Dna issue 7 (sunday, 19 25 jan, 2014)

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Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Agha Akbar

Asher John

Joint Editor

Associate Editor

Chief News Editor

Local bodies’ polls Talk to

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2818125 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

On with them!

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he PTI chairman Imran Khan has reportedly asked his government in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prepare for the local bodies elections. More power to him for that directive. There is never a good time, really, for holding elections. There are law and order problems all the time. But we do go, thankfully, for the national and provincial polls and this fluency and periodicity should also apply to the third tier of governance. But, due to the fact that it is a provincial subject, and being open to greater interpretation, delays on it aren’t made a big deal of. They should be. But elections should be fair and should be seen to be fair. For instance, Balochistan came out a surprising first on the local government election race. Given the insurgency in the province, it is clear that certain groups would have been excluded from the process. Similarly, the target killing of ANP leaders has

resumed in KP now that the local bodies polls are near. The PTI government needs to realise that, even though it will try, it will find it hard to pass the buck for this. In the general polls, it could just look the other way while the party was being targeted. It can’t now. The law and order situation in Sindh isn’t peachy either and the Punjab can turn problematic if all the catalysts are present. So far, the greatest reluctance to the idea of local government has emerged from the Punjab government. It is said that the very idea runs counter to the chief minister’s penchant for keeping things under his control. It is, in fact, a habit of his that he has maintained, even at his own tier of government. only at the fag-end of his last stint as CM, did he let go of a large number of portfolios. And even the ones he does not hold, he runs with an iron fist. Since it is impossible for him to run them all, the bureaucracy has stepped in. The elected

representatives have effectively been sidelined by the mandarins, who have the CM’s ear. Now, granted, the League has morphed into a populist juggernaut that attracts winning candidates and its sway over vast tracts within the Punjab is unquestionable. But the murmuring backbenchers in the house, or, for that matter, even the prominent representatives, are definitely seething over this lack of effective power. This could become a problem; if not now, then maybe later. devolving powers to the third tier is an elegant way of ensuring that doesn’t happen. That way, the CM can have his cake and eat it too. he could continue with his peculiar style of running the provincial government while letting all the tension within the ranks out through the pressure valve of the local government. even in the selfish realpolitik sense of things, having local bodies elections makes sense. To the polls, then. g

Avoidable tragedies

State of our road traffic reflects the quality of our governance

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wo tragic road accidents, both due to our eternal failure to impose regulations, have taken place in a short span of seven days. As oriana Fallaci once put it, the state of the road traffic reflects the quality of the governance in a country. In the incident taking place near Murree at least 12 passengers were killed and over 30 sustained injuries when two buses plunged into a ravine after colliding with each other. In the second incident 20, including 17 children, returning from a district level quiz competition in Nawabshah died when a speeding loaded dumper slammed into their van head on. In May last year 17 children and a teacher were burnt to death when a school van caught fire in Gujrat. These are just a few of the deadly incidents that have recently taken place due to a defective system of governance. while any accident causing mortalities is tragic, those leading to the death of young children on such a scale are more so. The latest accident in Nawabshah was lamented upon not only by the concerned families but also widely in Sindh. what makes this tragedy and others in the same category even more poignant is that these incidents could have been avoided. . No doubt the weather factor that included snowfall and low visibility played a role in the Murree accident but this was secondary. In countries where weather conditions of the sort prevail for most of the year, adherence to clear cut regulations ensures the safety of the commuters. It was rightly noted, among others by Prime Minister

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Nawaz Sharif, that there were no standard operating procedures (SoPs) for traffic regulation during bad weather conditions. The prime minister directed the divisional administration and police to devise a strategy in this regard. The problem in Pakistan however is that in cases where the regulations already exist these are often not adhered to voluntarily and in the absence of honest and efficient machinery there is no way to force across the board implementation. In the case of the Gujrat accident last year, the blaze was apparently caused by a spark when the driver of the dual-fuel van switched from gas to petrol. This raised the question whether the kit was substandard or the van was not roadworthy. Several incidents of the sort that have taken place in the country should have been enough to convince the administration that the bodies responsible for the implementation were practically dysfunctional. Thus vehicles which are not roadworthy are allowed to ply not only in the remote areas of the country but in cities like Lahore and Karachi. In the Nawabshah incident, existing regulations concerning speed on a single lane dirt road were not complied with. In several cases the diving licenses are sold rather than issued after stiff tests. In other cases transport companies force the drivers to work overtime. Many people die in road accidents not on account of any negligence on their part but because of others who are either untrained or under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or both. g

the hand

On the maturity of our rulers

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here’d be no wars were women to run the world, goes a popular joke, just a bunch of countries not talking to each other. A misogynist joke? Yes, especially since, in Pakistan’s case, this kind of passive-aggressive behaviour is being exhibited by men, powerful men at that, more than women. Consider, for instance, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister. his absence during the prime minister’s visit to Swat was conspicuous to say the least. No, the prime minister is not the chief minister’s boss. But his absence during the prime minister’s visit to his province is a clear violation of government protocol. And the League shouldn’t be one to complain. They had a similar attitude during the last government, when the prime minister would come to the Punjab, which was often; the current prime minister isn’t a KP native, but both the prime ministers of the previous regime were from the Punjab. The British, from whom we have inherited our government apparatus, were big on appearances. And it showed. For behind the seemingly arcane set of dos and don’ts was a lot of thought. This is not about wearing the right dinner jacket and knowing which fork to

whiteLies

Apollo

use with which course. No, it pertained to the seriousness of both governing and appearing to govern. That even the harshest of disagreements were expressed without raising voices. Not all the time, of course. one look at the house of Commons and one would understand why the opposition and treasury benches are “two swords lengths apart.” But were there to be any event that required the presence of both sides, they would be there and be smiling when posing for photographs. The problems before us as a polity are more complex than ones we have ever seen. They aren’t waiting a single rider on horseback to slay. There has to be cooperation between governments, spread out not only over space but over time. Governments have to accord a measure of respect to their predecessors and realise the utility of continuing certain policies, what to speak of cooperation between incumbent counterparts in other provinces or other tiers of government? The chief minister is said to be peeved at the federal government’s lack of follow-up to the centre’s addressing the province’s concerns over the handover of the PeSCo. An important matter, of course, but not speaking about it trivialises it, not places it higher up. g

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Baby Bhutto is expected to be in Lahore in the near future. This has made the provincial government a little nervous. But it has also made the party’s Punjab chapter a little apprehensive as well. Because there has long been the imminent reshuffle looming there. Asif Zardari spent his last bit as president in Lahore and had announced that he would return after some time and take care of things to that end. But he never came. Bilawal’s arrival is being deemed as a sign of that. Given the party’s dismal performance in the Punjab, heads will roll and it is rumoured that PPP Punjab president Manzoor Wattoo is going to be on the chopping block. The League has prepared a response as well. No, not Hamza Shahbaz, who isn’t known for his wit, or Maryam Nawaz, who isn’t tested, really, in anything. But Rana Sanaullah. The law minister, who doubles up as the government’s spokesperson, has a bit of a don look to him. His posse/entourage, coupled with his shades, certainly promote that look. He is said to be sharpening the barbs for Bhutto’s arrival. Pigdin Urdu and burgereeyat notwithstanding, the kid can make heavyweight politicos nervous. Something to be said for that. g

********** Well, the former chief justice’s penchant for sweet, sweet rides was known to all. But it has made another appearance. Remember that court order? The one which asked the government to provide a bullet-proof vehicle to him? Well, the issue now is the make and model of this car! Would be pertinent to mention that this fondness for expensive cars was one of the things that were highlighted during his original scuffle with the then president. In both these cases, it is OPM. Other People’s Money. The government’s specifically. How about if dutiful Arsalan Iftikhar arranges some of this cash? g


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Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

How to save Pakistan? After 66 years, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schism is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times. The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Maybe we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription, to rise again and rebuild the nation, because for the overwhelming majority a time is coming that the masses may well be forced to think that if there is no life there is no nation. Pakistan needs a turnaround for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change

from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China under Mao Zedong. Hence, for all Pakistanis failure is not an option but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract, for the common people of Pakistan who always pay 100 percent bills and taxes and never default on their bank loans. Let us make a new Pakistan which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses. Changes must be made in the constitution to make it a presidential form of democratic setup. The election system should also be changed so that the whole country directly votes for the president. However, before voting the candidates of all political parties for presidential post must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators who will be automatically considered elected according to the percentage of votes cast in favour of the main candidate for the top post of the country. The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised on which later on no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan in each and every field of life after 50 years. This plan should be further divided into ten five years plans. In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea, for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of one class of the people over the other. In fact, it will work wonders in

the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly any secessionist or separatist activities currently prevailing in some parts of the country. SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD Lahore

An unjust law is no law at all This is in apropos to the news published in the newspapers that Sindh Assembly Speaker Mr Agha Siraj Durani has suspended five security personnel including chief security officer due to their failure to prevent graffiti inside the Sindh Assembly building. Mr Durani while talking to the media said that the graffiti had violated the sanctity of the elected house of legislature of Sindh. Mr Durani’s step is appreciable here but what about the marriage ceremony of Mr Durani’s close relative in Sindh Assembly building which was held on 3rd November, 2013. Alongside this, with the total disregard of law, dozens of police officials including security officials of Sindh Assembly were also deployed in order to protect and maintain the sanctity of the marriage ceremony in Sindh Assembly premises. Did that marriage ceremony not violate the sanctity of the house of legislature? How can there be different rules for same thing i.e., the same hall with same sanctity but with different rules for violation. What a joke with the sanctity of Sindh Assembly! Everyone must have heard that the rules are made to be broken or rules are made for others, not for self. It is a great example of that. Mr Durani suspended

five officials because they did not stop someone who tried to raise her voice against the injustices but same officials were deployed in the same hall to protect the sanctity of the house of legislature where a marriage ceremony of Mr Durani’s loved one was taking place. This reminds of the Saint Augustine who once said, “An unjust law is no law at all”. A LAW ABIDING CITIZEN Karachi

Run of the river dams There is a lot of loose talk on TV channels by the anchorpersons on building run-ofthe-river dams on Jhelum and Chenab rivers. Please be informed that these dams can be built only in the mountain ranges. Neelum-Jhelum and Kishanganga dam are 154 and 121 feet high respectively, which is also the height of the mountains which form the valley in which water is to be stored. The anchorpersons should go to Google to see the kind of hilly terrain in which these dams are built. Where will we find 121 feet high hills, or even half that height, in the plains of Punjab and in the deserts of Sindh, except in a very few places? The best that can be done in the plains is to store flood water in low lying areas along the rivers. These ponds will be a useful source of water for the people and their cattle, but there will be no gravity flow from them as from the dams and the barrages. Water will be available only by pumping in limited quantities at considerable cost. ENGR KHURSHID ANWER Lahore

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Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

humayun Gauhar

The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at: humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com.

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ormer Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir was prompted to write to me after my last article, ‘Dictator-Dacoits in democrat’s clothing’. I feel compelled to share his letter with you as he has so eloquently explained the problematic legal issues in the treason case against Gen Pervez musharraf with great reason and clarity. “my compliments to you for your excellent article on General musharraf’s so-called treason case. Legally speaking I may say that this case has put the entire superior judiciary on trial since it is most likely to expose the real face of these judges. In my opinion we do not have a legally and validly constituted superior judiciary in the country today and I have candidly conveyed this telephonically in a recent TV talk show. I therefore strongly feel that Gen musharraf should be advised by his team of legal experts in writing on the basis of reasons contained herein below not to appear before the special court. The so-called three-judge special court is illegal and unconstitutional for the following reasons: “First: These judges are not duly appointed. All persons functioning as judges in the aftermath of the July 31, 2009 judgment rendered in the Sindh High Court Bar Association’s case reported as PLD 2009SC879 are fake judges, because the July 31, 2009 judgment is void ab initio. It is a matter of record that the Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and Lahore High Court Bar Association have expressed serious reservations as regards the legality and correctness of this judgment by means of resolutions passed from time to time. The reference filed by Justice Yasmin Abbasey inclusive of a plethora of views of legal experts such as myself, Justice markanday Katju and others of repute also raise serious questions about the legitimacy of this judgment. The judgment of July 31 2009, apart from being void ab initio, is based on double standards and is a serious violation of the principles of natural justice, good conscience and fair play. The reasons for this are many but for the time being I may mention a few e.g. discriminatory treatment was meted out to the majority of judges at the hands of a minority of their brother judges who were 14 in number as a result whereof almost the entire judiciary was wiped out and those who survived this onslaught had to face contempt of

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court proceedings. The judges who had to face contempt of court proceedings were made dysfunctional in violation of the constitution. The judges who were in a minority became judges in their own cause and condemned a very large number of judges who were in the majority without hearing them or even issuing them any notice to present their viewpoint on the issue in question. They even held that the ousted judges have no right to file a review or an appeal against the decision in question. It goes without saying that even a terrorist, a brutal murderer or a rapist has the right to defend his cause and the further right to challenge an unfavourable verdict in appeal or review. There is no provision in the constitution under which a sitting judge can be hampered from performing his judicial functions. over 100 judges appointed by a constitutionally and democratically elected President of Pakistan had been removed by a small minority of 14 judges who themselves were appointed as judges of the superior judiciary under a Provisional Constitution order issued in the year 2000 by the Chief of the Army staff General Pervez musharraf who has been dubbed a ‘usurper’ by the beneficiaries of the said PCo viz. the above referred 14 judges. “In a nutshell the judgment of July 31, 2009 has all the attributes of a void decision, which is not only unconstitutional but also unprincipled and against the most basic notions of rule of law. I hardly know of any such decision in the judicial history of this planet where a few judges could sack

‘The current Supreme Court, no longer headed by Iftikhar Chaudhry but a sober and educated chief justice, should throw out the July 31, 2007 judgment so that we can get on with saving Pakistan.’ almost the entire superior judiciary and that too in violation of the most fundamental of rights viz. the right of hearing and/or the right of appeal. Needless to mention that right to fair trial is an inalienable and most fundamental right available to every citizen of Pakistan under the constitution. “The mess created by the aforesaid judgment has resulted in serious violations of the Universal Declaration of Human rights and as a sequel to that the country’s legal order remains chaotic. “As such, instead of trying

