shaukat Aziz, then finance minister, had said that the government was determined to promote the national savings scheme by setting up a National Savings Corporation. What has become of that scheme?

A GOOD SAMARITAN

Sometimes, outsiders can help us look at some of our civic problems from a different angle. Father Jorge Anzoreno, a septuagenarian Argentinian Jesuit architect working worldwide with the urban poor, is one such person.

At a forum organized by the Urban Resource Centre on urban housing crisis and katchi abadis, Father Jorge, who is also founder of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, warned that if no corrective measures were taken without delay, the population of slums would double in 30 years.

His message was simple: eviction and displacement of people were no solutions. Instead city planners should improve the living conditions of the people dwelling in katchi abadis.

He underlined the need for greater people's participation in various uplift projects so that they also had a sense of ownership. "Have faith in local expertise and don't always depend on foreign consultants," he said, echoing what Akhtar Hameed Khan of Orangi Pilot Project fame had said all his life.

Father Jorge said that all over the world when youth living in slums were engaged in healthy activities in sports clubs, theatres and educational centres, they felt less frustration and did not resort to violence and drugs.

He talked about savings by the poor, crhches for working mothers, solutions which take so little to plan and develop and pay dividends in the long run. The recipient of the Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, Father Jorge visited the Orangi Pilot Project and all its partners in Faisalabad, Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Uch Sharif, Multan, etc. He also visited Hyderabad and Khairpur and delivered lectures at various places.

For the past many years he has been spending around six months each year travelling in Asia and another six months writing up his experiences and lecturing at Sofia University in Tokyo.

But what he likes most is walking about shanty towns and listening to the urban poor, for in their remarks lie the key to their problems and the solutions that public-spirited people can come up with.

email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com.