After the Rumsfeld mission

IT is unlikely that there will be a war in South Asia this month, but tensions between Pakistan and India are likely to reach nerve-racking levels after the Rumsfeld mission fails, as it is bound to.

The American defence secretary, in any case, is not coming here on a peace mission. Peace is his secondary agenda. What brings him here is the possibility that Pakistan may move its troops along the Afghan border eastwards. Such a move interferes with America’s Al Qaeda agenda. If, to pre-empt an eastward movement of Pakistani troops, a war should be avoided, then Mr Rumsfeld wouldn’t mind it. But peace is only his secondary consideration. The real purpose of his mission is to probe how serious Islamabad is when it says it may switch its troops from the western to the eastern border.

The failure of the Rumsfeld mission is a foregone conclusion: he cannot succeed where Colin Powell and Vladimir Putin have failed. For the Russian president, Almaty was a disaster. He deeply hurt the Indian prime minister by inviting him and President Musharraf for one-to-one talks without consulting New Delhi.

President Musharraf promptly accepted the offer. The Indian prime minister must have been fuming with rage, for Mr Putin’s unthinking initiative placed Mr Vajpayee in an awkward position. No wonder, the Indian prime minister had his revenge on Mr Putin in Almaty by refusing to meet President Musharraf face-to-face despite intense pressure from all sides, including Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Jiang Zemin. Thus, the rebuff to Mr Putin has been dealt not by Pakistan but by Russia’s long- standing friend and ally, India. Now nobody takes the Russian president seriously when he says he was misunderstood and that he never invited them for one-to-one talks.

As for Mr Rumsfeld, he operates under one great disadvantage: he has all the levers of power in the world to pressure Pakistan, but his power to make India bend is limited. Throughout the 55 years of its adversarial relationship with Pakistan, India has more than once demonstrated its ability to defy the UN and the US. New Delhi withstood Western pressure even in days when India was economically weak and Pakistan was America’s most “allied ally” and lived under the umbrella of the Eisenhower doctrine.

Even in the wake of the shattering Indian defeat at China’s hands in the brief Himalayan war in the winter of 1962, it was India, not Pakistan, that wrecked the Bhutto-Swaran Singh talks because of its Kashmir obsession.

Today, Mr Vajpayee and the hawks around him are victims of their own rhetoric. Having massed troops along the border in an offensive position, they have taken the war hysteria in India to a new pitch by talking about a “decisive fight.” They cannot, thus, pull back without “achieving” something. To pull back and de-escalate without a clear political or military victory over Pakistan would be to court domestic political disaster. But then “achieving” something risks a war that may spill out of control with consequences nobody can predict.

What is it, then, that suits India? Frankly, neither a war nor a pull-back. What suits the BJP government is a continuation of the military stand-off and the perpetuation of the tension along the borders for at least two reasons. One, it thinks that, with its stronger economy, India can sustain the mobilization longer than can Pakistan; second, India is basking in the flattering thought that the war or peace button is in its hands, not in Pakistan’s.

World leaders may pressure Pakistan “to do more”, and every peacemaker may break journey in Islamabad before flying off to New Delhi, but India knows the world realizes it is New Delhi that will ultimately decide whether there will be war or peace in South Asia. In this perception India wants to continue to bask. This also serves to move the focus away from Pakistan, which much to India’s annoyance has been occupying centre-stage since this war on Afghanistan began.

Conclusion: war does not suit the BJP government, because there is no guarantee of a stunning military victory; a pull-back would be even more disastrous from the point of view of domestic politics. What suits New Delhi is a continuation of the stand-off — in the forlorn hope that Pakistan may lose its nerve and let India “achieve” something. In this forlorn hope, the Hindu extremist government will perpetuate the stand-off for the foreseeable future. There will be neither war nor peace; just nerve-racking agony for South Asia’s billion-plus people.

Afghan power game enters crucial stage

THE Afghan defence minister, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, could not have made himself clearer when he spoke his mind to Chairman Hamid Karzai at a luncheon meeting last week. He knew what he was saying and he knew that Karzai could not say ‘no’ — at least for now. In their hearts of heart, however, both realize that the endgame of an intense power struggle within the interim authority has entered a crucial stage.