This enTire Trial business

Gen musharraf, the aforesaid judgment of July 31, 2009 needs revisiting in the interest of justice and for the purpose of ensuring strict adherence to the rule of law in our country. “Second: If we adopt the reasoning of the July 31, 2009 judgment, then the judges of the special court shall appear to be partisan if they are not enabled by the government to first proceed with the treason committed by Iftikhar Chaudhry and his coaccused fellow judges of the Supreme Court since these judges overthrew almost the entire superior judiciary of Pakistan by removing a much greater number of judges in violation of Article 209 of the constitution, than Gen musharraf did. “Third: on November 3, 2007, judges were rightly removed through PCo in view of the dictum laid down in Z.A. Shah’s case reported as PLD 2000SC869. Additionally, the Nov 3, 2007 interim order attributed to the Supreme Court was a fake for multiple reasons. even if, for the sake of argument, the Nov 3 order was not a fake, it was directly violative of Z.A. Shah’s case and was devoid of legal sanctity. “Fourth: even otherwise the illegal or unconstitutional removal of judges by the PCo of November 3, 2007 in itself would not amount to subverting or overthrowing the constitution. “Anybody appearing before the aforesaid special court would be guilty of violating Article 5(2) of the constitution. “Gen musharraf should be

advised not to appear before the said special court by his legal team. In case the special court insists on his appearance, the entire legal team would be well within its lawful right to boycott the proceedings after mentioning the above reasons to the special court and the media. “Security or health issues may be important but these should not

‘Irfan Qadir is saying that the Supreme Court order of July 31, 2009 to start the trial doesn’t stand, so the entire case becomes facetious. It also reveals the court’s bias and gives the distinct impression that the Supreme Court’s mind is already made that Musharraf is guilty and should be convicted without the presumption of innocence or trial. It has hamstrung the special court.’ be the main reasons for remaining away from the proceedings of the special court.” I would add that some jurists are of the opinion that one judge on the special court bench was never confirmed by the parliamentary committee and court decisions regarding his appointment were on seemingly contrived petitions and were even

otherwise in grossest violation of the constitution because judges alone cannot appoint judges through court decisions in terms of the letter and spirit of Article 175-A. To my understanding Irfan Qadir is saying that the Supreme Court order of July 31, 2009 to start the trial doesn’t stand, so the entire case becomes facetious. It also reveals the court’s bias and gives the distinct impression that the Supreme Court’s mind is already made that musharraf is guilty and should be convicted without the presumption of innocence or trial. It has hamstrung the special court. my own understanding is that only the federal government can initiate a treason trial under Article 6 of the constitution after a decision of the cabinet and not by an ‘order’ of the Supreme Court because it is not in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to ‘order’ the federal government to do so. And if the accused is found guilty, the parliament decides his or her punishment and not any court. The treason trial essentially rests on the illegal July 31, 2009 order of the Supreme Court, which eventually became the basis of its recent order to the federal government to institute and initiate a treason trial against Gen musharraf, which is not within its purview. The current Supreme Court, no longer headed by Iftikhar Chaudhry but a sober and educated chief justice, should throw out the July 31, 2007 judgment so that we can get on with saving Pakistan. I am more worried for Nawaz Sharif and his government than for Pervez musharraf. If the Supreme Court were to throw out the July 31, 2009 judgment the entire treason case against musharraf would collapse and Nawaz Sharif would be off the hook and the government could try to achieve some stability that is so needed by America for an orderly drawdown of NATo troops this year. Legally speaking, however, if Sharif wishes to put his hand back into the fire that threatens to become a conflagration, there is nothing to stop him from following this known proclivity for selfdestruction. He must think it through carefully for it is for the government in cabinet to decide whether or not to try musharraf, keeping in view, of course, the political ramifications, repercussions and public interest. If government decides to go ahead with such a trial then the proper course would be to try musharraf from october 12, 1999 along with all his aiders and abettors in the army action and for the November 3, 2007 emergency as well – along with all aiders and abettors. The first person to be then called will be Prime minister Nawaz Sharif for creating such conditions on october 12, 1999 that forced the army to intervene to prevent its chief from being handed over to India, a treacherous attempt that mercifully failed, and saving the federation and its constitution. g


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Road to redemption

Paved with pitfalls

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ill now the PMl-N government has not had a good run. Whether flawed policies and poor judgment are to be blamed or it’s just bad joss? Perhaps a mixture of both. While the Zardari government had to face the consistent wrath of the Supreme Court headed by iftikhar Chaudhry, the present rulers are being largely castigated by the iHC (islamabad High Court) for certain key appointments and sackings. Perhaps the government in its anxiety to fill positions with its favourites or remove some irritants in indecent haste has failed to follow proper procedures. NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) chief Tariq Malik despite being reinstated by the iHC decided to call it a day and has since resigned. According to reports threats to his family emanating from a Faisalabadbased PMl-N federal minister proved to be the proverbial last straw for the embattled head of an organization that did salutary work in the field of data identification and e-governance. interior minister Ch NisarAli in the final analysis succeeded in having his way by replacing Malik with a bureaucrat of his liking. Ex post facto, Tariq is being smeared by the PMl-N media juggernaut as being corrupt and a Zardari crony. All this at the expense of the government putting its credibility on the line. The sacking of PEMRA’s (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) head has met the same fate. He has also resumed charge after being reinstated by the iHC. Zaka Ashraf is back as the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) head after a lapse of eight months and Najam Sethi appointed by Sharif is now back in the pavilion. Again, thanks to the iHC. As if this was not enough egg on the federal government’s face the AGP (Accountant General of Pakistan) who was initially suspended and then sacked is back on his job – courtesy the iHC. Similarly news is not that great on other fronts. Talking to the Taliban remains the priority of the government. Especially Ch Nisar Ali seems to be fixated on the idea of talking to the militants come what may. Now his boss Nawaz Sharif has come up with another gem. According to him, ‘extremists are not our enemies, they have just lost their direction’. He made this statement of all places in Swat whose populace has been at the receiving end of the wrath of the Taliban. The question that begs an answer here is, if the extremists who have unleashed rampant terrorism throughout Pakistan are not the existential enemy of the state, then who is? Are the ‘bleeding heart liberals’, who have now been joined in by some erstwhile apologists of the Taliban pleading ad nauseum that talks can only precede military action against them, are the real enemies of the state? Maulana Fazl ur Rehman’s JUi (F) has been inducted in the federal cabinet as a

coalition partner. Maulana Sami ul Haq has already been tasked with opening a back channel with the Taliban. Obviously the government has chosen the path of least resistance in dealing with extremists. A few more terrorist incidents down the line however, and it will be forced to close ranks with the military in dealing a tough hand to the terrorists. in the interregnum jaw-jaw with the Taliban lobby within the government is dominating the agenda. Blatant selfinterest and short sighted survival instinct is overshadowing enlightened selfinterest. Meanwhile the economy remains in a mess. The SBP’s (State Bank of Pakistan) annual report has downgraded the government projected economic growth rate for the year 2013-14 of 4.4 per cent to between three to four per cent. The iMF on the other hand has projected an even lower growth rate of merely 2-5 to 3 percent for the fiscal year.

‘Obviously the government has chosen the path of least resistance in dealing with extremists. A few more terrorist incidents down the line however, and it will be forced to close ranks with the military in dealing a tough hand to the terrorists.’ This is even lower than the growth rate in 2012-13 fiscal, during the muchmaligned Zardari era. And it also makes a mockery of finance minister ishaq Dar’s tall claim that growth rate in the last

fiscal’s final quarter was above 5 percent. The SBP has hit the nail on its head by calculating the enormous loss to the economy owing to terrorism. According to the annual report the cost of terrorism to the economy is more than the inflow from the CSF (Coalition Support Fund). it is axiomatic that all efforts should be geared to rid the country from the menace of terrorism. Unfortunately the government and for that matter rest of the political spectrum’s record on this count is very patchy. Nawaz Sharif has declared that he will take imran Khan and his coalition partner Munawar Hasan on board in the matter. it is obvious that he is trying to garner support of those who are in favour of talks with the Taliban, at the expense of parties like the PPP and ANP that have a more nuanced approach on the issue. Nonetheless it’s not merely terrorism that is bogging down the economy. it is perhaps also poor governance. Sharif’s economic team has simply failed to deliver. The prime minister despite being elected for the third time seems to be in a state of depression and is not perceived to be leading from the front. He rarely visits the parliament, nor does he seem handson on most critical issues. Key appointments remain perennially pending. Alacrity has been shown in removing incumbents in a ham-handed manner to be replaced by cronies or nonentities. This has resulted in unnecessary litigation and embarrassment for the government. Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf’s trial for high treason was primarily meant to be a diversion. However the matter perhaps not properly thought through before embarked on the trial is turning out to be an albatross around the government’s neck.

‘Nonetheless it’s not merely terrorism that is bogging down the economy. It is perhaps also poor governance. Sharif’s economic team has simply failed to deliver.’ Musharraf is comfortably ensconced in a military hospital close to the GHQ, ostensibly suffering from a heart ailment. Now a court appointed medical board (consisting of the AFiC doctors, though) will determine whether he is physically able to stand trial. He has several times refused to attend the court on health grounds. Obviously the military is reluctant to see its former chief indicted by a civilian court. if Sharif goes ahead with the trial come what may, he risks alienating the army. His record in dealing with past army chiefs is not salutary. He should therefore be careful not to alienate the freshly minted COAS, Gen Raheel Sharif. On the other hand, letting Musharraf off the hook without a trial is also not a good option. it would not only make Article 6 of the constitution redundant but also implicitly encourage future coupmakers. learning the right lessons from history and concentrating on governance is the path for salvation for the PMl-N government. Ego issues should be separated from day to day running of the country. The past government did just that and survived. instead of being obsessed to wrest control of all institutions it should be concentrating on dialogue and accommodation. g

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How to win allies and offer a stable government

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

GeTTiNG

iT wroNG

WHen papers become tHe neWs

The big story now: whether forces hostile to bJP-led NDA can deny it the numbers for stable governance ouT of TurN

MJ AkbAr

The writer is a leading Indian journalist and author. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Guardian. He has also served as Editorial Director of India Today.

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NGROssiNG electoral battles tend to become fairy tales with a twist. Good does not defeat evil; it is never quite as moral as that. But a victor does suddenly become a huge definition of good. And so pink papers, generally strident guardians of private sector interests, choose a hushed silence over the Aam Aadmi Party’s vision of nationalized airports, which would take us back to the antiquities of 1969; or the more recent splurge into subsidy Raj. A honeymoon, of course, is no time for reports on clumsy manoeuvres. so an AAP minister is forgiven lapse of manners, not to say premature hubris, when he stops the screening of a satyajit Ray film in order to deliver a speech after arriving late. Another minister who unleashes vigilantes on doctors in a hospital gets an indulgent pass. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal gets away with amnesia on past corruption of current benefactors in Congress. such foibles will evaporate, although not without raising some questions about credibility, as general elections begin in earnest. The principal question before the electorate in 2014 will be quite different: stability. Who can provide a stable five-year government for an india groping through an economic and confidence crisis? And which alliance has the better set of policies to restore india’s faith in itself? Corruption is a vital concern; but no one has exclusive claims on honesty. Look east, if nowhere else. Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, shivraj Chouhan, Raman singh have been in power, some for a decade or more. No one accuses them of sleaze. Both Congress and BJP understand the need to offer a stable platform. This is why Rahul Gandhi, who is visibly averse to the politics and personality of Lalu Yadav, deigned to give the convicted Bihari leader a few parsimonious minutes of his time, setting off renewed speculation about an

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election alliance. Congress is anxious to partner TRs in Telengana, or face the heart-stopping possibility of being wiped out in Andhra Pradesh. it continues to woo the DMK in Tamil Nadu, despite Karunanidhi’s rebuff. in Uttar Pradesh, it wants the company of Mayawati, although she is as cool as the Arctic. The BJP is getting better purchase in this bargain hunt. it has set aside discomfort within to restore grey sheep Bs Yeddyurappa to the saffron pen. Raju shetti, a small but important ally has signed up in Maharashtra; prodigal Chandra Babu Naidu is expected to trudge back later this month. The Chautalas in haryana are waiting for a nod; a conversation has begun with Asom Gana Parishad in Guwahati. if wishes were horses, Jayalalithaa, Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee would be in the NDA stable (treat this is a small but not negligible pun). A party which cannot offer a stable option will fade, no matter how well-intentioned. imran Khan had a very strong base in Pakistan, having fought three general elections. Despite doing well across variables, imran Khan could not stretch popularity into seats. After stability, security. When a party has not thought things through, remarks by leaders stick

‘A party which cannot offer a stable option will fade, no matter how well-intentioned. Imran Khan had a very strong base in Pakistan, having fought three general elections. Despite doing well across variables, Imran Khan could not stretch popularity into seats.’ in perception, as will Prashant Bhushan’s views on a referendum over the indian Army in Kashmir. Nor can you extrapolate Delhi decisions on to the national scene easily. Reservations of university seats, an AAP decision, panders to parochial sentiment. it is not an option for india. is a blasé elite losing the difference between micro and macro, thanks to media’s insatiable demand for theatre over value? This year’s general elections are not going to be merely another date on the calendar. They will determine the direction of the next decade. A weak, nervous government will ensure further collapse of the economy, even as it loses control over fault lines that always threaten the calm of our country. The demand for Telangana is only one such fissure. Fortunately, a stable coalition is not that difficult to engineer. No one needs 100% of the vote to win. in our system, you do not need even 50%. in the first general election, of 1952, despite being propelled by the powerful impetus of newly-won freedom, Congress got only 45% support. But this was sufficient to win 364 out of 489 seats. Today a coalition which can get 35% or a bit more can tell its tailors to start stitching new pyjamakurtas for the swearing-in. The only PM to rule comfortably for a decade was Nehru; and even he seemed frayed by 1962. his daughter indira Gandhi became PM in 1966; by 1975 she had to suppress democracy to survive. Congress, on the upswing in 2004, is bleeding in 2014. it may have to remain content with some rest and recovery. The big story now is whether forces hostile to BJP-led NDA can deny it the numbers for stable governance. We shall know if there is a fairytale ending by May. g

The Tube

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his particular edition of Media Watch is from the vault. Yes, it belongs to the past. We shall start off with an example from American press history and then find a similar one of our own. But the fact of the matter is that this is a story that would have played out several times in each and every country that has an independent press. That is just how these things play out. The year is 1948. The place, the United states. Election year and, boy, is it a tough one. The incumbent: harry “They don’t like him in hiroshima” Truman. The challenger: New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. The former, a Democrat. The latter, a Republican. Now The Chicago Tribune was a famously anti-Truman paper and had a very clear Republican tilt. so, it is election night. And, as the discerning reader might know, all papers have a deadline. it is a staggered process; leisure, sports and business pages are amongst the first to go to press, sometime in the evening. Then, moving on to the city pages at night. And then, much later, do the front-back and national pages hit the press. This implies deadlines for the reporters. All news media have deadlines. Even websites, on which you are probably reading this right now, have “rolling” deadlines. All this gives the editors of newspapers the problem that, say, TV, doesn’t have. When to go to press on election night? Go to press too soon and you miss out on the conclusive result. Go to press too late and risk the paper not reaching the subscribers on time. And this being 1948, if it hasn’t Psychological warfare? No Lord of the Flies, but you know you’re formidable if you can make a fellow who dropped atom bombs on two cities seem timid in comparison.

reached the breakfast tables, it’s almost as bad as not being printed. so the Tribune risks it and jumps the gun. its analysts were telling the staff that Dewey’s win was imminent. hence, the most famous headline in the paper’s history. Or, perhaps in all American press’. “DEWEY DEFEATs TRUMAN.” But what really twisted the knife was not the mere incorrect headline and the shame associated with it. it was President Truman’s iconic photograph, one that is on almost all lists of American history’s famous photographs, that immortalized the event. A grinning Truman, holding a copy of the Tribune to reporters. in the Pakistani version of this story, Truman’s hubris – if you can call merely grinning that – pales out. The year, 1993. Election time. The newspaper, the Nawa-e-Waqt. Now the media group was never quite a PPP supporter. in fact, the only party it has hated more than the Peoples’ is the Congress Party. And its tempestuous love affair with the PMLN (specially the N) was an open secret. This was a time when the cellphone had made its appearance in the country, but was far from the common feature it has become since fifteen years ago. Getting real time information was tough. Well, the group decided to jump the gun and announce that the League has won the polls. That didn’t happen. The PPP went on to form the federal government. What Larkana, what Garhi Khuda Bakhsh? There are no jayalas keener than the Lahori jayala. Dwindling their numbers might be but so what? so these merry men (and women) of the party bought all the editions of that paper that they could. We are talking of stacks upon stacks of yesterday’s paper. Once they managed, a group converged in front of the Nawa-eWaqt group’s headquaters in Lahore, near Charing Cross. And burnt the stacks. While performing the bhangra around them. Psychological warfare? No Lord of the Flies, but you know you’re formidable if you can make a fellow who dropped atom bombs on two cities seem timid in comparison. g


Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Opinion

Distorting history The snake venom Orya Maqbool Jan and his rightwing fascist ilk is spewing is utterly incompatible with the vision Jinnah gave in his August 11, 1947 speech

Yasser Latif Hamdani The writer is a lawyer and writer based in Lahore, Pakistan. He has authored the book “Jinnah; Myth and Reality”.

