Media, Democracy and Good Governance by South Asian Media Net

6-7 November 2010, Islamabad

INTERACTION WITH THE PRESIDENT Media cannot be government friendly M Ziauddin

Let's help each other President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari

INTERACTION WITH PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-N QUAID

Pakistani media in 2010 Sadaf Arshad

A SAFMA guide for TV anchors

PFUJ Resolution Shams-ul-Islam Naz, Secretary General, PFUJ

SESSION II: MEDIA AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

SAFMA recommendations SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam

Session Report

We are answerable to society Maulana Fazlur Rehman

Time for a national agenda Mian Nawaz Sharif

The requisites of good governance in Pakistan I. A. Rehman

Is media promoting good governance? Khaled Ahmed

SESSION I: MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY Session Report

Media, Democracy and Governance Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General, SAFMA

Democracy and media sink or float together Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

SAFMA's proposed national agenda Imtiaz Alam

Media, democracy, governance are linked Robert Kvile, Ambassador of Norway

People not media judge of govt, parties Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

Consider our limitations Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Information & Broadcasting

INTERACTION WITH PRIME MINISTER

SESSION III: SETTING A NATIONAL AGENDA

The imperatives of governance and accountability Tariq Mehmood

Session Report

68 72

The state of education and the future Abbas Rashid

Terrorism and national security Talat Masood

Amending media laws I. A. Rehman

Only a house in order can yield a good foreign policy Inam-ul-Haq

Diversity of opinion solves problems Asma Jahangir

105

India-centrism, strategic depth and terrorism Khaled Ahmed

Resolution for Balochistan

107

Adieu Barna

109

Perpetuating backwardness Siddiq Baluch

Pakistan's economy: the way out Dr Akmal Hussain

Towards a new development approach Nadeem ul Haque

No to Undemocratic and Unconstitutional Change Move Jointly Towards Setting a National Agenda

111

Benefits of liberalizing trade with India An economist

SAFMA Pakistan National Executive Body

115

Citizens for Democracy (CD) No to Undemocratic and Unconstitutional Change

120

Energy crisis in Pakistan: Challenges and their solutions Dr. Muhammad Asif

Delegates List

121

DECLARATION

EDITOR: Waqar Mustafa RAPPORTEURS: Mehmal Sarfraz, Kiran Hasan, Loren John, Javaid Saleem

PUBLISHER: Free Media Foundation DESIGNER: Muhammad Adeel

INTERACTION WITH THE PRESIDENT STANDING UP FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM: SAFMA-Pakistan President Nusrat Javeed, SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, former SAFMA-Pakistan President M Ziauddin and Awami Awaz Editor Dr Jabbar Khattak

Media cannot be government friendly

M Ziauddin presenting introductory remarks

outh Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), a mainstream media body of the region formed in July 2000 with eight national chapters and Media Centers/offices in member countries of SAARC, is an associated body of SAARC. The man behind the SAFMA spread is Mr Imtiaz Alam, the organisation's secretary general. Everything which we have achieved today is because of this man. SAFMA/FMF has requested the SAARC and its member countries to provide funds from SAARC Development Fund or pool resources to create a South Asia Free Media Endowment Fund to run and maintain its activities relying on itself. It will enable Free Media Foundation, the implementing arm of SAFMA, SAWM and SAMC to bear the expenditures required to perform the functions of SAFMA, SAWM and SAMC as well as its regular projects of South Asian Journal

(SAJ), South Asian Media Net (SAMN), Annual Media Monitor Report, South Asian Media School (SAMS) and South Asian Free Media Production House. SAFMA would also request you to kindly support SAFMA in creating South Asian Free Media Endowment Fund through SAARC Development Fund. We also seek your push to bring the drafts of the Information Act and the PEMRA law proposed by the SAFMA and Media Commission-Pakistan, approved by the information ministry, to the parliament for approval. And let me make it clear that there is no such thing as government-friendly media. There will always be a confrontation between the media and the government. We are the watchdogs. The question is who is going to watch the watchdogs!

s Pakistan Peoples' Party, the largest political force in the country, giving us hope? Yes Sir, it is giving us hope. Our bone of contention with the media is not that they talk about the negatives or the weaknesses of the system. Whatever weaknesses we have belong to the nation. These are national weaknesses, not individual ones, and they collectively become a burden or an asset. To give you an example, we had submitted a national power policy when we were last in government. If I remember, the same 'Einsteins' who are talking today, had in those days condemned us for the policy. But without that you wouldn't have even the electricity you have today.

Let's help each other President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari

Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto Shaheed had managed to sign deals for 40,000 megawatts of electricity. Literally, people were picked up and asked to leave the country. Then our government changed the policy which had proven a success in the world after having been experimented in Pakistan. Evolved in Pakistan, it was given to the World Bank, which acknowledged and accepted it. 74 banks got together over one project called Hubco, which was the first pioneer project ever to be done in the public sector in the history of the world. But unfortunately, once our government was undemocratically removed, nobody stood up to take the ownership of the power policy. It was a pyramid structure; it was top heavy. The first thing the next government did was to change the structure and make it bottom heavy so that the future generation, rather than themselves, would have to pay more. They could not see the future, and the high oil prices therein.

I am definitely looking at the future of Pakistan. I don't mind being told that 34 people have got infected by dengue fever. What I do consider a bit impolite is that you do not mention the 1.2 million children immunized during these crises. Whatever crisis the Peoples Party, or I as an individual, have ever faced, has been turned around. All weaknesses have been turned into strengths and used for the betterment and for the good of the people of Pakistan. Mohtrama Shaheed knew that her life was in danger when she came. In spite of that she came out. She wanted to lift the nation out of fear. In Rawalpindi where she lost her life, she warned against the removal of Pakistani flag from the Swat rooftops. It did happen and who took it back? A parliament run with consensus. A government of reconciliation. Reconciliation is not for today alone. It is a path we cannot afford to leave. Many a time the party has been tempted to withdraw from a government that half sits in the opposition. But better sense has always prevailed. Now let's support the democratic systems we have given our lives for. Journalists may have given their pen for it but I have given my sweat and blood for it. Why do you think they kept me for 25 days in a rest house (after the removal of the PPP government by President Farooq Leghari in the 90s)? Not because they were being kind to me, but because they wanted to negotiate with me. Obviously, when I didn't accept their demands, cases were registered against me and I faced them. And if you remember, or you can search for it, newspapers had carried a statement by a general that if Mr. Zardari wants the same kind

of deal he is welcome. But we chose the difficult path. We chose the difficult part and always took the beacon of democracy a bit forward. The 18th amendment will be a huge thing for democracy. It is for you to understand it and give it ownership. Who has ever given up power, especially when he has the tools and means not to do so? [General Pervez] Musharraf had to leave because we had managed to organise all forces against him and he knew that he had to lose. I could have managed to form a consensus among the ruling party so that we would not have to give up these powers. But one lives on to live in history. This is a lesson which your sister, my late wife and my leader taught me, and the hard way. We did not, I did not, the party did not give away power because we didn't like it. We gave away power because we are answerable in the democratic history of Pakistan and to the coming generations. I didn't want to be known as the President who had the chance but chose not to give powers back to the parliament. What else can I do to give you transparency? I have my best friend, leader of the opposition, Chaudhry Nisar [Ali Khan] as the chairman of the Public Accounts committee. Has it ever happened before? Has a president, who is also the head of a political party, ever given up powers? Our boycott of television shows is a form of showing our displeasure at the combined political propaganda which has gone on for three years. We took no notice of it at first but when it began to create religious and ethnic divides, the party, not I, decided to take this course. To me, participation was a better way. Enough was enough, the least we could do was to use our political choice. Never have we wanted a dormant press. We want you to evolve. We want you to become stronger. We may have weaknesses like any government or any nation. But a lot of effort, a lot of work goes behind correcting them. How many people could have expected that we would take political ownership of the war on terror? If we differentiate yesterday and today, you were the bad guys fighting the good guys. Today everybody across the country knows we are right. It is Pakistan's war. We are not soldiers for hire. We are not mercenaries. We are fighting to save our way of life. Pakistan will never allow a handful of terrorists and extremists to impose their extremist ideological agenda on the people through force. We will not let Pakistani soil to be used by the terrorists against any country. The blame game will not serve the cause of the war against militancy and emphasized that the

international community should also understand and appreciate our determination to fight militancy. And it is a great thing to say that we have helped the Americans during the Afghan war etcâ&#x20AC;Ś yes those points need to be made, but we stopped the Soviet Union on our border, again because we didn't want to be cultureless, we did not want to be landless, no matter how little or how much we owned. The concept of collectiveness and growth in collectiveness has failed communism. That proves that our forefathers did not make a mistake. Liaquat Ali Khan did not make a mistake when he took his first trip to the United States rather than to Russia. Maybe the Baloch representatives of the old times do not agree with me but that is their prerogative. Our growth is stemmed by lack of clarity, lack of vision and lack of ownership for policies. To give you another example of 1988, we started a policy of edible oil. [Then Indian prime minister] Rajiv Ghandhi was here. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the President of Pakistan. Rajiv and I had a talk on edible oil, as he was not an agriculturist and I came from that field. He understood we could grow edible oil instead of importing it. He went back and he put a policy in place. The policy continued and today India exports edible oil and we are still importing 600 to 800 million dollars worth of oil. It's a pity. We are open to dialogue. We have spoken to everybody. We do not want to lose on political consensus building. How good is democracy? It is as good as you are. It is as good as I am. What we are trying to bring in is modern technology. For example, the BB card. We have made it transparent. You cannot find fault in it or in the payments to the IDPs. That doesn't mean everything has changed. I want growth to go up to double digit because the population is 200 million people, 65% of it young people. We have to think today how much it will cost us to survive in the future. I go to China every three months to learn from them, learn how they have progressed so fast and managed to make themselves into such a prosperous nation. We are answerable to our coming generations. So, we have always maintained that anything that does not have a tomorrow does not exist today. What was destroyed when Ayub Khan was in power? What got destroyed when Zia-ul-Haq was in power? What was destroyed when Musharaf was in power? Whenever a dictator takes over, the first thing he does is try to re-invent the

wheel and lose most of his energy and the goodwill that he creates in the beginning. It's ridiculous: the speech writer is the same; all he does is change the references. And we sit back as a nation and we take all the abuse till some political force finds the way out. Do you think Yahya Khan would have left if we had won in East Pakistan? And does anybody remember that Yahya Khan was offered the same deal by Mujeeb-ur-Rehman to take off his uniform and be the President of Pakistan? One dictator rules and everything runs by command, the system deteriorates. And in ten years everything deteriorates. We come back and rebuild. I remember standing in the same position with BB in 88, much younger then. I don't see any research in the media. I see a lot of emphasis on selling negativity. The media has become a commercial enterprise today and it is selling negativity as a commodity. Ours is a principled stand against that negativity being sold as a commodity. We are hurt, we are in pain, we have war on our borders, we have non-state actors, self nurtured or otherwise, who want to change the world order and spread anarchy. They want to push Pakistan and the world back to the Stone Age. Simply by giving world market rates, we have brought a change to the farmers' earnings and lifestyle. The floods have damaged us but that's a natural disaster.

The audience

Humanity does come across them. We have to suck our breath in and walk ahead and we have done exactly that. It is not that development is not taking place. Yes you write about the lathi charge at one Watan Card center but at the same time you should tell us how many Watan cards have been issued. How many people are the recipients of that money? And it was not money that was budgeted for. So obviously one has taken it away from some other appropriation and re-appropriate it for the people, for the needs of the hour, and that itself is no mean task for any government to accomplish. The government is vigorously working to address the issue of poverty through Benazir Income Support Program, which is not merely a poverty alleviation program but also a women emancipation and empowerment program. I don't want to increase the price of electricity. I don't want to increase the price of fuel. I know what it will do to a popular government if the price of bread is three times what it was before. But if I hadn't raised the price of wheat, how would prosperity have come to 67% of the population? How long can you subsidize? You cannot subsidize always. We are not engaged in any political scheming, we are taking these difficult decisions. We went to the IMF, they didn't come to us. We went because I could see there was a recession in the world

and a meltdown coming. There were people, economists, who said we should declare ourselves a defaulter state. But I chose not to. We chose to go to the IMF in a re-structuring program which would limit our ability to support our voters. So we are prepared for the good and the bad. More than anybody else, we value democracy. There is no political prisoner today. I was the one to apologize to the Baloch. No columnist ever told me to, but I did. When I took over I said the provinces needed a new social contract with Islamabad. Think about the need of the hour and then conclude whether we are on the right track or not. Pakistan stands for peace in the region and the world and wants an early resumption of the composite dialogue process with India. The democratic civil government went out of the way in our peace overtures towards India. It would have been most helpful if our initiatives had been welcomed and responded to in a positive manner. The Mumbai attack has undermined efforts for peace. Pakistan is cooperating in unearthing and bringing to justice the perpetrators of militant acts. We want to implement Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's vision of a peaceful South Asia through economic integration adding we are for strengthening SAARC and are ready to relax tariff and non-tariff barriers on a reciprocal basis. The first thing I talk to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about is water. This is our major issue. Countries have decided not to take immigrations from countries like ours. At the moment we have 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 million people abroad. No more is that an option. Tourism is not an option for you. You are not an industrialized country. You did not barter with America or the West. India bartered with Soviet Union and developed low tech cottage industries. You bought everything with either aid or loans. Even today ,the GDP ratio to debt is not that bad; it's our local debt that is a problem. And the local debt is the subsidy a dictator opted for because he was in an election year. He did not pass on the cost of oil, which had gone to 170 dollars a barrel, lest he or his party lose the elections. So think of the glass as half full. Think of what we have achieved till now. Yes we need to do more. Even in 1st world countries there are complaints. There are problems that have not been solved by a super power, which has the ability to give a trillion dollar stimulus to its economy. I do not have the luxury of giving you a stimulus. I am giving you a non-stimulus. I am giving you IMF conditionalities. Because if I don't take these difficult decisions today,

tomorrow what will 24 billion-dollar exports mean for a country of two hundred million-people? It's peanuts. Even Vietnam, which was liberated much later than us and faced a war as well, has managed to go up to $80 billion and has a much smaller population than ours. So let's have a reality check and debate what is important for us all. The terrorists don't want only to kill you. They want to kill your way of life. Travel to Swat and talk to the people there. The operation was going on when a delegation came to see me. Its members told me that their brothers, their children or their relatives were there in Swat and caught up in the crossfire. They asked me not to stop the operation there. They wanted to get rid of terrorism. Unfortunately, that is the lesson of the day for the journalists. Let's not cut our nose to spite our face. Let's help each other. Our political system may have flaws but you have to strengthen it. In our defeat lies the defeat of the nation. There is a lot to be done, a lot to be said and we intend to do it. We have brought in reconciliation. We have come this far. We have brought in a change and for the better and not for the worse. Everybody will have to meet the benchmarks which we have put in today. I appreciate the stand taken by SAFMA and the Citizens for Democracy to oppose any undemocratic and unconstitutional change. The PPP is committed to a progressive, democratic and liberal polity that empowers the working people and the poor of the country. The setting up of coalition governments, both at the center and in the provinces, is a measure of our policy of reconciliation. We, therefore, welcome when SAFMA also seeks national consensus on major national policy issues. I welcome SAFMA's efforts to evolve a national consensus on the major challenges facing the country and congratulate SAFMA for holding its 4th National Conference in Islamabad and also welcome SAFMA proposal to hold 3rd Indo-Pak Parliamentary Conference in Islamabad soon. The PPP-led democratic Government fully believes in freedom of the media and wholeheartedly welcomes constructive and positive criticism as it helps fine-tuning the policies of any government. I acknowledge the sacrifices you have all been making and the adverse circumstances that you have to live in and work in. Remember, however: so do we. I accept all your demands my friends. I shall recommend to the government and I will send you a copy of the DO letter that I send to the prime minister. That much I can do. More than that, you will say that I haven't given power up as yet. Pakistan Paaindabad

INTERACTION

WITH PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE-N QUAID 7

The PML-N Quaid exchanging notes with anchors Hina Khawja Bayat and Iftikhar Ahmed

MIAN MUHAMMAD NAWAZ SHARIF

SAFMA recommendations

SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam presenting SAFMA recommendations at the interaction

radically revised and the composite dialogue process with India should be revived while stopping cross-border terrorism and morally and diplomatically supporting the Kashmiri intifada without the courtesy of the jihadis.

A national agenda, as also proposed by the Citizens for Democracy and SAFMA's National Conference IV, should be evolved on major policy issues and a process of consensus building be initiated among the major stakeholders across the civil society in all the federating units.

Some extraordinary initiative should be taken to overcome the alienation of the Baloch people.

Civil-military relations should be redefined in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

The government must take austerity measures and evolve a structural and institutional system of transparency and all-sided and even-headed accountability.

The foreign and security policies regarding neighbors need to be

Time for a national agenda Mian Nawaz Sharif Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Quaid

he country is passing through a critical stage. While democratic dispensation has been restored after a decade of military rule, the collapse of state institutions and threats to security are posing a grave danger to the fiber of the state necessitating a new social contract for the nation. There comes a time in the lives of people when, looking ruefully at their past, they yearn for a change. A change for the better. A change when they can break the shackles of an unjust system. A change when they are not exploited by the privileged class. A change when laws are not made for the

benefit of a few, and when everyone is equal before law. A change when all have equal opportunities to progress and prosper. A change when every one can live with honour, dignity and pride. But a few questions have to be asked and some answers have to be given. Is this the land which was a dream of the poet-philosopher Iqbal? Is this the progressive, egalitarian and democratic Pakistan for the creation of which Quaid-e-Azam took on the combined might of the British imperialists and Indian hegemonists? Is this the democratic Pakistan where every citizen has freedom for fair play?

Is this the Pakistan where writ of the state is the same for everyone, irrespective of one's colour, creed or ethnicity? Is this the Pakistan where access to justice is the same for the poor as for the rich; where retribution of laws is the same for the strong as for the weak? Is it not a colossal national tragedy that we have deviated from the sublime ideals on which the very foundation of our state was laid! For any state in the contemporary world, its constitution is its solemn and inviolable social contract guaranteeing fundamental rights to its citizens. It also defines the role and responsibilities of the government, and provides a legal base for its institutional structures. Where do we stand today as a nation 63 years after independence? History is witness to Pakistan's traumatic experience under long periods of military rule which distorted the political process and constitutional institutions, leading to political chaos and instability. We have paid a heavy price during these dictatorships in the form of avoidable costly wars, territorial setbacks and institutional paralysis. These are painful questions which need equally bold soul searching. Four

years ago, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and I took stock of these traumatic experiences through which our nation had passed, and solemnly agreed on the Charter of Democracy as a blueprint for the restoration of genuine democracy rooted in the will of the people, and based on constitutional supremacy, independence of judiciary, rule of law and transparent governance. Subsequently, all these objectives were reiterated with equal emphasis in the 15-point declaration adopted by All Parties Conference in London in July, 2007. The general election on February 18, 2008 was a vote of no-confidence against the military dictator and the system he represented. On March 15, 2009 people came out in the historic Long March for the unconditional restoration of those honourable judges of the Superior Courts who had refused to take oath under a dictator's illegal Provisional Constitutional Order of November 03, 2007. Now we have to look forward. Given our country's socio-economic and political environment and the legacies we have inherited, what we need is a revolutionary change. Unless we all join hands to overcome these deficiencies, and consolidate

The audience: Prominent in the front row are (L to R) Ambassador of Finland Osmo Lipponen, Lt-Gen Talat Masood (retired), Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile, Ambassador of Netherlands Joost Reintjes, South Asia Media School Director Khaled Ahmed, senior journalist Ghazi Salhuddin

ourselves politically, economically and socially, we will not be able to face the internal and external threats. No state can justify or sustain its existence unless it has trust and confidence of its masses.

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What is needed is a serious and purposeful national effort, chartering a comprehensive review and meaningful discourse on the part of all major stakeholders and key segment of civil society which is vital for evolving a National Recovery Plan. To my mind the following are some of the salient dimensions of this national effort encompassing a common political, legislative and administrative change as well as a socio-economic roadmap: l l l

Preservation of Pakistan's sovereign independence and territorial integrity. Genuine democracy rooted in the will of the people. Supremacy of the Constitution, primacy of the Parliament and sanctity of the principles of separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

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Rule of law, independence of judiciary and good governance. Strengthening the federation, while simultaneously ensuring provincial autonomy and harmony. Freeing the society of hatred, violence, fear and frustration by ensuring fair play and mutual respect for each other. People-centered development through sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation. Freedom of press and media. Zero tolerance of militancy under any name or on any pretext. Full civil rights for the citizens of all tribal areas and administrative reforms to provide good governance, justice and civic amenities to citizens of Federally Administered Tribal Areas and all other tribal areas. Self reliance through revival of country's economy. A national consensus to formulate and implement a viable hydel generation policy and exploitation of thermal energy resources. Achieving universal education and a comprehensive programme to

L to R: SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam, PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, PML-N central leader Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Geo anchor Iftikhar Ahmed, PML-N MNA Tehmina Daultana and South Asian Women in Media General Secretary Bushra Sultana

generate employment opportunities. Resolution of Kashmir issue by seeking its final solution through peaceful means, in conformity with the spirit of Lahore Declaration of 1999. Peaceful environment in South Asia and good neighborly relations with all countries.

I would invite all segments of society, in particular the political leadership, the intelligentsia, the religious scholars, the lawyers, the jurists, the journalists, the labour leaders, the educationists, the media, enlightened women and youth â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in fact the entire segment of civil society to come forward and evolve a new social contract or misak for the nation, Misak-e-Pakistan.

We have to eliminate economic and social unevenness. We have to fight the scourge of intolerance and sectarianism and bring about religious harmony. We have to root out the causes of ethnic cleavage and integrate all segments of our population in the national mainstream. We have to ensure that elitism gives way to egalitarianism. We have to ensure rule of law, enforced by transparent governance. Above all, we have to make a pledge before the nation that to achieve these noble goals we will transcend individual self-interests and make Pakistan a vibrant and dynamic country.

Now is the time for that. We can hear the tidings. We can seize the moment. Despondency has to give way to hope. But there will be hope if there is commitment. This consciousness, this desire, this belief and this resolve must be transformed into a national will and a determination to act. I hope that all patriotic Pakistanis will come forward and play their part for a better Pakistan.

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In the front row (L to R): Khurshid Haider, Amar Sindhu, Irfana Mallah, Amara Javed and journalists from Sindh

How do you like the food?: The host with the guests at the Punjab House

GREETINGS: PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif welcomes (L to R) Ambassador of Finland Osmo Lipponen, Lt-Gen Talat Masood (retired), Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile, Ambassador of Netherlands Joost Reintjes to the interaction at the Punjab House, Islamabad

THE QUESTION-ANSWER SESSION WITH PML-N QUAID NAWAZ SHARIF

REGISTRATION OF DELEGATES 350 delegates, including the representatives of 50 press clubs, register for the National Conference

SESSION I

SESSION REPORT

Media and democracy T

he conference provided space to comprehensive views from many stakeholders including journalists, TV anchors, analysts, government functionaries, opposition members, politicians, academia, foreign policy experts, economists and NGOs. Four interactive sessions spread over two days were organized in addition to three more interactive sessions with the President, the Prime Minister and the mainstream opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif. However, the lively sessions did not truly generate hope for friendly relations between the media and the government. The subject of ethics was also hotly debated during the sessions, mainly by representatives of the journalist community. Sama television's anchor Asma Shirazi conducted the proceedings. “Freedom of speech is important and nobody can deny us this right,” she said. Asma Shirazi

SAFMA Pakistan General Secretary Sirmed Manzoor welcomed the conference delegates. “This is our fourth SAFMA national conference. Its agenda is to look into media, democracy and good governance. After a very long time democracy has been reinstated and it faces a lot of dangers. With free judiciary and democracy, we will try to come up with an agenda-setting which ensures democracy.” Imtiaz Alam I am happy to see here 250 delegates, representing 50 press clubs of the country. These are the times for celebrating the freedom that we have got through a protracted struggle for civil and human rights and for the restoration of democracy and constitutional rule that was successively interrupted. These Sirmed Manzoor free times and democratic virtues are all thanks to and due to democracy—nothing else—that we all must preserve and defend as an essential component of the constitutional and democratic framework underwritten by fundamental rights, freedom of expression and an independent judiciary. Those violating all norms while provoking the countdowns for undemocratic change every other week or month must realize that a free media, an independent judiciary, rule of law, respect for civil and human rights are all sine qua non of democracy and not otherwise. If you dig the grave for democracy, you will be inviting your own demise. Indeed, we are for accountability of all but, of course, without excluding ourselves. Hassan Askari 's paper presented by Kiran Hassan Democracy and media are closely linked with each other. The deficit of one has negative implications for the other. It is natural that they reinforce each other. However, like democracy whose quality is crucial for sustaining it, the media cannot perform their role effectively without maintaining high professional standards and performing their critical role with responsibility and nonpartisan disposition.

Discussants Sajjad Mir, a senior journalist and News 1 anchor What are we questioning here? Do we have any doubts of what the role of the media should be in a democracy? Or what is the role of good governance in a democracy? If there is democracy, the media will play its role accordingly. In the absence of good governance democracy will become a joke giving the army another opportunity to take over. Our solutions lie in a sustainable democracy although various arguments suggest that China has also developed without democracy. Or there is the Southeast Asian model in which economic development came first and democracy followed. We have suffered because of the lack of democracy. Military ruler Ayub Khan might have fostered development, but we lost half of Pakistan after he left. Another military ruler Zia-ul-Haq is and has always been unpopular. We still have a soft corner for Pervez Musharraf. The current problems that we face are partly because of him. Balochistan was stable for 12 years but serious issues emerged there during Musharraf's time. The problem in Karachi is mainly because of Zia. To put everything in a nutshell, only democracy can save this country. Democracy does not deliver if it is not supported by good governance. By good governance we mean, as Imtiaz Alam very rightly said, creating a system which works. In order for democracy to work, good governance is an absolute must. There can be lots of examples of bad governance and I don't want to mention them but I stress that we all know what good governance is. You can call us inexperienced and immature but democracy cannot survive without free media like that Sajjad Mir

of corporate America. The democratic government has to tolerate this immature media. Three things politicians have to tolerate: free judiciary, free media and civil society. If political leadership supports all these factors, good governance will be stronger and so will your government and democracy. Mujeeb-ur-Rehaman Shami, Chief Editor, Daily Pakistan: We can have different viewpoints. Armed struggle has become very unfashionable. It was introduced in East Pakistan by India. Chuen Li had said they that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. In our country it was introduced during the dictatorships. Had there been democracy here, people would have gone for other options. Feroz Khan Noon, then the prime minister, once heard speeches for war by his fellow parliamentarians. In response, he said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;You should look for another prime minister if you want war.â&#x20AC;? The wars of 1965 and 1971 occurred because there was no democracy in the country. Pakistan's existence is linked to democracy. And democracy's future is linked to the media. Media need democracy. So much energy has been wasted on getting freedom. The consensus lost in 1958 has been regained. We should strengthen the system now. No one is above accountability. The Express Tribune appointing an ombudsman is appreciable. Other media should follow suit. Governance is democracy government for the people. Time should not be wasted. The media should think beyond rating. There is no tax culture in the country. Agriculture tax should be introduced an enforced. Tax laws are not being implemented. There is a need for institutional changes. The days of martial law should be over. We have nothing to give now. People's right to

Mujeeb-ur-Rehaman Shami

rule should not be usurped. The population is bulging. Illiterate and jobless youth can ignite a fire. The media should address real issues and find out their solution. Robert Kevile, the Norwegian ambassador: It's a great privilege for me to be invited to this conference. My intervention would be slightly shorter and less passionate than those I have heard earlier this morning. We have an agenda in Pakistan and we are not part of any conspiracy. Our agenda is not hidden. It is very straightforward. We want to contribute to a more stable, a more just and a more stable Pakistan. The media is rightly called the fourth state because of its crucial role as a democratic watchdog and SAFMA has helped the media take on this very important role in South Asia. But SAFMA does more than this. It unites journalists for all SAARC countries promoting tolerance and peace across the borders. I salute you for the work you do and the role that you play. Shams-ul-Islam Naz, Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) The Secretary General of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Shamsul Islam Naz bemoaned the lack of conducive conditions in which journalists could perform their duties without assurances of job security, and the absence of institutionalized appointments and compensation, while newspapers and TV channels wallow in advertisements. We need to go deeper in our analysis. If good governance is a bi-product of democracy and media, it is important to question whether media are not creating a mess or hampering the progress of good governance.

Shams-ul-Islam Naz

When we talk about tax evasions and accountabilities, do the media hold themselves accountable? In the tax evasion, we must see how much tax the

media are giving. 95% of their staff remains unpaid, is not on a regular payroll and doesn't have any job security, doesn't have job descriptions, is not paid even at the lowest rates. And you think such people will uphold the standards of authentic and objective information. In such times constantly asking the ruling political party, the president and the prime minister to provide good governance, the media should first look within itself. Which religion, which political party, which value, which education asks you to lie? Who asks the army to get together and who sits in the navy boats and says that government is absent? Why do we project the army and why do we only say that the army is doing a good job? Why do we separate our army with our government? Why do we say that the judiciary is independent? Why do we promote these ideologies, these imaginations? I consider myself a student of media and I still do not consider myself a journalist. All the journalists are supposed to adhere to five W's what, when, who to, who from and why. We don't follow these rules of journalism. Journalists have become fortunetellers. These fortunetellers have succeeded in getting rid of governments. We don't accept black laws, we don't accept Martial laws, we have all stood against Zia, and we don't accept lawlessness. It is good governance that we stand against all such things. Good governance is individualistic and we must start good governance from ourselves. In order to bring good governance we need to change ourselves. Good governance will not come in isolation. We are a part and parcel of it. If media want to bring good governance, they must refer to the declaration of code of conduct and abide by it. The media do not pay PEMRA any tax, why do the media not show that? Why don't we write about it? You talk about accountability. No labour inspector can enter a media house. Media also support the privileged. There are insurances for the cameras but there is no insurance for the camera person. Civil society is also scared of the media. The civil society does not raise a voice against the media because the media in turn would deny coverage to the civil society. Everybody talks about the sovereignty of the parliament, everybody talks about providing justice, in our own case we don't even provide notice before sacking a journalist. If anybody wants good governance, the media should be put straight. If you want good governance, start from your own self. If you want good governance, provide basic rights to people. We don't know investigative journalism. There are so many books about laws and regulations but we don't consult them. Good governance faces a dilemma in our society. When somebody respects you, you treat the very person with

disrespect. In most countries people don't even know the names of their chief justices, but here the situation is different. That is also a cause for concern. Let's not become part of the system which becomes questionable and promotes fears and slavery. Let's all say goodbye to fears and embrace good governance. Zahid Hussain: Shams-ul-Islam has rightly said that media houses and journalists have started thinking of themselves as unaccountable. But this reflects the country's situation. In a country which lacks good governance and rule of law, media cannot be looked at in isolation. Is anyone held accountable in this country?