In less than a week from now, over a thousand representatives are converging onto the capital, Kabul, for the grand assembly or Loya Jirga that will decide not only the future political course of that country but also the future of many of the warlords ruling Afghanistan.

For the warlords who owe their existence to their military might rather than the will of the people, the Loya Jirga is bringing in its wake an uncertain future. Desperate as they are to cling on to their offices no matter what, the warlords supported by their foreign sponsors are pumping in money to buy over the Loya Jirga members and where money does not work, pressure and intimidation is brought on to coerce them into voting for them.

Times, however, have changed in Afghanistan. Six months ago, the US and its allies in the war on terrorism had no option but to rely on Fahim and his Northern Alliance to uproot the Taliban from Kabul. Six months later, the Americans have come to realize that the Afghan defence minister has become a big hurdle in their strategic goals in Afghanistan, including the creation of a neutral Afghan army.

Six months ago, when Karzai took the oath of office as the interim chairman, the international coalition did not have much expectations of him. He lacks powers and authority. He was given a cabinet and was required to make do with ministers he had not chosen for himself. So, when an assertive Fahim demanded that he and his other Punjshiri cabinet colleagues be accommodated in the post-Loya Jirga administration and a seemingly helpless nodded in the affirmative, few among those present at the luncheon meeting were surprised.

But, say Western diplomats, Karzai will have to make some tough political decisions when the Loya Jirga endorses his candidature to lead the country for the next two years. Put bluntly, that means reshuffling his cabinet and getting rid of an all-powerful minister and his key associates.

This, argue diplomats, is imperative for Karzai. One: to enforce his writ and authority; two: to dispel the impression that an ethnic minority from a valley of a few hundred square miles calls the shots; three: to win over the majority Pakhtoons and four: to demonstrate that the era of warlordism in Afghanistan is over.

Diplomats are optimistic that despite the use of money, threats, kidnapping and murder, the ‘trouble-makers’ in the Karzai administration would find it extremely difficult to influence the Loya Jirga where decisions would pretty much be ‘pre-cooked.’ And it is this prospect that is worrying those who have a major stake in the future political dispensation.

So far, considering the heavy odds, Karzai has conducted himself very well, both at the domestic front and internationally. His initial glitch with the Americans over the fate of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar notwithstanding, he has been able to sail through the past difficult six months.

He has been able to improve relations with Afghanistan’s neighbours and that includes Pakistan — a country that has fewer friends in the interim administration. Internationally, he has been recognized as a national leader. His appeal for funds to help rebuild Afghanistan has been positively responded to. It is, however, another matter that much of that money has gone to line a few pockets, a fact also acknowledged by Western diplomats. And this probably is one major point that can be held against the interim authority.

On the domestic front, Karzai has been able to rule over a cabinet that comprises four different groups that were part of the Bonn Conference, though his hold over the country has been tenuous and less effective. That too, due to the fact that his appeal for the extension of international peacekeeping forces to the rest of country has gone unheeded. More than 700,000 refugees have returned home since his takeover in December last year which itself shows the degree of people’s confidence in the interim government.

Perhaps his greatest failure has been his inability to win over Pakhtoons to his side. Even his cabinet colleagues now privately concede that what could have been his greatest strength has become his greatest weakness. The Pakhtoons for reasons are withholding their support to Karzai, himself a Populzai Pakhtoon. In his effort to please all, Karzai has ended up pleasing no one. The Punjshiris do not trust him while the Pakhtoons look at the whole interim administration with suspicion.

Manipulation of elections to the Loya Jirga has not helped ease the situation either. Punjshir, which until recently had one district, now has four districts. Badakhshan has 15 more districts while Herat has 17 more districts. These are all Tajik areas. In contrast, say critics, Pakhtoon areas have been under-represented. Paktia has lost a few districts and so has Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan. While population per seat in Herat is 14,000, in Nangarhar it is as many as 47,000.

Historically, the nomadic Kochis have been regarded as Pakhtoons, now for the first time, seats have also been reserved for Uzbek, Tajik and Hazara Kochis. Any decisions amid all these allegations and complaints are bound to give rise to controversies and political bickering. A minister in the Karzai cabinet privately admitted that the Loya Jirga has a fifty-fifty success chance.