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civil servant who doubles as a journalist of sorts, Orya Maqbool Jan has made two startling claims vis a vis the father of this nation, startling not because there is even an iota of truth in them but in the sheer audacity with which he has made these erroneous claims. The more serious claim is his negation of the August 11, 1947 speech by the Quaid-e-Azam. He claims that because Civil and Military Gazette did not cover this speech, it did not exist. Unfortunately for Orya Maqbool Jan and fortunately for this nation, the speech exists in Jinnah Papers as well as archives. The citation is Jinnah Papers Volume IV Appendix IX, Item 4: President’s address. It was also widely covered by the press all over the subcontinent, including The Hindu newspaper. Indeed it was very big news. Muslim League dissident G M Syed had called it a “chastening”. Two weeks later on August 27, 1947 across the border the Indian Constituent Assembly debated the speech, using it as a justification for why the Indian Constitution ought to be secular. M.A Ayangar said: “…Therefore, it is up to us to create a secular State. It would not be wrong for me to quote Mr. Jinnah in this connection, whatever, he might have said before Partition. He said: ‘My idea is to have a secular State here’. Somebody asked : “Religious or secular?” He said: ‘Hindus and Muslim are alike to me. They must have equal opportunities’.” Speaking in the same debate Mr. B Pocker Sahib Bahadur said: “We cannot recognise Religion as far as the State is concerned. I wonder if my friends who have suggested separate electorate for minorities would appreciate the remarks of a great leader of India. It is Mr. Jinnah who, in his address to the Pakistan Assembly says: “…We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens, and equal citizens of one State. We would keep that in front of us as our ideal and in course of time you will find that in the political sense the Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because religion is the personal faith of each individual.” That is what the GovernorGeneral of one of the parts of India says…..I submit Sir, that even they are believers of oneness of their people. Why should we introduce this separatist tendency into our politics? Sir, at another place the same very great leader says “…you are free to go to your temples and places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to one religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” Yet Orya Maqbool Jan has started claiming that Jinnah made no such speech. Why then were the legislators in India quoting it? The

reason is that Orya understands quite well that the snake venom he and his fellow rightwing fascist colleagues have been spewing in Urdu newspapers about the ideology of Pakistan is utterly incompatible with the vision Jinnah gave in the speech. Jinnah’s August 11 speech is extraordinary – both in terms of its message and the breadth of its vision. It was the crowning glory of a magnificent career in law and politics. It was too fine for philistines and immediately after it was delivered, efforts were underway – then too by a scheming civil servant called Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, the forerunner of the Oryas of Pakistan – to censor the speech and stop it from being published. Despite all that, the speech survived and was referred to by Jinnah himself

of 400 million souls, in subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but for this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson from this. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those

on several occasions when speaking to minorities about the protection of their rights. The Pakistan Constituent Assembly records for August 11, 1947 show that Mr Jinnah rose up to speak after Kiran Shankar Roy of the Congress Party, then a member from East Pakistan, had spoken congratulating the Quaid-e-Azam on his election as president of the Constituent Assembly and asking him to make a clear pronouncement on whether Pakistan would be a secular state or not. Jinnah answers that question unequivocally in the speech. Turning his attention to partition, he spoke of why he felt division may have been necessary but that the final decision would be left to history. He then listed well-being of the people as the key goal of the state. After this he came to the part which needs to be quoted in full: “I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit, and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community – because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalees, Madrasis and so on – will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and independence, and but for this we would have been free people long long ago. No power can hold another nation, and specially a nation

days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State. The people of England in [the] course of time had to face the realities of the situation, and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country; and they went through that fire step by step. Today, you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain, and they are all members of the Nation. Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.” There are some who claim, unlike Orya, that this vision is completely compatible with Islam. More power to them. It is however clear then that under the state as envisioned by Mr Jinnah on August 11 – a speech which cannot be denied or hushed under the carpet – is not the theocratic and backward dystopia that Orya wants to make it. Call it Islamic or call it secular but the state envisaged by Mr Jinnah was plural, democratic and inclusive. The attempts to distort Mr Jinnah’s legacy are

nothing new. After Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Majeed Malik, an establishment hand and quite ironically Salman Rushdie’s uncle, had meticulously edited out “inappropriate” stuff from Hector Bolitho’s draft of “Jinnah the creator of Pakistan”. One of the changes dealt with the August 11 speech, the quote of which was ‘suitably amended’ to make it conform to the national ideology. Then in the 1980s General Zia banned Stanley Wolpert’s book “Jinnah of Pakistan” when it came out because it mentioned something about Jinnah’s dietary habits. During General Zia’s time, a diary was also discovered which the Quaid-e-Azam used to keep but was till then miraculously tucked away. These claims were withdrawn soon after they were made – never to be heard of again. Not content with the incorrigible footin-mouth manoeuvre that Orya tried to pull vis a vis the August 11 speech, he has also ‘discovered’ a document that he claims shows Jinnah’s desire to form an Islamic Research Centre to be headed by Allama Asad. No such document exists in Jinnah Papers or Jinnah archives. Even more surprisingly the so called Islamic Research Centre was formed under Punjab government and not the federal government. The patron of the idea was Nawab Mamdot. Jinnah had no idea or clue about its existence. Perhaps more interesting is Orya’s lionizing Allama Asad as a counterweight to what he inaccurately terms “secularist propaganda.” Perhaps he hasn’t applied his mind to Allama Asad’s interpretations of Islam. Clearly even Asad’s thoughts do not quite correspond to the narrow-minded and bigoted interpretation of Islam that people like Orya put up. Of course Pakistan need not follow Jinnah’s prescription to its own peril, in my opinion, for Jinnah’s idea of Pakistan is the only solution to our current quagmire. Obviously Orya has every right to forward his ideas but he has no right to distort the facts of history. The very fact that he has attempted this shows what lengths the right wing will go to ensure that real history and facts are not taught to the people of Pakistan.

‘Jinnah’s August 11 speech is extraordinary – both in terms of its message and the breadth of its vision. It was the crowning glory of a magnificent career in law and politics. It was too fine for philistines and immediately after it was delivered, efforts were underway – then too by a scheming civil servant called Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, the forerunner of the Oryas of Pakistan – to censor the speech and stop it from being published.’ www.pakistantoday.com.pk 07


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Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Suspended animation

What would you say of a leadership that instigates the mourning of a mass-murderer? Candid Corner raoof Hasan

The writer is a political analyst and the Executive Director of the Regional Peace Institute. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com

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uspended animation is best described as “a temporary state of interrupted breathing and loss of consciousness resembling death”. pakistan’s insane push for talks with the militant groups is tantamount to virtually putting it on course to embracing such a fatalistic state – that is if it has not already done so! It has now been over four months since the conclusion of the All parties’ Conference (ApC), announcing of its declaration of ‘giving peace a chance’ and authorising the government to take steps to initiate the peace process with the militant groups (who were criminally dubbed as ‘stakeholders’ on a par with the state of pakistan). That was an unmistakable indicator of appeasement of the militant groups which have systematically thwarted the initiatives of conducting a dialogue, save on their terms and conditions, that effectively spell the onset of a theocratic state ruled by a regressive and degenerate mindset. We have heard innumerable harangues regarding the drone attacks and the death of Hakimullah Mehsud as having sabotaged the peace talks. We have also seen the mantle of talks being passed on from Maulana Fazalur Rehman to Maulana samiul Haq, understandably as a consequence of the former’s failure in breaking the ice – of course, much to his angst! We have also read statements coming from the government’s luminaries regarding a level of success in the dialogue process, but nothing concrete has emerged so far. One understands the need for confidentiality regarding any such process, but independent reports emanating from sources that are close to the quarters engaged

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in the effort (of initiating the dialogue) sound extremely pessimistic about the prospect. This is understandable. I am one of those who have consistently opposed the narrative based on initiating a dialogue process with the militant groups principally because of little hope that I have regarding a positive outcome. This is so because the militant groups, being the perpetrators of terrorism, have always opposed the idea of engaging in negotiations that would be conducted along pragmatic and rational lines for any sustainable solution of the scourge of militancy. They only believe in one narrative which is what they propound. They are not sensitive to either its impracticality or its inadvisability. It is like commanding the government to accept what they propose, or else there would be nothing at all. How can one penetrate such a mindset? The government and the leaders of other political parties thought there was hope, so they decided to initiate the process. Over four months wasted with little to no outcome, but, based on statements of the government functionaries, the quest for the elusive peace continues. understandably, leaders of some political parties have already reneged from the original stance that they had taken at the ApC, but is there someone who has the courage, character and integrity to come forth and announce the end of this process that was stillborn at the outset? Another key factor that must be kept in mind is that the existing precarious balance of power between the state of pakistan and the militant groups, some of whom are dubbed as the Taliban, is shifting perceptibly in favour of the latter. In the wake of events leading up to the us drawdown in 2014, the militants hope to gain further influence within Afghanistan, both in terms of raw power and territory under their control, which they would use to lethal effect.

For the present, it is the militants from across the Western border who cross over into the FATA region for refuge. After the drawdown, the likely scenario would change and the militants fighting in various parts of pakistan would have a larger secure area for refuge inside Afghanistan, thus making the fight even more difficult for the pakistani forces. They would also be much more powerful in terms of numbers and the attendant wherewithal and would, consequently, be more emboldened to initiate daring incursions into pakistani territory. Is that what the government and its

‘After the drawdown, the likely scenario would change and the militants fighting in various parts of Pakistan would have a larger secure area for refuge inside Afghanistan, thus making the fight even more difficult for the Pakistani forces. They would also be much more powerful in terms of numbers and the attendant wherewithal and would, consequently, be more emboldened to initiate daring incursions into Pakistani territory.’ allies and supporters from the religious and the neo-religious parties are waiting for? It is a tangible prospect that would effectively shift the control away from pakistan and land it effectively in the lap of the conglomerate of militant groups. pakistan’s anti-terror policies have always been flawed, mostly criminally negligent of the ground realities and the long-term strategic needs of the state. Like in other matters, the key effort has been directed at perpetuating appeasement in return for securing political gains from the militant groups and elongating to perpetuity the rule of the family fiefdoms. This flawed thinking has not been more visible anywhere in the country than in punjab where a gory cross-section of divergent militant groups have continued to operate and prosper under the patronage held

forth by the government of the province. political bargains have been concluded with these criminal bands to advance the interests of the pML-n and its leadership. It is the same regressive mindset that is reflected in the ApC announcement and the steps that have been taken since then, fully aided and abetted by the religious and neo-religious outfits of the country. pakistan lives in fear: fear of the militants on the one hand and fear of the regressive mullah on the other. There is the tyranny perpetrated by the guns and bombs, and there is the tyranny of the distorted proclamations from the pulpit. There is the everpresent fear from the extortionists, the arsonists and the rapists, the preachers of violence along sectarian lines and the dead-meat, gunny-bag merchants of Karachi and their political patrons. There is the fear of being kidnapped, of being tortured, of having sisters and mothers paraded naked through bazaars and of coming back to burnt houses because someone in a position of importance wanted it that way. Worse still, the institution that is tasked with providing security to the people has become complicit in illegal undertakings and a brazen instrument in inflicting indescribable torture, both of the physical and the mental varieties. There is no respite. pakistan and its people live from one tragedy to the next - then preparing for the one that is yet to come! There is a well thought-out plan of deception which is being endlessly heaped on the nation. There appears no end in sight. pakistan has lost much time. More time is being wasted. pakistan seems stuck with polemics when the need is to stop circumventing the core issues and getting down to facing the ground realities. There is no will, character or courage on the anvil to undertake a task of such magnitude and challenge. From one cycle of deceit to the next, the focus remains on the mundane: how to last through today. Tomorrow is another day and we’ll deal with it when we are faced with it. The perpetual cycle of violence has taken its toll. Losing hope in the ones who are supposed to provide protection, more and more people are becoming trigger-happy. They have bequeathed upon themselves the right to defend in ways that suit them which, mostly, are in contravention of the law and its ascendant principles. That is what it degenerates to when the state begins to disintegrate. The process had commenced a long time ago. It is now that it has picked up in momentum and magnitude. The downward slide appears unstoppable. The state has long since lost its writ and has begun to lose its relevance. The institutions that are meant to safeguard the lives and

properties of the people are busy vandalising the same. The people who are supposed to reflect subservience before law have taken on the task of annihilating the difference between the right and the wrong: right is what suits them and wrong what does not.

