Commission needed?

A UN commission to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has inched closer towards becoming a reality. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s visit to the UN headquarters in New York has resulted in an announcement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office that a “broad understanding has been reached” between the UN and the Pakistan government on “the nature of the proposed commission, funding modalities, composition of the commission, unhindered access to all sources of relevant information and elements to safeguard the objectivity, impartiality and independence of the commission”. While the announcement is a significant victory in the PPP’s bid to internationalise the investigation into Ms Bhutto’s assassination, it will be questioned by many whether it is a welcome development from Pakistan’s point of view.

First, opening the door to UN investigators to probe the alleged involvement of international terrorist organisations in Ms Bhutto’s assassination will set a precedent for future unwanted international investigations inside Pakistan. The guarantee that “unhindered access to all sources of relevant information” will be provided to the UN commission is a millstone that will hang around Pakistan’s neck. For example, if another 9/11, Madrid train bombings or London underground bombings occurs, fingers will inevitably be pointed at Pakistan by other countries, which may ask the UN to set up open-ended probes here. Second, by demanding the creation of a UN commission the government is admitting that not only are there matters beyond its control inside Pakistan, but that it can do nothing to address those issues. Mr Qureshi stated at a press conference in New York: “The objectives are for the commission to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the assassination.” None of these objectives should be beyond the abilities of the Pakistan government, least of all a government led by Ms Bhutto’s party. Third, the government is contradicting itself when it says that only the UN can adequately investigate Ms Bhutto’s assassination. Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on interior, spoke to the media on Friday and revealed: “We have found some clues and the investigation is going ahead positively.” On Monday, four men and one juvenile boy will be produced before the

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 1 in Rawalpindi for a hearing at which charges are likely to be framed against them for involvement in Ms Bhutto’s murder. The ATC has declared five other men, including Baitullah Mehsud, as proclaimed offenders in the case. Clearly, progress can and has been made by Pakistan itself into unravelling the conspiracy to kill Ms Bhutto. Even otherwise, a UN commission will be an erosion of Pakistan’s national interest and self-belief.

Cabinet expansion

THERE are reasons why the PPP-led government gives an impression as if it is paralysed. One major reason for what appears to be a sense of drift rather than one of direction is the PML-N’s anomalous position. The National Assembly’s second largest party quit the federal cabinet on May 12, but it has pledged to continue to support the government for obvious reasons. The PML-N needs the Peoples Party’s support in Punjab to sustain its government in the province. How long this anomaly will continue one does not know. But the end-result is that the jobs its ministers had are now being handled by the PPP’s ministers and leaders from other coalition partners. Some of them have three to four portfolios to handle, and are thus hardly able to do justice to the job. This naturally leads to delays in decision making and adds to the backlog in paper work. The Dubai meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is reported to have discussed the possibilities of expanding the cabinet. Expansion here basically means filling the slots vacated by the PML-N men. However, according to a Dawn report, the Dubai meeting decided to have 12 to 15 ministers of state rather than full ministers. The number of new full-fledged ministers is likely to be restricted to four. In addition, we are going to have no less than 44 chairmen of the National Assembly’s standing committees, besides a dozen parliamentary secretaries. It would remain to be seen whether the final figure for ministers, ministers of state and advisers will exceed that headed by Shaukat Aziz — a good 66.

Aside from the cost to the exchequer, a large cabinet has often proved in the past to be unwieldy. More than expansion what the cabinet needs is rationalisation of the portfolios in a way that should avoid overlapping jurisdictions. We know, for instance, that more than one minister looks after what passes for education. While it is true that education has many levels and facets — school, higher, technical, mass literacy, etc — there is nothing to suggest that a larger political and bureaucratic set-up will increase literacy and enhance the quality of technical and higher education.

A cabinet expansion is unavoidable. But it has to be done in a manner in which the government makes its existence felt as an organic unity. While there can be no overnight solutions to the grave national issues we are facing, at least the people must get the feeling that the government is making a determined effort to solve their problems — the food inflation, the energy crisis and terrorism.

Hazards of water pollution

LIFE without water is as inconceivable, as death by it is avoidable. By removing contamination and pollution from the water we consume, we can certainly eliminate the risk of dying by it. This is, however, easier said than done. By some counts, 15 people die across the world every minute because they do not have access to clean drinking water. In Pakistan alone, 200,000 children die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases caused mainly by water-borne infections. But these averages reveal only the inhuman, statistical dimension of a problem that comprises countless individual tragedies. A family in Burewala district in Punjab that recently lost six of its members in a matter of two days to the pollution in their water supply may find little consolation in the knowledge that they are joined by thousands of others meeting the same kind of death every day. Initial reports from their small village suggest that a tube-well, the only source of potable water for them, is to be blamed for their hair-raising tale of woe and tears.