But, argue Western diplomats, with B-52s ready to come to his support and powers in his hands in the post-Loya Jirga dispensation, Karzai should feel more confident in taking tough and bold decisions to establish not only the writ but also the credibility of his government. His international backers may acquiesce to his handicaps now but they would certainly like him to assert his authority once the Loya Jirga endorses his nomination.

An elegy for the earth

IT is perhaps premature to write an elegy for our planet yet, but nevertheless, prophetic. With zealots raging to have a go at the non-believers, this eventuality is fast becoming an ominous offing on the cards. To add misplaced might to the calls of combat, nuclear strength is flouted on both sides of the border, and one loses track of where valour ends and naivete begins!

So, if by some miracle this world lives on after nuclear saturation (God forbid), this humble parchment will at least add an ounce or so of weight to the pile of words written against a nuclear unleashing. But, that is too much to hope for, as the squalid air — not remaining contained within this region — will pervade in such a way that no lips will remain to read, no minds will remain to think and no hands will remain to write.

And before that unspeakable possibility occurs, I write in the hope that the writing hands, the thinking minds and the reading lips join me now to expend their energies in their little capacities to avert the horror of nuclear detonation.

On June 2, President Musharraf’s statement, vehemently denying a nuclear war and terming the possibility ‘unthinkable’, was a relief, to say the least. Specially, after the earlier day’s aggressive headline in the papers which screamed Pakistan’s refusal of falling in with a ‘no first [nuclear] strike’ promise. First strike or retaliatory strike — is this actually a moot point? And with such a debate actually germinating, the earth’s elegy is not premature.

Four years ago, when India ran riot by sounding off nuclear explosions on May 11 and 13 near the Rajasthan desert — a beautiful landscape of endless sand dunes interrupted in between by quaint mud huts and an occasional assembly of cattle — the final blow to peace, reason and prudence was dealt by anger, pride and religious fervour (misplaced, as always) by a ‘tit-for- tat’ series of blasts from our side. What guarantee now that that same pride, fanned by another dash or two of religious fervour, does not turn into demented anger driven to pushing the button of obliteration? The might of the mullahs has not really mitigated.

Already, ‘Nuclear Patriotism’ is fast becoming rampant. And then we are left with the tricky question of whether our ‘chosen’ leader would be able to stand his ground in the face of the lunacy consuming the fanatics — a species this nation breeds in droves.

The Jamaat-i-Islami is already urging the army to ‘...stand eyeball to eyeball with the enemy,’ and that it should ‘...not take a U-turn on the atomic position.’ What would it take to enlighten these advocates of a confrontation supported with nuclear might that a war supplemented with nuclear power would be akin to the wiping out of civilizations?

That if this war ever comes to pass, we should expect to be buried under heaps of dirt, perhaps to be discovered a million or so years later by another world and be labelled as a civilization that once lived a thriving life but was destroyed by some horrific calamity — the kind of assessments we make of what happened to the people of Moenjodaro and Harappa!

Perhaps, artefacts like our children’s Playstation CDs and their joysticks, unearthed from under mounds of debris, clutched in a child’s hand would be placed in museums as proof of our highly superior civilization.

This allegory is perhaps too fantastical, but needs a moment’s thought by those who believe in reasons for going to war. Hopefully a faint flutter of the heart, if not a strong shudder, would be felt by those who say; ‘Instead of begging for talks with India, we should stay at a position of strength...’

If this hypothetical scenario is too far-fetched for the ‘revolutionaries’ they perhaps need to be reminded of the realities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Have they forgotten (or chosen to forget) in their all-consuming fervour the tangible and chilling facts of the nuclear aftermath in those two damned cities? In Zamir Niazi’s book, Zamin ka Nauha (A compilation of essays on the destruction and dangers of atomic war’), several terrifying accounts of the after-effects of the atomic explosions devastating Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been rendered. One account is specially moving. Written by Suzuki Takishi, it has been taken from a magazine published in the March-April 1962 issue of an Urdu magazine titled, Saat Rang.

The profile of the writer tells us that Takishi was a student in Japan, deeply interested in learning Urdu. His love for the language made him travel to Pakistan where he enrolled as a student in the Urdu language department. The essay titled Hiroshima was the result of the many questions asked of him regarding one of the most ghastly man-made tragedies of all times.