Zahid Hussain

Elections are just a part of the process of democracy. Winning elections is not democracy. Did we all play any role in strengthening the process of democracy? That is a big question. Democratic rule is better than the military one. We are not trying to strengthen the democratic rule. Democracy faces two kinds of dangers.

Democracy cannot survive in the absence of rule of law and good governance. In the absence of rule of law, power lies with a handful of people. Where is rule of law today? No rules apply to the influential. Over the past two and a half years has anybody tried to change the rule of law? Increased corruption is not supporting democracy. If we don't rectify a corrupt lawless system, then democracy may not survive. We keep options for ourselves for either a military rule or a civilian rule. That should be not an option. We must focus on how democracy works. The military plays a role in many things. The best thing about the 2008 elections was that there was a consensus among all political parties. All these parties had learned from their experience that they might have different political visions but they would not allow another army intervention. Today when many suspect that there is going to be an army intervention, I perceive it as a weakness of our democratic system. Our generals should not be encouraged to intervene in our civilian matters. If they do, it is a failure of on the part of our political parties. People should be made aware that democracy has to be supported by them in order to survive. Democracy can survive by institutional backing. Media should be held accountable on some accounts, but they like our democratic institutions are young. With all their mistakes, they need to be supported. Democracy is also threatened if we lose our economic sovereignty. We need to change our mindsets. Unless we do so, we cannot hope to have good governance, economic strength and democracy.

Open House Iftikhar Ahmed: We are trying to hold the government accountable for a lot of things. Who is going to hold us accountable? How can the media groups, which cannot bring order to their own small institutions, bring reform on a large scale? These media groups want democracy according to their own agenda, their Tanzeela Mazhar and Iftikhar Ahmed

own interests and their own determination. And if this trend is not curtailed, we will be to blame for the havoc it will create. G N Mughal: In democracy India may be ahead of us but in struggle we are ahead of it. People who faced incarceration and torture or

G N Mughal with his input

Khalid Chaudhary's comment

were flogged should be paid tribute to. No personal agenda, we should have a higher agenda. We should promote self criticism.

Democracy means giving one direction to diversity. Secularism is not being irreligious. It should get its original meaning back. Pakistan should get away from ideologies.

Khalid Chaudhary: Working journalists were the ones to give sacrifices. Owners always compromised with dictators. They don't want democracy to run. In future, only we will be there to defend media rights. Imtiaz Alam: We should focus on major issues. We are defending citizen's rights. Javed Qazi:

Javed Qazi (right)

M Ziauddin: As newspapers continue to struggle with maintaining ethical standards and raising their esteem in the eyes of the public, the role of a News Ombudsman becomes increasingly important. News Ombudsmen uphold journalistic integrity and fairness at their publications. They serve as advocates for the readers, hearing their complaints and concerns, as well as crafting responses

M Ziauddin

and suggesting courses of action to newspaper management. News Ombudsmen ensure accuracy and accountability on the part of newspapers as they have a responsibility to their readers. News Ombudsmen demonstrate to the public that the newspaper is attuned to their concerns. We have Mr Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, a known jurist and constitutional expert, as our News Ombudsman who has a reputation for being scrupulously fair and ethical. Jabbar Khattak: We should have no great expectations from a corporate media. The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) should be groomed. They lack the capacity to handle things. Media cannot run without ads. PEMRA is not aware of the media future. Information technology is making progress by leaps and bounds. People should have the Right to Know. People will be empowered. Media will be free because it will cost less.

Voting people mostly live in rural areas, but it's not they who get preference. It's non-voting people who reap the fruits of progress and development. Democracy should have a democratic culture. With time it should grow. People, not the media, should have the right to t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s accountability. How far is media democratic? The media are only city specific. The survival of Pakistan rests on democracy. Irfana Mallah

Irfana Mallah:

Jabbar Khattak (C)

Farzana Ali

Farzana Ali: Aaj TV Peshawar Bureau Chief pointed out that while a minute-to-minute day long commentary was given about the funeral of a political leader, the story of 68 people who died a day earlier in terrorist attacks was underplayed. She also talked about the dangers media people faced in covering the conflict zones from the warring parties. The media shirk from theirh responsibility of showing the facts. The media keeps on changing its language about the warring parties. Siddique Baloch: Media are weak in Balochistan. Ours is a conflict zone for the last 170 years. Life is very tough. There is no writ of the state. People are killed in custody. Shahzada Zulfiqar, Pakistan Today: The owner of a newspaper was attacked and had to flee the country. Siddique Baloch's newspaper offices were under surveillance. The media are under pressure there from the parties to the conflict. We are between two guns. Anchors don't get first-hand knowledge of the situation. Journalists should visit Balochistan and so should the minister for information and broadcasting.

Shahzada Zulfiqar and other journalists from Balochistan

Imtiaz Alam: [Winding up the debate] We have spoken about employees' conditions; no insurance, no security for journalists in the conflict regions. There is no freedom of the media in the conflict regions. They can't report the conflict objectively. Newspapers and television channels do not reflect the real situation. Press council and code of ethics should be there, not for the government but for ourselves. The adversarial relationship between the government and the media will remain. Media should only serve the public interest and should defend people's privacy. Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira He promised he would soon push through the Parliament the draft of the Freedom of Information Bill that SAFMA had submitted long ago, though the government for some reason had remained silent on it. Touching on the importance of free media, he stressed that in the absence of free media, no government could improve its performance. Working journalists ought to perform their duties in a responsible manner. The minister pledged â&#x20AC;&#x153;to support media as an industry and journalists rights' as workersâ&#x20AC;? whose families deserved health and education benefits.

Babar Ayaz and Siddique Baloch

Referring to the performance of the government, Kaira said that 28 out of

Asma Shirazi, Mujeeb-ur-Rehaman Shami, Imtriaz Alam, Qamar Zakan Kaira, Zahid Hussain, M Ziauddin, Irfana Mallah, Farzana Ali

32 points of the Charter of Democracy had been implemented but media rarely appreciated the positive action and continued to criticize. “Media have every right to criticize the government, as no genuine democracy can flourish without free media but they should also suggest practical steps to the government.” He said tough economic decisions causing price-hike in the country were being made in national interest. “We are not fools. We know certain economic decisions will cause price-hike and may make us unpopular among the masses. But we are making such decisions in the national interest, as the country cannot afford huge subsidies. If we continue subsidising, the country will collapse,” Kaira said. “There is no threat to democracy from the army but institutions, owing to

such institutional behaviour, which are like human habits, sometimes interfere in political matters and that practice could be undone with the democratic process,” Kaira said. “Traditions of media in Pakistan are older than the political traditions and journalists' community, being representative of those traditions, is older than me, the representative of political traditions, so media have more responsibility to protect democracy and help the government in evolving good governance,” he said. He said the PPP had always supported and respected media freedom. He announced that the government would soon name the chairman of the Press Council, which could play an important role in resolution of the mediarelated issues.

Media, Democracy and Governance

Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General, SAFMA

hese are the times for celebrating the freedom that we have got through a protracted struggle for civil and human rights and for the restoration of democracy and constitutional rule that was successively interrupted by the usurpers-in-khaki. Pakistan can now be distinguished as the only country in the Muslim world to have a ferociously free media and an authoritatively independent judiciary—the new vibrant components of our democracy-in-transition. Fortunately enough, we have a parliament that has earned the distinction of having passed the 18th Amendment with an absolute consensus, removing the stigma of most infamous 8th Amendment (if not most rabidly reactionary parts of it) and 17th Amendment and allowing greater autonomy to the federating units—a highly welcome improvement. Thanks to the Charter of Democracy and a policy of reconciliation, we are witnessing a democratic culture of accommodation, adjustment and understanding among various political elements with an opposition playing by the book setting healthy democratic conventions. As democracy allows greater space to civil society and civilian institutions, we witness a greater assertion of vocal elements of civil society, the media and the bars, the judiciary-revived under democracy by democratic means-- and the federating units-- by virtue of NFC Award-- to expand their spheres and spaces scuttled during the military dictatorships. We also see a Presidency bowing to the parliamentary spirit of the 1973 Constitution, rather than remaining an instrument of powers that be to scuttle the mandate of the people. Most vibrant and inclusive is the politics of coalition making at the Centre and the provinces. We see unprecedented accountability of the elected representatives by the media—often bordering ridicule. On the top of it, a very pro-active judiciary is not letting any omission of the civil executive go unpunished to a point where on occasions the poor executive looks traumatized and squeezed. Every public complaint or outcry finds its fullest and loudest expression on 24/7 news broadcasts and the daily newspapers. The instant and minute-by-minute “breaking news” stream and unending repetitive talk-shows have captured the political and social landscape while frantically pursuing the misleading ratings by the self-serving monitors of

aggressive commercial bosses. These free times and democratic virtues are all thanks to and due to democracy—nothing else—that we all must preserve and defend as an essential component of constitutional and democratic framework underwritten by fundamental rights, freedom of expression and an independent judiciary. Those violating all norms while provoking the countdowns for undemocratic change every other week or month must realize that a free media, an independent judiciary, rule of law, respect for civil and human rights are all sine qua non of democracy and not otherwise. If you dig the grave for democracy, you will be inviting your own demise. Indeed, we are for accountability of all but, of course, without excluding ourselves. This is the noise of democracy that we relish and must protect. Indeed there are those, deluded by their new-found power, who are insulting the sanctity of freedom and legitimacy of their authority while crossing ethical and institutional limits for their parochial and vested interests. They must be checked from within amid growing public scepticism. The irony of the situation

is that the ongoing tug of war among the civilian institutions and civilian forces to grab greater space at the cost of the other is, ironically, eroding the very foundation on which stands the whole edifice of democracy. Even the meek efforts at taming the untamed and bringing powerful apparatuses of the establishment under civilian and constitutional purview were frustrated—not as much by those who thrive beyond the law and accountability but by the same custodians of our freedom and lawful protection who can't otherwise survive without democracy. The depth and scope of democracy is, unfortunately, being undermined by those who were supposed to deepen and expand it. Resultantly, the sphere of the elected government has been reduced to less than a sovereign's job, consigning most strategic foreign and internal affairs back into the lap of unaccountable masters of our destiny—regardless of the will of the people and the intent of the US Congress, albeit Kerry-Lugar-Burman Bill. But the real life beyond the show of power among the pigmies is full of challenges, obstacles and uncertainties. The Challenges have to be tackled

instead of making the politicians scapegoats who have always been wrongly or rightly blamed for decades. Sensing the undemocratic and unconstitutional threats to democracy that we have again brought back with a lot of sacrifices, SAFMA along with some leading journalists, intellectuals and civil society leaders, from the platform of Citizens for Democracy, called upon all the institutions and stakeholders to say no to any undemocratic and unconstitutional change while emphasizing the urgency to evolve a National Agenda to tackle an all-sided crises of the sate. Some of the challenges, that pose a real threat to our existence as a people and a land, that is sacred to us, are as follow: (1) A low-growth-high-poverty equilibrium with lowest tax-GDP, saving-GDP, investment-GDP and per-capita investment on the people with lowest social indicators in the developing world. It requires a new paradigm of inclusive and sustainable growth and all out

effort in every sphere of economy from the revitalization of high valued adding manufacturing, agricultural and servicing sectors, conservation, exploration and development of energy and water resources, human resource development and poverty eradication, withdrawal of subsidies and expansion of revenues by taxing both rural and urban rich, reprioritization of allocation of resources from military security to human security, drastic reformation or disposing of public sector corporations to get rid of financial haemorrhage, inclusion of the dispossessed peoples and the deprived backward regions into the mainstream of development and empowerment and opening up our eastern and western borders to revive traditional trade routes to become a hub of trans-regional trade and investment across South, Central and Western Asia. Breaking with client-patron and dependency relationship in a globalised world that calls for regional integration, through SAARC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and cooperation with Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) countries.

(2) A parasitic national security state failing to enforce its writ and maintain peace within and without. It must enforce its writ across every nook and corner of our land while keeping its monopoly over coercive means by completely eradicating nonstate violent actors/militias threatening our existence/sovereignty and jeopardizing our relations with our neighbours and international community. The menace of terrorism has to be eradicated by all means and in every sphere that reproduce it. It calls for radical reversion of our failed security paradigms that nourished these grave-diggers of Pakistan's otherwise moderate, tolerant and egalitarian and pluralist society. (3) Marginalization of the Will and the Sovereignty of the People. All organs of the state and all stakeholders must submit to the will and sovereignty of the people exercised by the elected representatives of the people, responsible to the final arbiters-- the peoples of all federating units. Civil-military relations must be redefined strictly in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 1973 Constitution and everything about the security establishment must be brought under the purview of our sovereign parliament. All institutions and organs of the state must keep in their lawful

Delegates from Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa

limits frustrating all machinations and efforts to destabilize democratic setup and rejecting any change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means. (4) A flawed foreign and security paradigm promoting conflict in the neighbourhood. There is an urgent need to critically reappraise our foreign and national security polices that are beyond our national resources, repudiate peace both within and without, frustrate economic growth and prosperity and keep our people in the shackles of poverty, backwardness, illness and hunger. It requires, in particular, radical revision of our “India-centric”, “strategic-depth” (vis a vis Afghanistan) and “strategic-assets” (of our jihadis who are of nobody's) types of strategic assumptions. The militaristic version of the national security, that failed to provide us internal and external security, must be replaced with an overarching vision of human security, thus, eradicating the causes behind the growth of suicidebombers, violence and religious extremism; and a rational, smart and costeffective defence backed by a credible deterrence. (5) Crises of Governance. Pakistan is faced with deep-rooted crises of governance from civilian administration to military establishment, financial sectors to fiscal spheres, generating revenues to transparent and accountable expenditure, delivery of cheap and easy justice and honest and law-abiding policing, respecting citizens' fundamental rights regardless of gender, creed or ethnicity and empowering people, rewarding merit, entrepreneurship, innovation and competition while precluding unethical privileges, rent-seeking, bribery and fraud, respecting dissent and granting women and minorities equal privileges of equal citizens and devolving and de-concentrating power to the lower tiers of governance, all-sided and even-handed accountability of all through due process of law, access to and free flow of information and a transparent, accountable and efficient governance. It can't be achieved by totalitarian or fascist regimes and barbaric

Ambassador of Finland Osmo Lipponen and other delegates

help bring the composite dialogue process back on rail. Similarly, Pak-Afghan parliamentary conference-II will be convened in Kabul. Looking forward to our interactions with Mian Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N chief, Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, President Asif Ali Zardari and the leaders of ANP, JUI-F and MQM, we call upon all democratic forces and representatives of civil society to initiate a process of dialogue on a National Agenda to secure our future as a people. Benefiting from the presence of the Minister for Information Mr. Kaira, we demand that SAFMA's and Media Commission Pakistan's proposed draft of the Information Act, approved by his ministry, and draft PEMRA law must be brought to the parliament for approval and we, in turn assure him to evolve an agreed media code of ethics among ourselves to be implemented by a Press Council for which we have also proposed a draft law for your consideration. SAFMA would also request you to kindly request the Prime Minister to support SAFMA in creating South Asian Free Media Endowment Fund through SAARC Development Fund. Moreover, our

South Asian Media School deserves the support of the democratic government vide the Trust for South Asian Media School to teach and train young journalists from the region. Lastly, let's all join together to support the collective effort to rehabilitate the people affected and ruined by the devastating floods and contribute our part for a more sustainable reconstruction of our mainland.

Democracy and media sink or float together D

emocracy and media are closely linked with each other. The deficit of one has negative implications for the other. It is natural that they reinforce each other. However, like democracy whose quality is crucial for sustaining it, the media cannot perform their role effectively without maintaining high professional standards and performing their critical role with responsibility and non-partisan disposition. This paper first examines the notion of democracy along with its various dimensions and then gets into the relationship between democracy and media and how and why they sink or float together. It also makes critical analysis of

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

how the media have managed their hard earned freedom against the backdrop of their rapid expansion since 2002. Imperatives of Democracy: Democracy is the most cherished political system. Even dictatorial regimes adopt some semblance of democracy to strengthen their political legitimacy. The military governments selectively adopt the democratic course of action as a part of civilianization of military rule. The other approach is to condemn democracy as a western implant and suggest ways and means to create an 'indigenous' political order to genuinely involve the people in policymaking and enhance the representative credentials of governance and political management. No matter how one brands democracy or employs it to serve partisan interest, it is universally accepted as a synonym to popular sovereignty. The ultimate source of power and authority in a political system are the people who exercise this power through their representatives elected by an open, competitive, fair and free electoral process. It is representative and participatory governance that reflects the aspirations of the people and responds to their concerns and problems.

Representatives of press clubs

The minimalist notion of democracy focuses on representative democracy, open and competitive elections and universal adult franchise. This is a limited notion of democracy. The maximalist concept of democracy views the holding of fair and free elections as the first but not the only condition of democracy. It also includes constitutionalism, the rule of law, protection of individual rights and liberties against the threats from the government, powerful individuals and groups, religious and cultural pluralism, socio-economic justice and independent judiciary.

One of the main principles is the rule by majority but this “rule” should not be turned into the “tyranny of the majority” by denying the legitimate rights and interests of the electoral minority. They should have enough opportunities of staying in the political mainstream so that they have a stake in the continuation of the political system. The government must exercise powers within the limits of the constitution and law and its action can be challenged in the court of law on the pretext of crossing the limits set out by the constitution and law. At times, individual rights and freedoms are denied by powerful individual and groups through intimidation and coercion. The democratic state must protect the rights of individuals against such excesses. Democracy cannot function smoothly if the citizens while claiming their rights forget about their obligations. Unless there is a widespread commitment to the principles and values of democracy and respect for constitutional rule, democracy will falter; its quality will deteriorate. Democracy presupposes a democratic culture which involves human interaction with each other and the society and the state. Unless the citizens imbibe the habits of religious and cultural tolerance, respect each other's rights and take a stand against corruption, mismanagement and excesses, democracy will not take strong roots. The people and the society are the best guarantee of working of a democratic political order. In order to evaluate the working of democracy one has to draw a distinction between its formal structure and substance. The formal structure means the institutions and processes of democracy. It also means that the legal and institutional requirements of democracy have been fulfilled, i.e., a constitution, elections, elected parliament, basic rights of citizens written down in the constitution and a formal structure of independent judiciary. The substance means how the institutions and processes actually work and how far the commitments made in the constitution and law are actually available to the citizenry. Most political systems fall between these two positions, i.e. minimalist or maximalist notion of democracy. The effort is to move towards the maximalist view of democracy by improving its quality. Thus, democracy should be viewed as a process. This is a movement from less to more democracy; minimalist to maximalist position, depending how a country moves from the formal structure

to enriched substance of democracy. However, this transition is not necessarily uni-dimensional. There can be reverses to the democratic process or it can freeze at one point. Democracy and Media: One important criterion to judge democracy is to review the state of the media. No democracy is viewed worth anything if the media do not enjoy freedom within the framework of a democratic constitution to review the working of the government, keep the people informed about the domestic socio-political affairs and global environment, help them to make informed political choices and serve as a channel of two-way communication between the people and the government. The media also contribute to articulation of political, social and economic issues and their aggregation in broad categories of demands. They also mobilize support for an issue or cause. However, if democracy cannot exist without a free media, the latter also need democracy to flourish and play their rightful rule. There is a relationship of interdependence between democracy and media. Both need each other. Free media can exist only under democratic and constitutional rule that recognizes civil and political rights. When the democratic political order falters, the media find it extremely difficult to sustain their freedom. Invariably the nondemocratic rulers attempt to control or suffocate media so as to sustain their personalized and authoritarian rule. It is in the media's interest that democracy and constitutionalism flourish in letter and spirit because it helps to boost their role and increase their clout in the society. When the media work towards strengthening democracy they are actually securing their own future. The media must therefore join other pro-democracy elements in the society to cope with the threats to democracy and constitutional rule. Such threat can come from three major sources: the government, powerful individuals and intolerant and violent groups. If the government exceeds its constitutional and legal limits, the media must keep the people informed of the excesses and restrain the government to its legitimate role. At times, powerful individuals attempt to deny the rights of others. The media should expose such activities in order to discourage these tendencies. Similarly, the media must use their clout and the capacity for political mobilization to discourage religious and cultural intolerance in the society. They should promote the culture of tolerance, socio-

political pluralism and resolution of differences on societal issues through dialogue and accommodation.

create unnecessary pressures on the nascent democracy, weakening the people's confidence in democratic institutions and processes.

Democracy is a delicate system of government and it can be destroyed by democratic means. For example, democracy is a rule by majority but the â&#x20AC;&#x153;tyrannyâ&#x20AC;? of the majority over the electoral minority can undermine democracy. Similarly, the media have an obligation to democracy, the society and the nation-state. If the media does not perform its role with responsibility it can weaken democracy which will in turn weaken and undermine the media.

It is true that Pakistan's fast expanding electronic media are also very young. However, this does not mean that they should not pay attention to the quality of their content. The print and electronic media courses are being taught in many state and private universities which are expected to give them useful academic background and training. This can be strengthened by 'on-the-job' experience.

Professionalism and Responsibility: The media's responsibility for securing democracy has increased in Pakistan for two major reasons. First, modern technology in communications has expanded the role of the media manifold. It can reach more people in a short time and influence their political choices. Further, the availability of multiple sources of communication and information has made people more vulnerable. Second, Pakistan's democracy is not well-established. It is passing through a transition and thus it has limited and untested capacity for crisis management. The media have to be more cautious in reviewing, analyzing and interpreting news and other information. Raw and unsubstantiated news and information without editorial caution can

A large number of the media people are finding it difficult to maintain nonpartisan professional orientations. They appear to be swept away by the polarized political environment and cannot get out of a partisan political discourse. They need to rediscover professional objectivity and provide the people with basic information and multiple perspectives to enable them to be fully informed of different dimensions of the issues. It is not advisable to release half-baked information and news in a bid to be the first to release news without checking and rechecking the reliability of its source and without processing it through a tough editorial control. A lot of informationnews and visuals come to the print and electronic media for onward

Representatives of press clubs and journalists

transmission. There is a need to use professional editorial judgment to decide what will be released and in what manner with a focus on their impact on the society. This becomes extremely important for the release of photographs and footage. For example, the live coverage of a terrorist attack has to be undertaken cautiously. The over-exposure of a terrorist incident while it is still unfolding may inadvertently pass on some useful information to the terrorists and other criminals. The showing of dead and mutilated bodies from a terrorist incident is another important subject for editorial supervision. The repeated footage of dead or mutilated bodies or their parts can have highly injurious impact on children. Every media outlet goes for the breaking news. This task should be undertaken with caution. An accident between a donkey cart and a tractor on a roadside does not qualify for the breaking news slot. The key question is the authenticity of the news. A media network will lose credibility if a good number of its news items have to be followed up with rectification or refutation. Take the example of the unconfirmed news issued by some private sector TV channels in mid-October 2010 about the government's decision to withdraw the notification of reinstatement of the judges removed by Pervez Musharraf. This became a self-fulfilling prophecy when the Chief Justice and all judges of the Supreme Court rushed to their office in the middle of the night and warned the government against taking such a step. Later, the Supreme Court declared such an action as high treason under article 6 of the Constitution. This unchecked news nearly caused a clash between the Supreme Court and the federal government. Had the federal government not moved in quickly to reject the news, Pakistan's recently revived democracy would have been plunged into a crisis. Some TV anchors and a large number of Urdu columnists present their views in a highly personalized or partisan manner, occasionally bordering on propaganda. Their programmes and columns are less knowledge-based and more belief and opinion based. Some TV anchors often support or oppose a particular political party or leader persistently and often blatantly, which negates professional ethos of the media. The following themes are quite common in the opening and closing discourses and occasional comments of TV anchors in the talk shows which are made either as a matter of policy or to raise controversies for getting a better rating for the programme. (i) Anti-Americanism and how Pakistan's self-respect and

sovereignty are disregarded by the US and other western countries. (ii) A strong anti-PPP slant with an anti-Asif Ali Zardari focus. (iii) Sermons on high morality and Islam. The selective use of Islamic history to prove that the present rulers are very corrupt and extravagant. (iv) A dismissive attitude towards the political leaders as being corrupt, egotist who control the party from the top and do not pay taxes. (v) The present political arrangements are beyond rescue. (vi) The hidden foreign hands or the Hindus, Jews and Christians are hatching conspiracies against the Muslim world in general and Pakistan in particular. (vii) Direct and indirect support to or sympathy for Islamic orthodoxy and militancy, especially the Taliban (viii) Embroil the political leaders on a talk show into harsh and polemical exchanges and trading of charges and counter charges. The media may support a cause relating to societal welfare or a consensus-based issue; they may also help to build such a consensus. However, they should not appear to engage in positive or negative political propaganda with reference to a political party, leader or political ideology. They should serve as a forum for all kinds of views and ideas within the limits set out by the constitution and the principles and spirit of democracy. It would be better if anchorpersons study contemporary political history and especially how different political systems have been functioning for the last 5060 years. This would help them to pursue their discourses in a more comparative context. This would also help them to better understand that some of the problems of governance and political management are not unique to Pakistan. These are similar to the problems faced by a large number of other countries. This is likely to tone down a highly pessimistic or alarmist or moralist view of what has been happening in Pakistan for some decades. It is a challenge for all of us to maintain a positive relationship between democracy and media. Both need each other because they are interdependent. However, the media need to perform their task with greater professionalism and less sensationalism, avoid premature release of news and inject more stability and soberness in political talk shows. The media have helped the people understand their problems. They have promoted the cause of democracy but there is a lot of room for professionalism, knowledge based presentations and a realization that rights are always linked with responsibilities. Quality is no less important than ratings.

Media, democracy, governance are linked We give children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa an opportunity to go to school in areas where there were no education facilities. We help reduce mortality among young mothers and children in Sindh. We help preserve and strengthen the cultural heritage of Pakistan and we help promote contemporary expressions of art. And we support a number of organizations working to improve democracy and governance in your country. SAFMA is one of them. We have been working with SAFMA since 2002. This year we have put in place a basis for continued support and cooperation. I do not need to lecture you about governance in Pakistan. We all know the problems. And just like you, we - your foreign friends - would like to see things move ahead with some more force and speed. Important decisions have been taken in the political area, the 18th amendment perhaps being the most crucial. Now we would like to see similar achievements in the economic area, steps and reforms that would curb corruption and broaden your tax base. The title of your conference is Media, Democracy and Good Governance. There is a strong link between these concepts. There will be no good governance without democracy and there will be no democracy without a free and vigilant media.

Robert Kvile, Ambassador of Norway

orway has an agenda in Pakistan. It is not hidden and it is very straight forward: We want to contribute to a more stable, more just and more democratic Pakistan. Our contribution is modest and not comparable to what you do yourself or what your bigger partners do. But I believe that we make a difference in the areas where we work.

The media is rightly called the fourth estate because of its crucial role as democratic watchdog. SAFMA helps the media take on this very important role in South Asia. But you do more than this. You unite journalists in all eight SAARC countries in promoting tolerance, peace and cooperation across the borders. I salute you for the work you do and the role you play. I wish you good luck with your conference.

Consider our limitations Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Information & Broadcasting

would like to thank SAFMA for inviting me to this important session. Being a government's spokesman, I have to be careful. Yet there were some new developments today which are quiet healthy. Criticizing the government is the absolute right of the media and the government doesn't do its job properly if the media doesn't play its watchdog role. There is no society in the world where people have voluntarily brought reform for themselves. In some cases it was the state pressure and in more cases it was the people's pressure which brought about societal changes. I believe that we are not afraid of Allah, but we are afraid of public opinion. No ruling party will be ready to surrender its privileges.

I don't consider democracy as an ideal system. Democracy is not the only system in the world, but out of all the other systems, with all its shortcomings, it is the best system. We tend to rightfully expect a lot from democracy and democratic governments. Political parties volunteer to offer democracy and to improve governance. During dictatorships, the public only demands democracy, but in the case of democratic governments, the public focuses on demanding rights. Undoubtedly, the political leadership has to deliver at various fronts. But I would like to stress on a point that in order to run a smooth and transparent government, the people are as much responsible as the government itself. Are

societies not part of governance? While in Pakistan you are expecting the social discourse of America. Is it possible? Is it possible that in one jump you reach your destination? I am accountable to you and so are my government and party. But my accountability is not only objective but subjective also. I have some constraints. You have laws but such laws should leave a space for democratic experimentation. Things will change only when people stand for their rights. It's not an easy process because a lot of sacrifices are required. We have made a lot of sacrifices. Benazir Bhutto introduced the concept of dialogue for the first time amongst various political forces. We have to focus our own constituencies and ensure better governance there. We tend to have laws for others and not for ourselves. In today's' political climate, when the judiciary is independent, the media is vibrant and the opposition in the parliament is robust, the present government's limitations should be considered. You must also acknowledge that Pakistan was weak when given to PPP and the government was also weak. The weak government could only survive through coalitions. Institutions have certain patterns and behavior. We have a resistant institutional behavior which retards the democratic process. I am a part of that institutional behavior as well. I admit that we made some mistakes, but you must consider that we came with

Hussain Naqi, Afzal Khan and Ayaz Naich

an extremely weak government and when the Pakistani state was shrinking, terrorism was on the rise. At that time, the judiciary was in the jail, media was protesting, we were protesting. A section of the media has always supported military. A large part of the media has also fought for democracy because if there is democracy, there is media freedom. Media freedom is linked to democracy. We are weak and we have flaws but even with this weak democracy, we have achieved 18 amendments, we have NFC, and we have talked about the fundamental issues of Pakistan. In order to streamline the system, make your demands keeping in perspective with what can be offered by me and my government. Shamsul Islam has said the things that I wanted to point out. His points become weightier because he himself comes from the journalistic community. Print and electronic media houses have created parallel organizations which are questionably corrupt. I am interested in reforms of the media. I will support reforms within the media. We have to have certain rules and regulations for our Journalist Victims Fund. Journalists can also have a group insurance. The rights we have provided to the Pakistani worker, we would like to provide similar rights to the Pakistani journalist.

Khaled Ahmed and Hina Khawaja Bayat

Pakistani media in 2010 M

ost devastating floods in the history of Pakistan have changed the status of one-fifth of the population from citizens to refugees. On this occasion, we pay tribute to the flood victims which also include one woman journalist Asma Anwar of Nowshera. It is worthy to mention the loss of our colleagues in floods and we extend our support to those 213 journalists whose houses have been damaged.

Sadaf Arshad

Pakistan, with the killing of eight journalists and one media worker, has certainly secured one of the top positions on the list of “most dangerous countries” for journalists. Target killing has been seen as a popular mode of killing in at least four cases of Ashiq Ali Mangi, reporter of Mehran TV; Faiz Mohammad Khan Sasoli, correspondent of Independent News of Pakistan; Haji Misri Khan Orakzai, a Hangu-based journalist; and Mujeebur Rehman Saddique, correspondent of Daily Pakistan. Among the other four, suicide bombing in Kohat and Quetta has taken lives of Arif Malik, cameraman, and Azmat Ali Bangash, reporter of Samaa TV, when they were performing their duties. Ijazul-Haq, a satellite technician, was shot dead when a bullet hit him during an armed attack on the Mosque of Ahmadi community. Ejaz Ahmed Raisani, news cameraman of Samaa TV along with Mohammad Sarwar, media crew driver of Aaj TV, died in gunfire erupted

following a bomb blast on Al Quds rally in Quetta.