‘How much more can a leadership degenerate? How much more can a people take the ravages of deceit and deception? The decline is steep and the precipice is a straight fall. A victim of extreme paucity of capability and capacity, the one plonked in the driving seat has both his feet on the accelerator. Chased by criminal bands puking venom and hatred – the ones the government is desperately trying to appease – the journey in front is an unending blur with the state tottering to an inevitable self-destruct.’ democracy has been reduced to practising the whims of an illiterate and economically-captive majority, mostly dominated by an egotistical preoccupation with the past. Raw vengeance is being wreaked in the name of forestalling the prospect of military coups. The slide to oblivion is rampant and there appears no one in sight to stop it. The onset of regression is alarming. security of people is being sought under the scourge of the militants. The country is being surrendered to the diktat of the renegade pontiffs. Institutions of the state are being bulldozed in the name of privatization and its assets secured in personal coffers in foreign lands. The tentacles of regression and degeneration have dug in deep. The government is bending over backwards to initiate a peace dialogue with criminal bandits whose hands are immersed in blood with over 50,000 barbarous killings. The nation is made to mourn the death of a criminal who spearheaded the unleashing of mayhem throughout the country. His elimination is dubbed as an attack on the prospect of peace! How much more can a leadership degenerate? How much more can a people take the ravages of deceit and deception? The decline is steep and the precipice is a straight fall. A victim of extreme paucity of capability and capacity, the one plonked in the driving seat has both his feet on the accelerator. Chased by criminal bands puking venom and hatred - the ones the government is desperately trying to appease - the journey in front is an unending blur with the state tottering to an inevitable selfdestruct. g


Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Cover Story

tHe cHiMera of talks WitH tHe ttp

It is more important to secure Pakistan than to seek a dominant role in Afghanistan or keep the pot boiling in Kashmir aziz-uddin aHMad The writer is a political analyst and a former academic.

Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will become a vegetarian. —Heywood Campbell Broun

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ince its assumption of power more than seven months back the PML-N has advocated talks with the Pakistani Talban as panacea for putting an end to terrorism. As Chaudhry Nisar put it soon after the APC, “the war Pakistan was facing could only be brought to an end through dialogue and negotiations.” The policy of total reliance on talks that has been pursued over the time has further encouraged the terrorists and harmed the country while it has failed to achieve the stated goal. The use of force is never an ideal solution. Military action against militant groups operating in civilian areas often leads to the killing of innocent people, destruction of habitations, infrastructure, means of livelihood and displacement of large chunks of population. An attempt has therefore to be made to isolate the insurgents by winning over the wavering elements. This was why the political parties which have been the major target of the TTP also supported the talks first at the APC called by the ANP in February and later at the APC

convened by the PML-N in August. The PML-N has had enough time to conduct the talks. It has however miserably failed to break the alliance of terror forged by the TTP. The cause of the failure is the leadership’s policy of appeasement. The PML-N and PTI have a soft corner for the militant groups. The PML-N has in fact sought the help of LeJ activists during several elections in a number of constituencies in Punjab. Many activists of the two parties have an ambivalent attitude towards the militant groups, sharing their ideals of a world Islamic khilafat while differing with the use of violence to achieve the aim. The PTI has reintroduced the teachings about jihad reportedly removed by the ANP government into the school curriculum in KP. The demand in the National Assembly by PTI MNA Mujahid Ali Khan for the release of Taseer’s murderer Mumtaz Qadri made during a debate on the budget is reflective of the extremist streak in the party. In view of their bias for the militant networks the PML-N and PTI were not qualified to break the terrorist alliance. The PML-N has wasted months in talking about talks. It employed a lot of verbiage like Ch Nisar claiming that ‘it would be an integrated and allencompassing dialogue. The first interaction between the government and the Taliban would determine what the two sides wanted from each other’. The ‘first interaction’ is nowhere in sight. Instead of calling upon other parties to help in the talks, Nawaz Sharf should acknowledge the failure of his policy .The only alternative left now is to fight the

Any probing questions regarding the dialogue put to the leaders of the two parties were sidestepped. The TTP comprises over two dozen groups, around 50 by some counts. Anyone asking which ones the supporters of the dialogue wanted to talk to or win over was asked to wait patiently. The same answer was given to those who put questions about what the government was willing to offer in return for peace.

militant groups. Anyone who had read the statements of the TTP or watched their activities knew there never was a chance of making the TTP discard violence through negotiations. What Hakimullah Mehsud said in his last interview with the BBC on October 9, should have opened the eyes of the supporters of talks. As he put it, “There will be no impact of the American withdrawal on the TTP, because friendship with America is only one of the two reasons we have to conduct jihad against Pakistan. The other reason is that Pakistan’s system is un-Islamic, and we want that it should be replaced with the Islamic system. This demand and this desire will continue even after the American withdrawal.” The terrorist network has never made a secret of its aims or of its methods to achieve its goal. Without mincing words it has categorically rejected democracy and declared that it would enforce the Sharia through violence that includes bombings, suicide bombing, assassinations, and indiscriminate killings. It has declared that it did not believe in geographical borders or national states and would replace them with a worldwide khilafat, through jihad. The TTP has idealised Osama bin Laden, observed his death anniversaries where it expressed solidarity with his cause and vowed to continue on the path shown by him. There is a complete ideological affinity between TTP and Al-Qaeda. All this has been duly reported in the press and the electronic and the social media. The PML-N and PTI have vied with each other in placating the terrorists. Even when Ehsanullah

Ehsan or Shahidullah Shahid owned a deadly attack that had killed or maimed dozens, Ch Nisar and KP Information Minister Shah Farman feigned ignorance. Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan also remained in a perpetual state of denial. Any probing questions regarding the dialogue put to the leaders of the two parties were sidestepped. The TTP comprises over two dozen groups, around 50 by some counts. Anyone asking which ones the supporters of the dialogue wanted to talk to or win over was asked to wait patiently. The same answer was given to those who put questions about what the government was willing to offer in return for peace. The PML-N’s vain quest for talks started soon after the elections. An APC was convened in September to develop a consensus. The PML-N enjoyed absolute majority in NA and the PTI had formed government in KP. The religious parties were already supporting a compromise for whatever it might cost. As they were seen to be adamant on holding parleys, parties like PPP, ANP and MQM which differed with the approach decided to go along with those ruling at the centre and in KP, the province most affected by terrorism. The APC rubber stamped the policy of appeasement being advocated by the PML-N and PTI. The militant groups which were responsible for the death of an estimated 50,000 men, women and children and over 5,000 soldiers were described as “our own people” and declared “stakeholders” in the peace efforts. The resolution passed by the APC was aptly declared by critics as a sell out and an instrument of surrender.

The move at appeasement was bound to encourage the TTP. It became even more intransigent. While the PML-N and PTI continued to talk about talks, the TTP increased its attacks. Six days after the APC the TTP killed Maj General Niazi and in the week after that it launched three of its deadliest attacks in Peshawar. The only option left now is to fight the TTP on front foot. The battle needs to be taken to the militants’ stronghold of North Waziristan which has been turned into a hub of terrorism both for attacks inside the country and abroad. Once the TTP is deprived of its safe haven and is on the run the wavering elements in the terrorist alliance will be willing for talks. It would be possible then to hold negotiations with them from a position of strength. Unless they are seen to be in a hopeless position, making approaches to them will not yield results. There is a need during the operation to keep it targeted. The civilian population too has to be provided security, possibly through evacuation from the zone of operation. If this could be done in the case of Swat and South Waziristan which had larger populations, this can be made possible in North Waziristan. There is a need on the part of to army to avoid the policy of cherry-picking among the terrorist groups. This had harmed the country during the so-called Afghan jihad. The subsequent patronisation of the Afghan Taliban created problems that Pakistani is still facing. It is more important to secure Pakistan than to seek a dominant role in Afghanistan or keep the pot boiling in Kashmir. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 09

Th fu to


Cover Story

overcoMing tHe prisoner’s dileMMa After all what greater service can a state do to its people than providing them security, freedom and economic opportunities

Yasser latif HaMdani The writer is a lawyer and writer based in Lahore, Pakistan. He has authored the book “Jinnah: Myth and Reality”.

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risoner’s dilemma is a classic game theory scenario where two prisoners – coconspirators – are kept in solitary confinement, each being offered a deal to turn on the other. If the prisoners stay silent they end up getting a smaller sentence but invariably both prisoners turn on each other leading to a higher sentence being imposed on both of them. This theoretical scenario has great relevance to Pakistan’s approach to war on terror. First of all, let us be clear: Terrorism is not an insurmountable challenge. The issue in Pakistan is not of the challenge but the will to overcome it. Terrorism is tolerated because it helps the powers that be in maintaining status quo. Indeed it is a case of prisoner’s dilemma between PML-N at the centre and PTI in KPK. Consider: For the KPK provincial government, terrorism may be a headache but it is also a mobilising slogan against the federal government. After all foreign policy and defence are federal subjects and therefore a convenient stick to beat the government at the centre with. The federal government on the other hand is vested in ensuring that the provincial KPK government fails at all costs. Meanwhile the military arm of the federal government is happy to sit by and let PTI and PML-N wage a fratricidal political battle. Meanwhile the Taliban are in the driving seat. What we need now is a series of several bold decisions which parties

caught up in a prisoner’s dilemma are unlikely to take. First and foremost, the PML-N government should invite PTI and PPP to form a national unity government, modeled after Churchill’s government during the Second World War. The war cabinet should decide how to go about the war against Taliban. It is clear that neither negotiations nor all out war are solutions to this quagmire. Indeed any negotiation with the Taliban can – given the constitutional bar of Article 256 – has to be limited to the terms of surrender and for such a negotiation, the necessary threat of force is essential.

them. Every such leader who is captured should then be tried in special tribunals for crimes against Pakistan and its people. This however is not the end of the terrorism entanglement. It is important to rebuild the basic structure of the tribal society in Waziristan. Political autonomy with a political agent is a system that worked before this war began. Political autonomy for the tribes should however be coupled with genuine reform and application of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution. Pakistan

What we need now is a series of several bold decisions which parties caught up in a prisoner’s dilemma are unlikely to take. First and foremost, the PML-N government should invite PTI and PPP to form a national unity government, modeled after Churchill’s government during the Second World War

A key element in this is to replace the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) with a constitutive document subservient to the Constitution of Pakistan whereby people of FATA can elect representatives not just to the National Assembly but have a grand FATA assembly of their own as well with a Chief Minister and a Governor

Here recourse to Islamic History may not be entirely out of place. The final campaign of Muslims against the Quraysh of Mecca is an excellent example to follow. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) amassed his forces outside Mecca forcing the Meccans to come out and negotiate. What is needed now is a massive show of force – not use of force but amassing of force which may be used – followed by a general amnesty for all those mid-tier Taliban leaders and foot soldiers who lay down their arm and surrender. Next having isolated the ideological leadership from their support base, targeted operations should be carried out with the purpose of arresting

needs to build schools, hospitals and roads in Waziristan. Ultimately you have to give the people a stake in Pakistan for them to be loyal to it. This is a multi-pronged approach based on respect for local traditions, rule of law and development that will ultimately win back the hearts and minds of those who have been poisoned against us by rabid fanatics and ideologues. A key element in this is to replace the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) with a constitutive document subservient to the Constitution of Pakistan whereby people of FATA can elect representatives not just to the National Assembly but have a

Mian abrar The writer is a Islamabad based journalist. He can be reached at hussainmian@gmail.com.

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ith the reluctance shown by the new leadership of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to hold talks with the government, it is somewhat surprising to note that the leading experts and politicians aboard the pro-dialogue bandwagon of PTI and PML-N, are also losing hope of peace, and some even want the government to decide either for talks or launch an army operation to flush out the militants from across country. However, it’s only the politicians with political base in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who are still calling for talks, including Imran Khan, Maulana Fazlur

10 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

grand FATA assembly of their own as well with a Chief Minister and a Governor. Ultimately FATA should become a province of its own – an autonomous tribal province nonetheless subject to fundamental rights and minimum standards legislation of the federation. Once this model is successful in Waziristan, the same can be replicated in Balochistan. All of these will provide symptomatic relief to a deeper problem. The state itself has to modernise its laws in terms of dealing with diversity in Pakistan. On a longer timeline the state has to come to terms with this diversity and allow accommodation and co-existence under the federal umbrella between various classes, groups and minorities in Pakistan. A workable constitution with peaceful transition of power every five years will create the stability required for an economic turnaround. Besides a house divided is likely to fall but a house united will always stand – peace and stability along our western border will ensure a massive energy and transport corridor linking the Middle East to Western China. The geography which has at times proved to be a bane may well be a boon. The dividend that peace in our region will ensure what a US state department official had written as early as 1950: If Pakistan can develop without any major disruptions, it may well

become the strongest economic power between from Turkey and India. To do this Pakistan has to be pragmatic, especially about its decision making. The interests of the state are temporal and therefore the state cannot be held hostage to the other-worldly concerns. Every step that needs to be taken to further the interests of the country should be undertaken. After all what greater service can a state do to its people than providing them security, freedom and economic opportunities. All this requires of course that our politicians, those clothed in authority, should overcome the prisoner’s dilemma and work together to put forth a united front against the very surmountable challenges before us. g

to talk or not to talk Rehman and some others.

POLITICIANS’ VIEWS Imran Khan: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan told Pakistan Today that the rationale for talks with TTP was explained in the APC where the federal government was mandated by all political parties for dialogue and the same was supported by the military. “After years of military operations, terrorism has merely increased so the All Parties Conference (APC) called for giving peace a chance. If the government now feels dialogue is not possible then it needs to convene another APC and build a new national consensus,” he added. Khan said that so far the government had created a dangerous vacuum by having no clear policy on dialogue now has it shown any movement forward. Responding to a question on seriousness of the

government for talks, Khan said that the government not only seemed devoid of seriousness but also confused as to how to proceed forward which, as stated earlier, had created a policy vacuum. Asked whether the government should insist on talks with militants from the position of strength by first squeezing the TTP or it should keep begging for talks, Khan said that the government should do neither. “The government always holds dialogues with the power of the state behind it. That is a given. It’s up to the government to ensure that that perception is carried to other side,” he added. Shaikh Rashid Ahmed: Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, a right-wing politician who leads his own faction of Muslim League, looked hopeless about the prospect of talks between the banned militant outfit TTP and the federal government, stating that the militants looked determined to attack the security forces and the people at large. “Let me tell you that I am hopeless. Though I had

called for holding talks and bring back peace but let me tell you that the government appears to have no action plan and the rulers look clueless about the way forward.” He said that in his view more bloodshed was awaiting Pakistan and its people as the militants had penetrated deep in state apparatus and in urban areas. He also expressed his hopelessness about the role of religious parties and groups. “I think the role of religious parties, scholars and political fronts like DPC has reduced and TTP elements have rejected any facilitation process. I think no group or individual can help start peace process,” he added. He added that in his view the militants were determined to attack Pakistan, its forces and the people and that they were resorting to target killings, moving past the practice of using IED. He said that the government needed to take practical steps either by holding talks or going for


Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

strategies on “Pakistan’s disassociation from war on terror” while considering the ongoing terrorism as a reaction to the US drone attacks. This despite the fact that the policies of the previous Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government were based on three D’s: Dialogue, Development and Deterrence. And before that Pervez Musharraf’s policies were based on how the US wanted them to be though the three D’s formula was

Hope again st

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The go vt

is again st an u phill ta sk

sHaMiM sHaHid The writer is a Peshawar based journalist.