Takishi writes: ‘...Though 16 years have passed since the end of World War Two, but for the patients suffering from atomic ailments, the war is still not over and will not be over for a very long time. ....In the hospital specially built for the Hiroshima victims, 44 persons died in the last one year because of nuclear poisoning...some succumbed to hepatitis, some to leukemia and some to lymphatitus and anaemia. Others suffered from lung cancer and other nuclear diseases.... Two atom bombs exploding more than 16 years ago are claiming hundreds of innocent victims even now and these include those infants who will die in their mother’s wombs due to nuclear radiation, which is consuming the entire generation which was exposed to the bombings in the two cities. Only God knows what evil those unborn children committed to compel them to sacrifice their lives.....’

His ironic words toll as death-knell: ‘...If you look at the side-wall of a memorial building preserved as it is, you will see the black, shadow-like outline of a man who was burnt alive when sitting on the wall at the time of the explosion, leaving his dark mark for the future generations as a chilling reminder.

‘And if you walk through the War Museum and then through the Hiroshima-Nagasaki hospitals, observing the patients of a holocaust that occurred 16 years ago, you will fervently pray to the Almighty that such a horrific bloodbath and mass destruction may never again be repeated on earth.

‘And you will be further convinced that all atomic weapons should be banned and atomic power should only be used for corrective/remedial measures. Fulfilling this obligation is the present generation’s duty. Read the writing on the peace monument in Hiroshima which says, this mistake will never be repeated.’

Another forty-something years later, is that horrific mistake to be repeated? Will Lahore and Amritsar become monuments of another sickening remembrance?

‘Victimization’ of a teacher

INTOLERANCE and flaunting of “powers” undermining the self-respect of others can be judged from a recent incident here involving ‘victimization’ of a poor teacher for raising his voice for a “legal right”.

As the story goes on April 25, the polling staff as well as the additional sessions judge, Samundri, Wamiq Jawed, with powers of area returning officer along with his staff had assembled in the Government College, Samundri, in connection with a training programme for the referendum. Due to rush, the returning officers were facing great difficulty in searching and checking their respective team members. In that situation, Prof Mehmood Anwar of the Government College, Faisalabad, asked for the provision of a loudspeaker to facilitate announcements. Upon that returning officer Wamiq Jawed felt offended and inquired who the man shouting was. The ASJ ordered his staff to physically throw the professor out from the site, and, the staff on duty obeyed his orders. Teachers and professors on duty at the referendum training camp boycotted the proceedings and threatened to boycott the referendum duty as well. When Wamiq Jawed came to know about the whole affair, he along with his colleagues tendered an apology to the professor and the principal of the Government College, Samundri.

But the next day, the story was published by the press allegedly claiming that Prof Mehmood Anwar had slapped the judge.

On receipt of this news, the district and sessions judge reportedly asked Wamiq Jawed to submit a written report about the incident. The latter sent a report about the matter, alleging that he was slapped by Prof Mehmood Anwar. Accordingly, a case was registered by the police against Prof Mehmood Anwar when the district and sessions judge forwarded the application of ASJ to the district police officer for registration of a case. Police arrested Prof Mehmood Anwar on April 28 from his house and sent him to jail.

On receiving this news, office-bearers of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association met District Nazim Zahid Nazir along with a delegation of teachers. The arrested professor was released through the good offices of the Nazim. However, Mehmood Anwar was directed to see the district police officer on May 2 when he was again arrested and sent to jail in a case registered against him.

The bail application of Prof Mehmood Anwar was presented before district and sessions judge Sher Zaheer Ahmad who marked it to the additional district and sessions judge, Samundri, Wamiq Jawed, who rejected it on May 9. Another petition for bail was submitted to the sessions judge on the plea that since the ASJ himself was a party, the petition may be heard by some other judge. But it was again marked to the Samundri ASJ who refused to hear the same on the excuse that he was a party himself. Another bail application was submitted but it, too, was rejected.

As a last resort, therefore, a petition was sent by the accused party to the chief justice of Lahore high court, Lahore by whom Justice Naseem Sikandar, member, Election Commission, was deputed to hold an inquiry. The latter has tried to acquire all information, but the exercise is snail paced and no conclusion has yet been reached.

Following Prof Mehmood Anwar’s arrest, protesting professors and teachers adopted all means to press the government functionaries and even judicial officers for a reconciliation but all their efforts proved futile.

