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| October 28, 2007 | Sunday | Shawwal 15, 1428 |
Trade corridor potential
Islamabad’s airport project
Changa Manga & other political resorts
OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press
PUNJAB Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi last Wednesday took his campaign against a corrupt ruling couple of the past to the town of Changa Manga which takes its name from two 18th century bandits, Changa and Manga. The honour the people in the area have bestowed on the two outlaws by choosing to call the place after them is reflective of popular perceptions that exist over and above moralistic notions.
WILL there be a public outcry or have we as a society become so brutalised, so impervious to the pain of others, that even the most horrifying of events are accepted as so much news? Will Friday’s public beheading of four security personnel in Swat unleash a wave of shock and revulsion that will be felt across the country? The answer is chillingly clear-cut: no, it will not. And that, with the deepest of respect for the families and friends who are today mourning their dead, is the real collective tragedy. For the most part, it will be accepted as a more than usually grisly sign of the times, information to be exchanged around the office canteen or the tea shop and then shelved. True, ordinary citizens are mired in deep problems of their own and to internalise every external trauma would be an invitation to madness. But where is the sustained uproar from our glorious leaders who portray themselves as saviours and the champions of tolerance and fair play? At least they make the odd noise, even if the show of denunciation is largely that — a show. On the other end of the political spectrum, the response from our self-appointed guardians of the faith is marked by deafening silence. They had nothing to say when pro-Taliban militants beheaded two women abducted from Bannu in September. Nor did the religio-political leaders condemn any of the at least eight incidents this year in which ‘spies’ were beheaded by militants operating in the tribal belt. Should this lack of censure be seen as tacit approval?
Silence is what the militants want too, at least in their areas of operation. By publicly beheading people and stringing up others from utility poles, as has happened in Waziristan, they are sending a clear message to local residents that no defiance will be brooked. The Islamists have assumed the authority of the state and occupy what for them is the moral high ground. The code they follow allows them to act as judge and executioner for their ‘mission’, in their twisted minds, is blessed by ‘God’. Society’s silence encourages public submission to the militants’ unholy acts. Some go so far as to defend beheadings on humane grounds. One militant in South Waziristan told the BBC this month that ‘cutting off the head is the best and most humane way to kill. When the head is removed from the body the soul is immediately released. Whereas when you hang a person, the soul has to struggle to escape from the mouth.’ Enough said.
THAT Pakistan will earn $60bn annually through transit trade between Central Asia and the Gulf region is by any standards good news. The windfall is dependent upon the completion of the trade corridor, which will transit 60 per cent of oil and gas between China and Central Asia in the north and the Gulf region to Pakistan’s south-west. The proposed infrastructure for this corridor will include two shipyards — one at Gwadar and the other at Bin Qasim — and improvements in the network of north-south roads. The long-term plan includes a boost in Pakistan’s shipbuilding capacity, which is important in view of the fact that at present 80 per cent of the country’s trade is carried by foreign ships. Given China’s economic boom Pakistan can serve as a major transit route between the oil-rich Gulf and its northern neighbour provided its economic infrastructure is modernised and expanded. This would call for an uplift of the railway system and the road network, with Gwadar playing the central role in this virtual corridor on account of its location.
While welcoming these plans, one cannot but be mindful of the political crisis in the country and law and order in the areas through which the proposed corridor will pass. As a rule, infrastructure development must be welcomed by all people because it will create jobs and spawn all-round economic development. Balochistan is to play a major role in this transit trade not only because of the Gwadar port but also because the proposed road and rail links will be laid across its vast expanse which will give a filip to plans to uplift people’s lives. However, all is not well with Balochistan, and going by the tenacity, which the insurgents have shown and the government’s lack of political initiative to pacify the province, one cannot say when the province will become normal. As a recent report by the International Crisis Group says, the insurgency stems from ‘Islamabad’s unwillingness to cede political and economic autonomy’ to a resource-rich province which also happens territorially to be the federation’s largest unit. In Fata and parts of the ‘settled districts’ the situation is different and far more dangerous. But the solution the ICG recommends for Balochistan holds equally good for the entire country — fair and free elections. All development plans and the $60bn we expect to earn will not see the light of day if the military-led government fails to seek a political solution to all crises and transfer power to a government enjoying the people’s mandate through a fair and free general election.
