Explaining food security

An interesting and knowledgeable visitor in town was the suave Devinder Sharma from India. The chairperson of the New Delhi-based Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, Sharma was here on the invitation of Shirkatgah's Green Economics and Globalization Initiative.

Mercifully the thaw in India-Pakistan relations helped him to come here - he was refused a visa five times before he got one on his sixth attempt but only for Karachi and Islamabad.

Here too he had to waste hours at the police centre to report his arrival and his departure. All this was not without hassle either and demands for the proverbial grease for the palm.

Sharma took all this inconvenience in his stride, because he is a man fired with a mission. Introduced at the Shirkatgah lecture as a distinguished food and trade policy analyst and the author of Gatt to WTO: Seeds of Despair and In the Famine Trap, Sharma wants to create awareness of the problems Third World agriculture will face when the WTO regime comes into force in January 2005.

Sharma has studied the problems of food production and agriculture deeply and is convinced that the big corporations will drive the farmers in the Third World to starvation by taking control of food production.

The process began several decades ago when the so-called green revolution was introduced and high-yield variety of seeds, pesticides and chemical fertilizers became the name of the game.

Now the WTO will expedite this process by getting Third World governments to withdraw subsidies to agriculture while the western farmers will continue to enjoy protection.

No one in this country seems to understand the repercussions the WTO will have on food security. In his own country, Sharma, a former reporter of The Indian Express who built his contacts with political leaders in the hey day of his journalism career, spreads his message among the farmers through political leaders.

Explaining how he goes about it, he said he tried to brief Laloo Prasad Yadav, the popular and charismatic former chief minister of Bihar and now Indias railways minister, about the WTO and agriculture.

Mr Yadav offered to take him to one of his public meetings where he could talk to the kisaans directly. The minister admitted that he couldnt comprehend even a fraction of what Sharma had to tell him and so he would not be able to convey it effectively to the masses.

True to his word, Laloo called up Sharma one day and invited him to one of his public rallies. The economics scholar felt quite tongue-tied, it being a new experience for him to be called upon to address a crowd of hundreds of thousands of villagers, most of them illiterate.

The minister introduced him as a wise man with a message to whom they must listen. The audience was silent and attentive. Taking it as a challenge Sharma tried to explain to them how their livelihood was threatened by the corporatization of agriculture.

He tried to tell them about the high-yield wheat which produced sterile seeds that could not produce a new plant, forcing the farmer to buy seeds from a seed corporation.

Sharma saw that he was not making much sense to the people. Mr Yadav intervened and explained, Bhaiyon, yeh baboo yeh keh raha hai keh yeh bari bari firms paudon kee nas bandi kar rahee hain! Suddenly there was a loud noise indicating that the message had gone through. Whatever their level, popular leaders know how to communicate.

KARACHI ZOO

A visit to the Karachi Zoo over the holiday weekend turned out to a depressing experience. The shabby ticket booth at the entrance is itself a put-off, its walls stained with betel juice and litter all around. Hardly the kind of welcome visitors to the Zoo would like.

Just as you enter, you are confronted with the confusion of the family area with its rides and dodgem cars and the food stalls. More litter. The rides should be removed from the Zoo premises; children go there, or should go there, to see the birds and animals, not waste time on the rides.

There was somehow a forlorn appearance to the entire gardens, although the grass seemed reasonably well cared for. The chimpanzee lay covered with a blanket, and when one of the usual lot of animal-teasers let out a call, he briefly uncovered his head, looked around, didn't like what he saw and covered his head again.

Was the chimp just cold or was he unwell, lying covered in a blanket? The elephant shuffled rather than walked. The flag posting of the Zoo's inhabitants could be a little more elaborate - for instance, other Zoos list the diet of each animal and bird and also its longevity. The place obviously needs more care and attention from the city government. And one wonders whether the Zoo has any link with a conservation society.

SAND, SEA AND TURTLES

Recently, Shehri-CBE, a non-governmental organization that agitates against violations of building and construction rules, left their familiar territory of concrete and mortar for the tranquil environs of the beach.

This time their objective was to protect the prime nesting grounds of marine turtles by recruiting hut chowkidars in their salvation army. Of the 11 beaches in the world where the turtles are known to nest, two - Hawkesbay and Sandspit - are along Sindh's coastline.

Green turtles have been granted a protected status under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1972. Under Pakistan's Fish Inspection and Quality Act 1997, these creatures cannot be exported and their domestic consumption is banned.

Furthermore, Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and acknowledges the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species, which has marine turtles on its list.

According to a detailed study conducted by Shehri, which was aimed at identifying and analyzing the factors that make the habitat unfit for nesting, turtles and their habitats face a couple of threats.

Stray dogs, crows and other birds, attracted by beach litter and garbage, dig up nests and destroy eggs. Poaching is another major danger. Beachfront development deprives turtles of their nesting space, much of which is in any case taken up by litter and construction debris.

Lighting in beach huts discourages turtles from laying eggs and causes hatchlings to become disoriented and lose their way. Shehri project coordinator Farhan Anwar says: The hut chowkidars as environmental stewards are our best bet as they can provide vital information.

If we can have them on our side, a lot of environmental issues would get resolved. However, there is a hitch - there is no incentive whatsoever for them to hold their interest in the project.

A preliminary exercise was undertaken to assess the level of awareness of 50 chowkidars about turtles and the threats they and their habitat face. The chowkidars were unable to figure out how the growing number of holidaymakers and beach development posed a threat to turtles.

