Conservation by all

THERE is nothing wrong per se in Mr Mohammedmian Soomro asking citizens to counter the energy crunch collectively as a nation. He has sought the support of “every family, every institution and every sector” in cutting back on electricity, gas and oil consumption, a plan that merits not just consideration but immediate implementation. Few will dispute that conservation can go a long way in alleviating the energy crisis that has already made life a misery for many and could cripple the country in the days to come. The government estimates that energy consumption could be reduced by as much as a quarter of current usage if all consumers pitch in as asked. So the shot, as lined up by the caretaker prime minister on Friday, is clearly on the board. The measures suggested may pinch many and will certainly affect industrial production. But in the present crisis situation they have to be adopted.

If implemented, this strategy should help cut down consumption.

The prime minister must realise, however, that it is unfair to expect the public to go it alone in rendering the sacrifices he is seeking. True, we are all guilty of wasting energy in our homes and businesses as well as on the roads but then so is the government. State-owned buildings across the country stay lit up after office hours for no apparent reason. Even during the day, air conditioners, fans and lights are turned on by office staff well in advance of the sahibs’ arrival. Official vehicles are routinely used for personal errands such as shopping trips or picking up kids from school — and when the petrol is free, rational consumption doesn’t enter the equation. Profligate too is the protocol for senior officials who are surrounded by a fleet of escort vehicles whenever they are on the move. This wastefulness needs to end. The highest in the land should also consider suspending all but the most urgent of trips within the country. On the local level, there can be no excuse for street lights being on during daylight hours and we can easily do without parks lit up like cricket stadiums.

Honesty demands that the government also admit that the last eight years were a policy disaster vis-à-vis the energy sector. Putting a positive spin on the crisis, Islamabad has insisted throughout that demand has increased because of rapid economic growth. But that’s only one side of the story. The government should concede that it failed to plan for future growth, and abjectly so, by not adding to generation capacity. Sacrifices may come more readily from the public if the authorities show a little humility.

Madressah reform on hold

WHEN the aid givers ask Pakistan to ‘do more’, one of the reasons could be their disappointment with the madressah reforms. Progress has been slow, and though the reform has shown some successes the third phase of the programme has been put on hold until the new government takes over. Given the staggering number of madressahs in the country, the registration drive cannot be called a total disappointment. About 1,500 madressahs have not been registered, but the number of those registered is a good 14,656. The second phase with regard to teaching the madressah students modern subjects, including science and mathematics, has been accepted by the madressah association, but the third phase relating to the integration of these students into the general system has now been left to the next government.

Madressahs have existed in South Asia for centuries, but they were never controversial for the simple reason that, barring some extraordinary situations in the 19th century, they never involved themselves in politics, much less militancy. It was in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that the madressahs acquired new power in Pakistan, when anti-Soviet resistance groups used them as centres of ideological indoctrination and recruitment. The real problem for Pakistan began in the aftermath of the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan when, during the weak political governments (1988-99), the jihadi organisations became a state within a state and defied the government, especially in the realm of foreign policy. The situation worsened after Islamabad joined the US-led war on terror, and jihadi organisations began mobilising the madressahs for ‘jihad’ against the government if not against Pakistan itself. The suicide bombers who have for the last many years wrought havoc in the country are in most cases madressah products.

The madressahs may incorporate the modern disciplines in their curricula, but it is doubtful this will make a significant difference to the madressah students’ psyche. What matters more is the teacher and the ambience he gives to the institution. No amount of modern education will achieve the desired results unless those who teach in madressahs have a modern outlook that disabuses the students of wrong notions about a Muslim’s duty toward society. What the madressah students lack are Islam’s humanistic values. They need to be told that killing and maiming and destroying is not the way to enforce Sharia, and that it is through love, kindness and compassion that society can be reformed. Madressahs must produce scholars, not terrorists.

Death of a child

IF the death of 14-year-old Mudassar Aslam, the victim of corporal punishment at a school in Hyderabad, doesn’t shake the authorities out of their apathy to conduct a full and transparent inquiry into his case then one can assume that the government remains indifferent to violence against children. Young Mudassar’s case was particularly traumatic. Physically punished last November, allegedly by his teacher Buland Iqbal, he died of the intestinal injuries he incurred. Hailing from a poor family, Mudassar has not received the justice that was due to him. The inquiry in his case remains incomplete on the flimsy pretext of his parents’ statement not being available. It is quite likely that, if investigated honestly, a darker truth will emerge. Unfortunately, the crucial issue of corporal punishment has been ignored for far too long. Considering the number of such cases that occur across the country, in public and private schools, madressahs, workplaces and homes, it is surprising that investigations should be so flawed and the conviction rate so low. By not giving exemplary punishment to those who torment children, the government is encouraging violence as its perpetrators remain confident that money and influence can buy off or restrain those tasked with probing such incidents. Suspension from duty, as in the case of Mudassar’s alleged torturer, is a small price to pay. Perhaps this is not surprising given the absence of a comprehensive child protection law.