The rise in killings constitutes a serious threat to fundamental human rights including freedom of speech and right to know. In a democratic system any violation of journalists' rights and press freedom raise serious questions regarding the threats of violent forces. The year has witnessed some undemocratic moves by elected representatives in sheer violation of press freedom. The incidents of forced occupation of Ghotki press club allegedly by a provincial minister, Jam Mehtab Mahar; kicking and punching of journalists allegedly by PML-N workers before a press conference; and thrashing of Abdul Rehman Afridi, editor of Daily Sitara, allegedly by PPP workers, show increasing impatience with media professionals. The resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly against media for maligning the politicians came as a rude shock to media community. Besides that, the issue has opened another debate on professional responsibility of media and the need to have a voluntary code of conduct for media, TV in particular. The mushroomed growth of TV channels has thrown a tough competition for channels to succumb to the “breaking news syndrome” which undermined the need of training for tv journalists.

The incident of burning copies of The News and Jang in various parts of Sindh allegedly by PPP workers reflects the anger growing at the grassroots against a smear campaign against politicians, especially the PPP higher-ups. The kind of vociferous campaign being led by a section of media calls for our attention to behave and not to cross our professional and ethical limits. Such a role played by the channels does not meet the criterion of unbiased, fair and impartial reporting as it carried an obvious bias against one party and its leader. Rise in extremism, terrorism and suicide bombing indicate a growing intolerance towards difference of opinion and concepts of rights and freedoms. Assaults on media persons, media houses and media products from different sections of the society come as a threatening gesture to media which ought to serve public interest, nothing else. In various incidents, lawyers, teachers, doctors, police and protestors have assaulted journalists while they were performing their duties. This calls for greater patience and respect for privacy and decency. Otherwise, the media will continue to face such ugly reactions. But media must continue to play its role fairly and fearlessly. When the journalists come in contact with Taliban who warn of attacks on journalists and media houses if media dare avoiding their viewpoint, they tend to practice either self-censorship or succumb to their pressure. Taliban in some cases have executed their threats when the house of Rehman Buneri, correspondent of Voice Of America (VOA) was looted and bombed; similarly, ancestral house of Geo correspondent of Peshawar was set on fire. The security forces have frequently misread journalists' allegiance to their profession and suspected them for having links to Taliban or others. Incidents of kidnapping of journalists by militants and security forces in tribal areas have been rampant to restricting the flow of information from tribal areas. The sensitivity involved in the ongoing operations in South Waziristan and the nature of terrorism in the region suggests both the parties in conflict to keep media at arms length. Mohammad Rasheed, a freelance journalist, was kidnapped by Taliban, but fell prey to army's suspicions and investigations after his release. He was kept incommunicado for 70 days suspecting him as an informant of Taliban before his release. The world is yet to receive a formal explanation from them for detaining a professional journalist and risking his life further. Imran Khan

another journalist in Bajaur escaped abduction by armed militants. Asad Qureshi, documentary film producer, was held by militants and had to appeal to the world for ransom. It could not be determined whether his release was the result of any deal. Kidnapping of journalists for ransom or any deal has emerged as a lethal trick which in most of the cases is used against journalists belonging to any foreign media. But the risk for local journalists is greater in such kidnapping who often fail to fulfill the demands of militants. Death threats and restrictions on freedom of movement and freedom of press have shifted tribal areas into “no go areas” which forced many journalists to flee leaving handful of journalists behind to report under fear and insecurity. Radio Pakistan had to stop retransmission of Pashto language programmes aired by Voice of America in February. The trigger behind this move of Radio Pakistan was the threat made by the militants to blow up the building if it continues airing “American propaganda.” In recent months, the agencies of this country have geared up their efforts to intimidate journalists who file reports on their activities frequently. In case of Umar Cheema, a reporter of The News, the agencies could not accept his bold reporting and adopted criminal procedures against a civilian who chose to be with truth. They have harassed another journalist, Sirmed Manzoor, and have stolen passports and data from his house. He is the chief coordinator of SAFMA Pakistan. This intimidation in both the cases still continues and calls for inquiry into the matter have been ignored by the authorities. A conflict ridden country with a crippling economy cannot choose anything except transparency and free flow of information. Every year the number of killed journalists is getting high. The democratic government must realize its need for a free and responsible media for good governance. We rejoice our freedom that we got after a long struggle. We must protect it by observing high professional standards and ethics. We must serve public interest and be objective instead of becoming a tool for any vested interest groups.

A SAFMA guide for TV anchors E

xpansion of TV channels in Pakistan has been phenomenal. Because of this rapid growth, training has lagged behind. Since the TV channels are mostly in Urdu, anchors and reporters have been taken from the Urdu newspapers. The character of the Urdu press has therefore invaded the culture of the TV channels. The only aspect that can be called new and different from the Urdu press is the business programme. Urdu is still to find a new idiom for TV, especially in the reporting domain where trite speech-habits that normally get edited out of print journalism are affecting the speech patterns of the citizen. As for the TV anchor, he has been taken by and large from among the columnists. As the channels proliferated the first-ruing columnists were soon exhausted: second and third-rung columnists were taken on board by channels that came later and could not afford to 'lure' the good anchors away from the channels already on line. The quality of the TV anchor is questionable across the board. Those who are competent in terms of the level of understanding of the subjects they discuss often lack the niceties of style which is not yet fixed and standardised in Pakistan, allowing individuality within a prescribed framework. Often the viewer comes away feeling bad in the mouth, not because the content of the discussion was bad but because of the way the discussion was conducted. This of course leaves out the partisan viewer who rejoices in the discomfiture of someone in public life he doesn't like. More dangerously, defects of style breed an entire generation of viewers with a savage taste for low talk. Here are some guidelines for the TV anchor trying to make a successful career in Pakistan: l

Beware the accepted definition of 'accountability' in Pakistan by differentiating it from victimisation. Beware equally the definition of

journalism as the watchdog of democracy. The incumbent of the public office needs to be exposed to searching inquiry but on the principle of 'fair hearing'. A guest doesn't have to be insulted simply because he is a part of the government. Discomfiture inflicted politely is the yardstick of quality. l

Because the TV anchors largely come from the Urdu press they have a Fox News-like rightwing conservative orientation. There is no need to be aggressive although the rightwing style all over the world is generally more aggressive than the liberal style. Be more pointedly courteous to the guest you are going to corner. If you bring people on to insult them, you will run out of guests, as has actually happened with most devil-may-care channels.

Keep your opinion to yourself. You can bounce the prevalent opinion off the guest but it must come across as your effort to sample the variant point of view. Never put forth something accusatory unless you have proof. You can always sound him on 'rumour' but it should be done politely because the guest may not yet be convicted on the charge.

Avoid being 'populist', joining the public trend in abominating a person or a party. You must not appear a partisan of this movement or that. If a

movement is rightfully in your interest try your best to be objective. If two opinions clash try to avoid giving time-weightage to the opinion you are a partisan of. You can make your cause win even by appearing to be evenhanded.

In Pakistan, the intellectual level of a programme falls if politicians take part in discussions. Unfortunately, the trend is to put together two opposed parties in the expectation that they will start fighting. In this the anchor becomes agent provocateur. This must not be done in the interest of retaining the intellectual content of the programme. Today political parties have lost prestige because of the sorry spectacle they make on talk shows.

Always worry about the level of discussion in your show. For this an intellectual must be made to mediate the sharp but low rhetoric of the partisans. Politicians are forced to attend talk shows because of their need for public exposure. Intellectuals are under no such obligation. With the passage of time, the intellectual has gone missing and with it the level of discussion. The TV channels must find a way of paying the specialist to attend discussions. One is informed that some experts have asked for fee. This would be money well spent.

Good manners are of the essence. Don't speak while the guest is in the middle of his sentence. As a lady anchor does all the time, drop the bad habit of repeating the last words of the guests as a gesture of attentiveness. Don't shout at your guests. On one channel an anchor calling himself doctor actually shouts till the sound distorts. Another doctor actually adopts an insulting manner as he piles accusations on the politicians of the ruling party.

The bias on the TV channels has its origin in the state of the Pakistani society, which lives under many kinds of intimidation. Publications belonging to banned jihadi organisations publish lists of journalists who have earned disapproval of the Islamist non-state-actors. This is taken as a clear and present threat, as was seen in the case of the Pakistani intellectual and writer, Ayesha Siddiqa, recently. Most TV anchors stay clear of any adverse comment on these elements and those associated with them. Energy thus saved is expended on the elected government, which criticism can be fair only if it is balanced with criticism of the jihadi elements opposed to it. This of course is not possible under the given circumstances.

Don't invite fellow column writers of the same stripe as yourself on your programme because you have lost the others owing to your own blatantly

partisan attitude. It is better to drop the theme than to hold a discussion in which everybody agrees to lambaste the party you don't like. Resist the temptation of inviting the supremely bad-mouthing guest just to spice up your programme. If a TV anchor is under threat from the terrorists he should apply the principle of exemption to all. This is a very fine point and something that our TV channels suffer from most grievously. Instead of being quiet the anchor actually takes the side of the terrorist who can kill him on the basis of his opposition to a policy whose custodian can't kill him. The same exemption is also in evidence in respect of the state intelligence agencies.

The biggest flaw is the sameness of the message from the TV channels and the spectacle of the anchors mouthing more or less the same insult to the party under aspersion, the country under attack, and the policy under criticism. Many years from now, once the ethic of TV journalism is firmly in place, most of us will look at today's footage with a blush of embarrassment. Hence, when individuals here and there complain of bad taste in the mouth, the TV anchors should take them seriously. The truth is that all is not well with our TV anchors.

PFUJ

RESOLUTION E

xpressing solidarity with Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) a gathering, organised by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), demands sure and immediate implementation of the 7th Wage Board Award for employees in the media industry, while staunchly supporting the long-standing and foremost demand by working journalists across the country on the issue.

The meeting regrets that journalists are still underpaid in the sense that they continue to be paid wages as fixed back in 1996. The participants of the meeting demand the government now constitute the 8th Wage Board Award, which they believe, should have been set up in year 2005.

The meeting deplores however that it was just because of the negative attitude of newspapers' owners that the next Wage Board Award could not be constituted even after a lapse of more than a decade. “As a principle, the 9th Wage Board Award should have been constituted by now.” The meeting expresses its concern at lack of security for journalists performing their professional duties in the wake of terror threats, saying the past decade had witnessed the killing of 163 journalists due to the cold shoulder and sheer callousness of the concerned media authorities. “Sadly enough, no compensation or insurance dues were paid off to the bereaved families”. Shams-ul-Islam Naz, Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)

and proper insurance cover for the families of journalists murdered performing their duties. It urges the government to ensure fool-proof security and financial benefits, under the rules, to all working journalists. The participants strongly condemn sackings, retrenchments, non-payment of salaries, the absence of job security etc. in violation of rules and the labour laws. They demand a pragmatic approach and tangible measures on the part of the federal government in this connection. The gathering also demands practical steps for the training of journalists to enhance their capabilities and proficiency and to improve their professional skills in response to the emerging changes and crying needs. The participants underline the need for a really highly responsible journalistic approach towards promotion of democracy and good governance. “For this very purpose a code of ethics and its strict adherence in practical terms, on the part of the stakeholders, is direly needed.” The gathering warmly welcomes the setting up of ombudsman's institution by the Express Group for the redress of complaints and grievances by readers and viewers and hopes that other media groups would follow this example and also set up similar institutions to remove complaints.

The gathering demands generous compensation

Representatives of press clubs and journalists

Delegates from Islamabad

Sajjad Mir, Gharida Farooqi and Rehana Hakim in the front row

SESSION II

Media and good governance SESSION REPORT

I A Rehman presents his paper while Pervaiz Shaukat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Haji Muhammad Adeel, M Ziauddin, Khushnood Ali Khan, Mariana Baabar listen in

I A Rehman: Democracy starts from equality of human beings. How do I say that the rich and the poor are equal, the women and the men are equal, the religious minorities and the Muslims are equal? All over the world people are discussing what good governance is. It is about participation, accountability, effectiveness. Governance should be legitimate. The will of the people is not sovereign here. Without land reforms Pakistan cannot make any progress. Where is the will of the people? Throughout the history of the human kind, democracy is the least harmful system that people have invented. Man-made ideologies can be changed/re-invented. The construction of the 1973 Constitution gave them some concessions as if they were doing a favour to them. Without sovereignty of the people, the rule of law does not mean anything. Hitler had laws, Mussolini too had laws but the rule of law means justly made laws that do not discriminate

on the basis of social status, sex, religion. That will happen only if you have genuine participation. Good governance begins at the local level. It is institutional, not individualistic. We say that the British system was very just but institutionally it was evil. When we talk of accountability, we must emphasise institutional corruption and not individual corruption. Institutional corruption corrupts the whole state. That way our system of transparency should be achieved. Ordinary people do not have the right to work, education; women do not have the right to speak on family matters, all people have to be treated equally. Khaled Ahmed: When we talk about the media, the world tells us that it is the fourth pillar of the estate. The basic obligation is to give information to the people. When the Asian Development Bank (ADB) saw that the Third World Countries' corruption had

reached a point where it was very high, they gave it the name of 'governance'. A journalist should not say that the IMF is bad because we are its members and we take loans, not donations/aid. Call it Washington Consensus or Beijing, without these terms we cannot survive. If you subsidise, the history of free market conditions shows us that no one will bring the prices down willingly. A government does not have long hands and the institutions (like the police, etc) are not doing good work either. Accountability process can be completed by the media. The judiciary and parliament have their limits. We need public interest litigation (PIL). Judicial activism in India and Bangladesh is different from that of ours; our media should have a look at it and see why it is so. Based on information, the media can do accountability. Whatever is happening in Pakistan is not happening anywhere else. Media all over the world have problems: 1) journalism should have freedom, which even the judiciary or parliament do not have 2) there will be wrongs committed, we will have to bear it and pay the price till the time that media remedies itself. Our media, in comparison to India: 80 percent content in India is that of entertainment. When private channels started in Pakistan, they were mostly based on political talk. Our literacy rate is very low and the people who read newspapers are not many. After the boom of the electronic media, people have now found out about constitution, our rights. Our most famous channels are news channels because of political discussions. Anchors have now become the judge and the jury. If TV anchors do not know much about something (like economy and IMF conditionalities), then how can they do justice to the subject? TV anchors should not say things that politicians say in anger. Anchors should not become rude and should not use derogatory terms. They should not only call politicians to their talk shows, an expert must also be called for his/her opinion. In comparison to India, we have more political awareness because of political talk shows. Small channels start with a bias and end with a bias. If all channels become Fox News, it is not good and would lead to disadvantages. Some anchors just give their own judgement. Media is successful the way it scrutinises the state. In the whole of South Asia, our state is under the most scrutiny and accountability by the media. In our country, the army, intelligence agencies and jihadi organisations are all unaccountable. This is not a normal state (Pakistan). Our state is weak. We have this principle that when governance is not good, the army comes in and takes over. General Aslam Beg did not allow Benazir Bhutto's government to do

anything even before it came to power. Baitullah Mehsud forbade television channels from showing his picture. Iftikhar Ahmed: Pakistani people think that asking questions is a rude thing. The politicians should also come prepared in talk shows and not just us anchors. We have to listen to politicians all day long on television channels. It is almost as if we are having jalsas in our houses. Khushnood Ali Khan: I had a heart attack two days ago. I do my show and my guests hardly know anything. I think SAFMA has done all that what CPNE should have done. Almost 85 percent of government ads are given to only 3-4 media houses. They have a monopoly over government ads. Nobody has given us freedom of press on a silver platter. People like Husain Naqi, Abbas Athar are those who have gotten lashed, been to jails and it is because of them that today we have this freedom. We can make our own Press Complaint Commission. You sit and you decide, this government is not going to do this for you. SAFMA has all the success it deserves. Pervaiz Shaukat: This is not a PFUJ programme but I want to answer Khushnood Ali Khan. It is a very interesting topic. Yes Khushnood sahib, we did not get this freedom in a platter. PFUJ's members fought for this freedom since not one of

Khushnood Ali Khan

Iftikhar Ahmed

the owners of newspapers went to jail. The PFUJ never surrendered. It is because of individual efforts that we have whatever freedom we have. Anchors get messages on their phones from owners to give some spice (masala) to the programme. What good governance are you talking about when a journalist who has a heart attack is terminated because of his leaves, when a woman's salary gets cut during her iddat, when journalists are stopped by security guards from entering their office? We want democracy to work, even if it is not good. Some media houses do not give salaries for six months to their workers. They are thieves and tax evaders. Our media should also be accountable. The black sheep in our Pervaiz Shaukat journalist community are the blue-eyed boys of the owners of media groups. We can get our heads cut off, but we will not bow down before anyone. Husain Naqi: Pakistan has ratified the UN Charter of Human Rights. There are seven points relating to good governance in the UN Charter. If the members of the national assembly go to their assembly library, they will learn a lot. No preventive measures were taken during floods even though some provinces got it done, but that was a bit late. We need devolution of power.

Husain Naqi

M Ziauddin: Instruments of governance are the police, judiciary, intelligence agencies and the army. Mr I A Rehman talked about local bodies. If there is no system of delivery, then nothing can take place. Today the judiciary appears to be independent, the media appears to be fearlessly independent, for the first time we have a very strong parliament (you may disagree but the

18th Amendment could not have been passed without a strong parliament) and the weakest executive in Pakistan's history. Instruments of governments have collapsed or gotten corrupt. Corruption can be minimised, not eradicated, if democracy keeps working. Without reforming the FBR, our economy cannot be stabilised. Iftikhar Ahmed: Civil servants are the real rulers, rest of the rulers are guests. Haji Muhammad Adeel: Some people cannot become president and prime minister due to their religion. It is our misfortune that the person who we say is the founder of Pakistan, his speech on August 11, Haji Muhammad Adeel 1947, is being ignored. The Awami National Party (ANP) tried to make Quiad-e-Azam's speech the constitution's basic framework. Nobody supported us when we suggested this for the 18th Amendment. Are the people of Pakistan's property, lives, etc, safe? The judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by the Supreme Court is good and so is the judgement on loan-write offs. Those who got plots at throwaway prices â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like judges, lawyers, journalists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; should be asked to give back those plots. I admit that there are many weaknesses in a democracy. All governments make a lot of mistakes after coming to power, parliament sometimes make mistakes, but what better system than democracy is there? If we think anything other than democracy will solve our problems, we

Amer Mahmood, Dr Jabbar Khattak and Aizaz Syed

are wrong. I would like to ask my media friends to let this democracy run. Let it continue. We politicians are the targets. As for Transparency International's corruption report, we are in a conflict zone where it is natural for corruption to increase. Mariana Baabar: Are there any answers beyond parliamentary democracy? House is empty, policies are made elsewhere. Why do you take current affairs programmes so seriously? Switch the channel if you do not want to see it.

Mariana Baabar

Haji Muhammad Adeel: Elected representatives must sit together, democracy needs elected representation. If people want to give any suggestion, it will be well received.

Khurshid Ahmed, Gilgit-Baltistan Press Club president: Nobody is talking about Gilgit-Baltistan. My request is that PFUJ and SAFMA should also highlight the problems we face in Gilgit-Baltistan because there is a lot of corruption by media owners there.

Khurshid Ahmed (standing)

Zulfikar Ali

Zulfikar Ali (AAJ TV, Lahore): The missing link is known â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we are not trained. We do not have any capacity. Iftikhar Ahmed: I request SAFMA to make six CDs of today's proceedings and send them media channels' owners. They need to know what people think. We need refresher courses and training.

Huma Ahmad, Kiran Hasan

Mariana Baabar

Haji Muhammad Adeel: Elected representatives must sit together, democracy needs elected representation. If people want to give any suggestion, it will be well received.

Khurshid Ahmed (standing)

Zulfikar Ali

Huma Ahmad, Kiran Hasan

commend SAFMA for its activities. Any normal person wants a peaceful and good environment. We want to give our manifesto for country's welfare, humanity's welfare. But when in politics we spend time giving our defence/justification and criticising others, we get confused because of the macro and micro scene. Society wants change. We have to be answerable to society. On media's role, Khaled Ahmed's speech is worth pondering over. Journalism is something like an amaanat (trust). Some people come to power after they get votes. The bureau office of governance is the bureaucracy. A country is not run by an individual; it is run by a joint effort. Politics and democracy are at a very weak stage. We talk very ideally when we are on television shows. Is totalitarianism more powerful or the democratic process? Intelligence agencies are needed, but they go and give advice to the government. They are the ones who decide which politician to bring forward and make popular; you media people do not. The agencies do. Just because of a news report, you take people to trial (media trial). After that he/she is not able to live in a society even if proved not guilty. More than a provider of news, our media adopt a role of a missionary.

We are answerable to society Maulana Fazlur Rehman

As for PEMRA, my view is that the government should not but the media people should make a code of conduct. It will be acceptable to all. Who are we to guide? Democracy is the name of political attitudes. What is politics? All ulema define politics as a mumlakti nizaam ki aisi tadbeer-o-intizaam ke jis se muashray ke har shaksh ko sakoon milay dunya mei aur aakhrat mei maafi (a national system that would help society in such a way that every person can get peace in this life and forgiveness in the hereafter).

We need education, human rights, justice, tolerance, peace. People should question us politicians and we should be answerable to them. In Pakistan, we have said in our constitution that sovereignty lies with Allah Almighty. Our country has two types of politics: one is ideological, second is only politics for power. After 9/11, two types of politics emerged: politics of fear and politics of hope. Politics of fear makes us violate human rights. Let's do politics on UN Declaration of Human Rights! We need to be an independent nation. We are not independent despite 63 years; we get frightened to talk about some aspects of this independence lest we be declared infidels. If I become a nuclear power, why curbs/sanctions on me? Why the same with Iran when you [the West] do not stop Israel? Iraq's WMDs was based on falsehood. Terrorism is a crime. How have UN charter/Geneva /etc defined terrorism? Secular people are my friends. I talk about my own views at every forum. Do we want to do ideological politics or power politics? Feudals thrive in Pakistan because of the PPP and PML-N. How can we live with dignity in this global society if we are taking loans from everyone? We have to get out of this slavery. Objectives Resolution is our basic structure. Why have we put Islam on the defensive? When schools are bombed, I will condemn it ten times. Why are news not given of bombings by the military of innocent people? We lost Bangladesh because of our military might, and now Balochistan is in the same position. The JUI-F refuses armed militancy. We need to take a constitutional route. Why is this not highlighted when the ulema say this? I just wanted to show you the other side of the coin. Jazak'Allah.

The requisites of

good governance in Pakistan G

ood governance is an ideal that has been increasingly referred to in public discourse over the past many years. It has been defined in diverse ways, depending upon a choice between considerations of development and the imperatives of participatory democracy. For instance, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its study on Sound Development Management, identifies four elements of good governance: accountability, participation, predictability, and transparency.

I. A. Rehman

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) offers a somewhat more comprehensive definition of good governance, that includes: participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensusoriented functioning, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, and accountability. The ESCAP definition closely follows the OECD concept of good governance, that is also endorsed by UNESCO, and according to which good governance has

eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. By way of elaboration it is said that under good governance corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account and the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decisionmaking. It is easy to see that the definitions of good governance quoted above are based on shared assumptions. The only distinctions in different-looking formulas are that some experts are content with broad general themes while some others wish to divide these themes into specific features of governance. More importantly these descriptions of good governance pre-suppose national and international consensuses on democratic management of public affairs developed by postfeudal and post-theocratic societies. It has been possible for such societies to anchor good governance in a robust and functional democracy. A large number of states that gained independence after the Second World War, including Pakistan, did not have opportunities of going through these historical processes.

Hence, in their case the first requisite feature of good governance has to be legitimacy of the state structure. During the 20th century debates on the colonised people's demands for national independence the colonial powers often argued that the natives were incapable of establishing or working effective state institutions the alien rulers had developed and the answer used to be that self-government was the best possible form of governance. The argument was rooted in the belief that once the imperialist rule ended the people of the colonies were going to achieve the ideal of democratic governance through forced marches. Such hopes have not materialized in most of the former colonies, if not in all of them, and the foremost objective in these societies is establishment of rule by legitimate authority. By legitimate authority based on democratic principles we mean a state structure that, in Laski's words, most truly represents the entire body of citizens. It should also he accepted as completely sovereign as a genuine representative of the people's will. In Pakistan, and some other similarly place states, the legitimacy of the state has been compromised by two factors. First, the dominant assumptions about the ideological foundations of a state. No ideological state can accommodate the concept of popular sovereignty because the people's will cannot be allowed to supersede ideology. However, manmade ideologies can be amended and even abandoned by people claiming representative status who may also the prepared to allow the populace to endorse or reject a change in ideology even if they cannot be made participants in determining the change. The situation is far more difficult in societies such as Pakistan that proclaim a higher sovereign than the people and the right to interpret the will of that higher sovereign is limited to a select group. In such cases the legitimacy of the state structure based on secular assumptions becomes controversial, to put it mildly.

Tasneem Rizvi, Rahimullah Yousafzai and other delegates

Pakistan offers a classic example of the state's adherence to the concept of two sovereignties becoming a major

obstruction to the establishment of legitimate and good scheme of governance. The Objectives Resolution, arbitrarily made a substantive part of the constitution by a self-appointed and absolute ruler, rejects the notion of people's sovereignty, on which the whole edifice of democracy is founded, as, according to it, sovereignty belongs to Allah alone and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan must respect the limits prescribed by Him. Thus, since March 23, 1956, when the first indigenously produced constitution of Pakistan came into force, a body of ulema, parliaments and the judiciary have been busy trying to bring governance in harmony with the Divine will. And the process has not ended because the clergy that claims monopoly over the right to ascertain the limits of Allah's will are manifestly not satisfied that the task has been accomplished. Indeed the process of securing for the state's actions the sanction of the ultimate sovereign in unlikely to end ever for the simple reason that the large number of sects claiming to be the sole agents qualified to interpret His will make the emergence of a consensus-based ideology nearly impossible. That this situation impedes Pakistan's progress towards good governance can easily be explained. The state has a set of laws, system of justice, institutions of governance and principles for regulating public affairs. The advocates of a theocratic state do not accept this system; they deny the parliament the right to make laws, reject the electoral process and the role of opposition parties, and contest the system of justice. Those who wish to escape the constitutional system invoke the alternative of divinely ordained code and challenge the legitimacy of the constitutional order. This affects their adherence to the constitutional scheme and alienates them from democratic structures. The constitutionalists' argument that the constitution and laws have been purged of elements and concepts repugnant to the injunctions of Islam has no effect on them. So long as Pakistan insists on preserving its status as a religious state it will never be able to guarantee equity and inclusive governance for neither women nor minority communities will ever have full entitlement to their basic human rights. The first pre-requisite to good governance is the construction of a polity in which decisions are not based on belief. Secondly, Pakistan has rightly chosen the democratic state model as it is the best vehicle for good governance so far known to humankind. But in order to establish the legitimacy of government it is essential to convince the citizens of their ownership of the state apparatus. This condition has rarely been met in

Pakistan. Since elections have nearly always been manipulated by state agencies the people cannot believe that they are ruled by their legitimate representatives. Even if adequate guarantees were available that a general election can be free and fair large sections of the population â&#x20AC;&#x201C; women, minorities and less affluent people (peasants, workers, etc) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; cannot enter the electoral contest, and the legislatures will not reflect the pluralist nature of the population. Further, the people cannot accept a polity as democratic or as their own if they are not the sole agents of change of government. The biggest damage done by the military usurpers of power and their civilian accomplices is that they have strengthened the people's perception that they have no role in the formation, continuance or termination of any government. In their eyes all governments fail the legitimacy test, some by wider margins than others. Since active citizens do not acknowledge governments as wholly legitimate they find arguments to rationalize their non-cooperation with or even defiance of authority. Lack of respect for laws, repudiation of duties/responsibilities as citizens, and a tendency to gain through corruption what cannot be legally acquired become dominant traits of people's behaviour. Good governance is hardly possible in such circumstances. Thus, creation of an electoral system that guarantees free, fair and democratic choice of people's representatives, inclusion of all elements of society in all state organs, and safeguards against any extra-constitutional change of government are basic conditions for good governance in Pakistan. The question of legitimacy of the state apparatus has been compounded by the fact that the Westminister type of parliamentary democracy was imposed upon a society whose social order and culture were incompatible with this system. More than six decades after independence large segments of the population are still in the grip of feudal or tribal ideals, practices and norms. Thus, one of the tests of good governance in Pakistan is the contribution it can make to the removal of socio-cultural roadblocks on the path to democratisation and to the generation of a social force that will defend the democratic order against any onslaught. Participation, an essential attribute of good governance in all the formulas mentioned earlier, has a special significance in Pakistan. Public participation in the process of electing custodians of power has already been discussed. It will be necessary to strengthen a genuine local government system because at that level possibilities of securing people's participation are greater than at the federal or provincial level. No less important is people's participation in decision-making.

On the one hand the task involves a sustained movement from majoritarian rule to participatory democracy. This will demand greater accommodation of opposition and independent members of legislatures in parliamentary committees and making key decisions subject to national consensus. On the other hand the space for interaction between state institutions and civil society organizations needs to be increased and duly protected. There is much to be said for the system of circulating legislative proposal for eliciting public opinion which has fallen into disuse and its revival should promote good governance.

respect for the constitutional order, the principles of federalism, a dynamic justice system, unqualified respect for human rights, and special measures to ensure that laws are duly enforced. The need to fight corruption and establish mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability also fall under the rubric of rule of law. Two points however need to be made. There can be no transparency without effective compliance with the people's right to know and obliging the government to make all its actions and procedures public. And no system of accountability will inspire public confidence unless is not only immune to official manipulation but also seems to be inviolable.

Similarly, responsiveness as a characteristic of good governance requires special emphasis in Pakistan. A state that is all the time perceived to be trying to increase its resources or its own coercive power cannot retain the allegiance of the people. For the past several decades authority in Pakistan has been shedding its benevolent functions and relying increasingly on its coercive powers. This is undermining good governance and alienating the people from the state.

Finally, the following statement on the attributes of good governance drafted by a UN committee in 1992, and commentaries/elaborations on it, should be made part of the compulsory course in universities, judicial academies and institutions created for the training of legislators and civil servants, police personnel and the defence forces:

However, rule of law must be interpreted broadly. It should include absolute

1. 2. 3.

Ghazi Salahuddin and Imtiaz Gul

Territorial and ethno-cultural representation, mechanisms for conflict resolution and for peaceful regime change and institutional renewal; Checks on executive power, effective and informed legislatures, clear lines of accountability from political leaders down through the bureaucracy; An open political system of law which encourages an active and vigilant civil society whose interests are represented within accountable government structures and which ensures that public offices are based on law and consent; An impartial system of law, criminal justice and public order which upholds fundamental civil and political rights, protects personal security and provides a context of consistent, transparent rules for transactions that are necessary for modern economic and social development; A professionally competent, capable and honest public service which operates within an accountable, rule governed framework and in which the principles of merit and the public interest are paramount; The capacity to undertake sound fiscal planning, expenditure and economic management and system of financial accountability and evaluation of public-sector activities; and Attention not only to central government institutions and processes but also to the attributes and capacities of sub-national and local government authorities and to the issues of political devolution and administrative decentralisation.

