Beyond the suicide attack

AS Monday’s suicide attack near the air force complex in Kamra shows, the militants are resolved on demonstrating that they are prepared to strike at anyone connected to the armed forces, even the young children of military employees. One can only be thankful that, apart from the bomber, there were no fatalities and that the children, who were being driven to school in a military vehicle at the time of the attack, escaped with injuries that are reported not to be life-threatening. But as the Islamists extend their definition of ‘military targets’, one wonders where they will strike next — and whether even tight precautionary measures at places like hospitals and schools catering to the families of security employees would be enough to guard against the determination of a single suicide bomber. In fact, as the arena of conflict widens in the country, and batches upon batches of indoctrinated young men are sent out to kill in the name of religion, all lines become blurred. Non-combatants — regardless of whether or not they have connections with security personnel — are as exposed to violence as those directly targeting the extremists. Brutalised, for they have seen their own women and children being killed in indiscriminate attacks by security forces, the Islamists have entered a phase where the principles of just war no longer have any meaning, despite the militants’ commitment to what they perceive as a moral cause.

But it is not only the mindset of the militants that is distorted. Society, too, indulges in similarly warped thinking. In addition to sympathising with the Islamists’ anti-US stance and justifying their anger against western clout that has spawned economic inequality and despotic regimes, there is a tendency to endorse the ‘moral order’ that the militants want to impose on society. Thus, all kinds of atrocities are tolerated. Not a murmur is heard when women, accused of indulging in wayward acts, are beheaded, or when public executions (bypassing state justice) are conducted in the name of purging society of undesirable elements. Little concern is enunciated by the educational authorities when girls’ schools are bombed. If at all there is any protest at the way young boys are brainwashed in seminaries and then dispatched on suicide and other missions, it is muted.

The liberals lack the courage, possibly even the numbers, to come forward and forcefully explain why moral policing and extreme religiosity have no place in a society which would be better off concentrating on how to improve the lives of its people. Taking advantage of their silence, dogmatic elements propound views that fuddle clear thinking. This is the phenomenon that is described as Talibanisation. The latter does not merely pertain to actual deeds of violence in the name of religion. It is also a state of mind.

The manifesto season

IT is Ds versus Es. If Ms Benazir Bhutto could come up with a five-point manifesto, each point beginning with E, there is no reason why Chaudhry Shujaat should not think of a similar number of points beginning with

D. Party Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed said the PML had chosen Dec 10, the international human rights day, to launch its election manifesto to show the party’s commitment to these values. Since there is no point beginning with an H, one assumes the PML-Q’s pledges with regard to human rights are covered by the D for democracy — the other four points being development, devolution, diversity and defence. The irony of it, however, is that the ‘king’s party’ was pledging unqualified support to human rights “as a policy priority” at a time when these rights remain suspended under the emergency in force, and the ‘missing’ seem to have been all but forgotten. The two leaders said the PML would never support the presidential system, even though the constitutional system as it exists today has been stripped of its parliamentary character and is presidential in all but name.

Like all manifestos, the PML-Q’s programme contains aims and promises that, if fulfilled, can help end poverty, create equality, spread education, give the people a higher standard of living and take Pakistan into the 21st century. However, once in power, the parties tend to ignore their election pledges, and it is the bureaucracy that draws up and implements plans that often conform to the conditionalities imposed by the aid donors. The PPP has won four elections, but its last two tenures in office have been marked by corruption, rather than by any serious effort to fulfil its pledges to the people, and the party made no attempt to undertake a land reform, which was a major plank in the party founder’s election campaign in 1970. One of the major reasons for the parties’ failure to implement their manifestos is the absence of party think tanks, each specialising in a given issue, so that when in power their views could guide the bureaucracy in drawing up development programmes. Also, there is no tradition in Pakistan of shadow governments, which in other democratic countries do not view every issue and policy as a tool for anti-government propaganda but examine it from the point of a party that could be in power one day.

Not quite there yet

THE current state of food inflation and shortages of everyday commodities like wheat flour and kerosene oil has the teeming millions eking out a living at the bottom economic rung of society on edge. Flour has reportedly gone missing in many low-income localities across the country; those in Sindh are perhaps the worst affected. Where it is available, the price has been hiked: in Karachi it is selling at Rs24 per kg, up from Rs18 not even six months ago. The Federal Bureau of Statistics placed overall food inflation running at 14.5 per cent in October, up from 9.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Market sources say the actual figure is higher. Kerosene oil, which is used as cooking fuel in most katchi abadis that do not have piped natural gas supply, is also running short of the demand, with the government mulling over raising its price in view of rising oil prices in the world market. The same is the case with diesel, which is widely used in public transport. It seems the caretaker government is a complete alien when it comes to addressing such issues which are having an adverse effect on everyday public life, especially of the low-income segment.

The political parties, too, are only paying lip service, if any at all, to such basic issues in the run-up to the Jan 8 election. At one end of the spectrum are opposition politicians threatening to boycott the polls while others say they will take part under protest; both are calling the current set-up’s credibility and impartiality into question, but neither is seriously addressing the issue of inflation that really touches the day-to-day lives of the majority of voters. Mr Imran Khan, a noisy proponent of election boycott, has naively termed the wheat flour shortage a government ploy to distract attention from the lack of democracy that Pakistan suffers from. Democracy, he believes, is the panacea for all our problems; which may be right, given the politicians’ rhetoric reflects the tribulations faced by the people and the will to do something about them. Not there yet, are we?

OTHER VOICES - European Press

Bali climate summit

EVEN if we were to agree with Giorgos Souflias, Greece’s minister for the environment, physical planning and public works, that it will be another three years before this country is ready for an independent environment ministry, we nevertheless ought to ask ourselves the following question: is Greece also unprepared to even participate in an international environment conference such as the ongoing climate summit in Indonesia’s island of Bali?

The controversy surrounding the size of Greece’s delegation to a key summit on the future of the globe (and by extension, our country) highlights a fact that is hard to deny: Souflias is the minister for public works and no more than that.

At the same time, the protection of the country’s environment has been put firmly on the back burner. Greece needs an environment minister with no further ado.

The country can’t risk further ridicule by sending an official delegation at the last minute or any similar embarrassment. Or did the New Democracy government perhaps think that the Bali summit could wait for another three years?

— (Dec 10)

Putin’s successor

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has picked a weak figure with his decision on Monday to back Dmitry Medvedev as the next president — indicating that Putin intends to wield considerable influence after he steps down next year.

Medvedev — a soft-spoken lawyer who chairs the country’s biggest company, Gazprom, and holds the post of first deputy prime minister — has developed a reputation of being a follower and team player rather than a leader. The reason Putin chose him is more likely their close personal relationship.

… A Medvedev presidency offers Putin the best guarantee possible that the country will follow his path after he leaves office.

Medvedev has an encouraging track record in his own right. He is seen as a liberal reformer at heart, and his knowledge on a variety of issues, English skills and easy-going manner have won over wary foreign investors at several conferences, including the World Economic Forum in Davos last January.

Medvedev is not associated with the Kremlin siloviki, the security and law enforcement officials who are embroiled in a multibillion-dollar turf war. — (Dec 11)