Bad medicine?

PAKISTAN is on the verge of signing up for a deeply unpopular IMF rescue package. Were criticism of the imminent IMF embrace emanating from Islamabad alone there would be much reason for scepticism — Islamabad’s inability to reform itself has played a significant role in the present balance of payments crisis. But criticism has come from influential quarters abroad, including The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian. Even governments in desperate need of cash, such as Iceland and Hungary, only approach the IMF after being rebuffed by friendly countries. Until the global financial crisis struck this year, the IMF loan portfolio had shrunk by over 90 per cent in the past four years, forcing staff cutbacks. Clearly the one-model-fits-all approach of the IMF has fallen out of favour, and with good reason: it hasn’t worked.

The good news for Pakistan is that it has already gone some way in falling in line with the IMF’s demand-dampening austerity programme. Interest rates are high, the rupee exchange rate has fallen, subsidies are being pared and the government has promised to rein in the fiscal and trade deficits. The problem is that the IMF is working on a short timeline — a bailout programme may last anywhere between one and a half year to four or five years — and is politically tone-deaf. While economic discipline is a right and desirable trait for any government at any point in time, forcing wrenching change on developing countries can often boomerang. Consider the case of subsidies: in the last fiscal year, subsidies on fuel, electricity, wheat and fertiliser ballooned to over Rs400bn against a budgeted sum of slightly above Rs100bn. The present government has tried to drastically reduce subsidies on fuel, electricity and wheat — and met stiff resistance from consumers and businesses. Whether it was wise to let subsidies balloon in the first place is a separate debate. Today, with the inflation rate hovering in the mid-twenties a sudden increase in the price of electricity or wheat makes little economic or political sense.

Similarly, the IMF is likely to demand that the government drive up interest rates, by as much as four per cent according to media reports. But the State Bank has already embarked on that path — the key State Bank discount rate was increased to 13 per cent in July — to dampen demand and rein in inflation. Instead of triggering a new round of interest rate hikes, it would be more prudent to wait and see if the current monetary policy is working. Hiking interest rates immediately carries the risk of slowing down the economy too much — which will then require changing gears yet again later. No doubt Pakistan needs a dose of hard medicine; however, an overdose of even the best medicine can be counterproductive.

Rebuilding Balochistan

OFFERS of assistance in the aftermath of the Balochistan earthquake have poured in from many quarters. The United Nations agencies are already assessing the damage caused to determine their response. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has, however, asserted that no appeal will be made to the international community, but any assistance is welcome. It is heartening to hear these declarations. Undoubtedly it is an encouraging sign that the NDMA has vowed to undertake relief efforts on its own. Rescue and relief operations have been started — though allegedly belatedly — in the quake-affected areas with the setting up of hospitals and provision of tents, blankets and food items. The authorities must draw up a rehabilitation strategy based on their experience of resettling the victims of the October 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and the NWFP which had left 70,000 people injured and 600,000 families homeless. Lessons need to be learnt from the past. The Balochistan earthquake has left over 200 dead and 500 injured and has rendered 15,000 people homeless.

The focus should now be on rebuilding and rehabilitation. The onset of the winter season has exacerbated the problem as thousands are without shelter. Further medical emergencies will be inevitable unless the uprooted are provided warm clothing, blankets and tents, and measures are taken to restore water supply and sanitation. While setting up temporary accommodation is imperative, a timeline should be determined for reconstruction. The available resources should be put to optimum use. For instance, Sindh has announced a Rs70m package for the victims. The first step towards utilising the aid should be assessing what is needed and laying out a plan for the short and long term. Implementation will be dependent on the political will of the government as well as the various parties which should avoid politicising the calamity and relief operations. Unity is the need of the hour. Balochistan has many apprehensions and this is the time that these can be quelled. If the people of Pakistan get mobilised and come forward to assist their compatriots in this under-developed province it would be reassuring for them and would promote national integration. The government and non-governmental organisations should direct their efforts towards this end. Be it for blood donation for victims of the earthquake or collection of donations and much needed items, a campaign of this nature would be good for the morale of the people of Balochistan.

Mob justice versus the law

PERHAPS, the time has come to question why our beleaguered citizenry has resorted to taking the law into its own hands. The latest incident where incensed civilians once again saw red occurred this week — factory workers in Lahore thrashed two robbers during an attempted heist at a garments unit. The dacoits had entered the said premises and began looting both office staff and labourers. The incident can no longer be seen as an isolated display of civic ire. It is a dark manifestation of the collective collapse of public nerves and tolerance. Take the brutal torching of three dacoits on Karachi’s main Nishtar Road in May as the police corps stood by watching the crowd lynch and burn the bandits. The same week saw another gruesome event — an enraged mob set another two robbers on fire in the metropolis. Needless to say, pictures and footage of these fierce events in print and electronic media did not show a single policeman at the scene of these crimes — speaking volumes for such communal wrath.