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hatever is the basis for the claim of the Nawaz government regarding a negotiated settlement of the terrorism issue, it has encouraged the terrorist organisations, despite divisions and rifts among them, to extend their terror network throughout the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after ruining writ of law in tribal areas. Even the terrorists are divided on the issue of

operation as TTP would get stronger by each passing day. “Since snow melting will start by March, the militants’ attacks will also go lethal. So it’s time to act now,” he asserted. Jan Achakzai: JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai said that his party believed that meaningful talks had not been initiated by the government as of yet. “Both the Taliban and government have not agreed upon on ceasefire. It cannot be done through a courier/postman (sending a religious scholar or a university professor) or someone who does not have any idea about the area, nor its people. Local jirga, which comprises of the elders of the tribes, is the only way forward for talks with the TTP, and is a proper mechanism which was suggested in the APC held on February 28, 2013, and was backed by all political parties.” About the government’s seriousness in talks, Achakzai said that the government was serious to hold talks, and as a coalition partner, they were advising it on different issues including on how to bring the TTP onto negotiating table. “But it is government’s discretion to follow through, or otherwise. Our understanding is that no political leader, a group or individual can do meaningful talks with TTP alone except through the tribal elders who

holding talks with the government. The leader of the banned TTP, Mullah Fazalullah, is against dialogue and reconciliation with the government while many of his affiliates and his loyalists of both Hakimullah Mehsud and Mufti Waliur Rehman, along with the leaders of Punjabi Taliban, are in favour of dialogue. Soon after coming into power, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the party in power, declared to focus on political ways rather than military action for tackling the inherited issue of terrorism. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, the party in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, focused all of its

have influence over the local tribes and who can bind the TTP and its associates to a ceasefire and compliance its thereon.” “Our understanding is that the government has not tasked any individual yet for talks. If somebody claims so it means that the government, army and agencies have failed to resolve the issue and have sublet the policy of sorting it out to a third force. We believe the mandate of the government is clear and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar is the point man to make a final call,” he added. He said that negotiations were the ultimate solution to this insurgency as it had the backing of a narrative and force could not eliminate it completely. “It requires a counter narrative. The use of force is pushing the TTP to settled areas, making it more difficult to counter them with our ineffective strategy. We lack intelligence sharing, have a weak criminal justice system. Force alone for the last 13 years has not been a successful tactic”. Secondly, he added, the ‘dialogue from position of strength’ has become a cliché. “The government never becomes weak by negotiations. It should always keep open the doors of dialogue. It should also never relinquish the option of using force and state building

introduced by him. However, Pervez Musharraf’s dual standards on the issue not only led to losses to both the people and properties but also it damaged the image of the country at the global level. No one can deny the fact that till mid-2010, the three D’, pursued by the PPP and its allies, especially Awami National Party, remained fruitful. But the issue became complicated when the militants in reaction went after the ANP leaders, stalwarts and office bearers throughout the country. An operation, called Raah-i-Raast, was launched with the help of the armed forces in Swat, Malakand division, and became a success story, appreciated by the United States

capability. Every state/government has this stated security policy: protect citizens and borders and as such you do not need a piece of paper to write this standard dictum.”

EXPERTS’ VIEWS Salim Safi: Noted expert on terrorism-related issues Salim Safi told Pakistan Today that neither the government had taken any serious step for talks nor any proper mechanism had been evolved for the purpose. “The government is not serious in engaging the TTP leadership in talks. It seems that the PML-N prime minister does not regard terrorism the number one issue of the country,” he added. Asked whether the government should hold dialogue with the militants from a position of strength by first squeezing them and then holding talks, Safi said that there was not a single step taken by either the government or any other state institution to enable it to talk from a position of strength. “The government, in its first six months, neither used force nor held talks. What the prime minister did is mere verbosity,” he maintained. Rustam Shah Mohmand: Former ambassador

and many others. The militants, loyal to Fazalullah, escaped to Afghanistan. But after mid-2010, the ANP leadership was caught into troubles. Not only the leaders and stalwarts of all the political parties, but also the custodians of highly powerful institutions and media, except for former President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, had their eyes set on the ANP leaders. On one hand, the ANP leaders were the target of militants; on the other they fell prey to media’s anger and allegations of other rival political contemporaries. This was the reward that the ANP leaders had got for their role and contribution in going ahead with Pervez Musharraf’s three D’s strategy for tackling the issue of militancy. Like militants, there are divisions amongst the political forces and state organs on the issue of militancy and terrorism. Religious parties and their leaders are known to have for soft corner for the terrorists. PML-N’s leaders who are governing Punjab since February 2008 have well established links with the leaders and stalwarts of banned Sepah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jangavi, two banned sectarian terrorist outfits who are also working closely with the Punjabi Taliban. These outfits works like “bureaucracy” for the TTP in North Waziristan and influence its activities like who to target and who to bomb, along with other crimes like target killings and kidnapping for ransom. It is ironic that instead of approaching the leaders Punjabi Taliban and Saudi Arabia’s loyal Jumaat-ud-Dawa, also known as Lashkare-Tayaba, a militant organisation of the Wahabi school of thought, Mian Nawaz Sharif first approached Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam-F Chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman and later his rival Maulana Sami-ul-Haq of JUI-S. Both of them are respected but they have almost no influence amongst the ranks of militants. Though government, especially Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, claims that they are in contacts with the militants through mediators for dialogues, he has never made public the names of those Taliban who support dialogues. The number of militant groups is now touching 50, 30 of which are operating in Karachi alone. In each group, the self-styled commanders have established their own pressure groups. To get them all on board for peace talks is an almost impossible task. Shahidullah Shahid, who was recently restored as TTP spokesman, has already declared that Mullah Fazalullah is against holding dialogue with the government. While Asmatullah Shaheen, leading Hakimullah’s supporters and followers, conditionally supports dialogues. They insist on honouring Hakimullah Mehsud’s conditions like adjustment of 25,000 to 40,000 militants in government institutions by offering jobs, especially in the security forces, compensating families of all militants and release of up to 5,000 militants, imprisoned in various jails. The high-ups in government institutions, especially armed forces, are against such demands. On such grounds, there is little hope that the government will succeed in handling the issue of militancy and terrorism through peaceful and political ways. g

Rustam Shah Mohmand also blamed the PML-N government for lack of seriousness to resolve the terrorism issue, adding that if talks were not viable other options were still available. “The talks issue is now a confused matter because there are different groups of militants operating in tribal areas with different objectives. There is no chain of command so talks may not serve their purpose. But government may use traditional methods by entering into independent pacts with elders of each agency, asking them to expel foreigners or getting assurances of peace from those foreigners who have married in local families,” he said. Mohmand added that army should be withdrawn after these agreements and the role of governor, political agents and maliks should be restored enabling revival of the old tradition of effective dealing through civilian administration. He said that the government should also use force wherever needed but unnecessary presence of armed forces would only complicate the issue. The army should be withdrawn after entering into independent agreements with tribal elders of each agency. g The writer is an Islamabad based journalist. He can be reached at hussainmian@gmail.com. www.pakistantoday.com.pk 11


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C M YK

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

satire

Lahore Our Caretaker COrreSpOndent

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FteR being told that he was no longer needed to take care of Pakistan’s cricket team, Najam Sethi has told his friends and family that he is running out of things to take care of, Khabaristan Today has learnt. After Zaka Ashraf was reinstated as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, the curtain came down on Mr Sethi’s stint of over exuberant celebrations and cricketing exaggerations. It really is a sad moment for cricket seeing Mr Sethi leave the PCB office and taking his signature dance moves with him, leaving us with Zaka Ashraf and his miserly smiles, among other substandard features. Mr Sethi is renowned for taking care of publications, tV channels, shows, provinces and sports boards. He took good care of his show “Aapas ki baat Najam Sethi ke saath”, his colleague Muneeb Farooq and the tV channel’s ratings as well. He took care of the

TELLING IT LIKE IT ALMOST NEVER IS khabaristan.today@gmail.com channel’s desire of getting broadcasting rights for Pakistan’s ongoing series against Sri Lanka, while he was taking care of the cricket team itself. this goes to show that Mr Sethi can take care of multiple things at the same time. In the lead up to the recent elections, Mr Sethi became the world’s most famous caretaker chief minister of Punjab. His stellar performance meant that while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was procrastinating over

appointing the man who would make it three for three – a hat-trick of military coups against Sharif by men he himself appointed – Mr Sethi was being peddled as the next Caretaker Chief of Army Staff (CCOAS) – the first of its kind. that the PM took eons to appoint his bogeyman can be forgiven. that he overlooked Mr Sethi for the post – absolutely not. Mr Sethi’s caretaking repute can also be gauged by the fact that he was being touted as the next Caretaker Chief Justice of Pakistan

(CCJP), at a time when taking care of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry seemed like an impossible task. When approached for an interview Mr Sethi was kind enough to share a few words with us. “It’s not easy taking care of all the things that I have managed to take care of. And now I have a feeling I’m running out of things to take care of. Sometimes I feel like Batman, you know with my actual identity hidden, the obvious superhero factor and the fact that Muneeb would make a good Robbin. And sometimes I feel like Joker, because you know…” Mr Sethi paused for a giggle. “I am, and will always be available to serve my country, especially in capacities where I’m not needed at all,” he said. When asked about what he would be taking care of next he said, “I think I’ll start with taking care of Zaka Ashraf in my editorials and on my show. And then maybe I’ll finally start taking care of my own self.” “Batman needs rest,” he added.

Najam Sethi running out of things to take care of

Cristiano Ronaldo dedicates Ballon d’Or to Cristiano Ronaldo

Zurich Our SpOrtS COrreSpOndent

Visibly overwhelmed by finally breaking the stranglehold of Lionel Messi over the Ballon D’Or – the award for the FIFA player of the year – Cristiano Ronaldo dedicated his award to someone special in his life. Messi had won the award during the past four consecutive years, and after another stellar year that helped Barcelona win the La Liga title back, the Argentinian had staked his claim for his fifth Ballon d’Or award in a row. Frank Ribery’s epoch-making season for Bayern Munich meant that he was up there with a very realistic chance as well. However, it was Ronaldo who managed to win his second Ballon d’Or and went on to tell everyone who that special someone in his life was. “I would like to dedicate this award to Cristiano Ronaldo,” Cristiano Ronaldo said with tears in his eyes. “Cristiano has stood by me, believed in me and is the only reason why I have managed to reclaim this award after five years,” he said. “It had almost become Ballon de Messi, and with the world going gaga over him it seemed impossible that I would ever win this trophy again. Only one man thought it was possible: Cristiano Ronaldo,” Ronaldo added. “Cristiano has helped me a lot in becoming a better player and he has also helped me take on adversaries strongly,” Cristiano said adding that, “I hope he will continue to support me like he has supported me throughout my career. And by the time I have retired, I would hopefully have put the Messi versus Ronaldo debate to bed.”

99.96pc Pakistanis don’t know what ‘secular’ means: survey isLamabad Our SpeCial COrreSpOndent

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CCORDINg to a survey conducted by Khabaristan Today, a whopping 99.96 percent of Pakistanis have no idea what the term ‘secular’ means. Kt’s team went from gilgit to gwadar asking people about what they understood by the term, and the answers they received were pretty damning. Merely 0.04 percent of the participants believed secularism had something to do with the separation of religion and state. A mammoth 44.68 percent of the participants believed ‘secularism’ is synonymous with atheism or irreligion; 27.47 percent believed it meant worshipping Satan, dancing naked on streets or eating babies alive; 15.88 percent believed it to be a Hindu conspiracy against the existence of Pakistan; 6.41 percent believed it translated into fitna; while 5.52 percent of the participants believed it was appropriate to use

12 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Punjabi expletives and throw stones and bricks at our team. the survey was conducted by a team of secular humanists who believed that making Pakistan a secular state is the only way the country can be dragged out of sectarianism and religious fundamentalism. they believed that there was a misconception with regards to the actual meaning of secularism and people generally equated it with absence of religion, when all it actually means is complete freedom of belief and equality of all religions. the team is currently in hospital getting their injuries fixed. A detailed follow up to their survey would be written by one of the team members as soon as they’re fit enough to move their fingers.


C M YK

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

Satire

Losing Facebook Musharraf needs a new social media manager Kunwar KhuLdune Shahid The writer is a financial journalist and a cultural critic. Email: khulduneshahid@gmail.co m Twitter: @khuldune

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t the time of writing former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s Facebook page has an impressive 1,430,248 likes. He’s slightly behind PtI chief Imran Khan who leads with 1,490,916 likes on Facebook. However, with 80,156 people “talking about” Musharraf’s page, as compared to Khan’s 34,480, the former Chief of Army Staff has more than twice the engagement rate than that of Kaptaan’s page. Which is ironic, considering engagement and negotiations are what Khan clamours for virtually 24/7. With a miserly 70,142 Facebook likes Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is way behind in the race. And to put things into perspective, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has 49,746 likes, Co-Chairmen of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have 29,036 and 20,218 likes respectively and Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has 6,771 likes on Facebook. While Musharraf is clearly a Facebook celebrity, it’s not quite the same case on twitter. He has 55,946 followers at the time of writing, which even though isn’t too bad a return for merely 886 tweets, still is light years behind Imran Khan’s 856,053 followers. Maryam Nawaz Sharif has 253,446; Shahbaz Sharif has 230,166 and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has 137,556 followers on twitter. this shows Musharraf has a lot of catching up to do on this particular platform. the reason why we’re juxtaposing Musharraf’s social media performance with other politicians is because we believe that the

former president finds himself in the current hole because of a faulty social media strategy and an incompetent social media manager. Imran Khan’s social media strategy made him the leader of the second biggest political party in Pakistan; Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s social media strategy made him sound like an anti-taliban warrior; while Musharraf’s social media strategy made him a prisoner in his own house, under trial for treason. Hence, Musharraf getting out of this hole depends on him getting a new social media manager. Any digital marketing expert would tell you that as soon as your social media manager reduces your social media campaigns to merely numbers it’s the first indicator that they need to be replaced. the first step in social media marketing is to define your targets, which should both be realistic and serve the bigger picture. Musharraf’s social media team fails miserably here. Instead of upping the ante on the number of likes, the focus should’ve been on highlighting Musharraf’s achievements and peddling him as Pakistan’s saviour when the country was traversing its toughest epoch. the social media manager should’ve told his employer that the goal of his firm should be to exaggerate his accomplishments, in lieu of any delusions about returning to the helm of Pakistani government. Where were the infographics comparing Pakistan’s economy under Musharraf with the democratic governments of recent times? Where were the graphs and pie charts highlighting how both power shortage and terrorist attacks – Pakistan’s two biggest problems of recent time – were under control in the Musharraf era? Where were the blog posts iterating how democracy can’t work for Pakistan? Instead all the social media team seemed to focus on was Musharraf’s half selfies and how he would sweep last year’s elections. the vindication for that delusion was the social media numbers. the writing was quite obviously on the wall. Alright, no one’s perfect, and we’re all allowed to

make mistakes. Some strategies work, some don’t, but a part of being a social media manager is to revamp stratagems, revisit the drawing board and innovate. Musharraf comes back to Pakistan, lives under house arrest, and faces all kinds of charges, and the social media team doesn’t rethink its strategy. Not one bit. Where were the banners depicting the Lal Masjid manoeuvre as Exhibit A of a successful counterterrorism strategy? Where were the jingoistic video blogs castigating the government for accusing a former army chief of treason? Where were the write-ups declaring all freedom fighters in Balochistan as terrorists to shield Musharraf against accusations of human rights violation? When Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary was about to retire, Musharraf’s social media team should’ve dedicated an entire campaign against him. Another campaign should’ve been dedicated to showcasing how Nawaz Sharif was regularly playing the Musharraf card to deflect attention away from his own abysmal performance. A banner with the words “selective justice” and “October 12, 1999; November 3, 2007”, along the lines of a ‘cause and effect’ theme should’ve been the cover of Musharraf’s Facebook page all this time. How about pointing out all the cases against Nawaz Sharif? How about the plane hijacking case where the PM didn’t let Musharraf’s plane land in Karachi? there’s so much material to produce quality content and devise proper content marketing and social media strategies. Now with one and all believing that Musharraf is faking his long list of illnesses, there needs to be a campaign dedicated to changing that perception and mustering sympathy for the former army chief. Only a new and innovative strategy devised by a new social media manager can help Musharraf save face and right the wrongs of the current social media team. And considering I sort of do this for a living, I thought I’d pitch my name as a possible replacement. Contact details down below. g

