PM's strange suggestion

Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain's suggestion that Sindh should appoint a lobbyist in Islamabad to get attention to its problems is puzzling if not downright absurd.

As a constituent unit of the federation, Sindh, like any other province, draws its rights and obligations from the Constitution. In any federated country, the constitution is designed to reinforce the organic unity of the federal structure and provides for a mechanism to address the problems of the people.

The nature of the people's grievances vary, and so do the policies crafted by the centre and the provinces to address them. This is done basically through a constitutional scheme in the form of parliament and responsible government, with the areas of legislation and executive responsibility outlined in federal, provincial and concurrent lists.

On top of this constitutional edifice is the cabinet, headed by the prime minister, whose duty it is to keep track of the problems and grievances within its spheres of responsibilities and take action to resolve them.

The parliament also serves as a forum for the ventilation of grievances of the people of all provinces. If elected representatives from a given constituency fail to keep parliament and the government informed of their electors' problems, they would be failing in their duty.

From that perspective, the prime minister's view that the federal government does not get to know enough about Sindh's problems is a reflection on Sindh's MNAs and senators, and on the Sindh ministers in his cabinet but also on the attitudes that prevail in Islamabad. Isn't it the job of Pakistan's burgeoning and creaking administrative machinery to serve as the prime minister's eyes and ears?

Lobbyists are appointed by governments in foreign capitals to make their point of view heard in an environment where they feel their case might go by default. In the US, where Congress vets, trims and sometimes rejects the president's foreign aid programmes, recipient governments employ lobbyists to present their case to Congressmen, especially those on foreign relations and appropriations committees.

Law-makers themselves are open to pressures from domestic commercial and ethnic lobbies. No wonder, lobbying has grown into a lucrative business on Capitol Hill. However, for a prime minister to think in terms of asking a province to appoint a lobbyist to call attention of the federal government to its problems and grievances is indeed extraordinary.

Sindh is not the only province whose problems do not get the federal government's attention; there are regions - some of them far-flung mountainous areas - whose problems often go abegging.

If they do not get the necessary funding from the federal or the relevant provincial government, the solution does not lie in having a lobbyist posted in the provincial capital or Islamabad; the solution lies in the federal and provincial governments upbraiding the bureaucratic machinery and vesting proper power in the provinces.

Often, MNAs and senators complain that their views are not taken seriously in the formulation of development plans, and that bureaucrats fail to implement plans and directives given to them by the government.

The prime minister would do well to look into this aspect of the situation. Even though he is an interim prime minister, he could perhaps improve his government's ability to monitor the people's problems and find a solution. Above all, the principle of federalism needs to be honoured in both letter and spirit.

Evil of bonded labour

A Survey conducted by the International Labour Organization reveals that currently there are some 1.7 million bonded labourers in Sindh. This inhuman practice has not been rooted out despite the enactment of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act in 1992.

The government is unable to provide relief to those who are languishing in private jails or protect those who have escaped the clutches of their captors. The fortunate few who manage to free themselves from their tormentors and seek shelter in camps set up for them also face the danger of being recaptured by the henchmen of powerful landlords, who frequently raid these camps as the police look the other way.

Obviously more needs to be done to arrest and punish those who abduct these unfortunate peasants and keep them in their private jails. It is surprising that not a single person has been convicted of this crime under the relevant laws. Such inaction has an encouraging effect on the practitioners of bonded labour.

Pakistan cannot afford to let this medieval practice continue any longer. The government has to come down hard on those landlords who keep bonded labourers and use them on their farms for free labour.

Proper investigations need to be conducted to ensure people are not detained against their will and are not forced to enter exploitative financial arrangements on the basis of which they are kept in captivity for forced labour.

Attention also needs to be paid to the proper rehabilitation of freed labourers so that they are able to get legal as well as social protection. While the world moves ahead, Pakistan continues to be held back by these primitive practices perpetuated by a feudal class that exploits the weak while the government remains apathetic.

Year of the K-2 and after

A 50 per cent cut in climbing and mountaineering fees, coupled with the fact that Pakistan is celebrating the golden jubilee of Mount K-2's first ascent has drawn in a sizable number of foreign and local trekkers and mountaineers to the country's Northern Areas.

The influx and the media interest that the events of the next few weeks are likely to generate, including a major trek to Concordia at the foot of the legendary mountain, will be good for the local economy which is entirely dependent on tourism.

After 9/11, tourism in the Northern Areas has suffered a crippling blow. As recently as last month, Gilgit, often used as a base by trekkers and mountaineers was under a curfew that lasted several days.

This was followed by an incident on the Karakoram Highway in Kohistan district where three passengers in a bus were killed when bandits shot at the vehicle. At the same time, there was also an attempt at kidnapping a British couple in the area.

While the natural beauty and terrain are enough to attract people from all over the world, the ministry of tourism will hopefully have realized by now that the infrastructure in the region is by and large in a shambles.

The road network needs to be upgraded in terms of quality and coverage. The quality of other basic facilities is also below the expected level. Food and lodging at hotels and restaurants is often available at prices that are excessively high while the service and quality are abysmal.

As far as mountaineering expeditions are concerned, the ministry should help devise a workable mechanism under which charges for porters, cooks and guides can be reasonably brought down.

Then, of course, there is the crucial issue of law and order. Will the influx of foreign tourists continue beyond the period of the golden jubilee celebrations? There is an urgent need for better security along the stretch of the Karakoram Highway in the NWFP's Kohistan district, especially for passenger buses which traverse this stretch after dark.