Clearly, public perception and confidence in law enforcers stands in direct conflict with the ability of the system to ensure security as well as a prompt reaction to the plight of the populace. The fact that in another recent robbery case, the culprits turned out to be policemen, can hardly create confidence. All said and done, the relationship between the police and the people remains a double-edged sword. Undeniably, airtight security is the fundamental right of any civil society but what does an impoverished, untrained police force do when it comes to turning a blind eye in exchange for a few greased palms? Perhaps, the home ministry should take a cue from these incidents and fully implement the accountability mechanisms in the Police Order, which are accompanied by incentives — the only real weapon to keep the force in line. Needless to say, training in modern and scientific methods would also improve performance. There is also need to address the issue of relating the size of the police force with the nature of responsibilities assigned to it. It is only when police performance fails that mob justice comes in a frustrated society with the inherent danger of becoming a way of life.

Women’s rights in Islam

THE question of women’s rights in Islam has become more pertinent in our time because literacy and higher education have significantly increased among women, as have urbanisation and the pressures exerted by it.

Women are no longer prepared to accept their position as ‘the second sex’, as the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir put it in the last century. Women today are very conscious of their rights and they rightfully demand gender parity in all fields.

Muslim women are far behind their counterparts in other world communities; they are more subjugated to men’s will than women in other faith-traditions. Muslim women arguably suffer more because of Sharia rules whose interpretation is projected as ‘divine’ and ‘immutable’ which it is not. This illusion persists among Muslims (men and women) perhaps only because Sharia is based on the Quran and hadith.

What few people realise is that Sharia, though based on the Quran and hadith, is in fact based on the interpretation of the Quran (and hadith), and interpretation is human while the Quranic text is divine. This human interpretation of the divine text has all along been done by men and hardly by any women. Even when some women attempted it, the overwhelming authority has been that of men. I meet many women educated in women’s madressahs today, who fully justify all such interpreted Sharia rules and accept their secondary position in society.

This situation can be balanced perhaps if more women scholars interpreted the Quran. The Quran indeed gives equal rights to women unambiguously (2:228). Thus, when women interpret the Quran from their perspective, they would benefit from the rights given to them by the Holy Book. In some cases problems also arise because Quranic verses have been interpreted in the light of certain ahadith; ahadith also need to be critically examined.

The science of hadith was developed by the muhaddessin (those who specialise in the science of hadith), which entirely depends on the narrator. The authenticity of a hadith depends on the character of narrator, not on his/her intellectual capacity or ideological position towards women. Also, in some cases even if a hadith apparently contradicts a Quranic formulation it may be accepted as long as it fulfils other criteria. Thus, it will be seen that riwayat (narration of text) is held as more important than dirayat (i.e. intellectual criteria) by traditional theologians.

This is precisely why the Quran was perhaps so interpreted in a male-dominated and feudal society to subject women to men’s overriding authority. The Quranic positions and unambiguous formulations for equality of men and women were considerably diluted in such formulations. One of the key values of the Quran, namely, adl (justice), became secondary when it came to women’s rights.

Quranic verses on polygamy or nushuz (rebellion by women, 4:34) were so interpreted, especially with the help of ahadith, that their real meaning and intent were lost and social ethos prevailed over divine intent. Even the verses on talaq (divorce) were interpreted by some to justify triple divorce in one sitting. Thus, the verses on polygamy and divorce were so interpreted to subject women to men’s overriding authority.

There is a great need for women theologians in Islam who can read and interpret the Quran. Some men like Maulavi Mumtaz Ali Khan, who was one of the colleagues of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, did excellent work in the 19th century to advocate gender equality, based on his interpretation of Islam. His book Huququn Niswan is an excellent work published in early 1890s. Another such theologian in the 20th century was Maulana Umar Ahmad Usmani, who was a graduate from Darul Uloom (before he migrated to Pakistan), and a great advocate of gender equality. He named his book – quite significantly – Fiqh al-Quran because his understanding of the Quran is not based on hadith literature; he depends for his formulations only on the Quran.

Recently some women scholars were making efforts to understand the Quran from their own perspective. Fatima Mernissi of Morocco and Amina Wudud and others have done excellent work interpreting the Quran from independent scholarly perspectives. Also, from the US, one scholar, Laleh Bakhtiar, has translated the Quran into English from a feminist perspective. She calls it ‘inclusive’ as against others’ ‘exclusive’ translations. But all this is not sufficient though quite important. More and more women theologians should come forward and interpret the Quran. It is not easy to challenge the corpus of literature on the Quran for the last 1,300-1,400 years. This is necessary to restore to women the rights they lost to men under a feudal social ethos.

The writer is an Islamic scholar and heads the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.

Of intellectuals

THERE are, broadly speaking, two types of intellectuals in our society. There are the ones who support and defend established traditions, customs and practices because they believe in continuity and, hence, oppose any disruption which might cause confusion and chaos. They argue that any change in the political or social structure is subversive and destabilises a well-established society.