Is media promoting good governance? Khaled Ahmed

Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. - Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-Worship

read the newspaper, you are misinformed. - Author unknown, commonly attributed to Mark Twain or Thomas Jefferson _______________

Television has a real problem. They have no page two. Consequently every big story gets the same play and comes across to the viewer as a really big, scary one. - Art Buchwald, 1969

The media, if it is allowed to be free, is a people's watchdog over the state. It holds public office to accountability, reveals facts that compel the government to be an open government. It plays an “adversarial” role in addition to the elected opposition in a democratic system in order to help the common man assess the working of his government. Its criterion of judgement is the constitution and the rule of law. There are reasons for it being called the fourth pillar of the state, at times more powerful than the other three: legislature, judiciary and the executive.

If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do

Parliament is where the concept of “open government” unfolds through the

A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself. Arthur Miller

questioning of the conduct of the executive by the elected opposition. The judiciary tests this conduct in light of the constitution and the laws in force. But both institutions exercise their authority under certain constraints. The elected opposition may not possess the investigative outreach needed to arrive at facts other than the ones furnished by the executive on demand. The judiciary may be bound by the conditionality of a petition or its own inherent restraint vis-à-vis the executive ruling on the basis of a party's representation in the legislature. The media is not bound by any constraints. Its ability to investigate the conduct of the government is limited only by its voluntary expertise. This ability is prized in the democratic world to an extent that the traditional “secrecy laws” have either been removed from the statute book or are ignored. The function of “informing” the public is paramount and it is through “information” that “accountability” is achieved. All governments must develop tolerance of this function of “revealing” governance through information. It is also accepted generally in all societies which benefit from the freedom of the press that some transgressions of the journalist must be borne with patience to prevent draconian gag laws from coming into force that may undermine the concept of an open society. What is the state of the media in Pakistan? Because the freedom of the media is of

recent date and the proliferation of TV channels is rapid, some flaws were considered incidental, to be removed gradually through a monitoring of the public response and professional critique. If there is a mushroom growth of news channels with chat shows competing with one another in aggression, TV anchors are bound to be shown as deficient in training and subject to all the negative effects of “learning on the job”. This has definitely happened.1 Out of the 32 channels that give out news and comment through chat shows many allow anchors who are clearly not fit for the job either because of lack of broadcasting ethic or lack of professionalism because of prejudice. The channels are chasing a thin resource of advertising revenue and most are running in loss, indicating that parties funding the channels have politics rather than commerce on their minds.2 Some channels are highly politicised and are being run by owners who use them as campaign tools for the furtherance of their own agenda.3 Critical comment on the conduct of the channels has not been sparse. A number of columnists have expressed themselves dissatisfied or even disgusted by the way the channels disseminate information. The news is presented in such a way that it reveals bias on the part of the channel and anchors who guide discussions are discovered to be without much knowledge about the subject being discussed.4 The most common plaint relates to the effort made by the anchor to make the discussants fight among themselves, a condition that has become a criterion of ratings in programmes. Most channels compete in putting together rival discussants who are most expected to quarrel and transform the discussion into a kind of verbal wrestling match in which some speakers may even threaten to come to blows.

Fozia Shaheen, Sanobar Gull and other delegates from Sindh

Accountability is crucial to the running of open government. The parliament performs the primary function of scrutinising governance through the opposition members in sessions which are open to the media. It is a measure of the dominance of the media in Pakistan that now for many years most of the questions asked by our opposition politicians in parliament are derived from media reports. The second institution scrutinising governance is the

higher judiciary. Parties with plaints approach the appellate courts with petitions challenging the acts of omissions or commission on the part of the government on point of law. The judiciary holds the government to the law and the constitution, but it is normally limited to hearing plaints that are brought to it by the citizenry. However, the higher judiciary also relies on public interest litigation (PIL) through the device of suo motu initiation of cases to increase its outreach to the citizen who cannot approach the court for one reason or another. For this kind of justice, the courts rely on reports appearing in the media. The higher judiciary has overwhelmingly leaned on the media in their exercise of the suo motu provision.5 This surely is an extraordinary situation in which the media despite its shortcomings – as described above – provides the only source of actionable information. The media here would be both print and electronic as most of the TV anchors are also columnists for the various newspapers. But is the “coverage” provided by the channels of the required standard? In 2005, coverage of the earthquake turned out to be too negative as an “accountability” process; in 2010, this excessively negative attitude has remained the same – if not more intensified – as observed by some media experts.6 There is no doubt that a large part of the public thinks that the media in general and the TV channels in particular are targeting the PPP government excessively in the name of accountability.7 There are however those who think it is wrong and those who think that it is right and the government deserves to be subjected to criticism. What is also noticeable is that viewers tend to believe that the PPP is being targeted more than the other parties, and more than the judges in the judiciary-PPP saga of hostility unfolding in the country. It is this lopsidedness that encourages adverse comment against the media. If the PPP government falls as a result of its own “misgovernance” many will continue to think that this premature fall was brought about by a partisan media. Thus politically, the PPP, far from morally defeated, will gain politically as the “wronged” party – wronged this time, not by the army, but by the media. The media committed this mistake on the affair of Lal Masjid and will live to see the historian criticise the TV channels and the print media for not telling the whole truth during that crisis.8 The intensity of TV coverage, supplemented in substance by some TV anchors writing columns in Urdu newspapers has persuaded the general public that the media is opposed to the ruling PPP and is part of the general campaign of

toppling its government before its term. This is not to say that the TV coverage of the government's dysfunction and corruption is false or that those who perceive this hostility as being real are opposed to the TV channels. In fact, a section of the viewers wants that the one-sidedness of the media should continue and that the PPP should be ousted from power sooner rather than later. However, this spectacle of anti-PPP environment has not found favour with other opinion that the party is being victimised. This kind of perception is already taking hold in the case of the confrontation taking place between the judiciary and the PPP. Can the media correct this trend of negative coverage in excess of the allowed accountability through “information”, especially when reporters are in some cases allowed front-page display more in the style of comment than reporting? An effort was made to expose some “hostile” anchors to media accountability by a channel, but the anchors brought in the dock spoiled their case by being unexpectedly hostile and insulting.9 Media functions in a free environment. The political system must protect the journalist from forces that cause harm to him in order to prevent him from reporting on certain activities. The media itself must remain conscious of the demands of an even playing field when it comes to reporting: that his targeted institution must receive his attention in measure with other institutions. If the country is subsisting in certain very special conditions of partial freedom and partial territorial sovereignty, then his targeting becomes controversial. The media managers in Pakistan must become conscious of this relativism of coverage. The channels have been quite legitimately attacking the government on its governance, but they have not been able to report as effectively on the terrorists belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban. The first photograph of Baitullah Mehsud was shown on TV only after his death because he had ordered that his pictures should not be publicised. Fear of coverage also extended in some measure to the powerful clerics whose seminarians could use violence to punish the channel or its reporter. Indeed, reporters have suffered loss of life and injury at the hands of the terrorists in Malakand and FATA and are under a constant embargo of coverage. This has a direct effect on the chat shows in which realistic discussions are simply not possible. In TV debates, any secular comment on the tenets adopted as “true Islam” by the clergy is simply not possible; and this applies to anchors as well whose acidity of comment is reserved only for the politicians opposed by the clergy.10 This relativism extends to a large area of topics relating to the minorities

as well. The media revolution in Pakistan was based on two factors, Musharraf's liberal licensing policy and the lift-off in the private sector of the economy making it possible for the new electronic and print outlets to survive by picking up more ads. The proliferation of the media meant more reporting (skill) and even more discussion (expertise) of governance. Since Musharraf was winning on foreign policy and economic fronts, discussion was good for him. He had to disarm the common man caught in the clerical crosshairs and aroused to honour-throughforeign-policy by the Urdu press over decades. The electronic media provided him the sound bites for this very important “weaning” of the honour-based society in favour of state “opportunism”.

Governance is a relative term and subject to many qualifications. Outsiders can exercise careful relativism while judging a third world country on its level of governance. (For instance, governance in Pakistan and India relative to governance in the US and the UK.) This applies to corruption too because of the third world equation of honesty with obstruction and a conflation of work ethic with religious ritual. The media has run into difficulties while making its perceived biased assault on the government for its bad governance. Discussions are increasingly becoming one-sided for lack of discussants, especially in respect of experts who are used by the TV channels all over the world to balance the nonintellectual discourse of the politicians. The “blood-on-floor” approach to increase ratings is yielding place to extreme tedium as the below-par guests fail to raise the level of debate.

It is not appropriate for a TV anchor to project power and sermonise on what he thinks is the right opinion to hold, not even on foreign policy where “national interest” is erroneously held to be fixed forever. It is also not appropriate for an anchor to appear enraged about an act of government which he thinks a majority of the public could not have liked, like the unwise visit to the UK by President Zardari in the midst of the flood in Pakistan. The task of the media is to provide information and the task of the talk-show anchor is to manage discussions in which a balanced panel of speakers help the TV viewers arrive at an opinion of their choosing.

The media is focused on governance but the media's conduct is not under any adequate focus of assessment. Does the media need a code of ethic based on the flaws pointed out by the citizens writing in the press and expressing their dissatisfaction about the way certain channels are performing? So far codes formulated by the journalists seem not to take account of the complaints that have come to the fore from people reacting to TV journalism. Would the following points gleaned from this critique find consensus among the professionals who plan the channel programmes and the anchors who spearhead TV discussions? l

Saleem Shahid, Khalid Farooqi and other delegates

Beware the accepted definition of 'accountability' in Pakistan by differentiating it from victimisation. Beware equally the definition of journalism as the watchdog of democracy. The incumbent of the public office needs to be exposed to searching inquiry but on the principle of “fair hearing”. A guest doesn't have to be insulted simply because he is a part of the government. Discomfiture inflicted politely is the yardstick of quality. Because the TV anchors largely come from the Urdu press they have a Fox News-like rightwing conservative orientation. There is no need to be aggressive although the rightwing style is generally more aggressive

Saleem Shahid, Khalid Farooqi and other delegates

than the liberal style. Be more pointedly to the guest you think you are going to corner. If you bring people on to insult them, you will run out of guests, as has actually happened with most devil-may-care channels. Keep your opinion to yourself. You can bounce the prevalent opinion off the guest but it must come across as your effort to put across the variant point of view. Never put forth something accusatory unless you have proof. You can always sound him on “rumour” but it should be done politely because the guest may not yet be convicted on the charge. Avoid being “populist”, joining the public trend in abominating a person or a party. You must not appear a partisan of this movement or that. If a movement is rightfully in your interest try your best to be objective. If two opinions clash, try to avoid giving time-weightage to the opinion you are a partisan of. You can make your cause win even by appearing to be evenhanded. In Pakistan, the intellectual level of a programme falls if politicians take part in discussions. Unfortunately, the trend is to put together two opposed parties in the expectation that they will start fighting. If they don't fight the anchor becomes agent provocateur. This must not be done in the interest of retaining the intellectual content of the programme. Today political parties have lost prestige because of the sorry spectacle they make on talk shows. Always worry about the level of discussion in your show. For this an intellectual must be made to mediate the sharp but low rhetoric of the partisans. Politicians are forced to attend talk shows because of their need for public exposure. Intellectuals are under no such obligation. With the passage of time, the intellectual has gone missing and with it the level of discussion. The TV channels must find a way of paying the specialist to attend discussions. There is truth in the information that some experts have asked for fee. This would be money well spent. Good manners are of the essence. Don't speak while the guest is in the middle of his sentence. As a lady anchor does all the time, drop the bad habit of repeating the last words of the guests as a gesture of attentiveness. Don't shout at your guests. On one channel an anchor calling himself doctor actually shouts till the sound distorts. Another doctor actually adopts an insulting manner as he piles accusations on the politicians of the ruling party. Don't invite fellow column writers of the same stripe as yourself on your programme because you have lost the others owing to your own blatantly partisan attitude. It is better to drop the theme than to hold a discussion in which everybody agrees to lambaste the party you don't like. Resist the

temptation of inviting the supremely bad-mouthing guest just to spice up your programme. If a TV anchor is under threat from the terrorists he should apply the principle of exemption to all. This is a very fine point and something that our TV channels suffer from most grievously. Instead of being quiet the anchor actually takes the side of the terrorist – “this is not Pakistan's war” - who can kill him on the basis of his opposition to a policy whose custodian can't kill him. The same exemption is also in evidence in respect of the state intelligence agencies.

The above caveats are being listed because the TV anchor has arisen as the mascot of the free media in Pakistan. This in turn has happened because of the extraordinary interest shown by Pakistani viewers in political programming by the channels. An analysis of this phenomenon reveals that the common viewer has replaced his normal entertainment – meant for relaxation and removal of tensions of partisanship and prejudice – with the spectacle of sensational political “encounters”. In some ways the chat shows may have also dented the “low theatre” in Lahore to which many decent citizens have serious objections. The result is the sharpness in the expression of opinion by citizens who increasingly repeat the content of the discussions they have seen the previous night. The media may have ended up introducing an extremism of views among the public. Conclusion Despite the notice taken of the flaws of style and substance in the media in Pakistan, one has to come to one undeniable conclusion about "media impact" in the country. Despite cases of misreporting or incompetent coverage, the situation created is that of "revelation" rather than "concealment". The extent of governance opened to public scrutiny in the current scene is unprecedented in the history of the country. In the matrix of "third world" governance norms, Pakistan stands as the most "scrutinised" state as far as the function of the government is concerned. Compared to the other states of South Asia, Pakistan's governance is the most investigated and criticised. Also, public interest is more engaged in this media function in Pakistan than in other states of the region; and the credit for that goes to the relentless focus the media has maintained on governance. Some observable factors will make this conclusion clear. The judiciary is compelled to take notice of the "revelations" of bad governance made by the media. The government is compelled again and again to roll back examples of

bad governance for fear of negative coverage. The opposition in parliament has been forced to take due account of the aspects of governance revealed in the media and raise related matters in the house. The bureaucracy which went unchallenged in the past is relentlessly challenged by the media and in many cases made to retreat from illegal favours received from the government. It is no longer possible for a bureaucrat to benefit from graft from the government without expecting a backlash in the media. Above all, the private citizen in Pakistan has more knowledge about his rights under the Constitution - and conversely the obligations of the state towards him - than ever before. An otherwise ill-educated and unskilled population has been made sensitive to flaws of governance thanks to the activism of the media. Endnotes 1. Manzoor Ali Memon, Promoting media literacy, Dawn, 9 June 2010: “The unprecedented growth of the broadcast media during the past decade and the latest communications technologies have ushered in a new era in Pakistan. They have brought about a paradigm shift in terms of media monopoly and the cartelisation of news gathering, packaging and distribution from the state- to privately owned media channels. This repositioning became more visible when cross-media ownership laws were relaxed and enabled owners of the print media and advertising agencies to acquire broadcast media licences. Resultantly, the media and their power became concentrated in a few hands that were already in the business. The news channels are credited with exposing the wrongdoings of the ruling elite and revealing the socioeconomic issues of the citizenry. However, the channels are also criticised for promoting violence and fuelling despondency and political uncertainty. The trend

Abbas Rasheed and Murtaza Solangi among the delegates

and tone of reporting in general is rather tabloid. Talk shows are televised on three time slots during prime time, starting from 8pm and ending at midnight. The format and content of the shows is largely uniform, repetitive and monotonous. Their substance tends to be based on speculation by the participants and anchors”. Sada-e-Jamhoor (August-September 2010) has Sweden-based researcher Riazul Hasan writing about the “mysterious” financing of the media in Pakistan. In his view, an average TV channel costs Rs 4 crore a month, but the average earning from the advertising pool in the economy is no more than Rs 1.70 crore a month per channel. One channel which shall remain unnamed has its owner campaigning in the districts, making his local cameramen cover his campaign, promising the opening of more branch offices with capital raised from his business ventures. Most of the showing time is taken up by his campaigns. His anchors are blatantly partisan and present highly skewed discussions. Mahreen Aziz Khan, Mindless media-ocrity, Express-Tribune, July 08, 2010: With over 80 channels, the majority being so called “news” channels, the Pakistani viewers should be spoilt for choice. Except they are not. Far from it. Most of the “news” channels are miserably short on original content and high on opinion masquerading as reporting, bias dressed as analysis, and rabble rousing substituting for impassioned debate. The multiple political talk shows resemble clones of each other, with standardised sets and unoriginal formats for nightly shouting matches between the political egos that appear as guests. There are of course a couple of notable exceptions where solid research and in depth analysis are presented in an informative and intelligent manner. But, by in large, what is offered is an ungainly assortment of “anchors” browbeating their guests, who themselves are regulars, often appearing simultaneously on multiple channels thanks to pre-recording. The end game is to encourage, cajole or instigate by any means necessary, a cat fight amongst the handful of politicians offered up for the evening. With the majority of anchors gunning for the government of the day, the result is a shouting match — the television equivalent of a neighbourhood backyard argument laced with scurrilous allegations, name calling and low blows. 5. Famous editor Khushnood Ali Khan wrote an editorial and the Supreme Court took suo motu notice on its basis to start a case against rental power projects (RPPs). According to Jinnah (24 Oct 2010) chief justice said during hearing that if one power project was awarded to a relative of the prime minister it did not mean anything unless some irregularity had taken place in the process of the award. Two contracts were allegedly awarded to Raja Ali Zulqarnain who is a brother-in-law (ham-zulf) of Prime Minister Gilani. The chief editor routinely boasts of the number of suo motu cases initiated by the Supreme Court on the basis of the stories published or columns written by him in his own paper. 6. Waqar Gillani, The role of the gatekeeper, The News 3 Oct

2010: Dr Mehdi Hasan, head of the School of Journalism at a reputed private university and also the chairman of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), says the media, especially the electronic media, has exploited its role of the gatekeeper: "In Communication's theory of social responsibility, a gatekeeper is a filter that controls information coming into and going out of the organisation; it's a very responsible role". He contends that the present-day media is too negative to be able to perform this role. Evaluating the job of the anchorpersons, Dr Hasan says: "They have every right to criticise the government, but many a time they do it without proper research or evidence and without realising how their 'declarations' will be received by the general public." He makes a fine distinction between the electronic and the print media, saying that the latter is more inclined towards "statement journalism" where "you are mostly quoting different stakeholders and don't have a fair access to information. "The role of TV became increasingly more subjective after the 2007 removal of the Chief Justice of Pakistan by Pervez Musharraf followed by the promulgation of emergency". Dr Hasan also believes the electronic media has assumed the role of "the opposition [party] in the parliament. …It [the media] ends up giving free publicity to different stakeholders and their party agendas, which is wrong." He stresses upon the need for a constructive and objective self-analysis on the part of the media. "There should be a neutrality, authenticity and fact-checking of the news items before these are aired." To illustrate his point, Dr Hasan speaks of how the coverage of the recent floods was "disappointing, to say the least. The TV channels almost reduced the common victims to the stature of beggars and painted a very bleak picture for them". 7. TV anchor Mubashir Lucman told Jinnah (14 Jan 2010) that some TV channels thought they could topple the government. They abided by no rules although even third world media have rules to go by. The TV anchors of Pakistan were camels without bridle (shutr-e-bemahar). Where the channels have benefited the people, their damage has been more serious. He said that TV channels did more damage because of the raw unedited views and incidents covered by TV. In the print media the poison of unfair comment was drawn by news editors, but TV was a bruising medium without ethics. If you want peace and tranquillity in the country, switch off the TV channels for two days, he said. 8. Anwar Syed, A manner of speaking, Dawn 16 May 2010: Five presumably wellinformed individuals being interviewed on a television channel were asked to speak on the Lal Masjid episode of July 2007 in Islamabad. None of them wanted to tell the viewers what exactly had happened. The ugliness of the encounter between the managers of the mosque and the agents of the Musharraf regime was attributed to the machinations of imperialist powers, particularly the United States. The rise of fundamentalist militancy in Pakistan was interpreted as a reaction to the western powers' dominance and impoverishment of the Muslim world. They evaded the subject sought to be discussed on the reasoning that one had to understand its background in order to understand the issue. 9. Samaa TV (24 Oct 2010) staged a debate between three anchors considered most

hostile to the PPP government: Hamid Mir, Muhammad Malik and Kashif Abbasi. Out of the three Mir and Malik belonged to Geo TV against whom the government had taken such hostile steps as not allowing any of its members to appear in discussions. The PPP as party was represented by its media spokesperson Ms Fauzia Wahab who brought up the case of over a billion rupees of tax arrears receivable from Geo which it had avoided paying by taking a stay order from the Sindh High Court. She also accused the TV channels of running a rumour about the “de-notification” of the Supreme Court judges as news. The exchange was bitter and verging on the abusive with Hamid Mir calling her “a liar” repeatedly. Malik too was harsh in his criticism of the government. The encounter clearly showed the level of hostility reached between the two sides. What was remarkable was the combative aggression of the two anchors who could have effectively rebutted the PPP accusations without being insulting. The audience in the programme was not all on the side of the anchors although the government's image among the public was largely negative. The debate which was an effort to 'place the anchors in the dock' simply showed that the anchors had adopted an insulting manner towards the government representatives as a technique, which in turn conveyed the impression that the TV channel was actually targeting the PPP for a fall before the closure of its tenure. 10. Babar Ayaz, Responsibilities of unchained media, Daily Times, 15 June 2010: “Let us take a few recent incidents that have made people think about whether the media should not be prudent about what it says and prints. And that objectivity, which is the fundamental requirement of journalism, is missing in most news reports and talk shows. For instance, opposition leader Mian Nawaz Sharif expressed his concern against the killings of about 100 Ahmedis in Lahore. As he considers all the Pakistanis his brothers and sisters, and rightly so, he addressed them in the same manner. But then some religious extremist declared him apostate just because he called the Ahmedis his brothers and sisters. Some channels and most Urdu newspapers printed statements against him in which the religious parties asked him to apologise or be excommunicated from the realm of Islam. Now the question is, should such statements be given coverage where one sect declares a person or a sect non-Muslim or an apostate? This question becomes more relevant as we have seen that many killings were incited by the intolerance built by extremist mullahs and tele-bigots. Both the persons who issue and print such statements can be sued for defamation”. Writing in Jang (30 March 2010) Saleem Safi stated that after some simple folk write praising letters to a TV anchor and some equally innocent folk get their autographs on the road, the TV anchors become aql-e-kul (know-all) and starts striking the pose of a mufti. Instead of purveying news he starts creating news and starts giving dictation.

INTERACTION WITH PRIME MINISTER STANDING UP FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM: Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, SAFMA-Pakistan President Nusrat Javeed and Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile

SAFMA's proposed national agenda Imtiaz Alam

ensing the undemocratic and unconstitutional threats to democracy, which we have brought back with a lot of sacrifices, SAFMA along with some leading journalists, intellectuals and civil society leaders from the platform of Citizens for Democracy, called upon all the institutions and stakeholders to say no to any undemocratic and unconstitutional change while emphasizing the urgency to evolve a National Agenda to tackle an all-sided crises of the state. Some of the challenges that pose a real threat to our existence as a people and a land that is sacred to us are: (1) A low-growth-high-poverty equilibrium with lowest tax-GDP, saving-GDP, investment-GDP and per-capita investment on the people with lowest social indicators in the developing world. It requires a new paradigm of inclusive and sustainable growth and an all-out effort in every sphere of economy from the revitalization of high value adding manufacturing, agricultural and servicing sectors, conservation, exploration

and development of energy and water resources, human resource development and poverty eradication, withdrawal of subsidies and expansion of revenues by taxing both rural and urban rich, reprioritization of allocation of resources from military security to human security, drastic reformation or disposing of public sector corporations to get rid of financial hemorrhage, inclusion of the dispossessed people and the deprived backward regions into the mainstream of development and empowerment and opening up our eastern and western borders to revive traditional trade routes to become a hub of trans-regional trade and investment across South, Central and Western Asia. It also needs breaking with client-patron and dependency relationship in a globalised world that calls for regional integration, through SAARC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and cooperation with Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) countries. (2) A parasitic national security state failing to enforce its writ and

maintain peace within and without. The state must enforce its writ across every nook and corner of our land while keeping its monopoly over coercive means by eradicating non-state violent actors/militias threatening our existence/sovereignty and jeopardizing our relations with our neighbors and international community. The menace of terrorism has to be eradicated by all means and in every sphere that reproduce it. It calls for radical reversion of our failed security paradigms that nourished these grave-diggers of Pakistan's otherwise moderate, tolerant and egalitarian and pluralist society. (3) Marginalization of the will and the sovereignty of the people. All organs of the state and all stakeholders must submit to the will and sovereignty of the people exercised by the elected representatives of the people, responsible to the final arbiters-- the peoples of all federating units. Civilmilitary relations must be redefined strictly in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 1973 Constitution and everything about the security establishment must be brought under the purview of our sovereign parliament. All institutions and organs of the state must keep in their lawful limits frustrating all machinations and efforts to destabilize democratic setup and rejecting any change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means. (4) A flawed foreign and security paradigm promoting conflict in the neighborhood. There is an urgent need to critically reappraise our foreign and national security policies that are beyond our national resources, repudiate peace both within and without, frustrate economic growth and prosperity and keep our people in the shackles of poverty, backwardness, illness and hunger. It requires, in particular, radical revision of our “India-centric”, “strategic-depth” (vis a vis Afghanistan) and “strategic-assets” (of our jihadis who are of nobody's) types of strategic assumptions. The militaristic version of the national security, that failed to provide us internal and external security, must be replaced with an overarching vision of human security, thus, eradicating the causes behind the growth of suicide-bombers, violence and religious extremism; and a rational, smart and cost-effective defence backed by a credible deterrence. (5) Crises of Governance. Pakistan is faced with deep-rooted crises of governance from civilian administration to military establishment, financial sectors to fiscal spheres, generating revenues to transparent and accountable expenditure, delivery of cheap and easy justice and honest and law-abiding policing, respecting citizens'

fundamental rights regardless of gender, creed or ethnicity and empowering people, rewarding merit, entrepreneurship, innovation and competition while precluding unethical privileges, rent-seeking, bribery and fraud, respecting dissent and granting women and minorities equal privileges of equal citizens and devolving and de-concentrating power to the lower tiers of governance, allsided and even-handed accountability of all through due process of law, access to and free flow of information and a transparent, accountable and efficient governance. It can't be achieved by totalitarian or fascist regimes and barbaric means or by chasing the ghosts and shadows of the past corruption which flourished due to loopholes in the mechanisms of governance that need to be plugged to disallow future mega corruption. (6) Ethnic and sectarian tensions: Despite granting provincial autonomy and some concessions to the smaller provinces, the federating units continue to suffer from alienation and nurse frustrations, such as Baluchistan. While progressively and radically devolving power from the Centre to the provinces and onward to the districts and ultimately to the grassroots level to empower our people, the poor in particular, the federation and its powerful arms take affirmative steps to remove the grievances of smaller provinces, Balochistan in particular. Balochistan needs extraordinary accommodation and amelioration. There are ethnic tensions within the provinces that also need to be addressed by respecting pluralism at all levels to strengthen unity-in-diversity. On the other hand, sectarian cleavages are touring apart our social fabric that has been increasingly taking a violent turn since General Zia's so-called “Islamization” and induction of jihadi and klashnikove culture. All sectarian and violent militias, their cover-up bodies, charities, sectarian seminaries preaching violence and producing hate materials must be prosecuted and banned. Instead of becoming a source of national unity, the sectarian forces that pollute the spiritual space have turned religion into a source of discord and disunity. A distinction has to be made between the state and religion and theology and education while respecting the beliefs of the people that don't hurt others' beliefs and religious practices.

People not media judge of govt, parties Peace process should be delinked from terror incidents

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

t is a matter of great pleasure for me to address the participants of the 4th National Conference organized by South Asia Free Media Association. I congratulate the organizers for holding this Conference. Welcoming the proposal by SAFMA to hold 3rd Indo-Pak Parliamentary Conference in Islamabad in the near future, my government assures you of our cooperation. By proposing the process to initiate dialogue on national issues, I appreciate the stand taken by SAFMA and Citizens for Democracy to oppose any undemocratic and unconstitutional change. We will look forward to the findings of your national conference on what you think should be the national agenda.

I am of the considered opinion that such constructive interactions between political leadership, journalistic community, and civil society organizations are acutely needed for building bridges and exploring commonalities for durable peace in South Asia, a region which has, unfortunately, been condemned to poverty, conflict and backwardness. At a time when I speak to you today, the world has undergone tremendous changes. Resultantly numerous challenges have cropped up warranting an urgent and holistic response. In order to successfully cope with these daunting challenges, we need to equip ourselves with 'out of box' ideas and fresh insights.

These are not the normal times we are living in. As a people of this region, it is our moment of truth. There are two paths open to us. One, either we allow ourselves to be defeated by the forces of change that are fast sweeping through all walks of national and international life or we can take on these formidable challenges in a way that represents a fresh beginning, a new dawn as they say.

with common man's desire for economic and social empowerment has rendered the old methods of governance obsolete. Moreover, governance is a shared responsibility and the goal of good governance cannot be achieved as long as all organs of the state at all levels do not duly contribute their share to making it possible.

You would agree with me that governance has become a very complex phenomenon. This is precisely because of the fast-paced changes and evolutionary processes that have come to characterize the functioning of a modern nation-state. The emergence of new centres of power such as robust private sector, media and civil society organizations has given birth to new imperatives of governance. To cap it all, globalisation has served to make nations interdependent requiring corresponding policy response and effective governance tools for mutual benefit. Globalisation can both be a plus and minus depending upon how we respond to it. Enhanced access to information coupled

We live in a multi-faceted society where its core components have diversified background, languages, local cultures and traditions. The efforts to impose a uniform system without being alive to these realities have failed miserably in the past. It resulted in the isolation of common man thereby rendering the whole system non-functional. Pakistan being a federal state demands a system of governance which caters to the aspirations of its federating units. Such a system should be aimed at creating harmony and fostering unity within the diverse elements of national power.