The problem, though, is not confined to one tube-well or a single village. Some weeks ago a television channel reported that people in a Lahore neighbourhood suffered from acute bone and muscle diseases due to their contaminated water supply. A report last month by this newspaper discovered that half of all water being consumed in the city contained human faeces. Over the last many years, the media has found numerous cases of deformed bones, stunted growth and skin diseases from areas where industrial, residential and agricultural boundaries have dangerously blurred, poisoning both surface and underground water resources. Even elsewhere drinking water is hardly clean. A United Nations study shows that water supply in almost the entire country contains “abnormally high levels of arsenic and elevated fluoride”. As a result, about two thirds of all Pakistanis do not get clean drinking water. The problem is ubiquitous, so should be its solution. An all-out action is urgently needed to wipe the tears of all those suffering because of bad water.

OTHER VOICES - Indian Press

Terror in Kabul

The Tribune

THE killing of 41 people in a suicide bomb blast carried out by the Taliban outside the Indian embassy in Kabul on Monday shows how dangerous the situation in Afghanistan has become…. The US-led international coalition against terrorism has clearly failed to control the worrying situation. President Hamid Karzai’s hold has further weakened…. Sadly, the Taliban … continue to function with impunity as a violent extremist movement.

The emerging scenario is as much disturbing for India as for the countries directly involved in the fight…. Many Indians, including engineers working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, have lost their lives in Taliban attacks. India has deployed units of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Afghanistan but the situation is such that it cannot provide foolproof security to the Indians working on various projects….

The offer of talks to the so-called moderate Taliban factions by President Karzai has made them feel that the international coalition against terrorism has developed symptoms of weariness. Pakistan’s policy of ‘peace’ deals with the Taliban has also emboldened [their] activists…. Deals of the kind offered by Islamabad cannot make them leave the path of violence … While Pakistan needs to abandon its kid-gloves approach, the US-led efforts against terrorism call for an urgent review…. — (July 8)

Lost match

The Telegraph

THE saying about the brevity of public memory may or may not be true, but it is certainly true of ministerial memory. It was just last month that the prime minister had advised his ministers not to go on trips overseas unless absolutely necessary. At the time, when the realities of the rising prices of fuel and growing inflation had just struck home, Manmohan Singh’s request had appeared indubitably right…. The nation may have been gratified to see how seriously ministers took this advice. Quite a few of them cancelled trips abroad, although most of the occasions were official…. Within a month, all that is history. The Union sports minister can now tell his near and dear ones that he was actually present at … the Wimbledon finals. It was apparently just coincidence that the match happened while M.S. Gill was in Britain, meeting British officials and NRI organisations in the cause of Indian sport.

… Mr Gill is not alone. Arjun Singh and Kapil Sibal have found reasons necessary enough to fly out, Mr Sibal to inaugurate India’s first Arctic research station. Maybe it would have withered away and died had the science and technology minister not flown there to do the honours…. It is clear that the sense of morality and rightness is not enough to contain ministers’ and officials’ desire for pomp and foreign trips…. — (July 9)

Evading ‘better’ evil

IN politics, as in every other field of life, what people know and understand largely depends on what they see, hear, and feel and how they think and act.

In looking at the unfolding events in our country, and at the acts of our current rulers, both visible and invisible, real and surreal, we see what is not and see not what is because all of us are prisoners of a system that takes the people for granted and denies them any role or right in determining their own destiny.

We have had elections leading to the formation of a coalition civilian government but there are no signs of the new government anywhere. The people had voted for a change but there is no change visible anywhere. The country remains possessed by the same invisible power that was responsible for destroying its constitutional edifice and institutional integrity. The key faces of the outgoing regime remain untouched.

The same ghosts and the same wizardries continue to haunt our system. Decisions are still being made in far lands hallowed by fantasy where our political muggles are always at home in remembering their people and worrying for their well-being. We are living with the same persons, the same problems and the same policies. Neither the parliament nor the government inspires any hope or confidence in the common man’s day-to-day life.

The people stand disillusioned. They have been struggling for democracy for nearly a decade. They now have an elected civilian leadership brought to power with an overwhelming majority and a clear mandate for change in the country. It was a vote of no confidence against Musharraf and for an end to dictatorship. The people don’t see any change or feel that their situation is any different from what they went through over the past nine years. The ‘dividend’ of democracy continues to elude them.

Our people had voted for democracy and good governance. They also said no to religious extremism and violence. They voted for the restoration of the 1973 Constitution and independence of the judiciary, rule of law and fundamental freedoms including media freedom. They wanted the immediate reinstatement of judges of the superior courts who were removed illegally on Nov 3 and those who refused to take oath under the PCO. This was their verdict on Feb 18.

The massive popular support, as manifested in the election results and later in the unprecedented unanimous parliamentary endorsement of the country’s new prime minister, should have given the government enough strength and confidence to acquit itself honourably and rescue a country trapped in a political, judicial and constitutional maelstrom.

