| July 21, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-us-Sani 13, 1426 |
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Peace deal for Aceh
Website bloomers
FOOD prices are on the rise at a time when the rate of inflation in the country is hovering around double digits. More important, it is the prices of the most essential food items that have come under severe pressure in recent months. Items such as atta, sugar, beef, potato and garlic have gone out of reach of even those placed well above the poverty line. In neighbouring India, the overall inflation has remained pegged at five to six per cent despite the fact that its economy has been growing at a fast rate over the last many years. In China, even when the country was growing at the rate of 11-12 per cent, it had succeeded in keeping food prices at a very low level. In developed economies, no matter what happens to the overall price line, food prices are never allowed to go beyond a certain ceiling. In fact in many of these countries, food prices have remained static over the last more than a decade.
In Pakistan everybody, especially policy-makers and government economic managers, know the reasons behind the rising food prices, but except for saying wishy-washy things and making some brave promises, nothing concrete has been done to keep them in check. Supply shortages have become the norm over the last 13 months or so. Taking advantage of this situation, hoarders and profiteers are making the most of it. The government has seemingly stood on the sidelines doing nothing. Earlier, in the month of May, the prime minister had announced his government’s decision to import essential food items from India via the land route. Reports suggesting the setting up of quarantine houses at Wagah border had also appeared in newspapers. But nothing has happened since, except the inflow of some cattle over the land route and import of beef and mutton affecting the local prices of these items only marginally. Now it appears that India is asking for a transit route to Afghanistan as a trade-off for exporting essential food items to Pakistan. Though this demand falls in the domain of Pakistan’s foreign policy, the government would do well to decide the issue in the limited context of bilateral economic needs and compulsions rather than linking it with the broader aspects of the two countries’ relations.
No doubt, Pakistan’s economy is doing very well lately. But a growth rate of over eight per cent, an inflow of FDI to the tune of $1.5 billion in one year and sustained macroeconomic stability do not mean much if large sections of the population are in a state of semi-starvation. It is, therefore, incumbent on the government to fulfill its responsibility in alleviating the situation. In the first place, it should improve the supply situation, which it can do without much problem as it has enough foreign exchange reserves to finance imports. Secondly, it needs to gear up the distribution system so that supplies do not fall into the hands of the hoarders. Of course, it would not be advisable to resort to price control. But there are a number administrative measures that can be used to keep a close check on food prices. The political repercussions of letting these prices go out of control are enormous. One should never forget the political upheavals that followed a four-anna increase in the price of sugar during the last days of President Ayub Khan.
WHILE the details of a peace deal reached in Helsinki between the Indonesian government and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement have yet to be made public, the accord represents the best hope for peace in the troubled province of Aceh since a previous agreement broke down in 2003. Aceh rebels have been battling Indonesian troops for almost 30 years — a conflict which has so far cost 15,000 lives. What added to the human cost of this conflict was last December’s devastating tsunami that killed some 180,000 people in Aceh alone. This has been a major contributory factor in reviving the peace process as both the rebels and the government realized that peace was essential if reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts were to proceed smoothly. The rebels, numbering some 5,000, have given up their demand for independence and have agreed to disarm while Indonesia is to withdraw its 50,000 troops from the region. The government is also to pass a law allowing local parties to operate in Aceh, even though it is reluctant to accord political legitimacy to the rebels in view of setting a dangerous precedent for dissidents in other parts of the country.
Until the agreement is formalized on August 15 and its details made public, it would be pointless to speculate on the modalities of implementing its provisions. But it is necessary to point out that the grievances of the Aceh people are many and that the Indonesian government, especially under former President Suharto, is guilty of grave human rights abuses in the province, that have added to the sense of alienation among the Acehnese. Rich in minerals, the region is a major revenue-generating area for Jakarta which until lately had been opposed to a more equitable sharing of benefits. The result is that while not lacking in oil, gas and other natural wealth, Aceh is among the poorest of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. As it implements the essentially political peace deal, Jakarta will also have to focus on the economic aspect of the problem, or else it will risk a serious blow to peace and national integrity.
WHAT do Asif Ali Zardari, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Dr Farooq Sattar have in common? They — and other high-ranking politicians — are all listed on the Exit Control List recently updated on July 14. This news must be a surprise to the aforementioned gentlemen — two of them currently ministers, one allied with the government and parliamentary leader of his party in the National Assembly, while another, Mr Zardari, is in the US seeking medical treatment. Even more surprising is the inclusion of Abdul Sattar Laleka who passed away a year ago and the alleged terrorist Riaz Basra who was killed by the police in May 2002. Aimal Kasi, who was executed in 2002 in the US, also figures on this list, albeit without accompanying details like his ID card number. So there is a possibility that there’s another person bearing the same name who’s on the ECL. The guffaws do not end here. When Interior Minister Mr Sherpao was asked why his and Mr Hayat’s names were on the ECL, he replied that they weren’t, and then added that the list was probably not updated. And if having serving ministers and the deceased on the ECL were not enough, Mukhtaran Mai’s back on the ECL (presuming she was taken off it when the government said she was). So one must brace for another media blitzkrieg that will rightly ensue on account of these silly errors.
Is there no one competent enough in the interior ministry to carry out a simple task like updating a website? It’s not a problem restricted to the interior ministry alone. Other official websites are equally mixed up — like the PIA one mentioned by a letter-writer that has only eight per cent of Karachi’s population speaking Urdu. All this is laughable, indeed embarrassing for the country’s image and its respect for correct information.