Prime Minister having a chat with the delegates

Let me mention that all the milestones achieved by the government owe themselves to the visionary policy of reconciliation espoused by our Shaheed leader Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto. The parameters of the proposal of the national agenda given by Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would be discussed when its details are shared with us. However, it might require taking all the stakeholders on board to develop consensus on the ideas and policies in the larger interest of the people of Pakistan. You would be glad to know that upon taking over, the present government embarked on a tough agenda of structural reforms within the system to make it compatible with the challenges of time. The most important of these reforms th relates to the historic passage of the 18 Constitutional Amendment and the th adoption of the 7 consensus-based National Finance Commission Award. The political, administrative and economic empowerment of provinces would go a long way in eliminating the feelings of deprivations and isolation thereby strengthening the federation. Under the 7th NFC Award, Federal government has cut down its share from 52.5% to 44% of the divisible pool, which gave an increase of 8.5% in the share of the provinces. By the time the process of political devolution is complete under the 18th Amendment, Pakistan would be ready for a take-off on a path to progress and prosperity. The government is aware of the fact that without comprehensive economic reforms, neither can economic growth be achieved nor poverty and unemployment can be cut down. In the interest of country and for benefit of the people, the elected government's reforms include political ownership to war on terror, creation of national consensus against terrorism and militancy, empowerment of parliament, Aagaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment & SelfGovernance Act and Benazir Income Support Programme. All of these initiatives of the present government constitute a beginning, which need to be built on through sustained policy commitment and engagement. I have a firm belief that given the diversified nature of our federation, remedy to our national ills lies in democracy. Democracy would stand strengthened if it is considered as a process. Our impatience with democratic dispensations proved very destructive in the past with long-term implications for our state and society. Let us not repeat our mistakes. Let us chart our way forward towards a modern,

democratic and welfare Pakistan, which reflects the aspirations of its people. Look what democracy has achieved in two and half years. All may not be well but we have made a good beginning by fixing the structural problems of governance, which eluded solution for decades on end. I recall a quote of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali wherein he said and I quote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;democracy is in our blood. It is in our marrow. When the fruit of democracy is within our reach, shall we now fail to grasp it?â&#x20AC;? Unquote. Our government believes in free and independent media and regards it as fourth pillar of the state. A free media is also important for successful functioning of democracy and ensuring good governance. Media enjoys great freedom during the tenure of my government. In playing its role of a watchdog, media should make sure that it does not undermine democratic system and national institutions. The primary and basic role of the media is to provide news and information to the people in a fair and objective manner. Its professionalism gets hugely compromised when it resorts to speculations that create fear and panic among the public. It should not try to become a creator of news and act as a judge. People are the best and ultimate judge who have the requisite credentials and qualities to pass a final verdict and hold any individual, party and government accountable for their actions. The trend of being the kingmaker, which is manifestly present in a section of press, should end. All of us need to learn and respect each other's defined responsibilities. This is how institutions grow through evolution. We should give democracy chance to develop into a sustainable system capable of addressing people's problems. Speculations and self-styled analyses impact negatively upon economy by creating an impression of political instability. Does the cause of democracy and institution-building gets advanced when a section of press becomes a party and keeps giving deadline about the ouster of government? It is about time we rise above our parochial agendas and think in larger national interest. Pakistan stands for peaceful coexistence and friendly relations with the countries of South Asian region as well as the entire world. My government is for normalizing relations with India. We believe that terrorism and extremism constitute the major challenge for not only Pakistan and India but also all peoples of South Asia. We want the resumption of the composite dialogue process with India who must reciprocate our good intentions. I call upon India to

appreciate our efforts in curbing terrorism that poses the biggest internal threat to our national interests, ethos and values. Pakistan and India should resolve their disputes especially on Kashmir through peaceful means and productive dialogue. We should de-link peace process from incidents of terrorism to make composite dialogue a sustainable proposition. Benefitting from our geostrategic location Pakistan is keen in reviving our traditional trade routes to the benefit of the people of the adjoining regions. We will continue to strengthen SAARC and are ready to take measures on mutually beneficial basis. The entire South Asian region is blessed with rare gifts of nature. Let us resolve to use our natural resources to overcome the sufferings of our teeming millions. Let us not allow despair to defeat hope.

interaction and giving me an opportunity to share with you my thoughts. In the end, I would conclude my speech by recalling the words of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto which he said in his address on April 14, 1972. He said, and I quote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;History beckons us, and our people are ready to march forward. Do we, the members of this distinguished Assembly, have the courage and wisdom to lead our people towards their cherished goal that is DEMOCRACY? I wish you all the best in your endeavours. Pakistan Piandabad!

I thank Secretary General SAFMA, Imtiaz Alam, and SAFMA Pakistan President, Nusrat Javed, and all other journalist friends for inviting me to this

65 Prime Minister having a chat with the delegates

Q A &

SESSION III

Setting a national agenda SESSION REPORT

dealing with internal and external threats and evolve a comprehensive security policy.

Ashfaq Saleem Mirza, Talat Masood, Inam-ul-Haq and Asma Jahangir

Inam-ul-Haq: If we do not resolve our internal problems, we cannot have an effective foreign policy. A stable Pakistan is in the interest of the entire region. India's long-term prosperity will be possible only if it resolves its issues with its neighbours. If India struts in its neighbourhood, it can hardly aspire to have a smooth ride on the world stage. Pakistan wishes to normalize its relations with India on the basis of sovereign equality. We would like to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan is not ready to accept threats and coercion. Khaled Ahmed: We have had a retired general who has advised us to make fundamental changes. He has stressed the need for changing the mindset. He says Pakistan should revisit its foreign policy as it survives in isolation.

Sharing smiles: Imtiaz Alam and Talat Masood

Talat Masood: For Pakistan, it is vital to contain and neutralize the menace of insurgency and terrorism. The fallout of acts of terrorism has seriously affected the economy and the overall law and order situation. The current scene demands that the political and military leadership revisit the traditional security policy in

Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, President of the National Party and a member of the Implementation Commission on 18th Amendment: Use of force cannot deliver anything other than generate more hatred. Those who said there was no war in Balochistan were deceiving themselves. The Balochs are fighting for their identity and rights. The Baloch people would neither compromise on their rights nor would lose their identity. Unfortunately, nationalist parties are not acceptable to the establishment. They want puppets in Balochistan for implementation of their policies. The establishment would have to change its attitude towards Balochistan. Otherwise, the Baloch leaders would have to

Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch

organise the masses for achieving their rights.

justice and rights of minorities.

The contradictions in foreign and domestic policies should be revisited. We need integrated policies.

“Our policies must be inclusive as there is need for revisiting our national security,” she said. Asma Jehangir hoped that things would improve with the devolution of powers to the provinces through 18th Amendment. She stressed the need for extending the Political Parties Act and the judiciary access to FATA and bringing these areas into mainstream politics.

The 18th Amendment has made Pakistan a more federal state. Abolition of the concurrent list is a step forward towards provincial autonomy. However, there are still some challenges in the implementation of 18th Amendment. The federal government is willing to give rights to provinces but there is a dire need for change in the mindset of federal bureaucracy. The media should highlight issue of this conflict-hit province. Siddique Baloch: Two parties that want to remain with Pakistan are receiving

She said: “We have to change rhetoric that Baloch nationalists are enemy of the country. We have to listen to the Baloch and the Pashtun.” Election within parties is also part of good governance. Good governance is policies for welfare of people.

OPEN HOUSE Shoaib Adil: Could anyone here say things similar to what Indian intellectual Arundhati Roy said in India and get away? Inam-ul-Haq: I have already said: “Put house in order.” Khaled Ahmed: There is a big gap between internal and external policies. It is very dangerous. Iftikhar Ahmad: Who are the people impeding the implementation of the 18th amendment? Dr Malik: Agencies elect our representatives. They are not pro-people. The establishment wants touts installed in Balochistan. You should empower the people to elect their representatives. I have been opposing target killing. I have lost my ideologue – late Mir Maula Baksh Dashti -- because of that.

Siddique Baloch, Khaled Ahmed, Amar Sindhu and G N Mughal

bodies. The British did not develop infrastructure in Balochistan. Whatever was set up was set up in cantonments. They wanted to keep us backward. We are following the same policies after 1947. Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)'s President Asma Jehangir said that respect and tolerance for divergent opinion is must for evolving a pluralistic domestic society. “We believe in diversity of opinion because it leads to solutions to problems. We must evolve consensus on rule of law, which also includes economic and social

Amar Sindhu: We are facing the crisis of missing identities. Democratic process is the only way out. Khurshid Ahmed, Gilgit Baltistan: Nobody is talking about solution. Resolve the issues and unite the country. Talat Masood: There is a need for change in the Kashmir policy for the benefit

of Kashmiri people, Pakistan and regional peace. There should be success in our policies. The Army and the intelligence agencies have great impact on our foreign policy. These policies should be discussed in Parliament. Dr Akmal Hussain, economist: Central to Pakistan's national integrity and national security is the challenge of placing Pakistan on a new trajectory of sustained high growth with equity. Sustained high growth requires transiting from the institutional structure of a Limited Access Social Order to the institutional structure of an Open Access Social Order. Sustained high growth can only be achieved through an institutional structure of economic and political democracy. Shakeel Ahmad, Agha Nasir, Afzal Khan, Lala Rehman Samon, Anjum Rashid, M Ziauddin

Nadeem ul Haque, economist: Pakistan's future prosperity hinges on enhanced productivity, strengthened internal markets and innovative, community-led urban development.

Dr Muhammad Asif, a Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University: For longterm energy prosperity, Pakistan's best hope is with the indigenous energy resources such as coal, hydropower and renewable energy. However, to bring any positive change in the national energy scene, the fundamental issues such as political interference, nepotism, and financial and administrative irregularities are absolutely imperative to be addressed. Tariq Mehmood, a former judge: If Pakistan is to move towards a democracy based on the rule of law, it must build and nurture, without delay, independent institutions of accountability. The executive functionaries must strictly adhere to the public procurement rules and regulations and governance should be open, transparent, participatory and inclusive and that the process of decision-making should be open to public scrutiny.

Nadeem-ul-Haque replying to a question

Abbas Rashid, educationist: The inadequate involvement of genuine political institutions in matters related to educational reform continues to impede the much needed progress in education reforms. According to the State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report 2009, the literacy rate is 57% (as compared 56% the previous year). Further

aggravating the situation are provincial, gender-wise as well as rural-urban disparities in literacy. Siddique Baloch: In Balochistan, there is no basic infrastructure, no development, and poverty runs rampant in all the five ecological zones of Balochistan. G N Mughal: Discussions on electronic media represent only the elite class in Lahore or Karachi. The rest of the people in the provinces feel left out. This will be counterproductive for the media, democracy and the national unity. Democracy should continue. Federating units should be autonomous. All is not well in Sindh. A cyclone is brewing there. People are feeling alienated. They want democracy but they want federal system too. Nadeem-ul-Haq: Governance is better organistaion for productivity. M Ziauddin: 1947 to 1965 Jinnah's objective of making Pakistan a social

welfare state was superseded by efforts to liberate Kashmir. We joined Cento, Ceato. We got arms at cheap rates or for free. Kharian Cantt was made for free. That meant that defence expenditure did not trouble us. Then we used to get wheat free. We would sell wheat in the market and with its proceeds we would run the country. The ruler thought they didn't need to collect taxes. No tax culture was developed resultantly. That resulted in whatever we are facing now. Afzal Khan: There is a fad of increasing GDP. Bhutan has Gross National Happiness (GNH) as their benchmark. Successive governments only produced a few rich families. Now growth is very low. Ayub Khan had consumer culture. Bhutto had introduced nationalization. We are subsidizing corruption and incompetence. Agriculture is our mainstay. Agriculture should be subsidized. You may levy agri tax. GN Mughal: Reservoirs don't suit us. You don't have enough water to reserve. Thatta and Badin mass evacuations because of rising sea water. People were displaced in Sindh. Javed Qazi: Thar has huge coal reserves that could serve the energy needs. Political democracy is the solution to all problems. Imtiaz Alam: In your analysis you have forgotten the people. Also, no economist touches upon defence budget. Nadeem-ul-Haq: Mine is the most inclusive growth agenda. Growth is not the ultimate end. Economists agree that happiness is the ultimate end. But you have to have something in your kitty before you are happy. We have to think differently.

Javed Qazi makes a point

Terrorism and national security Talat Masood

ver since independence the military threat emanating form India has dominated the thinking of Pakistan's planners. And in the last few years' internal threat from militancy and terrorism and non-military dimensions of security have become even more potent. The country for years' has also suffered from political instability, inequitable economic growth and sectarian and ethnic conflict. Insurgency in the tribal belt appears to be an ominous menace that some characterize as existential in nature. It is unfortunate that despite these difficulties the leadership has failed to develop a national consensus and narrow parochial regional and ethnolinguistic prejudices dictate policy. The problem is further compounded as the civilian institutions remain weak and the military leadership dominates both policy as well as politics. Large areas of the tribal belt especially North Waziristan, parts of South Waziristan, Orakzai are not in control of the government and insurgent groups have taken sanctuary in these areas. All these border lands are being used by Tehrik Taliban, Afghan Taliban; splinter Jihadi elements of Lashkar Janghvi and Lashkar-e-Tayaba to advance their terrorist agenda in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The army to some extent has been successful in pushing back the expanding frontiers of Taliban influence but the insurgency is far from over. The insurgents and terrorists Pakistan army is fighting are mostly TTP and elements of Al Qaeda. US priority of targets is different and they are focusing on the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda. Of late pressure is building up on Pakistan from the US to mount an operation in North Waziristan with the object of eliminating or capturing Haqqani group and other militant organizations that are launching attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan military has different priorities and is hesitant to undertake this operation as it finds itself overstretched and would like to first consolidate the gains that it has already made. There is also the danger that a major operation in North Waziristan would trigger a wave of terrorist attacks. To avoid this would also require taking elaborate preventive measures before

launching an operation. The ongoing tensions between two nuclear armed neighbors further complicate the security situation. Relations with India after the Mumbai attack by Lashkare-Tayaba took a turn for the worse when India refused to continue with the composite dialogue. The turbulent and unpredictable situation in Afghanistan and growing influence of New Delhi in Afghanistan add to Pakistan's insecurities. US military engagement in Afghanistan and its heavy presence in Central Asia and South Asia have altered the geo-strategic balance in the region. The constant threat from India (and the US) that a terrorist attack on their soil from Pakistan based militants will invite a robust military response adds to the

fragility of the security situation. In view of the deteriorating and unpredictable relationship with India, Pakistan is unable to fully focus on the domestic insurgency and other acute economic and social problems. Resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue on a structured basis followed by progress on some issues would give space to Pakistan to focus on serious internal challenges. Pakistan faces a serious strategic dilemma. To countervail the asymmetric power of India it developed a doctrine that had four distinct elements. It created strong conventional forces developed a nuclear capability, used militant Jihadi groups for asymmetric warfare and Taliban for support in Afghanistan. The alliance with US during the Cold War, Afghan jihad and after 9/11 was also a part of the same policy. Many of the militant groups have now become autonomous and turned their guns inwards and also involved in terrorist attacks abroad causing serious security problems. For Pakistan it is vital to contain and neutralize the menace of insurgency and terrorism. It is only by establishing the writ of the state in the insurgent controlled areas and by neutralizing the other Jihadi organizations that Pakistan would be able to preserve its sovereignty and prevent acts of terrorism within and outside the country. There is a military policy on insurgency but no clear cut political policy. The weakness in the political process can negate the gains made by pushing back the insurgents.

The fallout of acts of terrorism has seriously affected the economy and the overall law and order situation. The problem is worsening economic conditions and further fueling militancy. Already we are witnessing that some of the nonstate actors are paying the militants more than what the government has to offer to the state militia. In fact terrorists join militant or criminal outfits more for monetary than ideological reasons. Due to high unemployment and serious economic deprivation it is not difficult for TTP to find recruits in FATA. Another motivating factor is that it provides a sense of identity to the terrorist. There has been a sharp increase in the defense budget in recent years. Pakistan's defense budget surpasses development expenditure constitutes a substantial component of its meager resources. The armed forces have to maintain a credible conventional and strategic deterrence against India and concurrently engage in counterinsurgency operations. The heavy burden of the defense budget on national exchequer is crowding out development funds and undermining physical and human infra structural development with long term adverse consequences. Development indicators suggest that Pakistan is lagging behind even South Asian low standards. The global recession has further accentuated Pakistan's economic plight. Democratic institutions remain fragile and intra-party in-fighting and lack of democratic culture within parties makes it difficult for political leadership to address security and major national problems. The current scene demands that the political and military leadership revisit the traditional security policy in dealing with internal and external threats and devise a comprehensive security policy.

Representatives of press clubs and other delegates

Only a house in order can yield a good foreign policy

Inam-ul-Haq, former foreign secretary

et us put our own house in order and the foreign policy will take care of itself. If we do not resolve our internal problems, we cannot have an effective foreign policy. Because foreign policy is a reflection of the respect a country enjoys in the world and unfortunately that is a scarce commodity for Pakistan these days. My topic will be Pakistan and its neighbors and I will be talking of only three countries. First I will talk about the United States by virtue of its presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I will speak briefly about Afghanistan and then I will come to India.

problems and isolation of Pakistan. Such policies would run counter to our national interest and make us more vulnerable in political, military, diplomatic and economic terms. I am not an advocate of change in the direction of our policy but there are areas where we require more clarity about what Pakistan expects from this relationship. It should not be a relationship of a donor and a client, where the donor has to do everything which the donor state demands.

The United States: Pakistan should continue its policy of friendly relations with the United States, notwithstanding the complaints we have and there are many. We must not harbour a hostile and confrontational attitude towards the United States, which is the sole super power. A confrontation with the United States will only result in

I would also like to draw attention to some inherent contradictions in the policy perspectives in Afghanistan. There are many areas in Pakistan where we feel that the US is not pursuing a policy which has done well for Pakistan. Or perhaps US policies are creating greater problems for Pakistan than anything else. My intention is not to inscribe blame but to examine the issue as dispassionately as

possible from a Pakistani perspective. First of all, the US shows a lack of trust in Pakistan because it believes that Pakistan is playing both sides of a coin particularly in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, the people, more than its government, show a lack of trust in American intentions towards this country and towards this region. Pakistan is accused of providing safe havens to the Afghan Taliban and allowing them to cross from and into Afghanistan. The NATO forces and the US claim that the Afghan Taliban cannot be eliminated from Afghanistan till Pakistan stops providing those safe havens. The support for the Taliban continues till Pakistan provides a space for their safe havens. In my opinion, such blames are disingenuous, they are self-serving and they seek to shift the blame for the failures of the US and coalition policies to Pakistan. It is clear that the Taliban are operating hundreds of miles inside Afghanistan and if they can operate in the north of the country without being indicated, then they don't need sanctuaries in Pakistan. Afghan Taliban is firmly embedded in the local population. And they have established relationships with the local population which provides them with sanctuaries.

Sajjad Mir (C) makes a point

Let us assume that the Afghan Taliban do have safe havens in Pakistan. Such havens would not serve any purpose of the borders between the countries were to be sealed because then there would not be any possibility for the Afghan Talban to cross over. Protecting borders is a shared responsibility of both sides. However, the entire responsibility is conveniently placed on Pakistan to ensure that the border remains sealed. When Pakistan proposed the construction of a fence, it was Afghan President Mr Hamid Karzai who vociferously opposed it. The open border with Pakistan keeps the possibility that people will keep crossing those borders. The US and the NATO forces have 140 thousand troops but add to that 100 thousand security contractors. There are also 200 thousand trained, armed and funded afghan forces. This comes to half a million troops. The US, as we know, is spending one hundred billion dollars on its military efforts. All this money, and all these weapons and all these armies have not been able to pacify Afghanistan. The question remains that if the US and NATO have not been able to control the situation in Afghanistan and the insurgency has gained ground over the years how is it expected that an economically strapped state can defeat a deeply embedded insurgency and benefit an inside onslaught of extremism, and terrorism can do more that it is doing already. The US and NATO forces are fighting on their own national agendas. If the US and NATO forces are spilling their blood on Afghanistan, so is Pakistan. In fact more Pakistani soldiers and civilians have been killed by this war and let's not forget the continuing killing of the Iraqi people. While we are fighting the Taliban, the Karzai government is negotiating with the Taliban. If we take this policy line, then we will be going for long term conflict with Afghanistan since the Northern Alliance is already anti-Pakistan. If the US wants to succeed in this war then where will it end?

What were we to make of all this? The US is going out of its way to making India as its new strategic partner. The US needs Iran in Iraq and it needs Iran in Afghanistan, yet it also threatens Iran over aggression and regime change. An attack on Iran will be unhealthy to the world economy and a threat to the world security. The mixed signals sent from the U.S are encouraging the insurgents and confusing its friends. It is time the US reviewed its strategy in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and on a larger canvas vis-a-vis India and china in order for this region to be peaceful. What should be Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan? Pakistan would like to see Afghanistan as a united, sovereign, peaceful prosperous and friendly neighbour. Pakistan must interact with Afghanistan based on a relationship of equality and mutual respect. It is necessary to accept that Afghanistan is an independent state. Pakistan should not make decisions on behalf of Pakistan. We must understand that Afghanistan does not like to be dominated by any other country. Finally, we must be aware of our own limitations. We don't have the capacity of controlling or influencing Afghanistan. The concept of strategic depth is outdated and must be expelled from our narrative because it raises concerns about Pakistan's intentions towards Afghanistan. The two countries must co-operate in defeating violent extremism. We should not dictate Afghanistan's relationship with any other country including India. India: Is Pakistan's policy India centric? The answer is simple to a large extent, yes. But it must be remembered that the Indian policies have also been Pakistan centric. It's not a one way street. It works both ways. Perhaps it cannot be otherwise. The two countries have been neighbours with a history of conflict. The dialogue remains unfortunately suspended and mutual suspicions remain high. We all wish for peace but the problem begins when we try to resolve the existing issues. Unfortunately, India likes to settle its disputes on its own terms. Indians think of Pakistan as an obdurate but it is always the right of the smaller country to feel more apprehensive.

Some facts about India and Pakistan: India has become one of the largest importers of weapons. All these weapons are aimed at Pakistan, only one is aimed at China. When India talks of a nuclear war, it doesn't have China in mind. When the current Indian army chief talks about threats from other countries, he is talking about Pakistan and China. India opposes weapons being sold to Pakistan. Pakistan has never made any protest against India buying weapons. India has been hard at declaring Pakistan as a terrorist state for the past two decades. In our view, a stable Pakistan is in the interest of the entire region. It is not clear if India has come to the same conclusion. We recognize that India is the most powerful country in the region, but in my opinion, India's long-term prosperity will only result when it has resolved its issues with its neighbors. It should not seek to impose its will on its much smaller neighbours if it wants to emerge from its confines. If India struts in its neighbourhood, it can hardly aspire to have a smooth ride on the world stage. Pakistan wishes to normalize its relations with India on the basis of sovereign equality. We would like to resolve issues of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan is not ready to accept threats and coercion. Pakistan aspires to resume the dialogue on the entire spectrum on all its outstanding issues. If the people are occupied, suppressed and humiliated, do they have a right to resist? India must realize that nothing can be achieved with brutal suppression. The Mumbai attacks were a condemnable act of terrorism, so was the attack on Samjhota Express. These attacks made these countries use their own mechanisms for terrorism. Two years down the event the issue is nowhere near closure and the two countries remain in suspended animation. I leave this thought with you. Is this how mature and wise nations with nuclear weapons should conduct their bilateral relations?

India-centrism, strategic depth and terrorism P Khaled Ahmed

akistan's security policy has been designed to protect the country against India. Yet “danger from India” is a consequence of Pakistan's hostile revisionist nationalism against India based on recovery of territory unfairly acquired by India. After the cold war, the world no longer finds Pakistani nationalism credible and advises it to “normalise” relations with India to offset the danger it feels from India. However, efforts at normalisation have met with non-success. Here too international opinion sides with India blaming Pakistan's use of non state actors as a device to interrupt normalisation. Three Pakistani doctrines have emerged from the above formulation of national security doctrine: India-centrism, Strategic Depth, and Terrorism. India-Centrism Although pejorative in nature and coined by foreign analysts to criticise Pakistan's security-thinking, the phrase India-centric has been adopted by General Kayani on the basis of his increased weight within the military establishments of the US and NATO. “Being obsessed with India” - that is the literal meaning of India-centrism - was not a popular label in Pakistan under Musharraf but is being owned as a philosophy by the Pakistan Army now to signal two trends: its defiance of Western insistence that Pakistan undertake normalisation with India, indicating Pakistan's extent of leverage in the war against terrorism; and the distance of General Kayani from the more flexible approach employed by Musharraf after the failure of the Kargil Operation of 1999 and the incident of 9/11. Pakistan's economic and social backwardness is owed to its obsession with

India. Pakistani nationalism was based soon after 1947 on the designation of India as the enemy that was opposed to the existence of Pakistan. This nationalism was not “defensive” but “revisionist” aimed at united a pluralist Pakistan under the monistic slogan of “danger from outside”. This gave primacy to military preparedness and required an underdeveloped Pakistan to make sacrifices to fund an army that was strategically incapable of defeating India and holding it as conquered territory. Army's supremacy emanated from nationalism which dictated national indoctrination through textbooks. Unrealistic funding of the army and a highly fictionalised presentation of India

as enemy in the textbooks has led to economic and social backwardness of Pakistan. The biggest disadvantage of the anti-India ideology of Pakistan is its lack of support internationally. After being economically devastated, Pakistan is faced with reluctance of the donor states to contribute to its economic uplift for fear that Pakistan will fund its defence budget against India instead of providing relief to the poor. India-centrism is not viable economically; it has lost its nationalistic appeal after the scattering of its internal cohesion, defeating the proposition that the Indian bogey will keep Pakistan united. Strategic depth The idea of strategic depth is a direct offshoot of Pakistan's India-centrism and points to Pakistan's strategic disadvantage of lack of territorial depth in any projected war with India. Its linkage with Afghanistan as an imagined area of

“depth” against the Indian army fills the international community with fears about Pakistan's expansionist intent. An ex-foreign secretary of Pakistan has this to say about “strategic depth” in his forthcoming book: “Political analysts often point out that two considerations preoccupied Pakistan army's strategic thinking relating to its support to various Afghan Mujahedin groups: first, a view of Afghanistan as providing strategic depth to Pakistan, and secondly, an interest in having a friendly government in Afghanistan. While the concept of a friendly government was flawed, the aspiration of strategic depth in Afghanistan defied reason from the point of view of the traditional interpretation of the concept. Friendly government is a highly subjective concept that encourages patronage and interference and spawns suspicion and provocation. Loose talk that Pakistan's sacrifices had earned it the right to have a friendly government in Afghanistan was resented by Afghan intellectuals and elite, who saw it as a Pakistani justification to impose its diktat on Afghanistan.

Inam-ul-Haq, Asma Jahangir, Siddique Baloch and Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch

“The idea of Pakistan seeking strategic depth on its western border, by any measure, made little sense when its threat perception was almost entirely linked to India. Pakistan's major cities and communication corridors remain close to India and a friendly Afghanistan could not put a distance between the two hostile neighbours. At times, the concept was defended in terms of shifting strategic assets to safety, which at best reflected naivete. Assets in times of tension or conflict are meant for use not for safe keeping. Parking of assets anywhere also requires sophisticated infrastructure, and Pakistan has locations at greater distances from its eastern border than Kabul. Later a more benign and plausible interpretation was constructed to suggest that the concept only meant that Pakistan should feel secure along its western border in times of tension with India. Even this apology for a fallacious concept does not hold since Pakistan never faced a conventional military threat from Afghanistan, as had been evident during the 1965 and 1971 conflicts with India. Furthermore, if the purpose is simply a legitimate interest in a friendly border, instead of talking about 'seeking strategic depth', reference should be made to Pakistan's desire to pursue normal friendly relations with Afghanistan”. The truth is that preoccupation with the eastern border under an India-centric strategy has resulted in the neglect of Pakistan's western territories and borders. The military doctrine is so inflexible and impervious to political reinterpretation by public representatives that to safeguard it against realistic change the Pakistan army retains control of the country's foreign policy. The allegation that India was interfering in Balochistan has remained officially unproven because the truth about Balochistan's neglect in the past is by far the most persuasive argument internationally. The conditions in the Federally Administered Areas (FATA) are also owed to this military preoccupation with the eastern border and the retention of the tribal borderlands as nurseries of non state actors. Terrorism When states use aggression it is called war; when non state actors use aggression it is called terrorism. This definition is disputed in the UN General Assembly but the UN Security Council takes action on the basis of this definition. Pakistan has been accusing India of “state terrorism” in Kashmir while waging a deniable war of non state actors across the Line of Control that divides Indian Administered Kashmir from Pakistan administered Kashmir. This covert war started in 1947

when the first army of non-state actors, culled mostly from FATA, was sent into Kashmir. In 1965, the sending of non state actors into Kashmir by Pakistan triggered India's invasion of Pakistan. Although today the 1965 war is being interpreted as Pakistan's defeat, it has been made to stand as a triumph of Pakistan's revisionist nationalism. In 1971, the uprising in East Pakistan was interpreted in West Pakistan as the result of India's sinister propaganda and is used even today as an excuse to intensify the national designation of India as a permanent enemy. One of the reasons behind the uprising was West Pakistan's security doctrine that posited defence of East Pakistan through enhanced military capacity in West Pakistan. The parallel with Afghanistan is quite pointed: only the Afghans are willing to listen that Pakistan's designs on Afghanistan have been provoked by an Indian conspiracy to “encircle” Pakistan. Pakistan decided to start a low intensity conflict in Kashmir based on the experience gained from the deniable war in Afghanistan it had pursued in the 1980s together with the United States against the Soviet Union. The non state actors who spearheaded the war against the Soviet Union infected its “handlers” inside the Pakistan army and laid the foundation of a “revolt of the mercenaries” later on when these private militias became powerful inside Pakistan civil society to the detriment of the “internal sovereignty” of the state. After Al Qaeda became a force to reckon with in Pakistan, the state was undecided to attack it. This was caused by its reluctance to attack also the militias it had prepared for proxy war against India. Al Qaeda's control over the Taliban Movement has made the decision to attack terrorism even more difficult. The terrorists who kill innocent Pakistanis with the help of their Punjabi associates' may be the “assets” Pakistan army will use against India. Terrorism is Pakistan's creation through covert jihad against India. The jihadi militias have created multiple centres of power inside Pakistan, challenging the state in its monopoly of violence. The war against terrorism is Pakistan's war and is rendered complicated because it still needs the killers of Pakistani citizens as proxy soldiers against India. The resurgence of Indian-centrism may actually increase the importance of these terrorists and thus curtail further Pakistan's capacity to handle terrorism on its territory.

alochistan has been placed in a perversely distinct position in Pakistan, a position where backwardness is safeguarded and secured religiously, ensuring that the people of Balochistan will remain illiterate and extremely poor. It in the interest of the State that Balochistan should remain perpetually backward. Backwardness is rampant not only in all sectors of the economy, but in every walk of life to the advantage of the rulers at the expense of the ruled. Balochistan receives money and resources through state transfers and the allocation of funds in the annual budget, besides a score of friendly countries and international finance and development institutions pumping in resources. Nevertheless, the economy is stagnant and registering negative economic growth. The resources and funds are not for the people, who suffer from poverty, hunger and diseases. The resources are for Ministers, the MPAs, MNAs, Senators and key officials in the Balochistan administration.

Government. There are 65 MPAs and according a simple calculation reveals the total allocation to be Rs 9.75 billion, a sizable share from the public exchequer going. It is worth mentioning that the MPAs' schemes remained a total failure in Balochistan and a huge waste of resources and money. For the past quarter of a century, not a single MPA scheme has proven beneficial to the people. There are dozens of huge projects or Mega Projects which were all built by the Federal Government. This includes Gwadar Port, Mirani Dam, Coastal Highway, RCD Highway, Bolan Medical College, Pat Feeder, Kachhi Canal (under construction), village electrification, Saindak Project. Not a single project has been undertaken by the Provincial Government through its Annual Development Programme (ADP) for sixty years.