Society is also to blame for failing to recognise children’s vulnerability to abuse and exploitation and to speak up in their defence. Those who do have been unable to form a strong collective forum for the matter to be actively discussed in parliament and legislated accordingly. If results can be achieved by raising a collective voice for women’s rights, why can’t the same force of argument and action be applied in the case of our children to protect them from harm to their bodies and emotions? Why are we continuing to prolong the wait for policies, laws and a change in attitude that would transform the lives of Pakistan’s child population? Unless we take timely action, generations of children will continue to suffer and as adults many will perpetuate violence against children.

Not just flowers for Gulgee

THE year 2008 was ushered in with a gunfire concert in Karachi instead of a fireworks display as in the rest of the world.

As the gunfire on New Year’s Eve went on uninterrupted for the better part of an hour, it made one wonder if it was the revellers at parties or the extremists who since the 1980s had increasingly usurped the citizens’ freedom to rejoice, whether during the Basant festival or on New Year’s Eve.

This ‘trigger-happy’ culture in a brutalised society like ours transcends all social strata. The rich and, yes, even the educated, have no qualms about hiring gun-toting security guards, and they proudly allow celebratory firing in the air at wedding receptions.

The availability of firearms, dysfunctional law-enforcement agencies and the political mayhem over the last two decades have proved to be a lethal combination that has spawned unchecked aggression which threatens the fundamental rights of all Pakistanis. Violence, as we are aware, is a symptom of degenerative social disorders like bigotry, hypocrisy, megalomania and totalitarianism. As Pakistan reaches the full-blown stage of these epidemics, it has left the nation paralysed with a sense of helplessness, and has fractured the national spirit that holds the Quaid’s people together.

How we managed to journey to the precipice without reading the signs is a question we need to ask ourselves in all seriousness.

On this journey into chaos, the nation has lost great men and women to violence. Among important social and political leaders have been two eminent visionaries: artists Gulgee and Zahoorul Akhlaq. They were both murdered in their own homes where they should have been the safest. The outrage, anxiety and sadness caused by the recent murder of Gulgee in Karachi and the similar death by shooting of Zahoorul Akhlaq in Lahore a few years earlier, point to an inhuman will to destroy all that is precious and irreplaceable to a nation as the heroes that give it a sense of significance.

Born in 1926 in Peshawar, Gulgee was over 80 years at the time of his death. He had devoted over 60 years to his country. At the time of Independence, he was already a graduate of the world’s two important universities, Aligarh Muslim University and Columbia University. He attended Harvard University in 1948 to further his engineering studies.

When he decided to become a full-time artist in the 1950s, he chose to work from his base in Pakistan and brought recognition to his country of birth in much the same way as Picasso did to Spain and M.F. Hussain to India.

Monarchs and presidents like King Faisal (Saudi Arabia), the Shah of Iran, Zahir Shah (Afghanistan) and Ronald Reagan (US) among others selected Gulgee to do their portraits that hang in state residences and offices which brought Pakistani artistic talent into focus in world capitals. Pakistan decorated this outstanding son with every major civilian award that places him on the list of national luminaries. His legacy to Pakistani art is both significant and multifaceted. Gulgee, the portraitist, won early recognition with his stately paintings of world leaders in many continents. Done mostly in oil, these works capture the personality of his subject with elegance and élan. He received worldwide commissions for his rare lapis lazuli mosaic portraits. Gulgee’s eye for tonal detail supported by meticulous skill and ingenuity has given the art world splendid portraits in countless tones of blue crafted from this semi-precious stone.

His vision harnessed the energy of the gesture in Islamic calligraphy and fused it with the dynamism of modern action painting. An extensive study of calligraphic scripts led to complex innovative configurations and allowed him to move freely from the classical to modern and from gold encrusted richness to austere minimalism.

In the last decade, one could see the painter in dialogue with his son Amin’s calligraphic sculpture. In these works, this visual interface pushed the cursive alphabets to transcend the two-dimensional surface. His calligraphy appeared to rotate freely on a pivot as cascading strokes defied the limitations of the canvas.

Many were lucky to see his most significant works at the Gulgee museum located at his residence in Karachi. Over the years, it had become a cultural landmark where visitors sought the memorable experience of meeting Gulgee surrounded by his art.

