Rising prices

DESPITE assurances given by various government officials that prices of essentials would remain stable during Ramazan, this has not happened in practice. Prices of many commodities in the market in the run up to and the first week of the holy month have registered increases. In many instances, as in the case of meat, the rise has been unprecedented. The prices of most vegetables and fruit have also risen in varying degrees over the past few weeks despite adequate supplies and with no shortages reported from anywhere. This is a clear case of profiteering by a section of wholesalers and retailers at the expense of the hapless consumer while the government looks the other way. In view of this, one is surprised to read that the Economic Coordination Council of the cabinet on Friday expressed satisfaction at the level of prices of essential commodities in the country during October. If the government is not even ready to accept the fact that prices of many essential items have shot up prior to and during Ramazan, to expect it to take action against errant shopkeepers and wholesalers seems to be asking for too much.

It is time the government took more serious notice of the prevailing situation in markets all over the country and entered into a dialogue with the representatives of the wholesalers and retailers on reducing prices and keeping them at a reasonable level during Ramazan. The government should also initiate raids to check prices as well as the quality of items being sold so that some relief is provided to the hard-pressed public. However, it must be said that it would not be fair to blame only the government for the Ramazan rise in prices. The public too must play a part through consumer resistance and not letting the profiteers have their way. In this regard, consumer awareness on such issues must be raised by such organizations like NGOs, which are otherwise quite vocal on issues of public interests. It can be safely said that unless both the government and the consumers cooperate in this effort, the whole exercise to bring down prices may prove unavailing.

Security through repression

ISRAELI chief of army staff Moshe Yaalon may have spoken out of turn when he said last week that Israel’s repression in occupied territories did not help its security, but he cannot be said to be wrong in his assessment. From the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 to the signing of the Oslo accords 10 years ago, Israel’s security has never as vulnerable as it is today. This is despite the fact that Ariel Sharon’s hardline government has used all the tools of state oppression to put down the second Palestinian Intifada that was sparked by Mr Sharon’s unwarranted visit to the Al Quds compound three years ago. Some of the measures and tactics employed by the present regime have been patently excessive and inhuman. These have included wholesale incursions into, and bombings of, Gaza Strip and West Bank towns, confiscation of Palestinian farm lands, preventing almost 400,000 Palestinian workers from coming to their jobs in Israel, threats to kill or expel Yasser Arafat and, last but not least, the building of the controversial wall to lock in the Palestinians. Yet, none of these have resulted in stopping the suicide attacks on Israeli targets by desperate young Palestinians who would rather die than live in humiliation in their own homeland.

General Yaalon’s frank, off-the-cuff assessment of the Israeli policy raises one question that Mr Sharon does not want to hear: just what has Israel gained by this policy of excessive repression? It comes in the wake of refusal by an increasing number of Israeli soldiers to serve in the occupied territories in recent months. First it was some conscientious ground troops who refused to open fire on civilians and then a group of Israeli pilots who refused to bomb densely populated areas in Gaza and the West Bank. Of late, Mr Sharon’s own cabinet has been sharply divided on whether to continue the policy of state repression or restart the political dialogue for a settlement. Israel’s opposition parties have already begun a parallel dialogue with the Palestinian leadership in defiance of the ruling coalition’s refusal to talk to the Palestinian Authority unless the extremist elements among the Palestinian resistance stop suicide bombings. The growing fissures in the Israeli camp seem to be intensifying with every new suicide bombing that heightens the sense of insecurity among Israeli citizens. Other dismal realities are a decrease in tourism and a bad economy, causing acute hardship to increasing numbers of Israelis. According to a recent report, one-third of Israeli children live below the poverty line. Insecurity and economic distress have added to the ferocity of the debate on war and peace. This was hardly the vision of the ‘promised land’ that Israel’s founding fathers had bargained for.

Given the constraints of life under occupation and Israel’s brutal repression, the Palestinian Authority’s choices are extremely limited. It cannot afford to be seen to be betraying its people’s cause: this is just the excuse extremist elements within the Palestinian camp need to sideline and discredit their moderate leadership. By contrast, Israel does not face such a stark choice. It can stop pursuing the current policy of repression and restart the political process which it broke off abruptly making its resumption conditional on complete cessation of suicide attacks but without itself accepting any such condition with regard to its repressive actions against the Palestinians.

Hockey lapses

PAKISTAN’s performance and prestige in hockey against rivals India during the recent encounters touched their lowest point with the defeat in the final of the Afro-Asian games on Friday. The adverse score line in the final (3-1) was no less humiliating than the 4-2 outcome in the pool match on Oct 27. In the light of this dismal record, an in-depth analysis is essential by the managers of the game to avoid further embarrassment. Any attempt to camouflage the deficiencies and cover up the faults will be disastrous. The services of a foreign specialist and video-recordist secured by the hockey authorities should be fully utilized in an overall attempt to redeem ourselves. Malaysia employed this technique to blunt the Indian onslaught. What is most important at this

stage is to be sincere and honest in an unsparing exercise in introspection.

Some transparent lapses, mostly self-inflicted and directly responsible for the latest debacle, must be immediately addressed to save further disaster. “Resting” Sohail Abbas, a key man, and several other vital players at this stage was incomprehensible. Plenty of opportunities to score through penalty corners went waste, with only one of them being converted. Another obvious shortcoming was the loss of stamina and sustained effort in the second half. The game plan was also defective. Individualism as a plank in the modern style of hockey is not a plus point as it hampers collective effort. Rule changes and the change from grass to astro-turf have created new challenges. Clicking as a power outfit is more important than wrist work. Sticking to conventional parameters is unpardonable, and the entire approach requires to be changed.