Perpetuating backwardness

The State institutions had failed to create job opportunities or make regional economies sustainable in far flung regions of Balochistan. There were two textile mills built with financial assistance from Iran in the 1980s. The mills were The government of Zia-ul Haq and Siddiq Baluch established in Quetta and Uthal with Mohammad Khan Junejo did the 50,000 spindles each. Each of the mills greatest disservice to the people of had the capacity to employ more than nine Pakistan by introducing exclusive thousand people by operating three shifts. Astoundingly, the mills were closed at funds for the Members of Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies. Initially, it a time when Balochistan was producing the finest cotton, matching the famous was a small amount of Rs five million a year or during a single fiscal year. It was Egyptian cotton in quality. The well kept machinery was disposed of to please introduced in 1985 when he formed his party and government without having a the powerful Textile Mafia of this country. Following this decision, hardly any single supporter at the Centre or in the provinces. To the surprise of many, this industrial unit was established in any other part of Balochistan. fiscal year, the Balochistan Government had allocated Rs 150 million to each MPA, all Provincial Ministers, barring a very few who are not part of the Secondly, Hub Industrial Township was enjoying a tax holiday where tens of

thousands of people were working in those units. The Federal Government withdrew the tax holiday and duty free facility for imported machinery forcing the closure of hundreds of industrial units ensuring mass unemployment and guaranteeing poverty and backwardness for decades to come. The only source of employment opportunities is the Provincial Government. After a lapse of many years, the Provincial Government created some jobs. The present jobs of teachers announced under the Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan remained vacant for the past many years for strategic reasons. Now, the Provincial Government jobs have been offered to 5000 teachers and the Federal Government will pay their salaries for some initial years. The political credit must go to the Federal Government for compelling the Provincial Government to fill the vacancies. There are 10,000 or more jobs available in the Police, Levies, Balochistan Constabulary and other provincial Government departments for the past many years and they are unfilled to this date merely because the bureaucracy wanted to keep the people poor and its economy backward. All the large projects of the Federal Government were deliberately delayed. Bolan Medical College, Pat Feeder, Coastal Highway, Hub Dam, Mirani Dam.

Kachhi Canal, RCD Highway, village electrification, Reko Dik Project and a score of other mega projects took decades to complete. Even a small youth hostel project with a cost of mere Rs 24 millions took more than eight years to complete. On the other hand, the Motorway project linking Lahore with Islamabad was completed in less than eight months and the Government spent Rs 34 billions. Now the Kachhi canal, currently under construction, will cost more than Rs 100 billion merely because of the delays in its implementation. It was supposed to cost merely Rs 34 billion irrigating around one million acres of highly fertile land. In Balochistan, there is no basic infrastructure, no development, and poverty runs rampant in all the five ecological zones of Balochistan. It is not a vicious cycle as some economists -unaware about the ground realities in Balochistanbelieve. It was the deliberate policy of the British colonial rulers who hated the Baloch resistance to the colonial rule for over a century. What we see today is the continuation of the British colonial policy meant to perpetuate backwardness and ensure rampant poverty.

Representatives of press clubs and journalists

Pakistan's economy: the way out T

he structure of Pakistan's economy remains incapable, even after 63 years of independence, of providing the minimum conditions of civilized life to the majority of the people: Over 77 percent of the population is food insecure, the majority does not have access over safe drinking water, quality health care, quality education, access over justice and the opportunity to take part as active subjects in the process of growth and governance.

asset that is greater than the opportunity cost of that asset. A Limited Access Social Order exhibits systematic rent creation, market power, privileges and differences between elites and others. It is therefore characterized by:

The principal feature of Pakistan's economic history is the failure to achieve a sustained high growth in·per capita incomes.

Rent generation and rent seeking by a small coalition of elites.

Average Annual GDP Growth Rates in Various Regimes (Approximate)

Restricted competition, hence inefficiency. Selection is usually not based on merit, hence inefficiency. Lack of incentives for hard work. Lack of innovation, hence restricted prospects of long term productivity growth. VI. Consequence of (i) to (v) above is the failure to achieve long term growth in per capita incomes.

PAKISTAN'S ECONOMIC GROWTH 1972-2010 Pakistan's average annual real GDP Growth in the period 1972 to 2010 is about 5.2 percent by contrast the average annual real GDP growth in the period 1980 to 2008 was 9.9 percent for China and 6.4 percent for India.

An Open Access Social Order exhibits systematic competition, free entry and· mobility, and hence fosters thriving markets and long term economic· devel9pment. It is characterized by: i.

The institutional structure of a society determines the kinds of organizations that can be created and sustained. Social orders are composed of constituent systems, such as the economic, political, military and religious systems. The countries of the contemporary world fall into one or the other of two kinds of social orders: (i) A Limited Access Social Order (ii) An Open Access Social Order. Rents are unearned incomes. Rents are defined as a rate of return on a particular

A high degree of competition, hence efficiency. ii. Selection is based on merit, hence efficiency.” iii. Incentives for hard work. iv. Systematic innovation, hence continuous growth in productivity. Sustained long term growth in per capita

Dr Akmal Hussain

Incomes. Central to Pakistan's national integrity and national security is the challenge of placing Pakistan on a new trajectory of sustained high growth with equity. Sustained high growth requires transiting from the institutional structure of a Limited Access Social Order to the institutional structure of an Open Access Social Order. Sustained high growth can only be achieved through an institutional structure of economic and political democracy. Floods have left over 20 million people affected, homes destroyed, livelihoods lost, canals, barrages, water courses, tube wells and electricity stations damaged, roads and bridges wiped out. My own rough estimate of the reconstruction cost is about USD 18 billion. The scale of the required reconstruction effort, while it presents a formidable challenge also provides a great opportunity. The opportunity is to undertake the structural reforms necessary to place Pakistan's economy on a new path of sustained and equitable growth. Such a growth process if achieved could give a stake in the economy to all of the people rather than a small elite and thereby lay the basis of what in my recent work I have called economic democracy. In this context, I will indicate some of the short term policy imperatives and then the outline a medium term strategy for achieving sustained growth through equity. I.

Short Term Policy Imperatives. Three immediate economic policy measures may be considered in the context of the reconstruction effort: (i) If the winter (Rabbi) crop is to be planted and a serious food deficit next summer averted, immediate measures must be undertaken to provide farmers in the flood affected areas, good quality seed, fertilizer and pesticides together with timely provision of tube well water to enable the planting of wheat in the month ahead.

(ii) It is time now to consider shifting away from the IMF approach of economic contraction to a new policy of economic stimulation that aims to revive economic growth. Pakistan's GDP growth has declined sharply to 2 percent this year and the per capita income growth has become negative. This has not only sharply increased poverty and unemployment, but will also result in a slowdown in the growth of government revenues. The former will place further stresses on the fragile democratic structure and the latter will increase the budget deficit. The earlier attempts to cut down the budget deficit (6.3 percent of GDP this year) through expenditure reduction have failed, and in the years ahead the only viable policy of controlling the budget deficit is by increasing revenues through accelerated GDP growth. Infrastructure projects in the flood affected areas provide an opportunity of doing so. (iii) Just before the flood the food insecure population had been estimated at about 77 percent, it may now have reached over 85 percent. There is clearly an urgent need to provide food security to the people of Pakistan in general and in the flood affected areas of the country in particular, where food insecurity is most intense. In this context the coverage of the social protection measures needs to be enlarged, and the identity and locations of the flood affected population quickly established so that ATM cards under the Benazir Income Support Programme can be issued as soon as possible. (iv) At the same time an Employment Guarantee Scheme in the form of a cashfor-work programme ought to be launched in the flood affected areas in the first instance, followed by the rest of the country. II. Reconstruction for Economic Democracy. Pakistan's growth pattern is characterized by spurts of growth followed by stagnation which is symptomatic of an underlying institutional structure that is unable to generate sustained growth. This is because Pakistan's institutional structure is designed to systematically exclude the majority of the population from the growth process. It

83 Representatives of press clubs and journalists

is on the basis of this exclusion that rents are generated and appropriated by a small elite. This â&#x20AC;&#x153;limited access social orderâ&#x20AC;?, enriches a small elite but deprives the majority of the people of the minimum conditions of civilized life, in terms of food security, safe drinking water, sanitation, quality health care and education. Such a social order that induces endemic poverty and economic deprivation can be a breeding ground for extremism, but cannot be the basis of sustaining democracy. I would propose therefore that the post flood reconstruction provides an opportunity to initiate the reconstruction of our social order for Economic Democracy. The institutional structure for economic democracy would provide opportunities to all of the citizens of Pakistan rather than a few, to have access over productive assets. By bringing the middle classes and the poor into the process of investment there would be a much broader base of investment, competition, efficiency increase, innovation and thereby a sustained and more equitable GDP growth could be achieved. Three policy initiatives could be considered for initiating a process of sustained economic growth on the basis of economic democracy: (i) Land for the Tiller: A Small Farmer Based Agriculture Growth Strategy. The government has 2.6 million acres of cultivable state land. It is proposed that this land be distributed amongst current landless tenant farmers, in packages of 5 acres each. This land for the tiller policy would need to be backed up by establishing what I have called a Small Farmer Development Corporation (SFDC) which would provide small farmers with facilities for land development, access over new agriculture technologies (such as tunnel farming, drip irrigation etc.), provide extension services for developing high value crops, livestock development and production of milk and milk products. The SFDC ought to be owned by small farmers who could buy equity in this corporation through government loans, but would be managed by high quality professionals. The proposed Land for the Tiller Policy with institutional support of the SFDC would provide small farmers with both the incentive and the ability to increase agriculture productivity. The small farm sector (farms below 25 acres) constitutes a substantial part of the agrarian economy and possesses the greatest potential for productivity increase. Small farms constitute 94 percent of the total number of farms and 60 percent of the total farm area. Therefore, the proposed Land for the Tiller Policy could enable a shift from

the Elite Farmer Strategy of the last four decades to a new Small Farmer Strategy. Small farmers could thus become the subjects of a new trajectory of a faster and more equitable agriculture growth. (ii) Inclusive Growth through Equity Stakes for the Poor. The poor can be included in the process of investment and economic growth not merely through micro enterprises, but can be engaged into the mainstream corporate sector as well. The idea here is to establish large corporations, owned by the poor and managed by professionals, in a number of strategic sectors such as milk and milk products, livestock, telecommunications, Information technology services, construction and automotive parts production. These corporations could be set up through loans to the poor for purchasing equity stakes in these corporations, and the loans could be returned through dividends earned. (iii) Inclusive Growth through Small Scale Manufacturing Enterprises. The small scale manufacturing industries require lower capital investment and generate higher employment per unit of output and also have shorter gestation periods compared to the large scale manufacturing sector. Therefore an increased share of investment in this sector could enable both a higher GDP growth for given levels of investment as well as higher employment generation for given levels of growth. At the same time if the institutional conditions could be created for enabling small scale industries to move into high value added components for both import substitution in the domestic market and for exports, Pakistan's balance of payments pressures could be eased. The key strategic issue in accelerating the growth of SSEs is to enable them to shift to the high value added, high growth end of the product market. These SSEs include high value added units in light engineering, automotive parts, moulds, dyes, machine tools and electronics and computer software. These initiatives for Economic Democracy constitute a strategy for higher GDP growth through equity. The people would thus become both the subjects as well as the beneficiaries of GDP growth. It would be Economic Democracy because it would enable growth for the people and by the people. Such an economy could become the basis of sustaining Pakistan's political democracy for which the people have struggled so long and for which Mohtarama Shaheed Benazir Bhutto gave her life. The best homage to her memory would be to strengthen the foundations of democracy by giving a stake in the country to the poor.

Towards a new development approach Nadeem ul Haque

Pakistan's future prosperity hinges on enhanced productivity, strengthened internal markets and innovative, community-led urban development An unintended consequence of our policies has been the stifling of internal markets, cities and communities, which play a critical role in fostering productivity, innovation and entrepreneurship and ultimately promote growth, prosperity and development. In the new development framework, private sector should be the growth-driver in open market environment that rewards efficiency, innovation and entrepreneurship, while the government is facilitator that protects public interests and rights, provides public goods, enforces laws, punishes exploitative practices, and operates with transparency and accountability.

What constrains Pakistan's growth? Pakistan's economic growth has been a story of boom-bust cycles where foreign investments led to sharp upward spikes; however, because the resources were not channelled into high-impact investments, the GDP would plummet to a low equilibrium, where it stayed until the next round of foreign injection. The average real GDP growth rate from 1972 - 2010 is about 5.2 percent. In comparison, China and India had an average real GDP growth rate of around 9.9 and 6.4 percent, respectively, from 1980 to 2008. One of the key determinants of growth in conventional planning was the accumulation of capital. Given that markets were not well-developed to direct savings into productive investments with sustained payoffs, the investment to GDP ratio in Pakistan remained at a low average of 18 percent between 1960 and 2010. The investment to GDP ratio for China and India in the medium-term has averaged around 45 and 27 percent, respectively. This current strategy has led to PSDP being skewed towards brick and mortar

Nadeem ul Haque presenting his paper

projects, where the government is involved in building assets that could have been furnished by the private sector, more efficiently. The government ended up occupying land and dedicating it to a single use for many years, which could have been used for multi-purpose domestic commerce by the private sector. The high share of civil works in PSDP (almost 50 percent) leaves little space for training and retaining human capital in productive and social sectors. Our current throw-forward (accumulated backlog of approved projects where investment is lagging) is approximately Rs 3 trillion, comprising about 2000 projects and schemes, which suffer from cost and time overruns. There exist substantial incentives for project initiation and delayed completion. There is a tremendous need to review Pakistan's development planning process. The current narrative of growth that focuses on 'my project' and 'my allocation' combined with distortive incentives (subsidies and protectionism) for industrialization needs to be shifted to a new narrative that drives us beyond excessive focus on building infrastructure and overly diversified public investment, and towards the pillars of 'new growth theory' â&#x20AC;&#x201C; i.e., towards productivity (improving returns/yields) of assets and all factors of production and efficiency (producing goods and services cost-effectively). It is now time to argue that Pakistan stands reasonably sound as regards the hardware of growth (physical infrastructure). We now need to reorient our narrative towards the software of growth (innovation, entrepreneurship and markets). New Development Approach (NDA): The two key factors that have determined economic growth in the past are external resource inflow and public sector projects. The latter used to be mainly financed by the former. In the old model, Pakistan has excessively focused on public sector investment and producing labour with low-end technical skills. The NDA should now be based on endogenous growth, where the quantity of investment should be complemented by efforts to improve the quality of investments â&#x20AC;&#x201C; i.e., their productivity and efficiency. The private sector must drive economic growth with timely implementation of market reforms, which should promote competitiveness. Pakistani cities presently are configured as suburban clusters instead of as creative cities which are locomotives of growth. It is essential for Pakistan to step up its efforts to produce high-end human capital. Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship should be the cornerstone of our government's facilitation to private sector.

Productivity-led growth: Pakistan's economic history has witnessed many episodes of high growth but these could not be sustained for longer periods due to the absence of the software of growth. Productivity takes central place in the New Development Approach (NDA) which is ensured through innovative and entrepreneurial practices. Creative Ideas translate into innovations while, entrepreneurship blends innovative ideas and the risk-taking streak to increase productivity and in turn enhance the growth of an economy. Innovation and ideas drive growth and not just infrastructure development and investment promotion. Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise 85% of entrepreneurial businesses in Pakistan. They employ approximately 78% of the non-agricultural labor force and contribute over 30% to Pakistan's GDP and 25% of the country's exports of manufactured goods (S.P. Coy et al. 2007). Pakistan, despite having a huge market size, has very weak market efficiency indicators, indicating very low level of innovation. Despite the low cost of doing business in comparison to the regional economies, Pakistan ranked 103 out of 125 countries in the global innovation index. Pakistani exports have long suffered due to a lack of product and regional diversification. Manufacturing supply chain is skewed towards production and assembly of goods that use imported inputs, intensively. Components of the supply chain, such as: research and development, design, distribution and marketing, have long been ignored. Reforms for Productivity: First, competitive markets are the starting point towards sustained economic growth. Free and flexible markets should allow businesses, which have run their course, to exit and be replaced by more efficient firms. Instead of providing incentives and subsidies to different sectors, markets should be allowed to determine optimal allocation of resources. Second, it is imperative that there are deep reforms, which limit the effectiveness of rent-seeking mechanisms. Third, a sound judicial system that ensures property rights and contract enforcement can go a long way in sustaining inclusive growth. Fourth, the triple helix system of promoting innovation should require universities, industry and government to collaborate for the promotion of new and marketable ideas. Finally, entrepreneurship should be incorporated in school curriculums at all levels of education. Institutions having practical facilities for young entrepreneurs need to be strengthened. Reforming internal markets: Pakistan's growth strategy has traditionally followed a mercantilist approach with a skewed focus on import substitution

and at times export promotion. Our policies have supported this approach through high tariff walls for consumer goods imports and by giving subsidies to chosen sectors for export promotion. With our focus on choosing sectors to promote, be it agriculture or industry, one area has remained ignored throughout: domestic commerce. This is despite having a share of over 30% in Pakistan's GDP and employing about 20% of the country's work force (Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2009-10). Domestic commerce includes wholesale and retail trade, warehousing and transport. Desired Reforms for Internal Markets Demand-driven approach for internal markets, starting with consumers and working back to link into supply systems with the producer by improving the quality and quantity of retail outlets. Urban management and land use reforms for encouraging the development of mixed use areas, city centers and commercial development. Government land in prime city center areas should be privatized and made available for mega commercial projects. Taxes, legislation and regulations should not penalize commercial development as is currently the case. Clarity in zoning and building regulations needs to be provided to allow for more and bigger warehouses and cold chain services.

Focus on improving transport efficiency, while prioritizing freight transport efficiency considering its role in linking up the entire supply chain network. Secure legal rights and strengthen regulatory environment for bringing transparency to property rights and concretizing intellectual property (especially, brand names) protection. These promote innovation-led productivity. Promote openness and competition, e.g. bringing goods of international quality to consumers will promote innovation. Furthermore, competition in value chain development needs to be promoted. Free entry and exit of participants in the market (without special privileges or licenses) as well as a more liberal policy allows for mobility with greater fairness and competition for wholesalers thus, encouraging private investment. Creative cities as engines of growth: Cities provide facilities and encourage interactions amongst people of various age and ethnic groups. These are the hubs of knowledge, innovation, creativity and institutions. Cities such as Paris, London and New York have been the birthplace of modernization and inspiring vision. Creative cities enhance individual and collective productivity through the exchange of ideas and easy access to information. Such cities are culturally rich and offer a range of learning experiences for people to grow as individuals. Cities that prosper economically have a mix of three T's; talent, technology and tolerance. Cities not only have the hardware (e.g., infrastructure) but also require the software (e.g., talent and technology). Current state of cities in Pakistan is abysmal. Pakistan's population has increased rapidly over the last 5 decades with urban population escalating at a rapid rate of 3 percent.City-dwellers and city administrators do not have much say in running a city. But, a great deal of involvement by government agencies is apparent in managerial and administrative decisions. There is confusion regarding how the cities are governed and controlled. Lack of availability of land/space and convoluted commercial laws have hindered the growth of our cities.

Sobia Cheema, Gharida Farooqi and other delegates

Dr Nadeem ul Haque is the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of Pakistan

Benefits of liberalizing trade with India by an economist

A robust India-Pakistan trade relationship will create important pro-Pakistan lobbies in India (at the moment there are none) that will strengthen Pakistan's case in many contentious areas vis-a-vis India. This is similar to proChina lobbies in the US consisting of those who benefit from trading with (and investing in) China, and who strongly and effectively argue China's case in the US. India's GDP growth rate at 8 percent is more than twice ours. If this trend continues, in ten years, one percent of GDP spent on defense by India will buy a lot more weaponry than 1 percent of our much smaller GDP. A liberalized economic relationship with India will help boost our GDP growth (see the economic benefits listed below) and bring it closer to India's thus allowing parity across many dimensions including defence. The economic benefits are many: Pakistani consumers will be unequivocally better off. Seasonal price hikes will be brought under control via access to a much larger market. Costs of most consumer products will be lowered given the scale advantage of Indian manufacturers. Consumers will also have access to a larger variety of products. This will help moderate inflation that affects the poor disproportionately and

Delegates from Sindh

contribute to political instability. Farmers will benefit from exchanges on technical know-how. In several crops such as cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane as well as fruits and vegetables, India has made good technical progress whose benefits are easily conveyed across our long common border provided it is opened up for trade in goods and services. This will help boost farm productivity and will help in lowering costs of production for Pakistani manufacturers and make them more competitive internationally. Furthermore, rural incomes will rise that will help lower rural poverty and ameliorate political tensions in the rural areas. Our small manufacturers also have much to gain. They will benefit from many potential sub-contracting arrangements with larger Indian manufacturers. This will help them improve the quality of their products and move up the technological ladder. Our industrial clusters of small manufacturers in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Faisalabad and Hyderabad will be the chief beneficiaries of this. They will enjoy the scale advantages of producing for a much larger South Asia-wide market. Some large-scale manufacturers, enjoying monopoly power in the Pakistani market and subsidized by the government will be adversely affected in the short run, but the more dynamic ones will become more competitive which will boost Pakistan's exports in the international market. The government will be better off because legalized trade will generate tax revenues now lost to smuggling. Pakistan's investment climate would get a boost if domestic and foreign investors can factor in the potential of exporting to the lucrative Indian market. If we remove our restrictions on trade with India, we will become partners with many other international players putting pressure on India to remove the barrier it places on entry into the Indian market. Liberalizing trade with India will create up-country points of economic growth. In time, Lahore will re-emerge as the centre of commerce and finance serving many cities across the border. A soft border in Kashmir will create another growth centre in the North-east heralding an era of peace and prosperity that Kashmiris so badly need. Peshawar will regain its old eminence as a commercial hub between Central and Southern Asia. The new income earning opportunities thus created will be an important factor in countering militancy and stabilizing restive areas.

Energy crisis in Pakistan:

Challenges and their solutions Dr. Muhammad Asif

akistan is facing the worst energy crisis of its history which has driven the country into a modern stone-age. The crisis is intense and multi-layered and is having enormous economic, socio-political and strategic ramifications. The inconvenient truth is that the crisis is a self-infected problem that has been fostered by bankrupt polices over the last three decades. The energy challenges, no matter how big they are, can surely be addressed as long as there is clear intent, right strategy and due commitment on the part of the policy and decision makers. With pragmatism and resolve the challenges can actually be converted into opportunities. By running the installed power plants on full throttle, controlling T&D losses and other system leaks and by employing energy conservation and management measures the issue of load shedding can be tackled fairly quickly. For long-term energy prosperity, Pakistan's best hope is with the indigenous energy resources such as coal, hydropower and renewable energy. However, to bring any positive change in the national energy scenario, the fundamental issues such as political interference, nepotism, and financial and administrative irregularities are absolutely imperative to be addressed. The Energy Challenges for Pakistan The rampant energy crisis has made life extremely hard for the hapless Pakistanis. The year 2010 dawned upon them as they faced up to 20 hours of electricity and gas load-shedding along with frequent disruptions in transportation fuel. The intense shortfall of electricity - crossing the 6,000MW mark and recording an over 40% deficit in the demand and supply equation - has left them struggling even to meet the fundamental needs like lighting, water, cooking and protection against extreme weather conditions. The resulting sleepless nights, disfigured daily routines and exacerbated financial conditions (also depriving over four hundred thousand from their jobs) have made life all

but a set of continuous physical, financial and psychological torture for them. This is indeed not the reward the conscious citizens deserve in lieu of the taxes that they pay to the government. The reason behind the electricity and gas load shedding - gap between the demand and supply – is only one aspect of the bigger problem. The real problem is a lot more complicated and intense. There is a whole matrix of issues that have converged to shape up the current crisis as indicated in the Figure 1. The crisis, from its early days, has come down very hard and has been inflicting enormous economical, socio-political and strategic implications. The socio-economic ramifications of the problem, for example, can be gauged from the official reports that suggest that over 400,000 industrial workers have lost their jobs and the industrial sector is facing an annual monetary loss of over Rs240bn. These figures only give a wee reflection of the true scale of the destructive impact of the crisis. Economic implications

Unaffordable

Loadshedding

energy prices

Energy crisis in Pakistan Growing dependence on imports

Social implications

Energy insecurity

Threats to national security

Figure 1: Key dimensions and implications of the energy crisis Solutions to Energy Challenges Despite the current dismal state of the energy sector, there are some valid grounds to be optimistic about the energy future of Pakistan. The country is

fortunate to have the necessary ingredients – healthy and diverse energy resources and capable manpower - required for achieving energy sustainability. In terms of energy resources, the best hopes for Pakistan rest with hydropower, coal and renewable energy like solar energy and wind power. Meaningful exploitation of these resources can provide sufficient and affordable energy to indigenously meet the national requirements on a long-term basis. Given the intensity and dimensions of the energy crisis, solutions are required both on the short-term and medium-to-long basis. A set of appropriate solutions to tackle the problem in a robust and cost effective manner is given as followings. Short term solutions · The first and most important thing to do is to have the right people in the right place- energy offices must be run by qualified, competent and dedicated professionals and specialists. All key appointments must be made on merit rather on personal likes and dislikes. · The existing power generation capacity needs to be fully capitalized. The current crisis has largely exacerbated by underutilization of thermal power plants. Estimates suggest that during the summers of 2008 and 2009 thermal power plants underperformed by over 4,000MW making the electricity shortfall acute. Only by having the installed thermal power plants run on full throttle, the current deficit could be lessened by over 70%. · The circular debt that has greatly skewed the financial capability of thermal power plants to run on full throttle needs to be sorted out. Unless this problem is addressed, the existing power plants would find hard to operate on full throttle. · More than 3,000MW of power generation can be added by revamping WAPDA's old thermal power plants such as Shahdara, Faisalabad, Multan, Jamshoro and Guddu power stations. · The losses in the power sector are required to be curtailed. System losses that ideally should be 6-7% are nearly 23% in WAPDA and over 40% in KESC. In some of WAPDA's controlled areas the losses are also over 35%. A major chunk of these losses come from electricity thefts that can be relatively easily controlled. Around 1,500-2,500MW of electricity can be additionally made available by controlling thefts that occur through kunda culture, meter tempering and other forms of illegal connections. · Over 20% of the national energy can be saved by implementing meaningful energy conservation and management program. Existing energy consumption practices are extremely inefficient. · Public consoling and education is extremely important to address the energy crisis in a robust manner, especially in terms of making the energy

conservation programs effective and overcoming the issue of violent protests against raging load-shedding. In this respect, the policy and decision makers have to lead by example. Medium-to-long term solutions · Coal is one of the most promising candidates that can substantially help Pakistan overcome its energy challenges. The fact that coal accounts for less than 1% of the total electricity generation implies that coal reserves in the country are virtually untapped. Coal can offer huge strategic and economic benefits to Pakistan. It can not only help the country meet its electricity and gas needs with ease but can also make a considerable contribution towards meeting its oil requirements. By providing large amount of indigenous and cheap energy, it would improve the energy security of the country. · Hydropower is one of the most important sources of energy for Pakistan. It is by far the most economical source of electricity. According to WAPDA statistics the average annual electricity production cost from hydropower is less than 8% of that from thermal power. Despite such a distinctive financial edge over other forms of electricity sources, Pakistan has done a great injustice with this vital resource - only 15 % of the available potential resource has been exploited so far. As a matter of fact, there are at least 7 potential hydropower projects with capacity in multi-giggawatts (GW). It is absolutely crucial for the country to strengthen its hydropower base by building a number of large as well as small dams without any further delay. · Pakistan also needs to tap its rich renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind power and biomass in order to generate abundant, environmentally friendly and cheap energy. · Reliance on imports of energy systems is another costly affair that needs to be addressed. Presently, in the absence of a local relevant technological base all types of energy systems i.e. thermal power plants, nuclear power plants or hydropower facilities have to be largely imported. In the case of renewable energy technologies the state of affairs is further unsatisfactory. · Pakistan also lacks in terms of qualified human resource. To ensure a sustainable energy future, a strong human resource base is imperative. Universities have a great role to play producing competent and qualified engineers and professionals with expertise in a diverse range of energy areas. They should produce experts in the areas of both conventional and non-conventional energy systems, energy policy, energy security, energy trading, and energy conservation and

management. Concluding remarks To live the present and dream the future, the past has to be healed - the distorted policies that have led the energy sector to this crisis need to be rectified. The concerned policy and decision makers must exhibit pragmatism and professionalism. The traditional tactic of shying away from the real issues and presenting non-issues as issues has to be abandoned. To head to a sustainable energy future it is imperative to do the housekeeping first. As Albert Einstein once famously said, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them; the attitude needs to be corrected in first place in order to make the efforts of addressing the energy problems effective. It is imperative to have a stringent check and balance system in place. In order to prevent the relevant authorities from toying with the energy sector any more, the way they have been doing thus far, it is essential to establish the deterrent of meaningful accountability. Irrespective of how influential one is in the system, he/she must be answerable for his/her actions in order to minimize possibilities of misconduct. The higher the office the greater must be the degree of accountability. A culture of honesty, discipline and commitment needs to be firmly established. Dr. Muhammad Asif is a Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Representatives of foreign embassies and journalists

The imperatives of governance and accountability Tariq Mehmood

o Abraham Lincoln democracy meant “government of the people for the people and by the people”. When he said “by the people” he really meant the institutions of governance that were elected or set up by the people. All modern democracies, as well as our own Constitution, conceptualize democratic governance 'for the people by the people and of the people' by envisaging a system of governance based on the separation of powers between three institutions of the State; the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific defines “governance” as the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are either implemented or not implemented. According to the United Nations' report, good governance has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable members of society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. Since the State resources are limited, good governance axiomatically involves the equitable prioritization and distribution of resources. In a system of bad governance, the ruling elite appropriates for itself an undue share of the resources of the State. This misappropriation may take the form of outright corruption, bribery and nepotism in the awarding of public contracts or more subversively, through the domination of powerful actors with vested interests. Such decision making denies to the most vulnerable sections a stake in national

development and marginalizes them, making those sections feel excluded from the mainstream of national development and society. In a government of the people for the people and by the people, good governance must be tested on the touchstone of accountability so that the people can exercise their right of franchise based on the performance of their elected representatives. This creates political accountability, but comprehensive accountability goes much farther. It

is tied to the Rule of law and the principle that no one is above the law. Public officials and representatives act as trustees in a government by the people and as such are answerable not only politically but to the law. Often the judicial element has been so intertwined with the political element that the whole process of accountability has lost credibility. On the one hand it is argued that accountability is a garb for political victimization and conversely it is canvassed that the failure to bring errant public officials and representatives to justice weakens the very fabric of democratic processes. It is, therefore, imperative that the accountability institutions should be independent, credible, competent and separate from the legislative and executive branches of government. Linked to the concept of accountability is the notion of transparency. It is perhaps for this reason that Article 19-A of the Constitution enshrines the fundamental right to information. Every citizen has the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulations and reasonable instructions imposed by law. Transparency essentially means that

the decision making process is not secretive but open and that decisions are made on the basis of known rules and regulations. It includes the grant of access to information to propel robust, informed and intelligent debate before decisions are taken or implemented. .Experience has shown that corruption is directly proportionate to the lack of transparency and that the strength of democracy turns on the level of trust that citizens have in the decision making process. Transparency fosters and promotes civic engagement and encourages all State and non-State actors to participate in the process of governance. If Pakistan is to move towards a democracy based on the rule of law it must build and nurture, without delay, independent institutions of accountability. The executive functionaries must strictly adhere to the public procurement rules and regulations and governance should be open, transparent, participatory and inclusive and that the process of decision making should be open to public scrutiny.