TTP peace talks: Tips for success how the terrorists can be won over

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lot of hoopla has been going on these days about talks with the taliban. We have our right-winged PML-N run by the Sharif brothers that’s been vying to talk to more than just the taliban’s proverbial hand. And then there’s the other right-winged PtI run by Khan and his hooligans looking for more or less the same end result. But of course with all this talk about talks no one is talking about what’s really important: what on earth we will do if the taliban actually agree to talks. 1. Don’t take no for an answer It’s an age old story, but one with a terrorist twist. First terrorist group goes around blowing people and places up to get political party’s attention. then political party tries to chat up the terrorist organisation and fails. Of course the terrorist group i.e., the taliban are taking their sweet time coming around, after all who doesn’t like to play hard to get. However, for peace talks to succeed the key is to never take no for an answer. In the past each time it seemed like our damsel was about to come around a bomb went off and lots of people died. But perseverance is the main ingredient to a successful love story – and persevere both Sharif and Khan can indeed. 2. The female factor Khan’s charisma and Sharif’s love of nihari make them a one of a kind peace talks propagating tag team. However, when it comes to the taliban it seems like the best course of action for either party to take would be to designate a delegation of women for the talks. Now before your juvenile minds run off with that idea, let me explain. On average women speak around 5,000 words a day, while men speak only about 2,000. If women are the ones doing the talking from our side then we will be able to get so much more out of the talks. the taliban would love this idea, too. Although popular narrative tells us that the taliban hate women and want them holed up inside their houses, reality could not be further from the truth. On countless occasions women have been empowered to step up to the suicidal-attack plate and walk in the same shoes as their brave 72-virgin hogging counterparts. 3. The cuisine is key the kind of food served at

Luavut Zahid The writer is a journalist based in Lahore. Her writings focus on current affairs and crisis response. She can be reached at luavut@gmail.com, she tweets @luavut the talks is going to be very important. If our leaders serve the wrong thing we might upset the guests of honour, and we all know what happens when the ttP gets upset. It is important to ensure that the food being served is not too heavy on the stomach. In fact avoiding heavy food would be best as it would mean no lethargy, sleepiness, and hence no disruptions in the talks. the ideal situation would involve coffee with a few snacks and treats. Our leaders must remember that most members of the taliban stay in hiding so they aren’t used to gourmet food; picking out dishes that are easy on the stomach will go a long way in earning their trust and making the date an overall success. 4. The right setting Many kids these days go, “bachi phasanay ke liye mahol hona chahiye hai”. Well, the ttP isn’t all that different. the setting will be one of the most important factors for the talks to succeed. If our leaders pick the wrong place then it won’t take long for things to go sour and the entire debacle to, quite literally, blow up in everyone’s face. Beware that the ttP are a band of social misfits and they don’t get out that often so picking out a crowded restaurant full of people is something that should be avoided. It would just make them uncomfortable (and additionally, they might see it as a better opportunity to explode something instead of discussing peace). It would be best for our leaders to find a place that’s both quiet but comfy. For the best results: a cozy place which reminds them of home, far away from populated areas in main city centres. 5. Leave their guns alone Also their bombs. Suicide jackets. Rocket launchers. Let’s just say that leaving them alone completely when it comes to destructive devices is a good idea. the main focus has to remain on making them feel comfortable. So it would be a good idea to let it slide if they bring an AK-47 or two along. And we should be honest here, it’s not like our leaders can do much to ensure that they don’t bring such objects to the little coffee date with them. Angering them over their little explosive toys

might not end well for the people in the vicinity so leaving them alone is objectively the only, and best, course to take. 6. Praise them constantly the ttP have shown the kind of organised efficiency that our leaders can only hope to achieve within the domain of the current civil government. It would be best if we were to ask them their secrets to success and learn from their great ways. It would be silly not to admire the work they have done so far. For every handful of taliban killed through a drone strike (which isn’t even powered by the Pakistani government) the ttP turn around and kill thousands upon thousands of Pakistanis. that level of dedication and result oriented thinking is something that has been missing from the Pakistani society for years. therefore, it is highly advised that a large portion of the talks be spent outlining what a great job the ttP have been doing, and also learning from their experiences. 7. Avoid the D word No taliban wants the D i.e., drone. While it is no secret that drones don’t come anywhere close to the level and mastery that is possessed by the taliban, they do manage to strike a blow to ttP sentiments. Historically, drones have managed to kill a leader or two and at present they are loathed by the taliban. Just as soon as the prospects of peace talks are considered by elected leaders from Pakistan, the taliban get bored. this is largely because said leaders are too slow which results in the ttP helping a few things explode through some fancy fireworks. When a drone strike takes place those fireworks have to stop, and the ttP hate nothing more than being forced to stop their fun. No kind of talks or discussions succeed unless one goes in with a confident head on their shoulders. these are just a few tips on how to get the most out of talks with the ttP. However, the most important thing that our leaders need to remember is to believe in themselves. Mountains can be moved if one believes, of course. Oh and coincidently the ttP like living in caves and things, too. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 13


C M YK

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

inTernaTional

indians succeed everywhere, except india i

ndIAnS are not used to winning global sporting competitions. no Indian Tiger Woods or Serena Williams has captured the global imagination. And in the Olympics, on a per capita basis, Indians rank near bottom in medal wins. Psychologically, and except for cricket, Indians have gotten used to the idea that they are not good at winning global competitions. It will therefore come as a big shock to many Indians to learn that they are the world's number one in the most important global competition in the world: the competition in economic performance. The arena where the toughest competition takes place is in the United States. America welcomes immigrants from all over the globe, offering a level playing field, and encourages them to test themselves against world-class competition. Mexican bodega owners fight for customers against Korean grocers. Israeli coders challenge Russian hackers. Chinese microbiologists compete for funding with Swiss geneticists. And who has come out ahead in this unparalleled global free-for-all? Indians. Their per capita income now ranks as the highest of any ethnic group in the United States: In 2010, Indians earned $37,931 annually, compared to a national average of $26,708. If India's population of 1.2 billion could achieve only half of the per capita income of Indian immigrants in the United States, the country's GdP today would be $24.65 trillion instead of a relatively trifling $1.85 trillion, less than Italy's. The gap between India's potential and its actual performance is huge, perhaps the biggest of any country in the world. India's performance in the US arena is not exceptional. Sizeable amounts of Indians have emigrated to all corners of the world - north and South America, Europe and Africa, and all over Asia. Wherever they go, they have done well. The record shows that on a level playing field in global economic competition, Indians can become number one. Sadly, few Indian leaders or policymakers seem to have understood the meaning of this comprehensive global data on the economic competitive abilities of Indians. If they did, India would become the top champion of more rapid globalization. Instead, even though the evidence shows that Indians could benefit from globalization's acceleration, the Indian government continues to put its foot on the brakes whenever globalization is discussed. The latest example was the Bali meeting of the World Trade Organization where India fought hard to maintain its trade-distorting grain subsidies instead of switching to cash assistance to the poor. By putting its foot on the brakes, the Indian government is

14 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

ub Kishore MGlaobhalb

ani

Yale

effectively shooting itself in the foot. Instead of serving the longterm interests of Indian society, it is undermining them. To reverse this disastrous pattern of self-destructive behavior, Indian society should immediately embrace three new attitudes: Firstly, it should completely change its mindset about the competitiveness of the Indian economy. Instead of seeing it as a weak and defenseless economy about to be ravaged by global competition if trade and other barriers are reduced, it should work on the assumption that Indians in India, like Indians outside India, will thrive when faced with open global competition. There is an easy way for India to demonstrate this change of mindset. At WTO negotiations, the Indian delegation is famous for saying, "no!" The Bali deal on WTO was at the risk of failing because India joined Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and South Africa in opposing it. In the end other countries accommodated India to reach an agreement. If India had seen itself as a relatively weak, this was the company it should have chosen. But if it saw itself as a relatively strong economic competitor, it should have joined the East Asians, including China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, in saying "Yes!" In short, India's refusal to change its mindset is preventing the creation of an open and level global economic playing field on which Indians would naturally thrive. Secondly, India should make greater use of one of its richest natural resources: the successful Indian diaspora. The appointment of Raghuram Rajan as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India was a brilliant move. He exudes cultural confidence. This was the man who bravely stood up to all the heavyweight American economic gurus, including Alan Greenspan, in Jackson Hole in 2005 and told them that a major global crisis was about to unfold. They rejected his advice, only to learn later that he was dead right. In this collection of the best economic brains of the world, Rajan showed he was the Tiger Woods of global economics. For every Raghuram Rajan India has brought home, there are at least a

hundred, if not a thousand, more prepared to return to serve India. no other nation in the world comes close to India in having access to such a globally competitive talent pool. Yes, these returnees will ruffle feathers and upset apple carts, but they are precisely the kind of change-makers that India needs now to destroy the old anti-globalization mindset that has held India back. Thirdly, India's business barons need to drop their ambivalence towards globalization. This ambivalence is understandable. On the one hand, they realize that they are globally competitive. Many Indian firms have succeeded globally, including Tata, Wipro and Infosys. On the other hand, they are reluctant to push the Indian government to say "yes" in WTO negotiations because they don't want to give up their privileged access to the fast growing Indian consumer market. They see no reason why they should share this huge market with others. In adopting this ambivalent attitude, India's business barons are sacrificing both their own and India's long-term interests in return for some short-term profits. These Indian businesses should hoist in only one number mentioned at the beginning of this article: the $25 trillion economy. By protecting India's current almost $2 trillion economy, they are preventing it from growing many times larger. To understand the folly of their attitudes, Indian businesses need only compare themselves with Korean businesses to understand the heavy economic price they have paid for being relatively protectionist. In 1970, Korea's manufacturing sector was less than 25 percent that of India's. In 1962, Korea's manufacturing exports were negligible. By 2011, Korea's manufacturing exports outnumbered India's by almost 2.5 times. Companies like Hyundai and Samsung should have emerged in India, not South Korea, if Indian businesses had adopted a more proglobalization attitude. Many Indian business barons still find it hard to believe that they can become truly world class. The road to the top seems too daunting. Let me suggest a simple geopolitical shortcut. For obvious geopolitical reasons, Japan has developed a strong desire to cooperate with India. So too have Japanese businesses. Japanese companies can teach Indian companies a lesson or two on how to compete globally. The big question: Can Indian companies become as culturally confident as Indians in America in competing on a globally level playing field? If so, they would become the new champions of globalization that our world desperately needs. Kishore Mahbubani is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS, and author of The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World. g

The sex workers

of Thailand

i

Jordan G Teicher Slate

n 1994, Canadian photographer Gerry Yaum saw a documentary about the sex tourism industry in Thailand. Two years later, he visited the country for the first time and has since returned many times with the intent of raising awareness about conditions by documenting the sex workers there and sharing their stories with the world. Yaum’s recent exhibition, “Body Sellers: The Sex Workers of Thailand,” incorporates photographs he made over three trips between 2007 and 2012 to the city of Pattaya, a world-famous destination for sex tourism. He spent between two and three weeks shooting every day with an 8by-10 camera in sessions lasting around two hours. Unlike some of his earliest environmental portraits, Yaum photographed his subjects—a mix of male, female, and “ladyboy” workers from go-go dance bars, beer bars, and the streets—against a white backdrop. “The white background large format was part of an evolution, a simplification and in a way, a magnification,” Yaum said via email. Poverty-stricken young men and women in Thailand are often drawn to sex work, Yaum said, because it is dramatically more lucrative than other types of work available to them. And while Yaum said the workers often told him how the money from their work was helping their families back home, extended conversations revealed their deeper feelings about their work. “When you get to know them more and talk on a more intimate level, you understand that in almost all the workers there is sadness, a pain in their lives because of what they do.” Returning again and again to such sadness, Yaum said, has been draining. “I am finding it harder and harder to return to the bars to make pictures. I want to leave the scene, but just From left, Sa k, 23; Ti, 29 when you say to yourself, ; and Jiab, 25; mal e go-go bar ‘I've had enough. Let me sex workers, Th ailand, 2009 out of here!’ you meet . an incredible person, a person who has worked the bar for years and yet is kind, considerate, and has a compelling message. When you meet a person like that, you just have to tell their story, you just have to make their photograph, you forget your depression and your sadness and you dive back in.” The challenges of Yaum’s work weren’t just emotional. Yaum learned to speak Thai to better communicate with his subjects, and he also had to learn the ins and outs of the bar world, which often meant steering clear of the workers’ sometimes hostile employers. Yaum also found it difficult to track down some of his subjects in order to rephotograph them over the years. “The problem with the bar world is that things are constantly changing. People move from bar to bar, go from one area of Thailand to another, some get sick, some go to jail and others get married to foreigners and leave the country. Whenever I have found it possible, I have tried to contact the people I have photographed before and continue to make new pictures with them,” Yaum said. While Yaum hopes that his photographs can serve as an agent of change, he said he fears that the sex industry in places like Pattaya has only grown since he started shooting there. “As long as there is poverty in places like Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines, there will be workers for the sex tourist bars of Southeast Asia. The only hope for the bar worker, as I see it, lies in education,” Yaum said. “Education can lead to other opportunities that might keep the worker y bo Bee, 28, lady from coming to the bars orker, w x se r ba short-time . in the first place. no 12 20 Thailand, Thai girl or boy dreams of becoming a prostitute. no one dreams of selling their body for a living. Most work the job purely out of economic necessity. Give them other ways to make decent money and maybe things will change.” g


