| March, 22 2005 | Tuesday | 11 Safar 1426 |
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Worrying realities
Greater access for disabled
THE situation in the Sui area has assumed dangerous proportions. Who is exercising restraint and who is not is a matter of opinion. That government officials and their families have left the area points to the gravity of the situation. Mr Akbar Bugti denies that he gave an ultimatum to the government workers to leave the area. If so, then why did they depart? The obvious answer is that they did so because they felt that fighting could erupt any moment and that they could get caught in it. This also implies that the government is unable to provide security to its workers. All along we have heard that it is the government that has been causing provocations to the Bugtis to find a pretext to crack down on them. However, two points baffle us: one is the explosion at Gandava, killing 40 people. Who planted the bomb and with what motive is not clear. Killing pilgrims at an urs does not advance any political cause. This is terrorism pure and simple, designed to convey one message to the world — that the administration is unable to protect its citizens. But then bomb blasts have been continuing in Pakistan for years, and it would only be a sick mind that would kill innocent people only to prove a point.
The second point is the report that tribesmen have surrounded 300 men of the Frontier Constabulary. Tables, it seems, have been turned. If the FC is so powerless as to be surrounded by tribesmen, it has no business to be there. What chance does it have then of protecting vital gas installations — which is supposed to be the aim of the FC’s deployment there? The tribesmen are reportedly digging trenches, erecting barricades and taking up positions on the hills around. On whose prompting are they doing this? One obvious answer is that they expect armed action by the FC and are taking defensive measures. Mr Bugti’s version is that it is the government which is moving in more troops and arms in the area, that it is the FC which has blockaded Dera Bugti and that this has led to food shortages.
There is obviously a big gap in the two versions. The only good news is Shujaat Hussain’s statement that the JWP chief is willing to talk. Mr Bugti confirmed this but said he wanted to know the talks’ agenda. Evidently, the situation demands a more focussed dialogue. Balochistan has, no doubt, a long list of grievances that need to be addressed. But at the moment it is the situation in the Bugti area that needs to be defused. With the area having turned into an armed camp where even a minor incident can lead to a bloodbath, it is vital that both sides exercise restraint. A wider discussion to include the entire gamut of Balochistan’s grievances cannot take place while the Bugtis and the security forces are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. Let the talks begin with a modest one-point agenda — avoiding a clash and gradually defusing the situation. Once this has been done, the scope of the talks can be widened and the number of negotiators expanded. Mr Bugti alone does not represent Balochistan. The Baloch side, therefore, must include Mr Ataullah Mengal, Mr Mahmud Achakzai, Mr Abdul Hye Baloch and others. At the same time, the MMA and the ARD must be there in the negotiations, because both have representation in parliament from Balochistan.
SOME of the revelations made by participants in the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s annual general meeting held in Lahore on Sunday are indeed worrying. The meeting was informed that there had been 2,700 reported cases of suicide in the country over the last three years. In most cases economic deprivation caused by unemployment and rise in inflation was cited as reasons for suicide. More disturbing still, those who chose to take their own lives included parents who also killed their children before committing suicide. Most victims were reported to be below the age of 40. The HRCP has blamed the deaths on unemployment, and the government’s attempts at downsizing the public sector as well as its failure to provide basic social services such as health care and education. Lack of good governance and problems of gettingjustice have also been cited as contributing factors. The rights body has urged the government to increase budgetary allocations for the social sector and to ensure provision of utilities and services such as safe drinking water and sanitation.
The meeting also noted with concern the rise in violence against women, observing that at least 1,000 women became victims of honour killing every year. These, the commission was informed, were official crime figures in this category, and that actual number of women being killed in the name of honour may be much higher. Blaming the government of interference in the judicial process, participants in the meeting demanded an end to coercion of the judiciary and to judges’ positions lying vacant since 2003. They also noted the fact that journalists were being barred from visiting and reporting from Wana and Dera Bugti, alleging that the government was hiding facts from the public. These are all disquieting observations and an indictment of both the government and society as a whole. While the government needs to do more on the public accountability front as well as to adopt policies that help the cause of socio-economic uplift of the people, the latter also need to be sensitized about the many problems afflicting society. Lives lost to suicide, for instance, can be saved if poverty alleviation efforts are made along with steps to control inflation and steps to create employment opportunities for the people.
RECONFIRMING a decision taken last August, the Federal Public Service Commission has said that barring the mentally retarded, handicapped candidates would be allowed to appear at the Central Superior Services examination scheduled for later this year. This should be heartening news for the millions of disabled people in the country. If implemented fairly and without subjecting handicapped candidates to mental distress, the decision could provide many with an opportunity to secure a government job on a merit basis in one of the higher grades — beyond grades 1 to 16 to which the current quota system restricts them. However, much will depend on how sincerely the government keeps its promise. So far, little has been done on this score, beyond indulging in the usual rhetoric about the rights of the handicapped. Even the employment quota of two per cent in government jobs for the disabled is not being filled.
Unfortunately, this attitude is reflected in Pakistani society that has yet to learn to view the handicapped with sympathy, not to be confused with pity. Disabled people are either an object of derision or indifference. Even close relatives are ashamed of owning them publicly. There has been little attempt so far to include them in the mainstream of life by making daily activities more accessible. There are no transport facilities, special toilets, ramps and lifts in public places for their convenience. There is also no effort to highlight their condition in a way that does not detract from their dignity. With this state of affairs, how can one expect that conditions will change for the better? More than gestures, what we need is a greater effort at raising public awareness not only about their needs, but also their potential as contributing members of society.