M Ziauddin, Nadeem-ul-Haque and G N Mughal

Introduction There is no dearth of ideas, innovations, and models of good schooling in Pakistan. Yet, there is insufficient recognition of education as an issue of our national survival as a democratic state. The inadequate involvement of genuine political institutions in matters related to educational reform continues to impede the much needed progress in education reforms. Article 25-A of the recently introduced 18th constitutional amendment declares, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Education free and compulsory for all children of the age of 5-16 years.â&#x20AC;? It is now a fundamental right. Pakistan is also a signatory to the UN Millennium Declaration which aims at universal primary education. And the latest education policy seeks to universalize elementary education. However, according to the State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report 2009, the literacy rate is 57% (as compared 56% the previous year). Further aggravating the situation are provincial, gender-wise as well as rural-urban disparities in literacy. Abbas Rasheed presenting the SAHE, CQE paper

The state of education and the future Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE) Campaign for Quality Education (CQE)

The Education Crisis Pakistan's education is in a state of crisis which can be seen as unfolding in terms of the interrelated dimensions of access and quality: The crisis of access entails that a large number of children of school-going age, between 25-30%, remain out of school. As if this was not bad enough, more than 30% of those who do go to school do not complete grade 5, in other words drop out before finishing the primary cycle. The crisis of quality entails that there is little evidence that those who are retained by our school system acquire the knowledge and skills needed to become productive citizens in a rapidly globalizing economy. The school should

also be a key site for disseminating the values of pluralism and tolerance. As matters stand, this is certainly not the case. From textbooks to teacher training there is no coherent strategy to help pursue this objective. The crisis of quality education is borne out by the evidence, however scarce, on student achievement accumulated by the National Education Assessment System (NEAS) that conducts tests across the country for Class 4 and 8 on a sample basis, and the Punjab Examination Commission (PEe) that conducts tests for the province. Results show that the majority of school-going children are performing well below their expected grade level. It should be kept in mind that the PEC test results include students of many private schools as well. Over the last decade and a half private schools have grown rapidly and over 30% of schoolgoing children in the country now go to private schools. While there may be some merit in the claim of those who contend that private school performance is somewhat better than those of public sector schools, the problem of delivering education, conforming to minimum standards, on scale, is not one that the private sector appears to be resolving. The 2009 LEAPS report, among other research supports the view that students in private sector schools perform better than their counterparts in public sector schools. However, it concedes that rote learning is 'rife' in private schools. Possibly, they look better than they are simply because government schools establish such a low baseline for quality. The private school market has its limits too. The LEAPS report, for instance, admits to the difficulty of attracting the private sector to large

regions of the country such as Balochistan, rural Sindh and southern Punjab characterized by a.high incidence of poverty. Another recent report prepared by the Pakistan Education Task Force, while lauding the performance of the private sector, notes that the 'vast majority of school places across Pakistan will remain in the traditional public schools for the foreseeable future.' Dianne Ravitch, a widely respected US educationist, recently attributed a shift in her views to strong support for a key public sector role in US school education to lessons learnt from Pakistan's school education experience. When we talk of the 'crisis of education,' we often lose sight of the fact that this is indeed a national security crisis far greater in proportion and consequence than any external threat that we are faced with. The meagre efforts to reform education are by themselves evidence enough that we do not appreciate the grave implications of keeping children of school-going age out of school. And, of not imparting education conforming even to minimum standards to those who do go to school. Locating Failure A Lack of Systemic Perspective The reasons for the low level of enrolment as well as low levels of achievement of those enrolled and retained can be many. But they are all systemic. That is, it is not just one part of the system that fails, but that the system fails our children as a whole. For example, the financial systems fail to spend the meagre funds already allocated for education. Those who keep calling for more funds fail to see the fact that increments in budgets alone will not resolve educational issues. Or for example, those educators who focus on teacher education alone often find that even after multiple rounds of trainings, the quality of teaching in the classrooms largely remains of a very low quality. These educators, while well intentioned in their emphasis on teacher education, fail to see that the positive effects of teacher professional development depend on an enabling environment, which is not produced by professional development per se. So, it is not just the infrastructure, or the teacher, or curriculum, or assessment, or anyone aspect of the educational process that needs attention. It is the overall functioning of the system and the coordination between its parts that must be fixed for educational reforms to succeed. For instance, we may have numerous teacher training programs, but they cannot remedy the content knowledge deficit amongst teachers that exists due to the sad state of our universities and even more so of colleges from where they

graduate. It is instructive to note that improving the situation at the crucial college level was not a part of the mandate of the much debated Higher Education Commission (HEC). Over the last few years there have been a number of the usual donor-funded interventions to support teachers through training programs. But again, a number of studies show that training has made little difference to student outcomes. Often the focus of the training has been more on pedagogy rather than content, which is as much, if not a greater requirement. Since the training is tied to a project mode, it simply cannot meet the imperatives of continuous professional development. Even in the rare cases where the teacher gains significantly from the training, the school setting s/he returns to is often one in which there is a comprehensive lack of alignment between what s/he may have learnt and the demands of the curriculum and testing system. Meanwhile, recent reform efforts have focused on creating fouryear teacher education programs to be delivered through professional colleges of teacher training. What we should be offering, instead, are additional courses in pedagogy in general college education, which is the norm in rather than the exception. Inadequate Contextualization of Educational Reform Solutions Let us now turn our attention to the issue of international support for the work of fixing education in Pakistan. We must recognize that the international donor input into education in the last two decades or so, no matter how well intentioned and significant in terms of its size, has not helped Pakistan move even marginally toward the goal of achieving 'quality education for all'. This is not to take a position against donors input, but to highlight that educational reform is, and ought to be, primarily the concern of the government and people of Pakistan. If our institutions are not prepared adequately to absorb donor input, the much touted educational reform will be, and has been in the past, rendered nothing more than a set of what some scholars of comparative education now term as 'travelling reforms.' Travelling reforms are ideas that travel with fiscal support in education. The World Bank, for example, does not just support education projects with money, it also lends ideas. These ideas have their origin in contexts which are quite different from the local realities for which they are intended as part of the reform packages. Consider as an example the case of decentralized school management by the entities that have come to be known as School Management Committees (SMCs). Today, nearly every public sector school in Pakistan has some form of school management committee associated with it, though they are largely

proven to be ineffective formal mechanisms. The purpose behind the concept of SMCs is simple-let the representatives of the communities served by the schools manage the schools. The assumption behind the concept is that such participation will improve the lot of schools, and as a consequence more children will be enrolled and retained. Sounds good, but in practice, as we can infer from our falling position on nearly all educational indices, the concept and assumptions behind it have not stood ground. SMCs are an exemplar of what we have referred above as a 'travelling reform.' All travelling reforms that travel with donor funds are not necessarily good or bad. However, their potential efficacy needs to be determined through an informed analysis. Between donors, the government, and civil society organizations this critical work seems to have fallen through the cracks. This has resulted in a bandwagon policy in which the choices about reform alternatives are inadequately contextualized. The Trouble with Up-scaling Small-scale Achievements

In thinking about large scale educational reform the trouble is not that we do not have a supply of good interventions. The Pakistani educational system may be a potpourri of good interventions but constantly shows the potential of becoming a morass at a macroscopic level. Why, one may ask, when we have so many good ideas in circulation and so many small scale interventions that appear to be doing quite well, do we continue to remain at the bottom of the scale in terms of providing better education to a majority of our children? There are scores of individuals and organizations outside of the formal system of education who have developed some really effective solutions in education. In fact, some recent case studies have found that islands of success exist in nearly all forms of schooling (foundations, NGOs, low-cost for-profit private schools) now available to Pakistani children, including of course, the public sector schools. These models are quite successful within the context in which they have been developed. However, there is a need to recognize that buck stops here.

The audience

There is a tendency to perceive the models successful in one context as potentially successful everywhere and as a solution to the problem of providing quality education to all children. As a result, we have been unable to maximize the benefits and take to scale the lessons learnt from successful schools and interventions. Absence of Information Where it is Most Needed The history of reforms suggests that freedom of information plays a central role in any social reform including education. However, we have not yet taken this aspect of reforms seriously. For the most part, we cannot recall from the history of educational reforms in Pakistan any evidence-based analysis of the policies and commissions put in place to reform education. We cannot move on from one reform to the other without an evidence-based debate on why the earlier reforms failed. The Way Forward i. If we want better teaching in the classroom, we have to address the issue of subject knowledge deficit among teachers and not focus exclusively on pedagogical methods by way of teacher training. As such, it should be college education that is the focus of reform. ii. At the school level, continuous teacher professional development should be the task of well-resourced high schools serving as Cluster Resource Centres (CRS) for primary and middle schools within a given radius. In Punjab, for instance, the idea of Centres of Excellence can be taken a step forward and the chosen high schools given the role of the CRS. iii. Public expenditure on education in Pakistan has been 2% of GDP or less over the last few years. This is close to the lowest in South Asia and half the minimum of 4% of GDP recommended by UNESCO. While the deficit in terms of governance and management of public sector education is equally important more funds must be allocateQ to education in a timely manner. iv. While the average salary in public sector schools is far higher than in private sector schools, the system provides few incentives for outstanding performance and virtually no accountability for a dismal one. Both â&#x20AC;&#x153;aspects will have to be simultaneously addressed if we are to break through the cycle of failure. On both counts, political will stands out as being critical. v. Pakistan must focus on a serious attempt at quality and aGcessible distance education, as opposed to what the current set up is delivering.

vi.

Radio and TV have to be innovatively used to that end. This can help reduce the yawning population-education gap and has significant implications for out-of-school children at the primary level and in the context of early childhood development. The extensive use of the media may be seen as an interim strategy to increase access to education while the number and quality of traditional schools gets under way over the medium and long term. Not least there is the issue of the language of instruction. The emphasis on English is well taken. It is the global lingua franca. But what cannot be ignored is the evidence of extensive research in different parts of the world that identifies the mother tongue or first language as a 'cognitive resource,' rather than simply one language among many. Along with other subjects, our students stand to learn English better in the later years, if early schooling aids their cognition through the use of their mother tongue. As a first step perhaps the mother tongue can be introduced as a subject at the initial stages of the primary level in all provinces.

Note: This document is meant to serve as a point of departure for further analysis and debate and not as a definitive prescription. It was prepared by Abbas Rashid, Irfan Muzaffar and Ayesha Awan for SAHE/CQE. For further details please visit www.cqe.net.pk. References 1. Andrabi, T., Das, J., Khwaja, A 1., Vishwanath, T., & Zajonc, T. (2007). Learning and Educational Achievements in Punjab Schools (LEAPS): Insights to Inform the Policy Debate. Washington, DC: World Bank. 2. Barber, M. (2010). Education Reform in Pakistan: This Time its Going to be Different. Islamabad: Pakistan Education Task Force. 3. Campaign for Quality Education (CQE). (2007). Education in Pakistan: What Works & Why. Lahore: CQE. 4. Coleman, H. (2010). Teaching and Learning in Pakistan: The Role of Language in Education. Islamabad: British Council. 5. Rashid, A, & Awan, A (2007). Pakistan Education Crisis. South Asian Journal, NO.17. 6. Ravitch, D. (2010). The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic Books. 7. State Bank of Pakistan. (2010). Annual Report 2009-2010. Islamabad: GoP.

he sole purpose of a review of media laws in Pakistan must be to purge them of any unreasonable restriction on the right to freedom of expression.

Amending media laws I. A. Rehman

The exercise needs to be carried out on three planes. I. First, it is essential to bury the colonialauthoritarian legacy of monopolizing / hegemonising key media services. This calls for: 1. Amending the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Ordinance with a view to freeing it of the domination of the officials of the Ministry of Information. Official control of the national radio service, still perhaps the medium that reaches the largest number of the people, offends against the right to freedom of expression and information. 2. For the same reason as stated above the Pakistan TV Corporation Ordinance must be amended and the organization freed of official stranglehold. 3. The Associated Press of Pakistan should either be restored to the users' trust from whom it was arbitrarily seized vide the APP Take-over Ordinance of 1961 or the Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation Ordinance of 2002 should be amended so that the corporation becomes an independent news service, run and managed by experts and public representatives. Any flow of funds to the corporation should be regulated by parliament. II. Media control laws All the principal media laws, quite blatantly

designed to control, manipulate and harass media institutions and personnel attract censure for lack of parliamentary sanction behind them. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002; the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002; The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002; The Press Council Ordinance, 2002; and the Defamation Ordinance, 2002 all of these measures derive their sanction from the will of an extra-constitutional ruler. They have never been debated by any elected representatives, nor has the regime paid any heed to the media-people's protests against these oppressive regulations. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 Before anything else, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance of Nov 3, 2007, must be wholly repealed because it places an unconstitutional bar to criticism of the state organs, restricts live coverage of events, and grants the Pemra powers to impose unreasonable curbs on the media. The other changes recommended are: 1. Section 5 should be amended to cancel the federal government's power to issue directives to Pemra that it must comply with. 2. Sec 6 should be amended to a) provide for the appointment of the Pemra Chairman by a parliamentary committee comprising the ruling party and opposition members, and b)

he sole purpose of a review of media laws in Pakistan must be to purge them of any unreasonable restriction on the right to freedom of expression.

Amending media laws I. A. Rehman

provide for non-official majority among the Authority's members. 3. Sec 12 needs to be amended to exempt the Authority's Chairman and members from being deemed public servants. 4. Sec 14 should be amended to provide for the initial funding to Pemra to come from Parliament. 5. Sec 20 needs to be amended to remove conditions of licence liable to subjective interpretation. 6. Sec 27 should be amended to curtail Pemra powers to restrict telecasts unreasonably. 7. Sec 29-B needs to be amended to eliminate possibilities of arbitrary seizure of equipment. 8. Sec 29-C should be changed to reduce the amount of fines. 9. Sec 30 needs to be radically changed to eliminate chances of arbitrary award of penalties. The Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 Ever since its promulgation in 2002 this ordinance has been assailed on the ground that it does not meet the internationally accepted criteria for an FOI law, which are : 1. A freedom of information law should provide for maximum disclosure. 2. Public bodies must be obliged to publish key information. 3. Exceptions should be clearly and narrowly drawn and subject to strict “harm” and “public interest” tests. 4. Public bodies must actively promote open government. 5. Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly and refusals should be appealable to independent tribunals. 6. Fees for disclosure should not be high as this will discourage the seekers of information. 7. Laws that are inconsistent with the principle of maximum disclosure should be suitably amended or repealed. 8. Individuals who release information on wrongdoing (whistleblowers) must be protected. 9. The right to access record / information in the possession of public bodies / authorities should be acknowledged. 10. The grounds on which information may be exempted from disclosure should be reduced to the minimum. Even exempted information should be disclosed if public interest demands it.

Some of the deficiencies of the measure are: The right to know as defined in international human rights instruments and also guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan is not recognized. The category of information that can be accessed is small and that of exempted information is abnormally large. The exemptions cannot be challenged. The law does not provide for expeditious satisfaction of requests for information. The appeal procedure is both flawed and inadequate. There is no protection for whistleblowers. The following changes in the ordinance are necessary: i. The preamble: The people's right to know must be mentioned in the preamble and the title of the law may be changed to Right to Information Act. 2(a)The definition of “public body” in 2(h) should be expanded to include nationalized industries and public corporations, non-departmental bodies or quangos (quasi non-governmental organizations), and private bodies that carry out public functions. (b) The Federal Government should consider extending the scope of the Ordinance to provincial public bodies. (c) Section 7 should be deleted, the definition of record in Section 2(i) should be amended in accordance with the above, and individuals should be given the right to access all records held by public bodies. The process leading to final orders must be included in public record. 3. Section 3(1) should be amended to delete the reference to sec 15. 4. Section 5 should be amended to require public bodies to publish a larger variety of information, such as: · information about how a public body functions, audited accounts, standards, achievements and so on; · information on any requests, complaints or other direct actions which members of the public may take in relation to the public body; · guidance on processes by which members of the public may provide input into major policy or legislative proposals; · the types of information which the body holds and the form in which this information is held; and · the content of any decision or policy affecting the public, along with reasons for the decision and background material of importance in framing the decision. 5. (a) Section 8 should be amended so that there are no exclusions and all exemptions are subject to a harm test.

(b) Overlapping exceptions, such as sections 8(d), 8(g), and 17 regarding personal information, should be eliminated. (c) Sections 8(c), (f) and (i) should be repealed altogether. 6. Section 10 and 11 should be amended to specify clearly the duties of the designated official. 7. Section 12 should be amended so that all persons present in Pakistan benefit from the rights recognized by the Ordinance. The fee should be reasonable and the costs for personal and public interest requests must be minimal. 8. Section 13 should be amended to state that notification of a refused application must be accompanied by substantive written reasons, including the specific provision of the Ordinance under which the application has been rejected. 9. Section 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 create an extraordinarily large area of exemptions which are couched in extremely general terms. While some exemptions can be defended in public interest most others cannot be justified. International opinion has finalized concepts for exemptions, which Pakistan need not ignore. 10. Section 19: Recourse to Mohtasib has been limited. He can be approached only if the designated official declines to give information on the ground that the applicant is not entitled to receive that information. The condition of entitlement is unjustified. The creation of another forum, the head of the department, before an aggrieved applicant can go to the Mohtasib is unnecessary. It will cause delays and may frustrate the purpose before the applicant. No time-frame has been mentioned for disposal of matters by the ombudsman. 11. Section 20: Destruction of record in an unauthorized manner before and after a complaint has been filed / disposed of should also be an offence. 12. Section 22: Instead of the term 'in pursuance' the expression 'in providing information to the public' should be used. 13. Section 23: The original draft of the 1997 ordinance provided that the right to information law would override all other laws. This feature has been dropped and this abridges the right to information.

Registration (Amendment) Ordinance (Ordinance LXIV of 2007) of November 3, 2007, must be withdrawn, because the sec 5-A added to the Ordinance is an unacceptable attack on freedom of expression, the proviso to sec 19 gives sweeping powers to DCOs/DCs to close down newspapers, and the amendment to sec 44 is violative of provincial rights. The following changes should be made in the ordinance of 2002. 1. Sec 2 (a) The words after section 6 (and authenticated or deemed to have been authenticated under sec 10) should be deleted. 2. Sec 2 (q) [about page in-charge] may be deleted. 3. Sec 2 (v) may be replaced with the following “unauthorized press” means any press other than a press registered with the government.” 4. Sec 2 (w) may the replaced with the following. (w) “Unauthorised news agency” means any news agency in respect of which a declaration under section 6 has not been made and which is not, for the time being, registered with the “Press Registrar”. 5. Sec 4 may be replaced with the following: 4. (1) For printing publications, papers, books, printing press shall get registered with the Press Registrar. (2) Every “declaration” shall be considered as having been made if the same

The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance 2002 To begin with, the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books

Journalists Mujahid Barelvi, Waqar Gilani, Tariq Chaudhary and Ahmad Waleed and other delegates

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has been registered with the Registrar. (3) The Press Registrar shall refuse to register a press if he / she it satisfied that: (a) The title of the printing press proposed to be kept or operated is the same as the title of any printing press already being operated at any place in the same province; (b) The printer was convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude within two years before the date of his making the declaration; (4) The Press Registrar shall not pass an order under sub-section 3 without giving to the person, making the declaration, through a notice in writing an opportunity of being heard; (5) In case the Press Registrar fails to register Press under sub-section (b) or pass an order under sub-section (3) within a period of 15 days, the declaration made by the printer shall be deemed to have been registered on the expiry of the aforesaid period; (6) As often as the place where a printing press is kept is changed, the keeper of the press shall, within fourteen days of such changes, inform the Press Registrar in writing of the change along with the new location. 6. Section 5 may be replaced with the following: 5. Publication of newspapers: No newspaper shall be published except in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance and without prejudice to the provisions of section 3; every copy of every such newspaper shall contain the name of the owner / publisher and editor thereof printed clearly on such copy along with the date of its publication. Similarly, no news agency shall disseminate or defuse news except in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance. 7. Section 6 may be replaced with the following: 6. Declaration of the publisher, printer and news agency: (i) The publisher and printer of every newspaper or an owner of news agency shall appear in person or by agent authorized in this behalf before the Press Registrar or his subordinate nominee and shall make a declaration in prescribed form who shall issue a receipt for the same and issue the registration certificate along with the registration member; (ii) Every declaration shall specify the title of the newspaper, the language in which it is to be published, and the periodicity of its publication and shall contain such other particulars as may be prescribed; (iii) Where the printer or publisher of a newspaper making a declaration is not the owner thereof, the declaration shall specify the name of the owner and shall also be accompanied by an authority in writing from the owner

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9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21.

22.

23.

authorizing such person to make and subscribe such declaration; (iv) The declaration of news agency shall contain languages of dissemination of news; (v) Submission of declaration shall be necessary before the publication of newspaper or dissemination of news by and news agency. Section 8 (1) The words 'District Coordination Officer' may be replaced with the Press Registrar. Section 8 (2) may be omitted. Section 8 (3) may be deleted. Section 9 the words 'District Coordination Officer' may be replaced with 'the Press Registrar.' Sec 10 (Authentication of the declaration) may be deleted. Sec 11 (4) and 11(5) may be deleted. Sec 13 may be deleted. Sec 14 (2) may be deleted. Sec 16. The words 'the District Coordination Officer' may be replaced with the 'Press registrar'. Sec 18 (1) The words 'The District Coordination Officer' may be replaced with 'the Press Registrar' and section 18 (2) may be deleted. Section 19 may be deleted. Section 20 may be deleted. Section 21 may be replaced with the following. Two copies of books printed and published shall be delivered gratis to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Press Registrarâ&#x20AC;? within one month of the date of publication. Section 24 may be replaced with the following: Two copies of the newspapers shall be delivered gratis to the Press Registrar at such place as the Registrar may direct as soon as it is published. Section 25 may be replaced with the following: Penalty for contravention of section 3: Whoever prints or publishes any book or paper or disseminates news in contravention of the provisions of section (3) or publishes any paper that is already registered with the Registrar shall be punishable with fine not exceeding, twenty thousand rupees or with simple imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or with both. Section 26 may be replaced with the following: Printing of any publication, newspaper, book, without registration with the Press Registrar or prints any paper already registered shall be punishable with fine not exceeding five thousand rupees.

24. Section 27 may be replaces with the following: Any person who shall, in making a Declaration for registration make a statement which is false shall be punishable with fine not exceeding five thousand rupees only. 25. Section 28 may be deleted. 26. For sections 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 the following may be substituted: 29. If any person who has ceased to be a publisher or printer of any newspaper fails to get registration with the “Press Registrar” in compliance with Section (16), he / she shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding rupees five thousand. 30. Dissemination, display, sale, distribution of unauthorized publication, news agency shall be punishable with fine not exceeding five thousand rupees. 31. If any publisher or printer fails to deliver copies of books as required

under Section (21) , he/she shall be punishable with fine not exceeding one thousand rupees. 32. If any publisher of newspaper fails to supply two copies gratis to the Press Registrar or the person authorized by him/her will be liable to fine of rupees one thousand only for each such default. 33. Any sum payable under section 31 and 32 may be recovered by the Press Registrar or his successor in office. 27. Section 34 may be omitted. 28. Sections 35 and 36 may be replaced with the following: 35. Only such person by whose willful intention any material found unauthorized under this act shall be liable for the penalty. 36. No court inferior to the District Judge shall take cognizance of or try an offence punishable under this Ordinance except on a complaint made in writing by the “Press Registrar” or the Government or by officer so

Huma Ahmad, Kiran Hasan, Waqar Mustafa, Waqar Gilani, Jalees Hazir and Shamim Shahid and other delegates

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authorized in this behalf, or by an aggrieved person. 29. Section 42 may be deleted. The Press Council Ordinance 2002 While there is considerable support in Pakistan for a democratic Press Council to deal with complaints against the media, this ordinance has been criticized on the following grounds: The President will appoint the Council Chairman, the federal government will appoint the first Registrar, all members of the Council / its commissions are to be deemed to be public servants, and the funds will be provided by the federal government. All this means the Council is not a voluntary association of the press corps but a government-dominated body. The press owners / managements have more say than they can fairly justify. While the Council may receive a complaint against a government / organizations (including political parties) it is not clear whether it can provide any relief (remedy). Working journalists will be excluded from the work of commissions. The council's power to recommend suspension of a paper and cancellation of its declaration cannot be defended. The following changes are recommended: 1. Sec 6 (composition of the Council) may be replaced with the following: 6. Composition of the Council: (a) The Council shall consist of twenty four members, including a Chairman. The Chairman shall be appointed by the President of Pakistan, on the recommendation of Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, representing the Treasury and the Opposition, after shortlisting the candidates, fulfilling the qualification of a judge of the Supreme Court, and public hearing, and other members shall be nominated as follows: (i) Four members by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, one from each province; (ii) Four members from among the working editors, not the owner-editors, to be nominated by the Council of Pakistan newspapers Editors (CPNE), one from each province; (iii) Four members by the professional bodies of journalists, PFUJ, one from each province; Provided that none of the organizations mentioned above shall nominate any members from its office-bearers, nor any member of the Press Council

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shall contest an office of the professional bodies; (iv) Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council; (v) Chairperson or nominee of the Higher Education Commission; (vi) One member nominated by the Leader of the House in the National Assembly; (vii) One member by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly; (viii) One mass media educationist to be nominated by the Council; (ix) One woman member to be nominated by the National Commission on the Status of Women in Pakistan; (x) One member nominated by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; (xi) Two members from among the minorities' members, nominated by the Speaker of National Assembly and Chairman of the Senate from among the minorities' members; (xii) Two women Senators nominated by the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. (b) The members of the Council, excluding the Chairman, shall not be entitled to any salary and shall function in honorary capacity, except out of pocket allowances and privileges as may be prescribed. Sec 7 (3). the following may be added to the clause: â&#x20AC;&#x153;and shall not accept an office for two years in the service of Pakistan, after retiring from the Council.â&#x20AC;? Sec 9 (1). The following proviso may be added: Provided that the vacancy shall not be allowed for more than 90 days; and the Council shall co-opt any member to fill in that vacancy till the concerned organization designates its nominee. Sec 9 (2). The clause may be replaced with the following: The Commission shall consist of three members to be appointed by the Council, consisting of the following; (i) One retired High Court Judge or a person qualified to be the judge of the High Court as Chairman; (ii) One nominated by APNS and CPNE; and (iii) One nominated by PFUJ. The schedule The Ethical Code of Practice given in the schedule should be replaced with a new text to be drafted by a committee comprising all stake-holders.

The Defamation Ordinance 2002 The Defamation Ordinance of 2002 is an unusually harsh piece of legislation.

SAFMA is of the view that this ordinance is not meant to protect anybody's reputations; it is designed to hinder free speech and protect wrongdoers from exposure. One of the most objectionable features of the ordinance is its criminalization of defamation which must be treated as a civil offence. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, â&#x20AC;&#x153;criminal defamation is not a justifiable restriction on freedom of expression; all criminal defamation laws should be abolished and replaced, as necessary, with appropriate civil defamation laws.â&#x20AC;? (E/CN.4/2003/67. Dec 30, 2002) SAFMA has called for the following changes in the Defamation Ordinance: 1. Defamation: a. The communication between two or more persons through the media other than newspaper, broadcast or Internet should not be treated as defamation.(Sub-clause (2e) should be amended accordingly.) b. The publishing of reported speeches and public statements made or issued by political parties etc. should not be termed as 'defamation'. (A new subclause (5i). 2 Publisher: a. To make publisher liable for defamation is contrary to the demands of justice and logic besides denying the freedom of speech and expression. Therefore the publisher, printer, broadcaster or owner of any media should not be liable for defamation. (The sub-clauses 5a, 12a, 12b, 12c should be deleted/amended accordingly.) b. The definition of Publisher should not be confined to print media only. It should also cater the electronic media, so that the Govt. run PTV may not be exempted. (Amendments in sub-clauses 2f, 4,5e 5f.) 3 Editor: a. In the context of present-day complexity, advancement and modernization, the job of editor does not confine to a single person only. There are a number of editors responsible for different jobs in a present-day newspaper; hence the word 'editor' should be re-defined properly. (Sub-clause 2c) b. The law of qualified privilege should be extended to cover a greater range of circumstances, especially the fair reporting of public comment, including third party statements. (A new clause as 5-i.) 4 Trial & Court: a. The trial should be in the lower court, not in the district court and should be in a routine way not expeditiously or extra-ordinarily. (Deletion of clause 13

5. a. b. c. 6.

& 14,) Punishment: All references to imprisonment should be deleted. (clause-9) Instead of minimum amount of Rs. 50,000 as general damages should be replaced by maximum amount of Rs. 50,000 as fine. (clause-9). The judge alone should decide about the amount of fine regardless of its acceptability by the plaintiff. (clause-9) A person who lodges complaint under defamation law should not have the right to lodge the same complaint under other laws. (Clause 11).

III. The 'normal' Laws On the third plane, the need to review and rationalize the so-called normal laws has bee overdue for long. The laws that have been used to victimize and intimidate media-people are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. i. ii. iii. iv. v. 6. i.

The Official Secrets Act, 1926 The Security of Pakistan Act, 1952 The Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance , 1960. The Ant-terrorism Act, 1997 The Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 Sec 123-A ( abuse of ideology of Pakistan) Sec 124-A (sedition) Sec 153-B ( inciting students of take part in politics) Sec 292 ( exhibition / possession of obscene books ) Sec 295-C ( blasphemy) The code of Criminal Procedure Sec 99- A ( the provision commonly used to proscribe publications/ documents. ii. Sec 99-B ( denial of right to appeal in case of publications printed abroad. These laws are archaic and deny parties the right to due process in various degrees. However media-people are not the sole target of these laws. They suffer under them along with the long-oppressed people of this country. The media community has a duty to itself and to the people at large to demand that these laws must me revised and brought in harmony with the universally accepted norms of justice.

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Diversity of opinion solves problems

Asma Jahangir Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)'s President

mtiaz Alam doesn't give up and I am happy he doesn't.

Respect and tolerance for divergent opinion is must for evolving a pluralistic domestic society. We believe in the diversity of opinion because it leads to solutions to problems. We must evolve consensus on rule of law, which also include economic and social justice and rights of minorities. We have to set certain rules.