IT is unfortunate that the new Islamabad International Airport project should have got off on such a bad note. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in April this year and in June the Civil Aviation Authority announced that work on the main runway would be completed by the end of the year. But the pride and glory that is supposed to accompany such a project has been overshadowed by embarrassment caused by months of delays, alleged land acquisition irregularities and, possibly, even murder — the project director of the new airport having been killed on the site, allegedly by a sniper. Then early this month, news surfaced that the defence ministry was probing an alleged fraud by CAA personnel in the controversial purchase of extra land for the new project prompting the Senate’s standing committee on defence to direct the defence ministry to prepare a comprehensive report on the alleged land scam.
Notwithstanding these teething troubles, it is an established fact that the capital desperately needs a new airport. The existing facility located in downtown Rawalpindi was originally a military airbase which in 1963, when the air traffic to the upcoming capital increased, was made to double up as a temporary civilian airport to meet the growing needs of the new city. It was not until the mid 1980s that the federal government managed to acquire land for the new Islamabad airport — 3,200 acres in a locality 30 km southwest of the capital — but the project was subsequently stalled for the next two decades. Meanwhile improvements to the existing airport facility were made in 1983 and 1994, but it became increasingly apparent that a new independent airport of international standards was the need of the hour, more so now than ever before because of the increased pace of developmental activity in the capital. It is hoped that the problems which have surfaced in the execution of Islamabad’s new airport project will be overcome efficiently, in a transparent manner and promptly, so that the capital can finally have an independent international airport which the city, and the country, can be truly proud of.
This makes it incumbent on the rivals of the Pakistan People’s Party — whose leaders, says the Punjab chief minister, are drawn back to the country by the scent of money — to augment their anti-PPP corruption drive with other charges that appeal to the public.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s emphasis is on painting his rivals as corrupt. He has, however, occasionally chosen to remind the believers that while his Muslim League had created Pakistan, it was the PPP which broke it. Of late, à la Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, his counterpart in Punjab has condemned Ms Bhutto as being a bad omen that has brought death and destruction to the country. This is not a new slogan, only its efficacy is drastically reduced this time round because its chanters are somewhat prevented by circumstances from directly equating the evil with a woman — the woman.
The PPP has fought and won elections since it was branded as evil and since it committed all these great follies that Chaudhry Pervaiz is listing now, rally after rally. He is trying to cash in on Ms Bhutto’s virtual house arrest in Karachi after the big bang that greeted her on arrival on Oct 18. The Punjab chief minister appears determined to use the space gained from Ms Bhutto’s forced delay in reaching out to Punjab to shore up his own support in the province.
His backers would say that the chief minister’s anti-PPP cause has been helped by the homecoming gift that he has received from Ms Bhutto. His name has been mentioned among the three — or four — personalities who had ‘motives’ for scuttling the PPP leader’s democratic caravan. In purely political terms, such identification provides a real boost to a sworn PPP enemy in a Punjab that is as divided as it has been in recent years.
The PPP, of course, has named names to whip up anti-PML feeling in Punjab. It realises that the path to power goes through the biggest province of the country and unless it can woo Punjab, its chances of taking power at the centre will be slim. Yet, while its challenge to the PML-Q in the run-up to the polls may make sense, the PPP has to be faulted for depending too heavily on its understanding with President Pervez Musharraf and the foreign players to see it through.
Speaking from past experience where the party’s government was undermined by ever-prowling spies, it has pointed an accusing finger at the intelligence agencies as well as remnants of the Zia era. But the party’s contact with the people of Punjab is so far on hold and at least on that count the Karachi blasts have gone against it. They have created fear and uncertainty and stalled the PPP’s advance following the huge reception for Ms Bhutto on Oct 18.
The situation has also stirred the anti-PPP camp into action with the often vapid statements churned out by the likes of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed giving way to rancour. Given the unanimity of the ‘condemn-Bhutto’ chorus emanating from various political camps, an anti-PPP alliance on the model of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad of 1990 is not being ruled out.
It is a tough task, duplicating 1990 now. The same factor that inhibits the PML-Q leadership’s search for fresh muck to malign the PPP with makes it difficult for aspiring alliance makers to come together today. Both the PPP and PML-Q are in effect management firms competing with each other for an implementing contract. The policy decision remains Gen Musharraf’s. This will also explain why the PPP is so keen on labelling the current implementers as Zia’s legacy. The PPP hopes that the distinction will bring it closer to Zia’s enlightened successor.