Alas, Pakistan’s ‘democrats’ seem to have learnt no lessons and within days of coming to power have gone back on what they promised the people of Pakistan in the Bhurban Declaration and on everything they agreed to in their Charter of Democracy in London two years ago. The deadline they had themselves set for the reinstatement of the real judges is long past. Issues are being fudged. Whatever the reasons or restraints, this is a clear post-election failure of the ‘democratic’ leadership.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto must be turning restlessly in her grave given what her party is doing to the pledges she made to the nation during the very last days of her life. She had pledged a genuine democracy rooted in the will of the people, and had also promised to reinstate the real judges deposed illegally by Gen Musharraf as army chief to escape a ruling against his eligibility for ‘re-election’ as president while still in uniform. She had told the chief justice that he would soon be back in his chamber.

The nation expected a faithful follow-up to this solemn commitment. But we saw the new ‘democrats’ prevaricating on the issue and seeking to link the judges’ reinstatement with grossly skewed constitutional packages and other conditionalities. The people were asked to be patient. The media was prodded not to overplay the issue. Now we are told there will be 29 judges. It seems the ground is being prepared for an implicit validation of Gen Musharraf’s illegal acts of Nov 3, 2007.

Prime Minister Gilani had the opportunity of a lifetime to show his leadership qualities. In order to be an effective chief executive of the country, he had to show his personal calibre and authority to prove himself different from his predecessor, the short cut of a prime minister, the one and only Shaukat Aziz. Only policies and decisions implemented under his own signature would have made the difference, imprinting his name on history.

His first 100-day performance has been dismal. No miracles were expected but at least some vision and direction could have been made visible in the actions and policies of the government during this initial period. The larger issues on his agenda, namely terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, will no doubt take decades if not longer to be addressed. For now at least, a sincere effort could have been made to undo the constitutional, judicial and economic wrongs of the outgoing regime.

Regrettably, not only has the judges issue been complicated by linking it with a larger constitutional amendment, the government has also failed miserably in redressing the immediate problems of the people. These include unbearable food and power shortages, spiralling inflation, a serious law and order situation and rampant corruption.

With the post-election political and economic situation deteriorating rapidly, the country is in a state of drift. We are now one of the top ten ‘dysfunctional’ states in the world. This is the latest global honour we have been bestowed after already having been listed among the world’s ‘most corrupt, most violent and most dangerous’ nations. But who is to blame for this abysmal democratic downturn?

Our politicians cannot for ever lay the blame on the outgoing regime or continue to hide behind easy scapegoats. The people are disappointed that parliament is being held hostage to the whims of unelected political ‘laterals’. They are now beginning to wonder whether they made the right choice in the February elections, and whether their elected representatives have the capability or will to address their problems.

Public discontent is brewing and may soon reach a point where the people may start thinking nostalgically of ‘better’ evil. These are exceptional times warranting exceptional decisions. Ad hoc measures will not do. Show your grit before it is too late.

On a green bike

A GROUP of young people from several European countries are taking a cycling tour from Bulgaria to Turkey to show the world that travelling and a good life are possible without much energy consumption.

Fifteen people — from Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Spain, Portugal and a few other countries — started the 2008 Ecotopia Biketour Jul. 4 in Bulgarian capital Sofia. After travelling for about 600 km in Bulgaria and another 1,000 km in Turkey, over more than one month, they will reach their final destination, the city of Sinop on the Black Sea Coast in northern Turkey. More people are expected to join on the way.

Ecotopia Biketour has been taking place yearly since 1990 on different routes around Europe. Participants are headed to the annual international youth gathering Ecotopia, a series of discussions and events on environmental and social justice issues. Topics addressed since the first Ecotopia that took place in 1989 in Cologne, Germany, include youth employment, art and political activism, migration, and alternative energy.

This year, Ecotopia is taking place in Sinop Aug. 9-23 and is focused on energy problems. Organisers chose Sinop because it is the planned location for a nuclear power plant to be built in Turkey. Ecotopia participants oppose using nuclear energy as a way to tackle the global energy crisis, and propose instead to decrease energy consumption, improve energy efficiency and promote low-impact energy production.

The Biketour itself is meant to show that it is possible to travel and live on little energy. Participants sleep in tents or in housing offered by people they meet on the way, they cook for themselves using products bought from local farmers, and generally promote a ‘do it yourself’ lifestyle.

The cyclists are also trying to build up a fair community amongst themselves while on the road. This translates into consensus-based decision-making on all issues and the use of a special currency, the ‘eco-rate’, which means that those from wealthier countries contribute more to the costs of the trip than those from poorer countries. For instance, the daily cost of a day in the Biketour is estimated at 15 eco, which equals eight euros for westerners and only four euros for Eastern Europeans.

In Bulgaria, they will protest against a planned nuclear plant at Belene in the north of the country. When cycling through the Rodope mountains, they will put together actions to draw attention to the construction of large-scale tourism infrastructure in protected natural sites. — IPS News