Though Shehri had a successful training session with chowkidars, they found themselves fighting a losing battle with the city government and the Karachi Port Trust about the legal status of the nesting sites.

In the absence of legal and institutional endorsement, the area is ineffective for any environmental regulations and our campaign to implement appropriate protection measures remain weak, remarks a frustrated Farhan.

email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com.

A busy fortnight of literary activities

The last fortnight of the year 2004 was brimful of cultural events and literary moots. The city's literary community was rocked by the election campaign for the Arts Council.

A delegation of Sindhi writers and artists from India was in the city to attend the Shah, Sachal, Sami International Conference. Then, there was the Allama Niaz Fatehpuri memorial lecture, 2004 - an annual feature observed with much zeal.

But the Karachi Gymkhana reception held for the noted poet Fatima Hasan on the publication of her second poetry collection carried the day since it was attended by a large number of literary figures.

The reception was held to celebrate the publication of Ms Hasan's poetry collection 'Yaaden bhi ab khawab hueen'. The function was presided over by Sindh Ombudsman Yusuf Jamal, and attended by writers Jilani Bano and Fehmida Riaz as chief guests.

Shahida Hasan and writer Asif Farrukhi spoke on the literary qualities of Ms Hasan's work. The occasion was made even more memorable when Gulshan Aara Syed presented some of Fatima Hasan's ghazals in an enchanting melody.

Yusuf Jamal in his speech referred to the poet's earlier collection 'Dastak say der ka fasela (published in 1992), and said her poetry in later years would reflect the themes of the progressive poets, and acquire a universal message.

Fatima's prose was also quite powerful, and her creativity was not confined to feminism, Yusuf Jamal asserted. His repeated references to feminism provoked Fehmida Riaz to intervene with the remark: "You are talking as if feminism is a disease".

Ignoring the laughter from the audience, Yusuf Jamal, with a broad smile, quoted some couplets from Fatima's romantic poetry. Earlier, Fehmida Riaz said Fatima Hasan had composed verses on a variety of themes with remarkable success. Her ghazals were balanced and meaningful.

Shaheda Hasan recalled the decade of the '70s at Karachi University when literary activism was at its peak and Fatima had come to join the crowd of talented writers following the fall of Dhaka. Her poetry collection 'Bahtey huey phool' was published in 1977, reflecting contemporary modern sensibilities.

Asif Farrukhi pointed out that Fatima was not only a powerful poet but also a stylist in prose. She had shown her creativity while evaluating various literary pieces. The following verses recited by Fatima Hasan were received with spontaneous clapping from the audience.

Us ke pialey mein zeher hai ke sharab
Kaisey maloom ho baghair piey
Maen ney maan ka libas jab pehna
Titliyoon ney sab apney rang deay.

Jilani Bano, though invited at short notice, presented a brief paper, and said an inspiring couplet could not be confined to national boundaries. Urdu poetry carried the message of love between Pakistan and India. She praised Fatima Hasan for her flair in the use of idioms and images.

Nasim Gandhi, secretary of the Gymkhana's adabi committee, was the host of the evening and Samina Pirzada did the compering in her usual relaxed and professional manner.

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Dr Mohammad Tufail Hashim, an Islamic scholar, launched his book 'Hudood Ordinance: Kitab-o-sunnat ki roshni mein' at a press conference on Friday (Dec 24). Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani chaired the occasion. Also seated on the dais was Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi.

Justice Usmani, who was a member of the special committee headed by Justice Majida to re-examine the Hudood Ordinance, spoke about the most unjust and vicious treatment meted out to women due to the wrongful interpretation of Islamic law.

The Hudood Ordinance, 1977 had also misinterpreted Islamic injunctions. Justice Usmani lamented that hundreds of women were rotting in jails because of the Zina Ordinance, and felt that these ordinances were enforced by General Ziaul Haq as a political requirement. They should now be scrapped.

Dr Tufail Hashmi dilated upon the merits of true Islamic laws and the damaging role of the Hudood Ordinance. He was lucid and persuasive in his presentation.

Dr Hashmi admitted that he, too, some years back, had criticized those who opposed the Hudood Ordinance, but later when he studied the law in the light of Islamic researches, he found the objections raised by the opponent of the ordinance to be true and genuine.

His book spread over 256 pages deals with Islamic 'fiqh' with authoritative references. Dr Hashmi is a legal adviser to the Federal Shariat Court and he was a visiting professor at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, and dean of social sciences and Islamic studies at the Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. He has written around six volumes of research papers on Islamic jurisprudence and religious issues.

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The Allama Niaz Fatehpuri memorial lecture is a major literary event in the city held yearly by the Halqa-i-Niaz-o- Nigar. The moving spirit behind it is Dr Farman Fatehpuri and some of his colleagues. Like previous years, some guests from Delhi were also expected, but only Dr Khalique Anjum, secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, Delhi, could come.

The topic of the memorial lecture this time was the world order and Urdu language and literature. The tradition of rational thinking and enlightenment promoted by Niaz Fatehpuri was also reviewed by the participants.

Dr Khalique Anjum dilated upon the second topic. His paper was lengthy, as were some other papers. The chair, therefore, restricted the speakers to a time limit. But the speakers were around 10 in number, excluding the five members of the presidium, and thus a seminar which should have been spread over two days was thus telescoped into three hours, leaving the listeners weary and bored.

It seems that the planners of the seminar with all their good intentions were over-ambitious; they should have been more considerate to the audience. The Niaz Fatehpuri seminar has always been a memorable event. Dr Farman Fatehpuri should seek the support of other literary bodies to preserve its character.