C MYK

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

inTernaTional

What was edward snowden and why was he taking doing in india? 'ethical hacking' classes there? shane harris ForeiGn PolicY

n

EARLY three years before he revealed himself as the source of leaked documents about nSA surveillance, Edward Snowden traveled to new delhi, India. There, he spent six days taking courses in computer hacking and programming at a local professional school, according to school officials and people familiar with Snowden's trip. Working with a private instructor, Snowden, who was then a contractor for the spy agency, took a course in "ethical hacking," where he learned advanced techniques for breaking into computer systems and exploiting flaws in software. The class's ostensible purpose is to train students to protect computers and their contents from thieves and spies. But in order to do that, they learn how to break into computers and steal information. Snowden also inquired about methods to reverse-engineer the world's most popular kits for committing widespread online crime. Snowden didn't disclose his India trip to investigators when renewing his top-secret security clearance the following year. It was that clearance, nSA officials say, that gave Snowden access to the 1.7 million classified files he later stole from the agency's computer networks and databases. U.S. intelligence officials have faulted the company that conducted Snowden's background check for not more thoroughly questioning him about overseas travel and what foreign nationals he may have met with, which is standard procedure for detecting whether someone is spying for a foreign power. They have characterized the background check as flawed and incomplete. But Foreign Policy has learned that Snowden's trip to India should not have been a mystery to the U.S. government or intelligence agencies. Snowden was in the country in his capacity as an nSA contractor "to assist as a technical expert" at the U.S. embassy in new delhi, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified. Snowden also told his computer instructor that he worked for the nSA and that he was in the city "on business," said Rohit Aggarwal, the CEO and founder of the school, Koenig Solutions. Government employees and contractors are not required to disclose foreign trips of an official nature, and may even be instructed not to, in order to avoid compromising intelligence operations and programs, according to two former U.S. intelligence officials. Snowden's time in India has been covered in the Indian press but has received little attention in the United States. The travels offer a rare glimpse into his activities in the years before he became arguably the most famous leaker of classified secrets in American history. Precisely what work Snowden did at the embassy in new delhi is unclear. At the time, he worked as a technology specialist for dell Inc. at an nSA facility in Japan. U.S. intelligence personnel are often stationed in American embassies, so it's conceivable that Snowden could have been working on surveillance equipment in new delhi. Among the documents that Snowden disclosed were those describing a program called Stateroom, which gathers electronic communications using equipment based in U.S. embassies around the world. Other documents Snowden released showed that the nSA may have spied on the Indian embassy in Washington and on the country's

mission to the United nations. Calls and emails to the U.S. embassy in new delhi were not returned. Spokespersons for the nSA, the CIA, and the Office of the director of national Intelligence all declined to comment for this article. According to officials at the Koenig school, Snowden flew to India from Japan, arriving on September 2, 2010, and staying for one night at new delhi's Hyatt Regency hotel. A Koenig representative picked him up at the hotel on September 3 and then drove Snowden to a lodging facility provided by the school. He stayed there for until September 9 while he took classes, and then returned for one more night at the Hyatt before leaving India on September 11, the school said. (Indian news publications, citing official travel and immigration documents, also show that Snowden was in the country during this period.) Snowden's instructor said he made no secret about his work for the nSA. While he didn't describe the specific purpose of his visit, he did say he wanted to squeeze in some computer coursework while he was in town. The U.S. embassy is only six miles from the Koenig school. Snowden paid the $2,000 tuition and lodging fee himself, using a personal credit card, Aggarwal said. Snowden's instructor described him as quiet and diligent. He didn't take many breaks. And he already had a high-level of knowledge about computer science, hacking, and programming. Had background investigators inquired about Snowden's travels, they likely would have asked if he'd had any contact with foreign nationals while he was abroad. All security clearance holders are required to disclose significant contact with foreigners. But any instructors and students Snowden met probably wouldn't have risen to that level, a former intelligence official said. A Koenig spokesman said the school could only vouch for Snowden's whereabouts while he was taking courses during the day. "Other than our people and students we would have no idea whom he met," said the spokesman, Somit Biswas. In addition to the ethical hacking course, Snowden took a class in the Java computer programming language. Snowden said the course "would help him in 'organizing a team who does' work on Java" at dell, a Koenig spokesperson said, citing a questionnaire that Snowden was required to fill out before he came to the school. "His stated goal for coming to train at Koenig ... was 'getting knowledge and evaluating Koenig's training program for my company. Certification might be nice, but it is not necessary,'" Biswas said. "He had also stated that his employers had approved Koenig as a training provider and that he would also be writing a review of the training experience which would help his company to evaluate Koenig as a future training partner and might be mutually beneficial to both." david Frink, a spokesperson for dell, declined to comment. "We have not discussed Mr. Snowden's role with dell and don't plan to," he said. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Snowden's "work supervisor" informed investigators performing his background check that he had gone to India, but that they failed to clarify the purpose of the trip, resulting in a report that "did not present a comprehensive picture of Mr. Snowden," according to an intelligence document. Biswas said Snowden also inquired about courses in the analysis and reverse engineering of malicious computer code, such as the the ZeuS, Fragus, and SpyEye crimeware kits. That was a curious request, and potentially at odds with his interest in

ethical hacking. Understanding malware is important for defending against it. But these are not ordinary malware. ZeuS is the world's premier tooklbox for custombuilding online crime campaigns. It has been used to affect millions of computers around the world. All three programs have been used by criminals to commandeer individuals' computers and to steal financial information. SpyEye allows criminals to create fake bank web pages, in order to trick people into entering their login and password, which the criminal then steals and uses to enter, and empty, their accounts. Last year, Microsoft filed a civil complaint alleging that clusters of computers infected with ZeuS have been used to steal more than $100 million. It's not clear why Snowden wanted to know about reverse engineering financial crime malware, but his resume indicates he may have been working on cyber securityrelated projects while a contractor with dell. Koenig told Snowden that it didn't offer courses along the lines he was interested in, but that it was considering adding them to its curriculum. Snowden abruptly ended his coursework before completing a final portion of his training, Aggarwal said, in computer hacking forensics and an administrator course in the Linux operating system. "He was supposed to come back one morning, but he didn't. He sent an email saying, please cancel the rest of my courses. I have a medical condition and need to go back to Japan for medical advice," according to Aggarwal. Snowden spent the night of September 10 at the Hyatt Regency, and then left India the next day, he said. Snowden completed the ethical hacking course and the course in Java programming, Aggarwal said. A source who is familiar with Snowden's professional resume, which was current as of 2013, said it lists his certification in ethical hacking as well as computer network defense. The only reference to even remotely anything like Java, this person said, appears in relation to Snowden's work for a website company

called Clockwork Chihuahua. There, Snowden said he edited JavaScript (which is loosely related to, but is not the same as Java). Snowden also claimed to have Japanese language skills and to be "comfortable working in austere environments," according to his resume. U.S. officials have said that Snowden began downloading secret nSA files while he was working for dell, in April 2012. He went to work for another nSA contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, the following year. Snowden told the South China Morning Post that he took the job in order to access classified nSA documents. "My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the nSA hacked," Snowden said. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago." Snowden worked for the company only a few months, at a facility in Hawaii. There, he took more documents before ultimately fleeing to Hong Kong. He is currently living in Russia, where the government has granted him temporary asylum. A computer security training professional in the United States said it's not unusual for Americans to take courses abroad, particularly in India, where the tuition is a fraction of what it can cost in the United States. But the expert criticized the teaching of so-called "ethical hacking." They can call it 'ethical,' it's still hacking. You're teaching someone how to break into a system," the expert said. Aggarwal, the Koening CEO, said it's not unusual to find U.S. intelligence employees taking courses at his school, and that between 50 and 100 American military service personnel take courses there each year, as well as at a location in dubai. A defense department spokesman could not confirm that military personnel have taken courses at the school, or that it's been approved by the Pentagon as a training facility. But personnel responsible for protecting the department's computer systems are required to obtain commercial certifications, including in ethical hacking. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 15


C M YK

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

inteRnational

InsIde Israel's vast network of anImal spIes

Your guide to the sharks, vultures and pigeons that just may be working for the Mossad

how Men in Saudi aRabia fliRt without getting thRown in Jail abdul al lilY VocatiV

t

Judith dubin and Rachael levY VocatiV

He Middle east has long been fertile ground for a good conspiracy theory—whether it’s Jews and the Sept. 11 attacks, the cia and arab Spring, or the alliance of Western businessmen, journalists and politicians that supposedly helped oust egyptian President Mohamed Morsi last year. But it’s not just humans that are surreptitiously helping to bring down governments. There’s apparently also a whole sub-world of animal spies that are working to destabilize Mideast regimes. in one case, a very suspicious stork was turned over to local police in egypt. in another, a shark that was attacking swimmers was briefly linked to a Mossad plot. even puppets sometimes need to answer for their actions. abla Fahita, an egyptian muppet-type character, was forced to go on national television recently to deny that her appearance in a phone commercial was actually a coded message to the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. as with all good conspiracy theories, there’s just enough historical precedent to resonate with believers. american and British forces used homing pigeons during World War ii to carry messages, and the cia reportedly trained dolphins, ravens and even cats for use in surveillance and weapons detection with varying degrees of success during the cold War. israel, too, has tried to cultivate some four-legged allies: its security service was said to have trained gerbils for use in airport security, believing their keen sense of smell could help detect a rise in adrenalin. Problem was they couldn’t distinguish between a nervous flyer and a potential bomber. The gerbils, in fact, may have been the inspiration for G-Force, a 2009 Disney film about “an elite team of animal spies.” The comedy was largely dismissed by critics. “The plot is pretty ridiculous,” wrote one. Here are some of the most recent cases involving suspected israeli animal spies. When: August 2013 the AnimAl: stork egyptian authorities “arrested” the bird after a device was found attached to its leg. a fisherman in the Nile River southeast of cairo first detained the suspicious stork and handed it over to the local police. The device turned out to be a wildlife tracker used by French scientists to trace the stork’s migrating patterns. While cleared of spying, things did not end well for the stork. it was reportedly caught and eaten shortly after being released into a conservation area in southern egypt. When: July 2013 the AnimAl: FAlcon kestrel Turkish police seized a small Falcon Kestrel who had an israeli tag attached to its foot. Medical personnel at Firat

16 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

University in eastern Turkey identified the bird as an “israeli Spy” in their registration documents. The bird was forced to undergo a battery of tests, including Xray scans, which found that it wasn’t carrying any surveillance equipment. (it was,however, found to be carrying a grudge. Jews do that.) When: JAnuAry 2013 the AnimAl: cArrier pigeon a few months before the Stork incident, a carrier pigeon was captured north of cairo after a message was found attached to one of its feet and a microfilm to the other. The microfilm supposedly carried the message “islam egypt.” egypt’s criminal investigation Department took the lead in the investigation, had the microfilm developed and determined that the bird was not a spy. or was it? The mystery of the microfilm was never explained. When: December 2010 the AnimAl: Vulture a griffon vulture, caught by a hunter in rural Saudi arabia, was turned over to security forces after it was found to be wearing a suspicious GPS device and a “Tel aviv University” leg tag with the iD code R65. Rumors quickly spread, and were picked up by several Saudi newspapers, that the bird was an agent dispatched by Mossad. The real explanation was a little more mundane. The griffon is in danger of extinction in the mountains of israel and is the subject of a reintroduction project. as part of that project, vultures are tagged to keep track of the population. (a similar case was reported in Sudan in December 2012. authorities accused a vulture of being an israeli spy. an israeli ecologist

explained the bird was part of a group of about a 100 tagged by the israel Nature and Parks authority and fitted with a GPS system that could take distance and altitude readings.) a fisherman holds the shark which was identified by an egyptian diver as the shark which attacked four tourists in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh December 2, 2010. The killer shark was caught off the resort a day after it mauled the tourists on Wednesday, egypt's environment Ministry quoted to Ria Novosti. Ria Novosti also reported that the egyptian diver, who rescued one of the tourists, identified the shark by recognizing the predator's damaged fin. authorities will investigate further to confirm that this particular shark was responsible for the attacks. When: December 2010 the AnimAl: shArk a series of rare shark attacks in the egyptian beach resort of Sharm elSheikh prompted accusations that the sharks were part of a Mossad plot—sent into egyptian waters to scare off visitors and disrupt tourism. Reports claimed a remote controlled GPS tracking device was attached to the shark and was being used to control it. “What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea) to hit tourism in egypt is not out of the question, but it needs time to confirm,” a local government official was quoted as saying. others pointed out that it would be difficult for the Mossad shark to distinguish its arab target from a friendly Jew, aside from the fact that the Jew would probably not be a good swimmer and would most likely be accompanied by his mother who would be yelling at him to swim closer to shore. in any event, the shark in question was eventually caught and dismissed as a spy threat. g

S

ocial authorities in Saudi arabia can arrest anyone who talks to a person of the opposite sex who isn’t a family member. So how do men flirt with women in one of the world’s most conservative countries? Men have some pretty ingenious (and often illegal) solutions, i learned in my recent survey of 40 Saudi men. a man writes his number on a small piece of paper in the hope that he will walk by a woman in a shopping mall or a park. He winks at her and throws the piece of paper on the floor, hoping the girl collects it when no one is watching. a quicker approach is the “drive-by method,” where the man shouts a compliment out his car window and then throw his digits onto the street before he peels away. Several of the men i surveyed reported that they had simply called random numbers, hoping to reach a woman. When a woman shows some interest, the man begs her not to hang up until they agree to speak again. None of the men indicated that this had led to anything more than a telephone conversation. one survey participant left his car in a lot with a “for sale” sign on the window and his phone number attached. The car was not for sale: He just hoped that a single woman would call and he could put his flirtation skills to the test. The strict separation of the sexes has compelled Saudi men to use any means available to flirt with women in those rare instances where men and women are intermingled. Some participants in my survey mentioned that they had attempted to seduce women in such places as hospital wards and shopping malls. local authorities have recently been expanding parks and “designated walking areas.” Not surprisingly, these have become a haven for many men hoping to speak to women. as women are not allowed to drive in Saudi arabia, some men told me they have taken jobs as private drivers who can be employed temporarily to drive women to where they want to go. Some of these drivers reported that they had flirted with their female customers and eventually got their phone numbers. other, more tech-savvy men have turned to the internet to flirt. one man told me that “although shopping malls used to be the most popular places for flirtation, many people have moved to social networks.” Participants in my survey reported using Tango or Wechat, which allows them to find and communicate with women users who live nearby or might be sitting in a public space in the area. Some men have replaced their social media usernames with their phone numbers. This approach hinges on women being willing to call the random numbers that post flirtatious messages on Twitter or Facebook or Whatsapp. This also applies on Keek, YouTube, Bluetooth or Personal Hotspot. as in the West, chat rooms and web-based forums are popular locales for lonely hearts. only 14 of the 40 men i surveyed indicated that a woman had been willing to hand over her phone number to them. ”one collects women’s numbers in Saudi arabia not necessarily because of sexual desire but just because of boredom and for fun. Boredom makes one do things outside the human boundary.” So said one of my survey participants. others said it’s exhilarating to subvert traditional norms. How Saudi women perceive these attempts at flirtation remains an ongoing area of my research. Dr Abdul Al Lily is an Oxford graduate and a Saudi professor. g


