Lack of Political Planning

The ongoing military operation in the volatile tribal regions of the country is both taking its toll of civilians and losing credibility among the tribal people.

Two factors are contributing to this phenomenon. One, our security forces, after having repeatedly suffered causalities, have come to rely more on the use of artillery and air power. They are no longer willing to go into the formality of conducting a house search accompanied by local tribal notables and officials of the political administration.

There is an obvious change of tactics after the Kaloosha debacle in March, which left scores of security forces men dead. But the use of helicopters and jet aircraft has also increased the risk of civilian causalities.

Second and more importantly perhaps, the political administration in South Waziristan seems no longer in a position to either formulate or or even influence any decision or action by the security forces. The office of the political administrator has more or less become redundant, used only for damage control.

That the government may lack a proper strategy was reflected in the way it handled the post-Dela bombing situation in the Mehsud part of Waziristan. The bombing in Dela only aggravated the situation while the government was found wanting on any homework on how to deal with it. There was no contingency plan in place.

The militants have gone into the mountains joined by scores of trigger-happy youngsters angered by the loss of their kith and kin in the Dela bombing. While the day belongs to the security forces, the militants rule the night. Such is the situation.

Unfortunately, the government has also been lacking in wisdom while applying the Frontier Crimes Regulations. It played its last and too soon. The imposition of economic sanctions should have been the last option. But the government first imposed sanctions and later began to negotiate separate deals with the sub-clans of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe.

The result is that the sanctions imposed on May 30 have not delivered anything. They served no purpose if the idea was to force the tribes to give up local and foreign militants.

On the contrary, they have severely alienated the common man who has nothing to do with the conflict. Matters have been made worse by the lack of institutional thinking. The governor's Fata secretariat continues to operate in a legal void. The head of security in Fata lacks the legal authority and powers to push through the government agenda. His office has more or less turned into a sort of a post office to pass messages back and forth.

There is growing resentment amongst the local population, even among those who have no sympathy for foreign militants whatsoever. This is primarily due to across-the-board punishment handed out to the tribe as a whole.

The issue of foreign militants in the south has its own dynamics. These people don't listen to anybody. If the MMA leaders have any illusions about their ability to broker an agreement, let them watch the latest video released by the militants in Wana and know what the militants think of them.

For that matter, even the two tribal parliamentarians could not, despite their best efforts, get a chance to directly meet foreign militants in an effort to persuade them to surrender to the government to register themselves.

It has been two years now since the government began to take the issue of foreign militants in Waziristan head on, but its policies have been reactive rather than proactive.

The government should make an all-out effort to win over the tribes rather push them on the side of the militants, engage the tribes like it did by signing agreements with them to deny sanctuaries to foreign militants, strengthen the local Khasadars to undertake policing to preempt night attacks, carry out selective and targeted actions and strengthen the existing time-tested administrative structure instead of working to undermine it.

It is not funny to see the government fall back on the same stock of maliks whose very authority and influence it has sought to undermine by first talking to the clerics and then to the elected representatives. Why should the tribal maliks work to deliver when they have little or no stake in the present arrangements?

CIVILIAN CASUALTIES: The toll of civilians during the current operation in the volatile tribal regions has also all but been ignored.

On Feb 28, 11 people were killed and six wounded when troops opened fire on passengers. The military spokesman said: "There have been a few civilian casualties who may possibility be terrorists."

As it turned out, the people were all civilians. On Feb 29, an inquiry was ordered and compensation announced. No one amongst them were the possible terrorists'. The report of the inquiry committee was to be presented within one week of the incident, but has yet to be made public.

Four people were killed and two captured on Aug 23 when security forces raided a compound in Bangi Dar in North Waziristan. The ISPR said three of the four dead men were 'foreign militants'.

The 'foreign militants' were identified as Munirullah Borakhel, Ahmad Hassan Dawar and Azam Khan Borakhel - all local tribesmen.

On Sept 8, at least eight tribesmen are killed and 13 wounded when troops opened fire after their vehicle hit a landmine. The government said that "miscreants started firing on the convoy as a result of which six civilians were martyred and were wounded".

On Sept 9, air force jets pounded what the military described as a terrorist training camp in Dela in South Waziristan. At least 50 "foreign and local militants" were killed in the action. Later reports, however, said among the dead were civilians, at least two were boys aged 12 and 14 years, respectively.

Building bridges so poorly

Somehow one associates the concept of aesthetics with that of bridges and flyovers, and imagines that it lends to urban living a touch of idealism, of romance even. In saying this one does not intend to get carried away in that direction. Staring at me are recent newspaper clippings that mirror the state of bridges and flyovers in the Sindh capital, of which one was particularly disturbing, saying: "dangerous bridges, flyovers identified". Of course, this has been done by the city government! Who else?

It reminds us of the fact that periodically around the monsoon season (which was noticeably dry this summer) the city government authorities focus on dangerous buildings in Karachi. They are identified regularly, and being old and densely inhabited, they are a constant hazard. But then ironically, not only the old buildings, but even the newly-built ones, residential as well as commercial, are dangerous too, in varying degrees, and of course so shabby in appearance.