They demanded immediate suspension of the additional district and sessions judge, Samundri, and asked of the governor to constitute a committee to probe into the matter of altercation between the professor and the ASJ.

They alleged the Samundri ASJ was interfering in the police investigation and court proceedings by misusing his official powers, which could be judged from the fact that Prof Mehmood Anwar was still in jail because his bail application had not been accepted. The protesting professors and teachers termed the arrest of Prof Mehmood Anwar a blot on the face of the rulers and a disgrace for the teaching profession.

The other side of the story is that an FIR was registered against Prof Mehmood Anwar on a written complaint by the Samundri ASJ through the district and sessions judge.

Subsequently a bail application was lodged before the Lahore High Court which ordered Prof Mehmood Anwar’s release on May 29. However, when the victim party approached the authority concerned for securing “Robkar” to obtain the release of Prof Mehmood Anwar, it allegedly refused to accept the LHC orders “by hands” and directed the party concerned to wait till the receipt of official orders. Finally, LHC orders reached the office of the district and sessions judge which paved the way for the Prof Anwar’s release.

Even two months after the formal announcement made by President Musharraf for the setting up a high court bench in the city, no practical step has been taken in this connection so far.

Faisalabad was being deprived of a high court bench despite the fact that the people of Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur and Multan were enjoying this facility for the redress of their grievances. The defunct Faisalabad division comprising Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang districts has a population of 9,734,137. The number of members of the District Bar Association, Faisalabad, is the highest after Karachi and Lahore. Similarly, litigation trend also justifies the establishment of the bench at Faisalabad.

However, all efforts of lawyers and other organizations to this end proved futile due to the laxity of the government machinery. But the situation totally changed when the DBA, overcoming all pressure and demands of its higher bodies, appreciated the policies of President Musharraf and announced support for his referendum plan during his April 14, Faisalabad visit. The president accepted the demand and directed the Federal Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs to complete the task within the shortest possible time.

Some legal experts and senior lawyers are terming this “deal” of the DBA and the federal government a “wrong step” on the plea that it would shatter the unity of the legal community.

They said the DBA decision not to observe a strike on April 25 on the call of the Punjab Bar Council and other higher bodies of the lawyers against the presidential referendum was also a wrong step as all the bar associations were duty-bound to follow the Punjab Bar Council and the LHCBA, especially on national issues.

The perfect role model

ISLAM is distinct from other religions in many respects. What makes it unique is the fact that it follows a revealed book, the Quran, a word of God in all its entirety, and the personal conduct of the holy Prophet (Sunnah) is an integral part of faith. Obedience to him is next to God (Allah).

This has been stressed in numerous verses of the Quran. For instance, “Say, ‘Obey Allah and the Messenger.” (3:33) “O ye who believe! obey Allah and the Messenger.” (3:33) “O ye who believe! obey Allah and the Messenger, and do not turn away from him while you hear him speak” (8:21) “O ye who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and let not your works go vain.” (47:34)

Some of the holy Prophet’s acts (peace be upon him) were identified with those of Allah. For instance, during the battle of Badr, “So you killed them not, but it was Allah Who killed them. And thou threwest not when thou didst throw, but it was Allah Who threw.” (8:18) For Baite Rizwan, “Verily, those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands.” (48:11)

The role model has to be a perfect specimen. Who could know better than Allah, the All-Aware. He testifies, “And thou dost surely possess high moral excellences.” (68:4)”His grace towards thee is great.” (17:88) Not only the conduct should be exemplary it must embrace all human situations for which guidance may be needed.

This should elaborate the basic teachings of faith. When asked to explain the conduct of the holy Prophet, Hazrat A’isha said, “His conduct was the Quran.” That is why Muslims are required to emulate the holy Prophet. “Verily you have in the Prophet of Allah an excellent model, for him who fears Allah and the last day and who remembers Allah much.” (33:22)

The Quran is comprehensive in its teachings and so was the conduct of the holy Prophet. He lived long enough not only to see the success of his mission, but was also put through every conceivable human situation to demonstrate the practicability of Islam.

In practice, he showed how one should behave as an orphan, full blooded youth husband, father, head of family, community and state, member of society, employee, business partner, soldier, and commander. He set an example how to put up with persecution for faith and be magnanimous when in position to punish those who made one suffer. In short, there is enough guidance for every one in any station of life.