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Books

spirit of the raj lives on The bulk of our legal system is still based on the colonial era laws

Mehreen OMer

The writer is a status quo critic by habit and a marketing scientist by profession. She tweets @mehreen_omer.

i

F one wants to understand how the current system of law came into existence in Pakistan, one should really study this book in detail. It traces the history of the Statutes and Acts which had come into force during the colonial times and are still in force today. The east India Company initially came to India for purposes of trade, but later began to interfere in the administration of justice in many areas after it took over their revenue collection. Much of the subject matter is discussed with examples from Islamic history which makes it an even more intriguing read. Young political and

social activists today are looking for clarity in many legal issues arising in Pakistan, and this work will certainly be a boon for them. Munir talks about the phenomenon of ‘precedent’ whereby the decisions of higher courts are binding on the lower courts and even in some cases, on themselves. For the operation of the precedent, two directives were essential; law reporting and the hierarchy of courts. Under the judicial system of the Mughals, which was based on Islamic law, a qadi was not bound by the decision of another qadi. But this system was soon replaced by the Anglo-Indian legal system by the east India Company during the 18th and 19th centuries. This had vast implications, as even today Muslim lawyers look upon precedents as sources of law rather than on the principles of Islamic law. In Pakistan, the decisions of the Supreme Court, the high Court, and the Federal Shariat Court are binding on lower courts. And the decision of the Supreme Court is binding on the decision of all other courts. And it gets even more controversial when governments pressurize the Chief Justice to give a favorable verdict in their favor. Many books written by retired judges of the higher courts

reveal that the judiciary has been independent of the executive only in theory in the past. This is a striking revelation considering that the freedom of the judiciary is being contented so passionately today. But even if the judiciary is not free, what to say of the other pillars of the state? Thus, the current system of law in Pakistan is quite different to that advocated by the Islamic legal theory wherein every judge acts as a legal expert who engages in independent interpretation of Islamic laws, and is not bound the judgment of a fellow judge. Also, in Islamic law, a judge has to look upon the earliest decision, if there is one, whereas in common law, the judge has to apply the most recent decision of a higher court. Munir talks about the inherent disadvantages in such a system of common law, because even a wrong decision will have to be followed by the lower courts. It also causes stagnation the development of law as compared to legislation. But he says that poor precedents can be overruled by a higher court, especially when the reasoning is clearly flawed or some great wrong is being done. Munir reveals that although Islamic law has become an important source of Pakistani law, the Anglo-Indian law still constitutes its bulk. g

w Pakistani La Precedent in ir un i ammad M Author: Muh Press, Karach ord University xf O r: he is Publ 5 Price: Rs 99 Pages: 281;

Changing face of ‘Manchester’ the commercial culture of faisalabad now also boasts of a vibrant literary scene Literary Men and Matters

syed afsar sajid The writer is a Faisalabad based former bureaucrat, poet, literary and cultural analyst, and an academic. He can be reached at afsar.sajid@hotmail.com.

T

he sprawling city of Faisalabad, now a veritable metropolis, was established in 18880 and was later named Lyallpur to honour the then lieutenant governor of the Punjab, Sir Charles James Lyall. One Captain Poham Young designed its city centre on the pattern of the Union Jack – the British national flag – with eight roads leading from an imposing clock tower in the centre, to eight separate bazaars. After being launched as a tehsil of district Jhang in 1893, it grew into a district in 1903 and finally a division in 1982. Setting up of The Lyallpur Cotton Mills (LCM) in the early

1930s followed by the emergence of a chain of textile units within the next twenty years or so, earned it the welldeserved title of the Manchester of Pakistan. Rapid growth of agriculture and industry accelerated the pace of urbanization in the area. Unlike agriculture and industry, literary traditions take a longer time to graft in the cultural milieu of a geographically well-defined locale. In the early years of its history, the presence of literary personages of the calibre of Pundit Brijmohan Dittatariyah Kaifi, Sh. Abdul Qadir, Bari Alig, Zahoor Niazbegi, S.M. Ikram, Noon Meem Rashid, Ghulam Mohyuddin Khalwat, Manzoor elahi Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Manzoor, and Khaleeq Qureshi in town would indicate the growth of an incipient literary tradition here. After the Partition, however, a galaxy of writers, poets, and intellectuals including Faiz Ahmad Faiz (in prison), Meem hassan Latifi, Ahmad Riaz, habib Jalib, Shore Alig, Qayyum Nazar, Mirza Muhammad Munawar, Prof. Zafar Iqbal Ahmad, hafiz Ludhianvi, Nazir Naji, Syed Shahzada hassan, Salim Betab, Javed Qureshi, Dr. S. Moeen-ur-Rahman, Abdullah hussain, Adeem hashmi, Dr. Saadat Saeed, Iftikhar Nasim, hazeen Ludhianvi, Dr. Riaz Majeed, Dr. Ahsan Zaidi, Dr. Anwar Mehmood Khalid, Manzar Mufti,

Talib Jalandhari, Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, Abeer Abuzari, Prof. Rana Irshad Ahmad Khan, Prof. Ghulam Rasool Tanvir, Sa’im Chishti, Akhtar Sadeedi, Prof. Arif Raza, Sh. Shaukat Nasim Akhgar, Khawar Jilani, Ahmad Shahbaz Khawar, Nazar Javed, Nadir Jajvi, Dr. Maqbool Akhtar, Fazal hussain Rahi, Nemat Ali Akhtar Bhatti, Syed Najm-ul-hassan Bukhari, Tahira Iqbal, Shams Naghman, Arshad Javed, ejaz Kunwar Raja, Nusrat Siddiqui, Prof. Ashfaq Bukhari, Maqsood Wafa, Anjum Salimi, Naz Khayalvi, Ambreen Ash’ar, Ashraf Yusufi, Gulfam Naqvi, Qayyum Nasir, Dr. Shabbir Ahmad Qadri, Shakila Sham, Shafi hamdam, A. h. Atif, Dr. Mosadeq husssain, Zia hussain Zia, Dr. Shaukat Ali Qamar, Ali Zaryun, Kausar Ali, Ghulam Rasool Asif, Syed Najeeb Ali Shah, Rabia Sarfaraz, and others have put up in Faisalabad either temporarily or permanently, and enriched its literary tradition with their creative and critical discourses. In pre-Partition days, Faisalabad was the venue of two Urdu conferences (in 1939 and 1941) attended, among others, by Baba-eUrdu Maulvi Abdul haq, Khawaja hassan Nizami, Dr. Abdullah Chughtai, Dr. Sir Ziauddin, Pundit Kaifi, haji Laq Laq, Saghar Nizami, Khizer Tamimi, Arsh Malsiani, Zamir Jafri, and Qayyum Nazar. The

Lyallpur Cotton Mills played a pivotal role in sponsoring literary and cultural activities in the city until its seizure by the government as enemy property. The Lyallpur Cotton Mills Dramatic Club (established 1938) staged dramas, one act plays, and skits (directed by that stalwart of a director Nasiruddin Qureshi) that enthralled and educated their avid audience. Interestingly female roles were acted by male artistes in those days. The LCM also held mushairas in town continually from 1944 to 1965. Literary men like Bekhud Dehlvi, Maulana Abdul Majid Salik, Shaukat Thanvi, Mir Abdul Qayyum, and Kh. Muhammad Shafi compered these events. Participants included such renowned poets as Israr-ur-haq Majaz, Allama Tajwar Najeebabadi, Ghulam Mohyuddin Khalwat, Kunwar Mahinder Singh Bedi Sehar, Tiloke Chand Mehroom, Jagan Nath Azad, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Moeen Ahsan Jazbi, Jigar Muradabadi, Abdul hamid Adam, hafeez Jalandhari, Arsh Massiani, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Tufail hohsiarpuri, Shore Alig, himayat Ali Sha’ir, Kaleem Usmani, Raghib Muradabadi, Qateel Shifai, ehsan Danish, Zaheer Kashmiri, Saghar Siddiqui, Sahir Siddiqui, Khumar Barabankvi, Manzoor Ahmad Manzoor, Khaleeq Qureshi, habib Jalib, Zareef Jabalpuri, Adeeb

Saharanpuri, Zehra Nigah, Sehab Qizilbash, and Pervin Fana Syed. Radio Pakistan, Faisalabad Arts Council, GC University, University of Agriculture, University of Faisalabad, Punjab Medical College, Chenab Club, Chenab Forum, the Lyallpur Golf Club, Minerva Club, halqa Arbab-e-Zauq, Ikai, Dastkhat, and other literary and cultural organizations besides the literary columns of some local newspapers, and magazines like Zar Nigar, Humkhayal, Misaal, and Niqaat have also played a key role in promoting literary activities and developed the taste of the readers besides educating them on the delicacies of literature. A perceptible change has also occurred in the erstwhile commercial culture of the town. People have now begun to appreciate literature and its impact on their life. As a result, there is a noticeable increase in the publication of literary works on fiction, poetry and criticism. Thus the literary scenario of Faisalabad is expanding fast. Some writers from this town have already made their mark on the national and international literary scene. They are: Manzoor elahi Sheikh, hafiz Ludhianvi, Abeer Abuzari, Iftikhar Nasim, Afzal Ahsan Randhawa, Dr. Riaz Majeed, Anjum Salimi and Tahira Iqbal. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 17


Art from

Art

Razzia FeRoz and heR woRk Nadeem alam The writer teaches Art-History at the University College of Art and Design, Lahore. He is a researcher, art-Historian and art-critic with a special interest in Western, South Asian and Pakistani art. Email: nadeem.cad@pu.edu.pk

Three Fates (Tempera)

I

t was only the seventh year since the Fine Arts Department was founded at the University of the Punjab Lahore, when it cradled the first generation of Pakistani artists on a serious academic level after the independence in 1947. The atmosphere was outlandish after the nine decades of monarchic British rule and the Lahore, a crucible of various cultures and ethnicities, was a city of opportunities for the young Muslim men and women in terms of work and education. The Fine Arts Department which once was crowded mostly by the Hindu and Christian girls, then started to entertain the Muslim girl-students. In those years, Anna Molka Ahmad, the British born and educated young artist and academician, was striving to strengthen the foundations of the academic art in Pakistan. Anna Molka was trying hard to promote various techniques and genre of the western art in the visual culture where miniature painting had been a popular artistic forte. In 1947, the first Muslim teacher Mrs Anwar Afzal joined this department to stand by the lone efforts of Anna Molka Ahmad. Later, Zakkia Malik Sheikh, Naseem Hafeez Qazi and Razzia Feroz also served this institution as teachers to evolve and assimilate the western canon of aesthetics with the local convention. This became a very critical period in the visual doctrine of Lahore, which was to shape the future visual idiom of art in Pakistan. Razzia Feroz is one such artist who adopted the painting not only as an academic accomplishment but as a medium that could serve her to express the philosophy and ideology towards and about life. Razzia was born in 1925 in Shahpur, Punjab, and she came to Lahore with her parents in 1927 during her infancy. However, the visual impression of the Shahpur village remained a part of her subconscious and was expressed frequently in her paintings with tall and gracefully dressed villagers as the figures of her canvases and the agricultural environment as the backdrop. Dr Ferozuddin was a medical doctor and had a special affectionate relationship with his youngest daughter; Razzia. Dr Feroz encouraged her daughter’s early drawing and painting endeavours by sitting for hours as her model. Her father’s feelings towards the ailing poor and needy patients influenced Razzia to a great deal and Florence Nightingale, the legendary icon in the field of nursing, became her first inspiration and ideal. Razzia herself had some health issues right from her childhood that became an impediment for many of her dreams, and she had to readjust, time and again, her academic objectives. She graduated from Kinnaird College Lahore in 1943 and went on to join an MA course in Geography, but owing to her ill health, she could not

18 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Cool Shadows (Oil)

Friends (Oil on Masonite)

On the Footpath (Plaster)

Homeward Bound (Oil)

Innocent Poverty (Oil)


the past

Sunday, 19 - 25 JAN, 2014

‘This became a very critical period in the visual doctrine of Lahore, which was to shape the future visual idiom of art in Pakistan.’ ‘Razzia’s art is uncomplicated with simplicity of technique as well as the theme. Her figurative and landscape paintings are rooted in the pastoral life of Punjab where she opened her eyes while her modeling is under the academic influence of the institutional art.’ Landscape (Oil)

Razzia Feroz at work

By the Pond (Oil)

continue this degree, and that venture ended up in smoke. She describes this experience as: “I was very disappointed and felt hopeless. It was this disappointment that made me more artminded and thus turned all my love and affection towards a thing that has never turned faithless and has always been a sincere friend and companion.”-(Ahmad p. 09) Since the age of three, Razzia had been doodling and scribbling as instinctively as a child could be. The lost effort for an MA in Geography proved a turning point in her life, and she then considered her hobby seriously to prepare herself for the University Art Examination that she took with BA’s in 1947. At that point, she became acquainted with Anna Molka Ahmad, who invited her to join the Fine Arts Department for a post-graduate diploma in fine arts. In those days, Razzia was afraid of her bad health and unaccomplished endeavours of her life, which actually had made her reluctant and hesitant to reevaluate her ambitions and goals. However, the continuous advice and guidance of Anna Molka Ahmad made Razzia to think proactively. Anna Molka recommended Razzia to read “Art Versus Illness” by Adrian Hill in her pursuit to prevail over the difficulties to achieve her objectives. Finally, in 1949, Razzia joined the Fine Arts Department to be listed along with the first generation of post-Pakistan artists. She completed her diploma in 1950 and the following year she was offered to teach at the Fine Arts Department. Razzia found peace and strength in art and overcame the shortcomings of her life by indulging fully in the various genres of visual arts like painting and modeling. She found answers of her philosophical and logical yearning towards life and came up with a righteous doctrine for her life to proceed optimistically. In her own words: “Art is life and life is Art to me. Art is an unknown source that is inspiring in me a life to live and to paint humanity in all its moods and colours. I wish to paint suffering humanity with all the brilliant colours and thus too hide the sufferings, pains and hunger under a coat of everlasting gaze… It is my life’s mission and my life’s aim. My soul shall never be at peace, so long as I have not done my duty in doing full justice to a world of ideas that cherish me…”-(Ahmad p. 13) Razzia’s art is uncomplicated with simplicity of technique as well as the theme. Her figurative and landscape paintings are rooted in the pastoral life of Punjab where she opened her eyes while her modeling is under the academic influence of the institutional art. We may not find her work groundbreaking or revolutionary, however, the contribution she made with her commitment, and perseverance is vital in shaping the early years of art in Pakistan. RefeRence: Anna Molka Ahmad. Razzia Feroz: Monograph Number Three. Lahore: Punjab University Press, 1954. n Catalogue Lahore Art Circle Group Exhibition 1955. Lahore: 1955. n Catalogue Group Exhibition at Fine Arts Department 1954. Lahore: Punjab University Press, 1954. n

Razzia Feroz

Forest Glade (Oil)

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