Therefore, they support the status quo, which in their opinion provides peace, harmony and security to people. With this commitment and point of view, they are on the side of the establishment. As defenders of continuity, they are patronised by the ruling classes and are given access to the state and private media. Their writings are included in curricula to influence the minds of the young generation. Their services are acclaimed from time to time and in recognition of their services they are awarded titles and cash by the government.

In the second category are those intellectuals who oppose obsolete traditions and want to initiate a process for social and political change in society. However, they have to pay a high price for their views. It becomes difficult for them to have access to the media to present their ideas freely. Their books are either censored or banned.

They are condemned as enemies of the state and agents of foreign countries. All doors to employment are closed to them. There is such a negative campaign against them that even society treats them as outcasts. Consequently, their ideas are circulated in a limited circle.

The difference between the two types of intellectuals is that the pro-establishment ones have no new ideas and concepts in their writings. As they seek to preserve old values, they tend to be conservative in their approach. The others, who stand for change, introduce new ideas for the transformation of society. They are progressive and liberal.

Then, there are some intellectuals who accommodate contradictory views and, therefore, are acceptable to both sides. An example is Mohammad Iqbal, the poet. He is acclaimed by rightists as well as leftists as their man. He is as popular amongst the ruling classes as he is in the progressive circles. After the death of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, an attempt was made to convert Faiz into a poet of the establishment but unlike Iqbal the conservatives did not find anything in his work that supported their ideology. That is why Faiz is not popular among conservative circles and the state refuses to own him as a national poet.Given this polarisation, one may well ask what should be the responsibility of an intellectual. A true intellectual is not a politician who has to worry about getting popular support to win an election. He is expected to say what he thinks is correct in his view. We have examples of leftist intellectuals, including Sartre, who condemned the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956 and supported Algerian war of liberation from France.

Recently Arundhati Roy openly supported the Kashmiri people and their struggle for freedom. She wrote very critical articles condemning the Indian state and media for adverse propaganda. We do not have such examples in our history. When military action was taken against East Pakistan, except one or two, all intellectuals either supported the state or kept silent about military atrocities.

We must also keep in mind that our intellectual domain is dominated by poets and fiction writers. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists have a minimum role to play in creating awareness in society. The literary field is dominated by poets whose poetry simply mobilises the emotions and sentiments of the people but fails to create any organised thinking in them.

Moreover, there is no link between intellectuals and politicians. Intellectuals create new ideas and thoughts but if they are not put into practice, they evaporate without leaving a trace of an impact. The tragedy is that politicians are interested in winning the popular support of voters and do not care about changing society.

When both intellectuals and politicians remain poles apart, politics remains barren because it lacks fresh and relevant ideas without which democracy and its institution cannot take roots.

OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press

Enough is enough

Tolafghan, Kabul

IN the recent past, the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, and major cities like Kandahar, Jalalabad and others saw a considerable amount of violence, target killings, abductions and bomb blasts without a break. These are in fact the cities where the government’s writ is strong. Besides intelligence networks a number of agencies of the Afghan government and Isaf and Nato forces are active in these cities. This makes the Afghan people wonder how these attacks are possible in the presence of such a heavy and apparently impenetrable security network. The people’s perception is that both the kidnappers and the kidnapped might be in some way related to the government and are unquestionably close to the government. The mechanism of this type of terrorism shows that without the help and cooperation of the people in the security network it would not be possible for the kidnappers to succeed without any hindrances. The terrorists are probably aware of Hamid Karzai’s weaknesses and can strike whenever they like.

In recent months, some very high-profile abductions took place in and around Kabul including the killing of a woman in Kabul, the kidnapping of a Canadian journalist and the kidnapping of the cousin of the former king of Afghanistan. It seems the people responsible for these terrorist acts are either related to government officials or former warlords. They may be able to use government vehicles and security uniforms, making their task easier. Last week a jeweller was kidnapped from Nangrahar and killed later. The terrorists had a vehicle belonging to the anti-narcotics control department of the government of Afghanistan. When the people of the village caught the terrorists, they found identification papers of the department. It clearly showed that the terrorists were either the department’s officials or were related to them in some way. The motor vehicle of the government rangers used in the killing of Abdussamed Rohani and his dead body was found in the suburbs (Bolan) where the presence of the Taliban has never been reported.

Security forces report that some 26 businessmen have been kidnapped from just Herat in the current year. This has made the life of the people of Herat miserable and has brought everything to a standstill. The whole country is in the grip of violence and terrorism. The people have to realise that on all the highways the plunderers ambush to extort, terrorise, kill and kidnap. The nation is under the shadow of a ferocious monster of terrorism in different shapes. Nobody’s life and honour are safe while the presence of security networks and police forces makes no difference. The people of our land are unable to sleep at night and move around in the day. — (Oct 28)

— Selected and translated by Khadim Hussain.