Tremendous award is promised to those who obey Allah and His Messenger and emulate him in all sincerity. The Quran says, “Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate one... so those who shall believe in him, and honour and support him, and help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him-these shall prosper.” (7:158) “And follow him that you may be rightly guided.” (7:159) “And follow him that you may be rightly guided.” (7:159) “And follow him that you may be rightly guided.” (7:159) “And he whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, and fears Allah, and takes Him as a shield for protection, it is they who will be successful.” (24:53) “O ye who believe! fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will give you a double share of His mercy and will provide for you a light wherein you will walk and will grant you forgiveness-and verily Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.” (57:29)

At the same time, there is a warning for disregarding the teachings of the Quran and traditions of the Holy Prophet. He has put it, “When a people break their covenant with Allah and His Messenger, then Allah imposes upon them a foreign ruler and he deprives them of whatever wealth they possess.” It is in the Quran, “Say, ‘If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your kinsfolk, and the wealth you have acquired, and the trade whose dullness you fear, and the dwelling which you love are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait till Allah comes with His judgment, and Allah guides not the disobedient people.” (9:24)

The holy Prophet’s advice to the followers: “I leave with you two things. So long as you hold on to them, you will not go astray. These are the Quran and the Sunnah (conduct) of His Messenger.” History fully records how Muslims succeeded in every sphere of life when they acted upon his advice and how they went down when they disregarded it.

The only way out of their present woes of the Ummah, despite the numerical strength and tremendous material resources at their command, is to go back sincerely to the Quran and Sunnah in their true spirit and in their pristine form.

The holy Prophet’s whole conduct was in strict compliance of the Quranic instruction: “Say ‘My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (6:163) Against this setting, some basic characteristics of it may be pointed out. Reflecting one of the most recurring themes of the Quran, the holy Prophet’s conduct was always governed by “taqwa” (righteousness and fear) of and “tawakkul” (trust) in Allah. This is what he always advised the followers. One of his companions once said, “O Prophet of Allah, I have heard so many things from thee, and I fear that I may, while trying to remember the latest, forget earlier ones, so tell something that may contain every thing.”

The holy Prophet said, “Fear Allah in whatever you know.” Pointing to his heart, he said, not once but thrice, “Taqwa is here.” “Motives determine the value of all conduct and a person attains that which he desires.” “On the Day of Judgment, the reward will be according to the motive.” “No one can attain complete righteousness till he gives up that in doing of which there is no harm so as to safeguard himself against that which is harmful.” The holy Prophet used to make this supplication; “Allah bestow upon us Thy fear that should serve as a barrier between us and our sins.”

The holy Prophet said, “Piety is not that you declare lawful as unlawful for yourself and squander your wealth. The real piety is that a person does not rely on that what wealth he has in his hands more than that what wealth is in the hands of Allah.” “Were you to put your trust in Allah He would provide for you as He provides for the birds. They issue forth hungry in the morning and return filled in the evening.” It was because of his absolute trust in Allah that the holy Prophet lived from day to day for his means of livelihood and never set aside anything for tomorrow.

Another important feature of the holy Prophet’s conduct was that it was not cast in any rigid mould. It was quite flexible, but, of course, within the parameters of the cardinal principles of Islam and was always appropriate to the occasion and the person concerned. This was the essence of the wisdom for the teaching of which he has been raised. It is in the Quran, “Verily, Allah has done a great favour upon the believers by raising among them a Messenger from among themselves who recites to them His Signs and purifies them and teaches them the Book and Wisdom; and before that, they were in manifest error.” (3:165)

There is no fixed list of major sins and virtues indicated by the holy Prophet and he advised each and every person according to his condition and circumstances. For instance, he did not allow one to participate in fighting but directed them to stay at home to serve their old and feeble parents. This was to be his striving in the cause of Allah. He directed another person to control his tongue.

As the basic requirement of wisdom, the holy Prophet stayed with the fundamentals and advised the companions to make faith easy and not difficult. This was his parting direction to Mu’adh bin Jabal when he was first appointed in Yemen. Today, how many mill-stones hang around Muslims’ neck which not only have no sanction in the Quran or the Sunnah but many of them are against the basic teachings of Islam, especially not setting up partners of Allah in any manner, overt or cover.