But the emphasis here is on bridges and flyovers, and even those flimsy-looking overhead bridges, that downtown Karachi has. Having said this, let us concede that there is not a single bridge or flyover in Karachi that can be said to be even proper in its appearance. Aesthetics are hard to be considered in a city where scruples and integrity (and efficiency of course) of contractors and builders, and the suspected connivance of the officials concerned.

I am not writing an accountability column. One seeks to underline the frustration of the citizen, who are now being told that even the newly-built bridges and flyovers are defective, dangerous. One report pointed to the poor quality of material used in construction of these structures. Stop here and contemplate.

Building material? concrete? But what about the men involved in these projects? The companies? Whither accountability?

Let me refer to some of the headlines alone of the recent news reports that tell a tale. "Liaquat Flyover built far below standard", Another bridge sustains damage" (Natha Khan bridge this) "Ibad orders action against guilty- flyover damage", substandard material blamed for cracks", "Cracks in flyovers", "Work on five more flyovers to begin soon: Nazim".

These stories are welcome, and have made citizens think that the problem of poor and substandard construction, which is a long-standing impediment, malpractice or even crime, continues to haunt our lives. For all the talk of good governance, transparency, and accountability and so on, this inferior quality of work continues to be done, and construction material always a suspect. How can the approved standards and specifications of such vital projects be violated. Is that a mystery?

What the public cannot understand is why has there never been adequate accountability of those who have wronged a city, cheated its people, robbed it of its money, and gotten away with it. There is accountability of politicians, bureaucrats, and others. Why not those who have built substandard bridges, flyovers and overhead bridges?

The worrying thing about the city's bridge-flyover scenario is that more flyovers are planned, and as the city expands, and its population swells, there will be more and more construction activity- official as well private. The public opinion distrusts and suspects all such activity. Cheating is common, lamented a Karachiite, Tariq Zuberi, focusing the Liaquat Flyover experience in the rains last year, said: "there was knee-deep rainwater standing on that flyover, which is perhaps the reason why it has developed cracks, which means that the water neither drained away into a system, nor flowed downwards."

Let me tell you of the bridge near the Cantonment Railway station, whose poor quality was evident soon after it was inaugurated. This is a new bridge, looks poorly built, and its upkeep also demonstrative of the civic system that Karachi has. Lights on this bridge, as elsewhere in the city, are unreliable. That is not all. In the middle of the bridge, there are huge, heavy strips of iron coming off, in a hazardous way. Rahim Bakhsh, a resident says that a motorcyclist, whom he knew, lost his life when his two-wheeler lost balance. That's Karachi?

There was a time when, as part of beautification of Karachi, there was good effort to make the Clifton Bridge pretty, and lovely tiles (from Hala?) were used for the purpose. It was a one-time deal, and nonchalant attitudes to the city were overwhelming. That bridge has billboards now, on either sides, as indeed does the city. Dose this beautify Karachi? l asked a friend, and the answer was in the negative.

We talked about Sharea Faisal and the Clifton main road, two of the thoroughfares in the 'developed' parts of the city, which could have been some kind of models amplifying aesthetics, and reflecting concepts in harmony with this society. Instead, what stands pronounced and dominates is a strong vibrant, but unbridled sense of commercialism, manifested through ugly buildings, billboards, neon-signs and spate of advertising that runs through urban Karachi.

But we return to the dangerous bridges and flyovers being identified. The PPI story said that a physical survey was undertaken by the works and services department, which submitted its report. Now tenders for repairs will be floated, and a panel of experts have been hired. It all sounds familiar. EDO (Works and Services) Shoaib Siddiqui referred to the Liaquatabad Flyover Committee and revealed that its report had been finalized and a conclusion was now awaited that would fix responsibility for the damage that had been caused to the bridge. The holes in the bridge have been reportedly attributed to a trailer's tyre burst, that had to stay on the bridge for "quite a long time". One hopes that the findings of the committee will be made public soon.

The agency's story has listed all the bridges and flyovers in the city and the 'dangerous' "include the Dhobi Ghat bridge, the Shershah bridge and Love Lane bridge". One does not comprehend why the other dangerous bridges have been left unidentified. Who is being protected at the cost of the public. In fact, in public interest there is an urgent need to pinpoint other such bridges also, besides underlining the specific risk and threat that these three bridges face. What are the explicit and implicit dangers that people using these bridges face? Keeping this information in low profile is not only unwise, but even unethical.

One expects of the city government to unfold the disturbing details, and of the organizations working for the multiple needs of the city to take up this rather "dormant" issue, seemingly being swept under the carpet. Let us not accept poorly-built bridges and flyovers in the way we have accepted and resigned to the disgrace of broken, worked away, third-class roads, even in the posh areas of Karachi. Enough is enough.

Karachi will grow, expand, and its physical infrastructure must stand the test of time. This month, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan, while announcing five more flyovers, underlined that the government "was successfully embarking upon a plan of life-long roads, bridges, flyovers throughout the metropolis". Dreams!

Tomorrow's Karachi will definitely need bridges and flyovers. Let us ensure that the cheats in this society don't get away with plunder in this vital sector too. Let us seek to make our bridges and flyovers a matter of collective pride. Our failure with road building should have taught us a lesson that cities the world over find their bridges a source of joy, besides urban convenience. Remember that old song "under the bridges of Paris with you, I'd make your dreams come true". See the inspiration that bridges can bring, both literally and metaphorically!!