Waziristan again

WHAT is happening in Waziristan? The situation in that region has flared up again after the London bombings and reports of possible links between the bombers, four of them described as being of Pakistani origin, and militant organizations. On July 15, it was said that Pakistan military and FBI teams had launched a probe in the tribal areas and arrested two suspects in possession of presumably inflammatory material. On the same day, coalition forces based in Afghanistan killed 24 people described as Taliban when the latter were fleeing to Pakistan after attacking an Afghan checkpost. Whether the coalition forces had violated Pakistani space was being investigated, according to one report quoting a private television channel. On Saturday night, there was a gunbattle in North Waziristan between Pakistani security forces and a group of people that included a few women and children or youngsters. The group is said to have mostly consisted of Uzbeks who had opened fire on the Pakistani forces. Seventeen of the group and a Pakistani soldier were killed.

In both incidents, there appears to be some confusion about the exact identity of those killed. In the first, it was stated that most of the dead were identified by local tribesmen as kinsfolk, although that does not rule out the possibility that they were adherents of the Taliban. In the second incident, the presence of women and children in the group involved in the clash is difficult to explain. The official version is that they were being used as camouflage or a shield. However, since there is a lot of movement of Afghan refugees in that region, the affair needs to be thoroughly investigated.

There has been unrest in Waziristan and other tribal regions for three years now. There have been clashes and full-fledged military action. Operations have been conducted and then it has been announced that they have been successfully wound up. But quite clearly militant activity has not been eliminated; indeed there have been reports of militants re-grouping in the area, which seems to continue to be infested with foreigners. The ease with which they can merge with the local population raises fears about whether it is always easy to tell one from the other or ensure that innocent people do not get caught up in the conflict. Everyone agrees that there is no place for militants, whether foreigners or from among the local brand of the Taliban. But not everyone is convinced that the campaign against them is militarily and politically as well coordinated as it should be. The political dimension is important because ultimately it is only by winning over our own tribesmen that the troublemakers can be isolated. The religious fervour of the NWFP government also needs to be politically handled. What is taking place in the Afghan refugee camps in the matter of Taliban recruitment and militant propaganda itself requires to be properly looked into. If there are elements within the civilian and military bureaucracy who are still not convinced of the umbilical cord that links militant ‘jihadis’ with terrorists, then such elements should also be tackled. The image Pakistan is acquiring — an image reinforced by the London bombings — of being a hotbed of political extremism of various hues has to be changed.

Curbing cellphone theft

STEALING cellphones seems to have become the crime of choice of late for most criminals, particularly in Karachi. In fact, the menace has reached such proportions, with 11,500 sets stolen so far this year, that the prime minister has felt called upon to set up a taskforce to check the problem. Now, one hears of a proposal that Section 144 is to be imposed to facilitate the police to deal with the sale of stolen phones in Karachi’s main electronics market. Without going into the specifics of this particular proposal, any action taken by the Sindh government and the police that makes a dent into the massive racket will be welcome. Clearly, there is a link between the market for used mobile phones and the rising incidence of theft in that the former is fuelling the latter. Given that, the only approach to this problem that can prove effective will be one that prevents cellphone thieves from selling off their stolen property. Currently an arrangement is in place through which stolen cellphones can be prevented from being sold to willing buyers through the help of the Citizens’ Police Liaison Committee and with technical assistance of the cellphone companies, rendering any stolen handset inoperable. The problem with this, according to the police, is that it is informal in nature and prevents the police from routinely going through the records of the electronics market dealers to check whether the merchandise being sold is stolen or legitimate.

This would imply that the vendors in the city’s electronics market are resisting efforts to monitor what they sell. The vendors, for their part, say that the police are using this as a pretext to harass sellers for their own financial benefits and are not serious about curbing cellphone theft. Allegations and counter-allegations aside, the problem needs to be dealt with promptly and effectively because the number of cellphones being stolen daily is staggering. There should be no need for imposition of Section 144 because the police are dealing with theft and with the sale of stolen goods. Both are crimes in any society and the police do not need any additional powers to deal effectively with the problem of theft and sale.

Malaria control

THE news from Peshawar that public sector hospitals in the Frontier lack the resources to tackle the high incidence of malaria is reflective of the overall situation in the country. Pakistan entered the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) global partnership in 1999. But far from stepping up efforts to help the RBM meet the goal of halving the number of malaria cases worldwide by 2010, we seem to have actually regressed. According to figures available, the number of malaria cases reported annually since Pakistan joined the global initiative has climbed to more than 125,000 from approximately 92,000. What is more, malarial parasites have been taking on drug-resistant forms, rendering traditional medication like chloroquine ineffective against the disease. With criticism growing that the government has even stopped spraying insecticide in certain malaria-prone areas, there are fears that the number of afflicted people will rise, especially in view of the monsoons and the creation of new breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Along with disbursing foreign aid to the health sector, the government cannot slacken on federal spending for the control of the disease, which can assume epidemic proportions if proper measures are not taken to contain it. Not only is it necessary to ensure that hospitals and clinics, especially in the rural areas, are equipped to handle malaria cases (among infants and pregnant women in particular), preventive measures must also be put in place. These include the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and spraying the inside of homes with insecticide. Anti-malarial drugs have also been prescribed for vulnerable members of the population such as pregnant women. Of course, the government would not be able to accomplish this on its own and it would be necessary to encourage people at all levels to participate in the anti-malarial campaign by keeping their immediate surroundings free of breeding areas.