The electric woes of Karachi

THE two Jawans and the scared receptionist were both visible through the dental clinic’s glass door located at the first floor of the building in Defence. The one with two stripes was holding an MP-5 while the other had a G-III rifle hanging from his shoulder. As the good doctor had not arrived just the young receptionist was holding the fort. Fortunately the neighbours were not delighted to see the gun-totting soldiers in their midst. She must have thanked her lucky stars when they came to her rescue.

Apparently the Jawans were on a routine mission, looking for KESC defaulters. They just wanted to confirm the payment of an electricity bill. The secretary could not find the copy of the paid bill. Yet somehow further unpleasantness was averted and the two Jawans left the building looking very unhappy.

The KESC nevertheless claims that their dues recovery rate has gone up. Some say that their line-losses have decreased to a mere thirty-six percent. Obviously we commoners have no way of confirming such claims. The auditors’ report qualifies much of these claims.

According to a leading marble exporter, his unscrupulous competitors, always trying to replicate the branded products, makes a lot of money offering his goods at throwaway prices to European and US buyers by passing on savings from stolen electricity, but in the process spoiling the export market. According to him several cases of electricity theft, rampant on Mangho Pir Road and Ittehad Town, by competing industry were referred to the KESC but there has been no action till date.

Earlier this week a story appeared in these pages claiming that the “Govt forces KESC to buy costlier electricity” but refuses to allow the KESC expansion of its own generation capacity. Later on Wednesday made a passionate editorial comment appealing to the government not to force the cash- strapped KESC already suffering from heavy losses to buy expensive electricity. Yet the same day, in fact all week long, the Karachiites had to suffer extremely hot weather compounded by unrelenting power failures. From surplus electricity until the early eighties the Corporation is now defendant upon import from Wapda and private power producers. The KESC seems extremely reluctant to discuss the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars borrowed from the Asian Development Bank and other international institutions and invested in its distribution network.

It is for such reasons that people wonder about the KESC’s true generation capacity, fuel consumption, manpower utilization and other development and non-development expenditures. Yet none of this means that the private power producers are doing any justice to the cause of the city. But as their generation capacity may be relatively small their ability to inflict damage may also be limited.

Probably the rationale behind the decision not to allow the KESC future investments in generation could have been to accord a progressive role to the private sector in the public-sector utility. Yet our newfound national passion for privatisation seems to be based on very little understanding of its implication over public services, utilities or transport. Today the consequences of mindless privatisation are now pretty clear and well documented not only in the West but also closer to home.

The Karachiites continue to get a fairly raw deal from the private sector as well as the public-sector KESC. A unit of electricity being produced by the private power producers is costing KESC approximately 8 cents or Rs 4.82, which is undoubtedly way too high. The private power producers claim that more than a quarter of that charge is their financial cost and the remaining includes many taxes as well as the cost of generation leaving a very small portion credited as profit.

At 125 megawatts capacity a powerhouse could generate over a billion units during a year (125,000x24x365 = 1,095,000,000 or 1.095 billion units). At 85 per cent efficiency profit per unit of one cent may translate into revenues of more than nine million dollars or more than half-a-billion rupees.

The KESC generates more than 70 per cent of its power in- house and bills its average customer at Rs5.28 per unit or 8.8 cents per unit. If it stops harassing its clients and start plugging the 36 per cent wide hole no government may ever insist that the KESC refrain from capital investment.

Unfortunately the frequent vanishing act performed by the electricity supplied by the KESC may have nothing to do with its generation in the public or private sector. The number of KESC consumers has increased by 33 per cent to over 1.7 million during last seven years. The actual reason for Karachi’s plight may well be a lack of broad based debate over such important issues and equally important may be the absence of independent and powerful regulatory bodies. While the private sector is mistakenly credited for a high level of efficiency and blamed for its greed to earn profit, the public sector is generally blamed for wastage transforming into heavy financial losses yet it is universally considered socially benign.

Meanwhile even before the onset of monsoons this year the Karachiites have started to suffer due to multiple tripping of grid stations, poor distribution and just plain below optimum power generation. Soon with the first drop of rain the Karachiites will be further subjected to blown transformers and snapped wires. The worst affected by this power emergency remains major parts of Karachi’s business district, the three industrial areas, as well as most of the residential areas where the situation across the city remains pitiful.