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We have to change the rhetoric that Baloch nationalists are enemy of the country, we have to listen to the Baloch and the settlers Pashtuns. Unfortunately, neither the Balochistan government nor the federal government makes polices for Balochistan. We should bring all our units into the mainstream. Genuine representation is necessary for the success of democracy. Our policies must be inclusive as there is a need for revisiting our national security. National security priorities should be revisited for economic independence. Our thinking, our society need to be demilitarized. Militarized Pakistan thinking should be reversed. Non-development expenditure is on the

up. 18th Amendment will augur well. I hope things would improve with the devolution of powers to the provinces through 18th Amendment. There is a need for extending the Political Parties Act and the judiciary's access to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and bringing these areas into the mainstream politics. Local governments should be genuinely third-tier. Challenges are too many. We don't see a consensus on our desire for a democratic, pluralistic society controlled by a civilian government. We should make people believe that our prosperity lies in peace with India and Iran. Good governance is required from the executive. You are not here to rule us. You are here to make our lives better. There should be transparency in the working of the judiciary. Petitions should be taken up on merit. Election within parties is also a part of good governance. Good governance is policies for welfare of people. Accountability should be across the board. We should go for social accountability. Public accountability through media should not take the shape of witch hunting. The two should not be mixed up. Workers and leaders should be equally respected. The government should plan programmes around the poorest and the remotest. We should not forget the Hindus and

SOLIDARITY: Icons of human rights activism Minhaj Barna and Asma Jahangir

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Resolution for

Balochistan A meeting, organised by South Asian Fee Media Association (SAFMA) expresses serious concern at ignoring the problems and news related to the Balochistan province by the national print and electronic media.

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disappearance of students and political workers at a massive scale in Balochistan, it demands missing persons be produced in courts of law in case of allegations against them.

It demands the national media give due coverage to news on provincial issues in Balochistan. The electronic media should especially report problems facing Balochistan as well as some unpleasant occurrences and random incidents impartially and in an unbiased manner, and also depute reporters/correspondents in the affected areas so both sides of the picture come up for the general public.

The meeting is also deeply concerned at the production of mutilated bodies of political rivals, in the past three months, in Balochistan and demand an impartial probe into such incidents. It also demands measures for provision of justice to the affected families. In this connection, Safma urges the Supreme Court of Pakistan to act on its own without further delay.

Moreover, the national print and electronic media authorities should ensure fool-proof security for journalists working in the riot-torn and tension-ridden areas besides full insurance cover for them.

The meeting demands generous compensation for the bereaved families of reporters and photojournalists killed during the performance of their official duties.

The meeting vehemently condemns incidents of harassment of journalists and the general public by security forces in Balochistan, saying security agencies change their attitude visibly for return of normalcy in the province. The meeting calls for an end to humiliation of the common man.

It strongly condemns the targeted killing of innocent people, including political opponents in Balochistan, and demand those involved in the targeted killing incidents be identified and punished so such cruel incidents are checked on a permanent basis in future.

Expressing deep concern and anguish at the

路

Expressing concern over the deteriorating situation in Balochistan, the meeting opposes use of power for resolution of the Balochistan issue and instead urges negotiations so all sections and political forces are taken into confidence for a durable solution to the problem and for peace. Moreover, a mutually-agreed policy should be adopted to resolve the problems confronted by people of Balochistan, the meeting concludes.

Minhaj Barna, veteran journalist and a leading member of journalists' trade unions reciting his poetry from his book during the National Conference, his last public appearance. Barna, a former president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and All Pakistan Newspaper Employees' Confederation (APNEC), died on January 14, 2011, a little more than two months later. His services for the promotion of freedom of expression and the economic rights of the journalists can never be forgotten. Barna was also one of the founder members of HRCP and remained a steadfast defender of people's basic rights all his life.

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Adieu Barna M

inaj Barna was born in 1925 in village Qaimpur of the Indian UP province where he received his early education and later pursued higher studies at the famous Jamia Millia, New Dehli. At the very outset of his college days he was deeply influenced by youth movement for freedom of speech. He joined All India Youth Federation, a student wing of the local Communist Movement against the oppressive British Raaj. Groomed in an impassioned environment to win freedom, Barna started his career as a reporter in a Mumbai-based the Urdu newspaper Dehli Inqilab.

After 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent, his parents settled in Quetta but Burna shifted to Karachi where he joined Pakistan Times, then a leading English language daily newspaper. He was the moving spirit behind journalists' struggle against the infamous Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) promulgated by military dictator late Field Marshal Ayub Khan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The level of respect PFUJ and APNEC earned in late seventies till early nineties was because of the sheer dedication, commitment and remarkable leadership of Barna sahib and Nisar Usmani sahib, which would never be regained,â&#x20AC;? remarked senior journalist M. Ziauddin. The voice for the rights of working journalists, newspaper employees and freedom of the press in Pakistan, has fallen silent, wrote I H Rashid, himself a trade unionist.

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Barna's greetings to Secretary General Imtiaz Alam on the foundation of SAFMA

A dirge of media freedom excerpted from Barna's book Marsia Chauthay Satoon Ka, which he read out at the conference

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No to Undemocratic and Unconstitutional Change Move Jointly Towards Setting a National Agenda We, the media-persons from across the country, having met at South Asian Free Media Association's National Conference-IV on 6-7 November, 2010, at Islamabad, resolve to safeguard the democratic and constitutional setup, including freedom of expression and an independent judiciary, while respecting the will of the people and rejecting all kinds of machinations and conspiracies aimed at creating political chaos and bringing undemocratic and unconstitutional changes, are: a)

d) e)

f) g)

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Concerned about an all-sided institutional, financial and societal crises in a terrorism-ridden country reeling under an unprecedented havoc caused by the floods; Alarmed at strategic and political uncertainty, reinforcing hopelessness and chaos, due to an ongoing power-struggle among various institutions of the state; Take serious exception to the conspiracies and sinister moves to bring undemocratic and unconstitutional changes and overstepping of various institutions of the state, including a section of sensational media, going beyond their legitimate sphere, professional and ethical limits; Dismayed by the deteriorating quality of governance at various tiers of governance and across all institutions of the state; Worried about a lack of consistency in eradicating terrorism and appalled by the insistence on keeping sanctuaries of terrorism as so-called â&#x20AC;&#x153;strategic assetsâ&#x20AC;? and not strictly stopping terrorists outfits from operating in various disguised forms; Disturbed over the alienation, deprivation and sufferings of the Baloch people; Perturbed over continuing inflation and hardships being faced

h) i)

by the common people, especially the people affected by the floods and terrorism; Disappointed over not changing the media laws, especially the Information Law, PEMRA Law and Press Council Law; Condemn killing, torture and victimization of working journalists by various state and non-state actors, nonimplementation of Seventh Wage Board Award, retrenchment of media-persons and a lack of protection and insurance coverage for journalists reporting from conflict zones; Reiterate our full faith in constitutional, democratic and representative system that ensures freedoms and fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, a free and responsible media and above all sovereignty of our people reflected through federal and provincial legislatures; Emphasize the need for evolving a broadest national consensus among all stakeholders on major national issues, such as (a) terrorism, (b) economy (macro-economic policy, state corporations, taxation, non-development expenditure, energy, rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood and terrorism affected), (c) foreign policy, (d) national security and neighbors; crisis of Baluchistan and (e) transparent and accountable governance and across the board accountability;

We are of the considered view: 1. The future of the federation and our nation-state lies in democracy and continuation of constitutional, federal and democratic setup while submitting to the will of the people which is represented by the elected legislatures and governments responsible to them;

6. 7.

The state must retain its writ across the land without in any way allowing state or non-state actors to undermine it, nor must it allow any autonomous sanctuary undermining its sovereignty and international obligations; All organs of the state and media must perform their functions in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 1973 Constitution, democratic norms and avoid transgressing their institutional limits while respecting the mandate of the people; Both the state and society can face up to the challenges of natural calamities, terrorism, lawlessness, economic meltdown, poor-governance, human and physical security by reaching a national consensus on major policy issues. Promoting the ideals set by the Charter of Democracy and building upon the good work done by the 18 th Amendment, the major political parties and the stakeholders must agree on a national agenda on, at least, six major issues mentioned earlier; A free media and an independent judiciary are sine qua non of democracy and they must safeguard it. Peace within Pakistan and its neighborhood is the essential prerequisite of growth and prosperity and all inter-sate conflicts need to be resolved through peaceful means and regional cooperation must not be made hostage to bilateral disputes as envisaged by the SAARC process that should move towards a South Asian Union.

6. We call upon: 1. All organs of the state to work within the parameters of the constitution and frustrate any effort at change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means while remaining within their limits, respecting each others' legitimate constitutional space, people's mandate and ensuring independence of judiciary, a free media and a transparent and accountable governance; 2. All major political parties and stakeholders must sit together to

evolve a National Agenda on (a) Terrorism, (b) Economy (macro-economic policy, state corporations, taxation, nondevelopment expenditure, energy, rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood and terrorism affected), (c) Foreign Policy, (d) National Security and Neighbors; (e) Crisis of Balochistan, and (f) Transparent and Accountable Governance and Across the Board Accountability; (SAFMA's proposals are attached) All state and non-state actors, institutions, political parties, civil society and above all federating units must join their forces to take the country out of its current predicaments on short, mid, and long term bases for peace and prosperity within and without. The state must extend its full writ to every nook corner of its territory while keeping its monopoly over means of coercion and letting any armed outfit operate from its soils against its own citizens and neighbors. Pakistan and India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to resolve their differences through negotiations and jointly fight against terrorism and stop interfering in each others internal matters. Composite dialogue with India must start without preconditions and SAFTA be implemented in letter and spirit. Visa regime must be liberalized to promote people to people contacts. The government to continue to respect media freedom and the media should observe professional ethics, objectivity and neutrality while improving professional standards. The Draft Information Act proposed by SAFMA in collaboration with various stakeholders be adopted by the Parliament to empower people. The PEMRA Law be replaced by the Draft PEMRA Law and Press Council be formed as proposed by SAFMA. The government agencies should avoid temptation of selective use of advertisements or other tactics to pressurize one or other section of the media while discouraging monopolies. Clear

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social benchmarks may be set for awarding all advertisements under a corporate social responsibility law. 7. The implementation of Seventh Wage Board Award and formation of 8th and 9th Wage Board Awards. An end to illegal retrenchments of journalists. The murderers of journalists and those who harass the media persons must be brought to book. The journalists working in the conflict regions should be provided protection and insurance coverage. The correspondents working in the districts be given respectable wages and the press clubs capacity be built thought official grants from the district budgets.

sector corporations to get rid of financial hemorrhage, inclusion of the dispossessed peoples and the deprived backward regions into the mainstream of development and empowerment and opening up our eastern and western borders to revive traditional trade routes to become a hub of trans-regional trade and investment across South, Central and Western Asia. (2)

A parasitic national security state failing to enforce its writ and maintain peace within and without. It must enforce its writ across every nook and corner of our land while keeping its monopoly over coercive means by completely eradicating non-state violent actors/militias threatening our existence/ sovereignty and jeopardizing our relations with our neighbors and international community. The menace of terrorism has to be eradicated by all means and in every sphere that reproduce it. It calls for radical reversion of our failed security paradigms that nourished these grave-diggers of Pakistan's otherwise moderate, tolerant and egalitarian and pluralist society.

(3)

Marginalization of the Will and the Sovereignty of the People. All organs of the state and all stakeholders must submit to the will and sovereignty of the people exercised by the elected representatives of the people, responsible to the final arbiters-the peoples of all federating units. Civil-military relations must be redefined strictly in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 1973 Constitution and everything about the security establishment must be brought under the purview of our sovereign parliament. All institutions and organs of the state must keep in their lawful limits frustrating all machinations and efforts to destabilize democratic setup and rejecting any change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means.

Sensing the undemocratic and unconstitutional threats to democracy, SAFMA along with some leading journalists, intellectuals and civil society leaders, from the platform of Citizens for Democracy, called upon all the institutions and stakeholders to say no to any undemocratic and unconstitutional change while emphasizing the urgency to evolve a National Agenda to tackle all-sided crises of the state. Some of the challenges, that pose a real threat to our existence as a people and a land, that is sacred to us, are as follow: (1)

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A low-growth-high-poverty equilibrium with lowest tax-GDP, saving-GDP, investment-GDP and per-capita investment on the people with lowest social indicators in the developing world. It requires a new paradigm of inclusive and sustainable growth and all out effort in every sphere of economy from the revitalization of high valued adding manufacturing, agricultural and servicing sectors, conservation, exploration and development of energy and water resources, human resource development and poverty eradication, withdrawal of subsidies and expansion of revenues by taxing both rural and urban rich, reprioritization of allocation of resources from military security to human security, drastic reformation or disposing of public

(4)

(5)

A flawed foreign and security paradigm promoting conflict in the neighborhood. There is an urgent need to critically reappraise our foreign and national security polices that are beyond our national resources, repudiate peace both within and without, frustrate economic growth and prosperity and keep our people in the shackles of poverty. It requires, in particular, radical revision of our “Indiacentric”, “strategic-depth” (vis a vis Afghanistan) and “strategic-assets” (of our jihadis who are of nobody's) types of strategic assumptions. The militaristic version of the national security, that failed to provide us internal and external security, must be replaced with an overarching vision of human security, thus, eradicating the causes behind the growth of suicidebombers, violence and religious extremism; and a rational, smart and cost-effective defense backed by a credible deterrence. Crises of Governance. Pakistan is faced with deep-rooted crises of governance from civilian administration to military establishment, financial sectors to fiscal spheres, generating revenues to transparent and accountable expenditure, delivery of cheap and easy justice and honest and law-abiding policing, respecting citizens' fundamental rights regardless of gender, creed or ethnicity and empowering people, rewarding merit, entrepreneurship, innovation and competition while precluding unethical privileges, rent-seeking, bribery and fraud, respecting dissent and granting women and minorities equal privileges of equal citizens and devolving and de-concentrating power to the lower tiers of governance, all-sided and even-handed accountability of all through due process of law, access to and free flow of information and a transparent, accountable and efficient governance. It can't be achieved by totalitarian or fascist regimes and barbaric means or by chasing the ghosts and

shadows of the past corruption. (6)

Ethnic and sectarian tensions: Despite granting provincial autonomy and some concessions to the smaller provinces, the federating units continue to suffer from alienation and nurse frustrations, such as Baluchistan. While progressively and radically devolving power from the Centre to the provinces and onward to the districts and ultimately to the grassroots level to empower our people, the federation and its powerful arms take affirmative steps to remove the grievances of smaller provinces, Baluchistan in particular. Baluchistan needs extraordinary accommodation and amelioration. There are ethnic tensions within the provinces that also need to be addressed by respecting pluralism at all levels to strengthen unity-in-diversity. On the other hand, sectarian cleavages are touring apart our social fabric that has been increasingly taking a violent turn since General Zia's socalled “Islamization” and induction of jihadi and klashnikov culture. All sectarian and violent militias, their cover-up bodies, charities, sectarian seminaries preaching violence and producing hate materials must be prosecuted and banned. Instead of becoming a source of national unity, the sectarian forces that pollute the spiritual space have turned religion into a source of discord and disunity. A distinction has to be made between the state and religion and theology and education while respective the beliefs of the people that don't hurt others' beliefs and religious practices.

SAFMA Pakistan undertakes to initiate a public discourse on the above mentioned National Agenda and plans to convene a national conference to facilitate a broader consensus among the forces of civil society from the platform of Citizens for Democracy.

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SAFMA Pakistan National Executive Body The National Executive Body Monday elected Nusrat Javeed as president and Sirmed Manzoor as general secretary of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) Pakistan.

Karachi . Another weeklong workshop was slated for Gilgit Baltistan journalists. Peshawar will host a conference in collaboration with the Peshawar clubs.

The Executive Body also chose senior media persons Zahid Hussain, Agha Nasir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Ayaz and Shahzada Zulfiqar as the vice presidents of the Pakistan chapter of SAFMA, which is a South Asian association of media persons. Shamim Shahid and Irfana Mallah will be the joint secretaries.

Media Commission-Pakistan will plan missions to know the situation of media freedom in Balochistan and tribal areas.

The SAFMA Pakistan Executive Body decided to hold a one-day roundtable conference on Balochistan by the yearend. It will also arrange a conference in

SAFMA will form five groups of experts to research on economy, foreign policy and security issues. The SAFMA-Pakistan resolved to defend the media freedom but said it would not side with anybody violating or ignoring professional ethics.

T H E N AT I O N A L E X E C U T I V E B O D Y Balochistan: Saleem Shahid Shahzada Zulfiqar Irfan Saeed Jehangeer Aslam

Sindh Including Karachi Khalid Khokar Amer Sindh Lala Asad Irfana Mallah

Karachi Ghazi Salahuddin Mujahid Brailwi Faysal Aziz Khan Khurshid Hyder Jabbar Khattak Babar Ayaz Amir Mehmood GN Mughal Fayyaz Naich

Lahore Anjum Rasheed Khalid Farooqi Sobia Cheema Ahmed Waleed Khalid Chaudhry Shoaib Adil Saida fazal Shireen Pasha

AJK Amir Qureshi

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Gilgit Balistan Khushid Ahmed

KPK Rahim ullah Yousafzai Syed Fakhar Kaka Khel Arshad Aziz Malik Ibrahim Shirwani Shadab Younis Shamim Shahid Islamabad Tariq Chaudhry Asma shirazi Afzal Khan Mustanser Javed Rana Qaiser Nusrat Javeed Sirmed Manzoor Agha Nasir M. Ziauddin Zahid Hussain Shamsul Islam Naz

SAFMA Pakistan National Executive Body meeting

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SAFMA interaction with press club representatives 117

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Citizens for Democracy (CD) No to Undemocratic and Unconstitutional Change We the Citizens for Democracy are: Concerned about an all-sided institutional, financial and societal destabilization in a terrorism-ridden country reeling under the unprecedented havoc caused by the floods; Alarmed at strategic and political uncertainty, reinforcing hopelessness and chaos, due to an ongoing power-struggle among various institutions of the state; Reiterate our full faith in constitutional, democratic and representative system that ensures freedoms and fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, a free and responsible media and above all sovereignty of our people reflected through federal and provincial legislatures; Emphasize the need for evolving a broadest national consensus among all stakeholders on major national issues, such as (a) terrorism, (b) economy (macro-economic policy, state corporations, taxation, non-development expenditure, energy, rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood and terrorism affected), (c) foreign policy, (d) national security and neighbors; and (e) transparent and accountable governance and across the board accountability; We are of the considered view: a. The future of the federation and our nation-state lies in democracy and continuation of constitutional, federal and democratic setup while submitting to the will of the people which is represented by the elected legislatures and governments responsible to them; b. The state must retain its writ across the land without in any way allowing state or non-state actors to undermine it, nor must it allow any autonomous sanctuary undermining its sovereignty and international obligations; c. All organs of the state and media must perform their functions in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 1973 Constitution, democratic norms and avoid transgressing their institutional limits while respecting the mandate of the people; d. Both the state and society can face up to the challenges of natural calamities, terrorism, lawlessness, economic meltdown, poor-governance, human and physical security. e. Promoting the ideals set by the Charter of Democracy and building upon the good work done by the 18th Amendment, the major political parties and the stakeholders must agree on a national agenda on, at least, five major issues mentioned earlier. We call upon: 1. All organs of the state to work within the parameters of the constitution and frustrate any effort at change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means while remaining within their limits, respecting each others' legitimate constitutional space, people's mandate and ensuring independence of judiciary, a free media and a transparent and accountable governance; 2. All major political parties and stakeholders must sit together to evolve a National Agenda on (a) Terrorism, (b) Economy (macro-economic policy, state corporations, taxation, non-development expenditure, energy, rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood and terrorism affected), (c) Foreign Policy, (d) National Security and Neighbors; and (e) Transparent and Accountable Governance and Across the Board Accountability; 3. All state and non-state actors, institutions, political parties, civil society and above all federating units must join their forces to take the country out of its current predicaments on short, mid, and long term bases for peace and prosperity within and without. Signed By Citizens for Democracy on 23rd September 2010: Ali Ahmed Kurd, Former President Supreme Court Bar Association; Justice Tariq Mehmood, Former President Supreme Court Bar Association; I.A. Rehman, Director, HRCP, Hina Jillani,General Secretary HRCP; Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General, SAFMA; Najam Sethi, Editor, Friday Times, Secretary General South Asia Media Commission, Muhammad Ziauddin, Executive Editor, Express Tribune, Arif Nizami, Senior Editor, Abbas Athar Editor Express; Amir Mehmood, General Secretary CPNE; Saida Fazal, Resident Editor Business Recorder; Rashid Rehman, Editor Daily Times; Mehmal Sarfraz, Deputy Editor Daily Times; Nusrat Javed, Director Dunya TV; Nazir Naji, Columnist Jang; S.M. Masood Advocate, Former Law Minister; Justice Malik Saeed Hassan; Zahid Hussain, Senior Journalist Senior Editor Newline; Abbas Rasheed, Senior Journalist and SAHI; Iftikhar Ahmed, TV Anchor Geo; Gen. (Rtd) Talat Masood, Forer Defense Secretary; Babar Ayaz, Senior Journalist; Salman Raja, Advocate; Ghazi Salahuddin, Senior Columnist The News; Khawar Mumtaz, Women activist Shirtakgah; Dr. Nayyar, Educationist; Dr. Hassan Askari Rizvi, Senior Analyst; Khalid Ahmed, Director SAMS; Beena Sarwar, The News; Dr. Jabbar Khattak, Editor Awami Awaz; Syeda Abida Hussain, Former MNA; Tariq Chaudhry, Controller Aaj TV; Agha Nasir, GEO TV; Afzal Khan, Senior Journalist; Anjum Rashid, Former Editor Jang Lahore; G. N. Moughal, Senior Journalist, Khalid Faruki, editor Awaz Jang group, Nazir Leghari, Editor Awam Jang group, Khalid Chaudhry, Editor Aaj Kal E-Mail: citizensfordemocracy2010@gmail.com Anjum Rashid, Coordinator CD: 0300-8446335 Citizens for Democracy: 177-A, Shadman-II, Lahore, Pakistan. Ph. 042-37555622/3, Fax: 042-37555629

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DELEGATES 121

Mr Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General SAFMA

Mr. Murtaza Solangi, DG, PBC

Mr. M. Ziauddin, Executive Editor, The Express Tribune

Ms. Rashida Sial, Special Correspondent Apna TV

Mr. Nusrat Javeed, President SAFMA Pakistan

Chaudhry Nadeem Sarwar, Bureau Chief DPA

Agha Nasir, Senior Broadcaster

Mr. Naveed Miraj, Director, ATV

Mr. Sirmed Manzoor, Chief Coordinator SAFMA

Mr. Rasheed Khalid, Correspondent The News

Mr. Mohsin Raza, Director News ARY TV

Mr. Minhaj Barna, Founder PFUJ Barna group

Mr. Tariq Chaudhry, Director News Aaj TV

Syed Wajid Iqbal Bukhari, Editor , The Voice

Mr. Mohammad Afzal Khan, Bureau Chief Khaleej Times

Mr. Abrar Haider, Journalist Dawn News Muzzafarabad

Ms. Aasma Shirazi, Anchorperson SAMAA TV

Ms. Tanzeela Mazhar, Anchorperson PTV

Mr. Faisal Hakim Mughal, Senior Reporter ARY

Ms. Nukhbat Malik, BBC

Mr. Shaukat Piracha, Senior Correspondent Aaj TV

Ms. Farah Naz, Journalist/ member SAWM

Mr. Rana Qaisar, Resident Editor, Pakistan Today

Mr. Khushnood Ali Khan, President CPNE

Ms. Mariana Baabar, Diplomatic Correspondent, The News

Ms. Shafaq Iqbal, Reporter Nawa-e-Waqt

Ms. Huma Khawar, Freelance Columnist

Mr. Shams-ul-Islam Naz, Secretary General, PFUJ

Mr. Zahid Hussain, Senior Editor News line

Gen. (Retd) Talat Masood, Columnist

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief Pakistan, Asia Times

Mr Anjum Rasheed

Ms. Hayyam Qayum, Editor SPR

Mr Waqar Mustafa

Ms. Fe'reeha Idrees, Bureau Chief, CNBC-Pakistan

Ms Sadaf Arshad

Ms. Vidya Rana, Freelance

Mr. Siddiq Baloch

Mr Ali Imran, Bureau Chief Daily Mashreeq Quetta

Mr Khaled Ahmed

Mr. Pervez Shaukat, President PFUJ

Mr I.A. Rehman, Columnist DAWN

Mr. Imtiaz Gul, Freelance Journalist

Mr Badar Alam, Herlad

Mr. Ashfaq Saleem Mirza, Freelance Columnist

Mr Ahmed Waleed, DAWN News

Mr. Mudassir Saeed, Freelance journalist

Mr Khalid Farooqi, Editor Awaz

Mr. Aizaz Hussain Syed, Dawn News

Mr Jalees Hazir, Freelance

Mr. Omar Farooq Azam Khan, Freelance journalist

Mr Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief Daily Pakistan

Mr. Shahid Mahmood Nadeem, DMD PTV

Mr Khalid Chaudhry, Editor Aaj Kal

Mr. Tariq Mahmood Malik, Senior Reporter ARY

Mr Muhammad Shoaib Adil,

Ms Sobia Cheema, Producer Express TV

Mr Aamie Mehmood, General Secretary CPNE

Mr Iftikhar Ahmed, Senior Journalist/ Anchorperson Geo TV

Mr Faysal Aziz Khan, Bureau Chief Geo Tv

Mr Sajjad Mir, Anchor person News One

Mr Javed Qazi

Mr Pervaiz Bashir, Editor Reporting Jang

Ms Rehana Hakeem, Editor Newsline

Mr Wajahat Masood, Deputy Editor Aaj Kal

Mr Ghulam Nabi Chandio

Mr Hussain Naqi, Senior Columnist

Ms Gul Afreen Khuresani –News One Anchor

Mr Abbas Rasheed, Freelance Columnist

Ms Nadira Mushtaque – Samma Anchor/Correspondent

Mr Zulfiqar Mehtu, AAJ TV

Mr Wasim Badami—program Host ARY

Mr Allama Siddiq Azhar, Columnist Daily waqt

Qazi Shah Muhammad, Editor-in Chief, Taameer-e-Sindh

Mr Mian Shahbaz, Reporter Geo

Ms Gharida Farooqi, GEO TV

Ms Farah Warraich, News Editor, Jang Lahore

Ms. Claire Galez, SAFMA Pakistan

Ms Mehmal Sarfraz, Op-Ed Editor, Daily Times

Mr Rafiq Shaikh—Senior Assignment Editor ARY

Ms Munizae Jehangir, Anchor person Express TV

Mr Rafique Bhutto – Senior Political Correspondent Dunya TV

Ms Shehar Bano Khan, Dawn

Mr G. N. Mughal—senior Political Correspondent ARY

Ms Nadia Bokhari, SWAM

Ms Nargis Baloch, Daily Intekhab

Ms Bushra Sultana, Associate Editor South Asian Journal

Mr Mujahid Barlvi—Host CNBC

Mr Rahimullha Yousafzai, Resident Editor, News

Ms Amar Sindhu aka Salma Baloch

Mr Shameem Shahid, President Press Club Peshawar

Ms Arfana Mullah, KTN

Ms Farzana Ali, AAJ TV

Mr Shahid Hussain, The News

Mr Ziaulhaq,

Mr Abdul Wahab Munchhi – News One

Mr Shahid Hameed

Ms Sanobar Gull Unnar IBRAT Group

Mr Arshad Aziz

Ms Fauzia Shaheen, Editor Dastak

Ms Shadab Yunous

Ms Hina Khwaja Bayat

Mr Munawer Afridi

Mr Khalid Khokhar Daily Sindhu

Mr Anwer Mehsood

Mr Mahesh Kumar daily Halchal

Dr Jabbar Khattak, Ediot In Chief Awami Awaz

Mr Iqbal Mallah daily Awami Awaz

Mr Ghazi Salahuddin , Columnist The news

Mr Ishaq Mangrio Gen. Sec Hyd. Press club

Mr Babar Ayaz, Columnist Dawn

Mr Hameed Rehman Aaj news

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123

Mr Lala Asad President Sukhar Press club

Mr Munir Chandhry, President Press Club, Okara

Mr Mehmood Sultan Chandio President Mipur Khas Press club

Mr Khawaja Babar Saleem, President Press Club, Chakwal

Mr Baboo Iqbal President Larkana Press club and Mrs

Mr Tariq Butt, President Press Club, Gujranwala

Mr Sanaullah Memon President Press club Khairpur

Mr Muhammad Awan, President Press Club, Abbotabad

Mr Rahim Mangi Gen.sec.Press club Qambar /Shahdadkot

Mr Tahir Naseem, President Press Club, Khanewal

Mr Mohd Ismail DomkiGen sec Press club Nawabshah

Sadia Nasim, PTV news

Imtiaz Faran, President Press Club of Karachi

Nazia Hameed, Member SAWM

Mirza Rasheed Baig, President Quetta Press Club

Nazia Hameed, Freelance journalist

Mr Abdul Khaliq President Balochistan Union of Journalist

Sadia Kamal, Ptv news

Mr Rao Mohammad Iqbal Secretary BUJ

Sadia Haidari, Geo TV

Mr Saleem Shahid, Bureau Chief Dawn

Huma Ahmed, Freelance journalist

Mr Shahzada Zulfiqar

Fayyaz Naich, Anchor Sind TV

Mr Raza Ur Rahman

Mr Tahir Rathor, Chief Reporter, Samaa TV, Islamabad

Mr Akhtar Mirza

Shazia Seher, Reporter Apna tv

Mr Irfan Saeed

Nazia Hameed, Reporter News One

Dr. Aurangzaib Ehsas, President Press Club Zhob

Noshi Rahim, Reporter Azkaar

Saleem Gashkori, President Press club Sibi

Shakeela Jalil, Reporter Azkaar

Jahangir Aslam, President Press Club Turbat (Kechh)

Bushra Hameed, Reporter The Post

Noor Zaman, President Press Club Chaman (Killa Abdullah district)

Maha Musaddiq, Reporter Express Tribune

Mehnaz Ali, Producer Rohi TV

Mr Amir Qureishi, Gen. Sec. Central Union of Journalists, Muzaffarabad

Shafaq Hira, News anchor PTV

Mr Ibrar Hyder, Correspondent Dawn News.

Ms Jaweria Siddique, Reporter SAMAA TV

Mr Khurshid Ahmed, President Press Club, Gilgit

Fouzia, Reporter NNI

Mr Durdana Shah, Gizar Press Club, Aaj TV

Adnan Amjad Khan, Reporter Dunya TV

Mohammad Iqbal Aasi, Waqt TV

Namood Muslim, Reporter PTV

Saifurrehman, Gilgit Press Club Din TV

Javed Kalhorro, Reporter PTV

Mr Shahid Akthar Baloch, President press Club, Bhawalpur

Imtiaz Ahmed, Reporter PBC

Mr Haji Manzoor Anwar, Press Club Jhang

Rahat Shah, Reporter