Gulgee’s brutal murder has created a vacuum and the decision to respond to this national loss rests with each one of us individually and as a nation.

We can either let this distressing act overwhelm us with defeatism or spur us into action to support Gulgee’s heirs in the mammoth task of saving his legacy for his people.

Two models have been seen in recent times. One is that of the Laal Foundation which was founded by Sheherezade Alam after the murder of her husband Zahoorul Akhlaq and daughter Jahanara. With the help of friends she turned her grief into determination that took the initiative to archive all that was left in the artist’s studio. This included his paintings in various stages of completion, drawings, sculpture, writings and casual notes along with a lifetime of memories in photographs. With the team Sheherezade was able to conserve his art lying in storage and has published one book within two years with another one to be launched in 2008. The art community responded generously to her call and over 100 friends, peers and students contributed a ‘takhti’ painting each for a show which was exhibited and auctioned in Gallery Sadequain, Karachi, in 2002. This was their tribute and contribution to an influential artist of Pakistan.

The other model was one in which the absence of timely intervention could not salvage the art and studio of Bashir Mirza after his death. With no authoritative figure or institution to negotiate with the heirs, all his personal and professional material has been lost with the exception of a few paintings that are with the artist’s niece and nephew.

Today, fragments of the history of Pakistan at Gulgee’s museum need to be rescued in a similar way. This can best be done by thinking beyond flowers and requiems to an initiative by citizens to set up a Gulgee Trust with private endowments that can be managed jointly by Gulgee’s heirs and concerned Pakistanis.

To shake ourselves out of this inertia and despondency, we need to prove with deeds that senseless violence beyond our control can take away our heroes but we still have the will to honour and preserve their memory in a befitting way.

asnaclay06@yahoo.com

OTHER VOICES - Indian Press

Who triumphs?

WE are still too close to events to be dispassionate about sick developments Down Under, but it is now necessary to ensure that passion does not spin out of control…

Yes, there is reason for satisfaction that the ICC has opted to “rest” Steve Bucknor, admit the appeal challenging the harsh verdict against Harbhajan Singh etc, but there is no room for gloating. …It will require mature leadership…to keep the Test and ODI series from erupting once again….

There is no room for racism in sport, and rightly will the Indians remain aggrieved unless and until Harbhajan is honourably cleared of that charge. Yet…Kumble’s charge that only one team was upholding the spirit of the game is a vicious allegation too… No wonder the Aussie players and management have closed ranks, just as the Indians have done. Unfortunately, all this only further queers the pitch when the need of the hour is to resolve the basics…

It has been the prolonged failure to tackle some of those basics that resulted in explosive overlapping in Sydney. For far too long have the Aussies got away with unseemly aggression, conveniently sugar-coated with terms like “mental degradation” and “hard but fair”. During their recent tour of India it was evident that there would be retaliation. Surely maturity demanded that prior to the current series restraining guidelines should have been laid down… Similarly, protracted warnings that the quality of umpiring was nose-diving were ignored… Through their failure to nurture the essence of the game and their preference to concentrate on income-generation the administrators are culpable for the mess. A mess which can be sorted out only one way…by refocusing on batting, bowling and fielding…— (Jan 10)

The Gulf-bound

COINCIDING with the Union government’s initiative to curb the activities of…shady operators…involved in the trade of outflow of manpower to the Gulf countries, the commissioner of NRI affairs, Goa, Mr Eduardo Faleiro announced that the Goa government would amend the Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act 1982 to curb recruiting agents from sending anyone abroad illegally.

…Mr Faleiro’s comment that recruiting agents in Goa resort to dubious methods of using visit visas for sending people abroad for jobs should find many echoes. Yet, why do people fall victim to such operators? The only plausible answer is their obsession with going abroad for...money is so acute that they…turn a blind eye to anything else.

…The fact that the Goan people going to Gulf countries for jobs have to encounter inhuman working conditions is a little-kept secret. But unfortunately the state government…has not initiated any concrete action to mitigate their sufferings... Now, the chairman of the Overseas Employment Agency is expected to interact with prospective employers in those countries to identify employment opportunities for Goan youth.

In this regard it is worth mentioning that the government of India too had signed memorandums of understanding on labour welfare with the governments of UAE, Kuwait and Qatar underlining that the demand for workers shall also carry along with it the required specifications and qualifications for the jobs needed. It should also provide details of the contract, the conditions of employment including the salary agreed, service benefits, medical facilities, leave, emoluments and facilities such as transportation, accommodation etc. These measures could go a long way in beginning to protect the interests of the Goans going abroad for jobs… — (Jan 11)