The PML-Q leadership has anticipated the move rather well. Already, it has broached an alliance with Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam. There have been suggestions in the media that Maulana Fazl, who has in recent days drawn flak from his allies in the All Pakistan Democratic Movement on charges of facilitating the presidential election earlier this month, could be drafted into a coalition with PML-Q after the general election. That would be extremely interesting, given, among other things the PML-Q’s aversion to having strong allies throughout the Musharraf period.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement happens to be the PML-Q’s strongest partner in the Musharraf coalition. The wrangling between the ‘liberal’ MQM and the more ‘conservative’ PML-Q has received plenty of publicity. Only last year, in late July and early August, the MQM threatened, not for the first time, to quit the government. The Karachi-based party was unhappy with Chaudhry Shujaat’s decision to negotiate with the ulema who had objected to the Women’s Protection Act.
More recently, while the MQM’s handling of the scheduled May 12 visit to Karachi by the Chief Justice elicited a show of solidarity from the presidency, hopes of a similar display of camaraderie from the PML-Q failed to materialise.
Overall, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi have managed affairs well to their own benefit. They have successfully subdued all pretenders from their home province of Punjab, from Mian Azhar to Farooq Leghari to those who created a PML-Q forward bloc in the National Assembly. Among other dangers to their hold on power, Humayun Akhtar Khan and Jehangir Tareen, have had to so far been content with heading their own ministries. Other prominent figures such as Sheikh Rashid have been operating in satellites of their own without clashing with the Chaudhries of Gujrat.
Even during moments when Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has been tipped to be the next prime minister of the country, there has been no revealing the name of his possible successor in Punjab, for that would allow others to stake their claims to the provincial top slot.
When it came to choosing prime ministers, on both occasions the Chaudhries managed to win approval for men who commanded no group of their own that could pose a problem to the influential Gujrat school. Mir Zafarullah Jamali was the first one to win the Chaudhries’ favour for the post of prime minister, and he could rally no support for himself once the PML-Q high command decided to get rid of him under orders from the presidency.
His replacement, Shaukat Aziz, was a virtual outsider. He has of late expressed a desire for a second term in office, and may be hoping to have built some political clout over the past few years that he has been the prime minister. That would be a challenge for Punjab and the central leadership of the PML-Q — along with a PPP in adversity and a Fazlur Rehman as a foe or a friend.
Timing of forthcoming polls
SERIOUS reservations have been expressed on the draft of the code of the elections and their timing. The secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan has said that general elections will be held in the first week of January…
The participation of a maximum number of people is one of the pre-requisites of free and fair polls, hence conditions such as weather are also considered in the poll schedule. Unfortunately, the situation is otherwise in our country. Here, elections are held but every effort is made to minimise participation. The election commission is already responsible for not enrolling some 20 million voters.
Amid this uncertainty, it was announced that the elections would be held in the season of Haj. The decision is defended with the argument that it is a constitutional obligation to hold elections within 60 days of the completion of tenure by the sitting assemblies…in the past, the promise of holding elections within 90 days was prolonged to 11 years and not so long ago, elections were held three years after the dissolution of the assemblies.
There are a record number of petitions pending with the higher courts regarding violations of the Constitution. Interestingly, the election commission is not spared from these litigations.
If the elections are postponed for two weeks or so, it is unlikely that all hell will break loose. The commission should consider the option of delay for the sake of maximum participation of voters. — (Oct 26)
A time to safeguard solidarity of country
CHAIRPERSON PPP Ms Benazir Bhutto has expressed grave concern regarding a letter, which implies a threat to her life and demanded the inclusion of foreign experts in the investigations of the Karachi blasts.
So far, there is no headway in the case of the culprits of the Karachi carnage; hence the situation is becoming more complicated. Recent statements by the chief minister of Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Sheikh Rashid and the Sindh chief minister have further fuelled the political war between the leaders of the PPP and PML-Q.
After Benazir’s demand for foreign experts was rejected, this war has heated up some more…The ruling league has not taken any responsibility after the recent letter of warning to Benazir. It seems to have forgotten that as the ruling party, it is responsible for the maintenance of law and order and must pre-empt dangerous situations.
As seen in the past, instead of exposing and apprehending the real culprits, a burnt head of some unidentified person will be produced to take the blame. Therefore, Benazir Bhutto’s demand for foreign experts carries much weight and should be included in the investigation process. She should also be provided proper security and the enquiry should be to her satisfaction as she was the prime target of the attack. — (Oct 25)
––Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi