The ‘Receipt’

By Amir Zia
July 28, 2014
The News

You talk to the elected representatives of the leading political parties and they will be quick to distance themselves from any forced fund collection...You talk to the police and they will tell you that they are hostage to their provincial political bosses

There is no intimidating message written on the small donation receipts being distributed among shopkeepers of an apparent safe and upscale neighbourhood of Karachi during the closing days of the holy month of Ramazan. 
The receipt carries the name, insignia, address and telephone numbers of the social service wing of a leading political party on one side, while on the other side there are names and telephone numbers of more than a dozen social services offered by the party. And yes, it also says ‘Rs100 accepted with thanks’ on account of ‘Fitra’ 2014 in Urdu.
Yet, many shopkeepers say they feel vulnerable the moment a group of five to six young men enter their shops carrying the receipt books – a couple of them openly brandishing pistols in their hands. But that does not mean that these party activists are in any way impolite or ill-mannered – at least in this particular neighbourhood. They are our typical Karachi boys belonging to the middle and lower middle class, some even holding college degrees.
The group leader – let’s call him ‘bhai’ (brother) – does all the talking. Under normal circumstances, he will casually place his pistol on the counter, ask about the wellbeing of the shopkeeper and then get on to business… how many receipts of Rs100 each would the shopkeeper like to have? There is some polite haggling and finally the two sides reach an understanding.
In terms of judging the shop’s turnover, these youngsters appear to do a better job than our tax officials. They slap a mandatory ‘donation’ – sometimes as modest as Rs300 on a small shop to several thousand rupees on the ones whose business they see is booming.
In the crime-infested, violence-hit and lawless city of Karachi, this kind of donation-collection is not even news anymore. Many shopkeepers, businesspeople, traders, industrialists, and professionals silently give their due share in the ‘good cause’ of this or that political or religious party and move on with their lives.
This is the story of not just one or two neighbourhoods, but most parts of the city. At some places, donations are collected with the blatant display of force, while at others in a bit more subtle manner.
There is no point in reporting this forced ‘donation collection’ to the police or registering a complaint with the high-ups of the party as it just exposes the complainant and puts his life and property at graver risk. The sensible course is to part away with a few hundred or thousand rupees and try to live happily after.
But dear reader, please do not confuse this religiously-motivated donation collection during Ramazan with that of the routine extortion that goes on in Karachi unabated all through the year and hits headlines on and off.
The holy month of Ramazan, indeed, has a special significance because of the enormous amount of money distributed by many devout and even not so devout Muslims on account of Zakat and Fitra. And all our political and religious parties, independent social work organisations, seminaries and even crime mafias prepare in advance to make the best of this holy month and raise as much money as they can.
Just the amount of annual fitra, according to rough estimates, is close to a billion. The donations collected in the name of Zakat are much higher. But let’s admit that all these figures are guesstimates.
Each party raises funds according to its size, clout and the number of armed activists at its disposal. The bigger and more organised a party, the heftier are its financial gains and stakes in this megacity. These activists operate in most parts of the city with impunity – be it the posh and so-called peaceful neighbourhoods to middle and low income group localities. The commercial areas remain the prime targets of this Ramazan fund-raising.
If anyone has a misconception that the ongoing operation against extortionists, criminals and terrorists has made the city a little safe it is time for a reality check. The much-propagated operation that started last September lost steam quite some time back, amidst politically motivated transfers and posting of police officials by the Sindh provincial government. All the statements of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – of making Karachi safe – and his meetings with the provincial political bosses to achieve this goal have failed to do the trick.
All the major stakeholders in this city have successfully managed to thwart whatever little efforts were being made to establish rule of law here. They are all part of the problem as the prevailing state of lawlessness and organised crime and violence seems to serve their massive financial interests. 
The forced donation collection during Ramazan is just a tiny problem in the overall grave law and order situation of the city. Our proverbial common man fails to make himself heard because all the cards are decked against him in this corrupt and crime-ridden political system.
The frequent protests and lobbying by powerful associations of traders, businesspeople and industrialists of Karachi have also failed to make any impact. They continue to remain the prime target of not just extortion but also kidnapping for ransom. In recent months, more than 20 Karachi businessmen have been kidnapped. Some of them returned after paying Rs10 to Rs15 million ransom amounts. Many try to handle these challenges on their own rather than going to the police. When they even refrain from reporting grave crimes, there is hardly a question of going to the police for relatively smaller ones such as giving donation to political or religious parties under duress. 
Since the country’s return to true democracy in 2008, we have been hearing the same kinds of claims and promises of stern action against lawbreakers by those at the helm of the affairs, but nothing has changed on the ground. The notorious and much-dreaded receipt or ‘parchi’ as it is called in common lingo continues to haunt people belonging to every class, ethnic or sectarian group. 
You talk to the elected representatives of the leading political parties and they will be quick to distance themselves from any forced fund collection. You will hear the same old excuses that the esteemed name of their party is being misused and they are ready to take action if their members are found involved in any such anti-people activity. You talk to the police and they will tell you that they are hostage to their provincial political bosses, who are more focused on transforming space allocated for parks into commercial plots and protecting their criminal dons and militants rather than fighting crime and criminals.
No wonder Karachi remains one of the most dangerous mega-cities of the world. No wonder that many people are shifting their businesses to other cities within the country and even moving abroad. No wonder law abiding citizens feel defenceless and threatened here. And no wonder the politically-connected criminals and terrorists operate in such a brazen manner.
It is nothing but the resilience of Karachiites and their never-say-die attitude that keep the city going. They have learnt to live as normally as possible in the extremely abnormal and dangerous environment. After every trauma, after every fresh big or small wound, the city manages to bounce back.
But can this perpetual lawlessness go on forever? How long one can bank on the hardiness of Karachiites alone to keep the city going? The city has all the explosive ingredients and contradictions that can push it into anarchy and chaos.
This dysfunctional provincial government neither has the political will nor the ability to bring peace and establish rule of law in Karachi. The Herculean task of restoring order in the city can only start by holding the rulers accountable. How that can be done in a democratic manner is the real question.

'Not A Dinner Party'

By Amir Zia
Monday, July 21, 2014
The News

Perhaps revolution was never on the agenda of the leadership of these small leftist parties. Many of their front-line leaders were happy to play second and even the third and fourth fiddle to the feudal, tribal and the urban rich while paying lip-service to the revolutionary cause. 
 
"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall”. – Che Guevara. 
There is hardly a parallel between the words and actions of Che and our very own self-professed revolutionary Allama Tahirul Qadri. They are individuals belonging to two different planets. Che – a guerrilla fighter – fought, lived and died for the revolution. Qadri’s revolutionary struggle starts on board a first-class flight from Canada and keeps him secure in a bullet proof, bomb-proof, comfortable container.
Yet, one must not doubt the sincerity of our esteemed Allama Qadri and his passion to stage a revolution for which he will soon announce a date. However, to date, it is not clear whether he will give the day and time for the beginning of the revolutionary struggle or its culmination. A revolution with a defined deadline will be the first of its kind in history if it succeeds.
Certainly, Allama Qadri is not the first Pakistani politician to wave the banner of revolution in the country or we the first generation to hear claims that a sweeping change is on its way. Much before Qadri unfurled his banner with a pledge to destroy this “decadent, rotten and exploitative system” many other politicians tried to sell a similar dream to their followers and the masses under various wrappings.
Some defined revolution in all its Marxist sense of class struggle, while others interpreted it purely on religious lines to establish the rule of the clergy in the country. The centrist politicians called for a revolution from the comforts of their luxurious homes and four-wheel drive vehicles.
But just like Imran Khan’s so-called tsunami of today, they, too, aimed for a mere change of faces of rulers without disturbing the ruling elite, comprising the same powerful families of feudal lords, tribal chiefs and business and industrialist tycoons, who have been holding the destiny of this country in their hands all these years – be it under a democratic or military rule.
Most of our full-time and part-time revolutionaries only used, misused and abused the concept of revolution in all its superficial and phony sense just as others did the same with democracy and Islam. Their words were bombastic, their promises were big… some were eloquent speakers, but all of them were part of the system they claimed to uproot and destroy.
“You cannot make a revolution in white gloves”, said Vladimir Lenin. But many of our ‘revolutionary’ charlatans – leftist, rightist or centrist – never tried to take off their white, spotless gloves. No wonder, the hair of one generation after another kept turning grey while waiting for the elusive revolution – which never came. 
Various types of leftist groups – Maoist, pro-Soviet, Trotskyites – with inflated optimism and mindless innocence used to see a red revolution coming all through the ‘60s, 70s and ’80s. “Give one more push to the crumbling walls” was one popular slogan that echoed through all those years. But the ‘oppressive walls’s did not crumble and Pakistani ‘proletariat and peasants’ never got united to stage a socialist or communist revolution.
Yes, for a brief period Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did manage to ride the revolutionary bubble comprising mainly urban middle and lower middle class leftwing students and trade unions as people across the West Pakistan of yesteryears were mobilised against Ayub Khan’s rule and then for the 1970s elections, but he dumped the left soon after assuming power.
Many leftist ideologues, who were the founding members of the Pakistan People’s Party, landed in jail, beaten and tortured in the initial years of Bhutto rule. 
What went wrong for these senior comrades?
To put it in simple words, they forgot the basic lesson of revolutionary struggle while joining hands with Bhutto; people usually act in line with their class interest. And Bhutto, despite donning the Mao cap, was not Mao Tse-tung to declass himself and stop being a feudal lord. 
The left lost its steam after making the wrong ‘Bhutto choice’, but even till the late 1980s and the initial years of 1990s, various small but effective leftist groups did manage to survive. Some operated on narrow nationalist lines, while others debated whether change in Pakistan would be according to the ‘Soviet party line’ of national democratic revolution or the Maoist ‘peoples’ democratic revolution’. But these groups, despite their small size and the oppression of General Ziaul Haq’s martial law, did play an important role in the movement for the restoration of democracy – only to be dumped again by the Benazir Bhutto-led PPP in the 1988 elections. 
Our comrades again forgot the basic lesson of the revolutionary struggle described in such a simple and articulate manner by Chairman Mao; “Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution.”
But perhaps revolution was never on the agenda of the leadership of these small leftist parties. Many of their front-line leaders were happy to play second and even the third and fourth fiddle to the feudal, tribal and the urban rich while paying lip-service to the revolutionary cause. But in their essence, they acted like the same ‘bourgeois’ parties that were their allies. This explains why one-by-one, many of the middle-class romantic revolutionaries too followed the opportunism of their leaders and became part of the system. 
Today, remnants of some of these leftist groups still exist, but they are a shadow of their past. They operate more as talking societies of pseudo-middle- and upper-class intellectuals, ultra-liberal civil and human rights advocacy groups and NGOs. No wonder they live in their tiny bubbles and fail to connect to the masses.
Our rightwing, religiously motivated revolutionaries, too, had their mirages of glory. From the Tehreek Nizam-e-Mustafa (pbuh) against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s rule following the 1977 elections to the chants of “revolution, revolution, Islamic revolution,” all through the 1980s and the early 1990s against the backdrop of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the religious parties managed to mobilise vast crowds and fuelled the imaginations of countless of youngsters, who took up weapons for their revolutionary Islamic cause in Afghanistan, Indian-held Kashmir and many other parts of the world as well as in Pakistan against all those they considered their enemies.
Those were the good days for the religious parties. The Pakistani establishment, the United States and all its western and Arab allies were on the same page and were doing all they could to bolster the armed Islamic groups of non-state actors to take on the Soviet Union and their communist allies. The Americans, the army and these self-proclaimed soldiers of Allah were one.
But once the Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, the Americans lost interest in their partners. Both the Pakistani and Afghan Islamic political parties and armed groups, which proved so effective in the acts of destruction, failed to give a new system as they fought among themselves for the spoils. This underlines the fact that the religious leadership proved as insincere and shallow as their counterparts in the leftist and secular parties. The failure of the right in playing a positive role is more appalling because unlike the left, they enjoyed the support and the backing of the establishment until recently. 
How would Qadri’s revolutionary struggle prove different from the predecessors – both rightists and leftist? That is difficult to predict. But let’s not get cynical and for a while ignore all the criticism on his lifestyle, the lingering doubts about the class composition of his party, its source of funding and some contradictions in his words and actions.
Let’s just remind him in the words of Chairman Mao that “a revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”
Will Allama Qadri prove to write a different history in Pakistan’s subdued revolutionary history? Your guess should be as good as mine.0

The Police & The PPP

By Amir Zia 
Monday, July 14, 2014 
The News 

As the PPP’s onslaught on the police continues, there is not a single voice being raised by any of the elected representatives that calls for giving operational autonomy and independence to the force. One hardly sees any light at the end of the tunnel as the PPP, its ally the MQM and the opposition in the Sindh Assembly all appear on the same page in keeping the police hostage to the political bosses. Democracy’s revenge continues... 

Why did the PPP-led provincial government fire Inspector General of Sindh Police Iqbal Mehmood? There were no formal corruption charges against him. He was also not accused of any irregularity or of violating the law. He was mentally and physically fit to lead the police force – perhaps more fit than the ageing Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who crossed retirement age long ago, but by the grace of the Almighty, is still considered fit as a fiddle by former president Asif Ali Zardari and his close associates.
Then why was IG Iqbal Mehmood removed so unceremoniously? This is the question that should be asked by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. This is the question that should haunt every concerned Pakistani who is opposed to corruption and wants to see rule of law in the country. 
Mehmood’s ‘crime’ was not corruption, but his refusal to be part of a controversial deal for the purchase of substandard, but costly armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and other equipment for his force.
In fact, the story of this proposed shady deal starts in 2012 when a PPP stalwart – who obviously is a close friend of former president Zardari – started pushing for it, but failed to get it materialised because of some stiff resistance from within the Sindh Police and objections from the National Accountability Bureau.
The Sindh government wanted to bypass all procedural requirements for this deal, which was initially for the purchase of sixteen B-7 plus type of APCs from a Serbian company at a whopping cost of Rs1.24 billion. According to the initial purchase plan, three of these APCs were eight wheelers, while were 13 four wheelers.
The provincial authorities even signed a memorandum of understanding, but the plan was shelved because of public hue-and-cry and objections from NAB about the lack of transparency in this whole affair. Even a committee headed by the then Sindh home secretary advised the political leadership to scrap the plan.
But trust the PPP’s consistency, determination and ingenuity at least when it comes to striking contentious business transactions that it managed to revive the stalled process.
On February 7, the ruling party and their ‘partners in crime’ – the so-called opposition – passed the Sindh Emergency Procurement Bill 2014 in the provincial assembly; this sets aside the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority’s (PPRA) rules for one year for emergency purchases for the Karachi police. 
Now armed with this new law, the Sindh government resumed efforts to close the deal, which reportedly swelled to Rs8.0 billion as the purchasing order now also includes bulletproof jackets and other equipment. But Sindh Police Chief Iqbal Mehmood refused to ‘cooperate’ on grounds of the high costs and reservations about the specification and standards of the equipment.
Our efficient Sindh Chief Minister, who has a reputation of going an extra mile to follow the biddings of the former president and his close friends, removed the last hurdle in this deal by sacking IG Mehmood. 
Willy-nilly, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also had to go along with this decision during his recent visit of Karachi though he told the provincial leadership that the frequent changes in the police command is damaging for the ongoing operation against terrorists and criminals.
Now the Sindh government is trying to bring such an officer as IG Sindh who can ensure that the controversial deal sails through. The federal government is likely to look the other way because of its understanding with Zardari’s PPP that the country’s two main political forces won’t try to upset each other’s apple carts.
Interestingly, the Sindh government has demanded money from the federal government to purchase another 40 APCs. It is anybody’s guess which company is likely to get the purchase order.
The saga of the PPP’s passion for a deal with the Serbian company gets more twisted with reports that the same PPP stalwart is the local partner of the Serbian company for tractor manufacturing. These tractors will be given to the poor and rich farmers of this province through the provincial government’s very own Sindh Bank.
Iqbal Mehmoods, Shahid Hayats and all such police officers hold little chance to perform their duties when our so-called legislators and democrats are themselves working against the system. Their pit of greed is limitless; and the rot of corruption embedded too deep.
Should we be astonished then that the Sindh provincial government fired another IG Police within months of his assuming charge? Should we be shocked that Mehmood’s only crime was that he opposed a controversial deal?
With this latest dismissal of the IG Sindh, the PPP provincial government has now achieved the unprecedented distinction of sacking more than a dozen officers from this position during its six years of uninterrupted rule. The reasons for these removals, transfers and sackings have never been professional. All these officers were shown the door because they refused to cross certain red-lines and dance at every tune of the PPP bosses.
It is now no more news that the average term of an IG in Sindh lasts for just five to six months. The tenure of the Karachi police chief, another sought after, but highly risky position, is on average only 12 weeks – half the period than that of the IG. During the last 20 months or so, Karachi has welcomed and bid farewell to at least six officers on this coveted slot.
Under this golden democratic era of the PPP, the shelf life of other officers including DIGs, SSPs, DSPs and SHOs is even shorter at any given position. The term of SHOs on average has been reduced to less than a month now – so much for the much-talked about mantra of consistency and continuity. All these frequent transfers and posting are not made in an attempt to improve the efficiency of the police, but to tame its officers and men further into submitting to the politicians.
The PPP has moved to destroy the Sindh Police by snatching away the powers of transfer of grade 18 and 19 officers from the IG Sindh and placing it with the chief secretary. This is the latest anomaly introduced by the PPP in the system. It means that those District Management Group officers are making key decisions of transfers and postings in the police at the behest of their political bosses who even do not know their men or the requirements of the policing job. The powers to transfer and appoint grade 20 and above officers already rest with the provincial government.
The move has further compromised the police force and made its officers hostage to the whims and wishes of the provincial government. Yes, since the return of ‘true and pure’ democracy in the country, the wheel is going backwards.
The elected representatives were quick to scrap the Police Order of 2002 in favour of the colonial-era Police Act of 1861. The Musharraf-era Police Order gave a fixed three-year term to senior police officers, who could only be removed if found guilty of corruption or irregularity.
But our so-called democrats want a subservient police force. Instead of granting the police operational independence and autonomy as is done in all civilised nations, the PPP bosses have taken away whatever little independence existed before.
No wonder that the much-needed police reforms are not even on the agenda of the elected representatives as they see any such move will hurt their own narrow vested interests.
The PPP’s relentless efforts to dominate the police have indeed further compromised the force’s effectiveness and operational capabilities. When police officers feel insecure on their positions all the time, they can hardly concentrate on fighting crime and terrorism on a mid- to long-term basis.
As the PPP’s onslaught on the police continues, there is not a single voice being raised by any of the elected representatives that calls for giving operational autonomy and independence to the force. One hardly sees any light at the end of the tunnel as the PPP, its ally the MQM and the opposition in the Sindh Assembly all appear on the same page in keeping the police hostage to the political bosses. Democracy’s revenge continues…

Celebrating Failures

By Amir Zia
Monday, July 7, 2014
Weekly Money Matters
The News

It is ironic that shares of these profit-making companies are being sold instead of the loss-making institutions such as Pakistan Steel, Pakistan International Airlines or Pakistan Railways.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government is basking in the glory of the ‘successful’ capital market transaction of its five percent shares in Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), which brought Rs.15.3 billion to the national treasury.

Indeed, this offloading of 70 million PPL shares proved the country’s biggest domestic market transaction in recent years -- and that, too, at a premium price. Half-page colour newspaper advertisements and a string of statements by the prime minister, the finance minister and chairman Privatization Commission celebrated the deal, declaring it a milestone in the country’s history. The selling of PPL shares came just a few days after the government offloaded 19.8 percent of its stake in United Bank Limited (UBL), generating $387 million through a secondary public offering.  

These two transactions are part of the government’s plan to sell its holdings in two other banks – Habib Bank Limited and Allied Bank Limited – and the state-run Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDCL). These are five of the 60 companies earmarked for divestment of the government shares.

While at one level, the push in the government’s privatization programme – that remained stalled all through the five-year term of the previous Pakistan Peoples’ Party-led government – is a welcome move, many experts are rightly questioning the wisdom behind selling stakes in the blue chip companies first rather than of the loss-making institutions.

“We are not selling shares of blue chip companies to strategic investors, who introduce modern technology and new management concepts,” says a top executive of a state-run company, requesting anonymity. “The government is not even selling its shares to the general public… instead we are offering them to institutional investors and brokerage houses, which will trade them in the short-term or hold them for dividends.”

“In fact, selling shares of Pakistan’s blue chip companies is no feat at all as they are already in high demand,” he added. “The real challenge is to privatize the loss-making companies and bring in FDI (foreign direct investment) in which the government has miserably failed.”

The process of finding strategic investors and luring in FDI takes time and needs structural reforms for which Prime Minister Sharif and his financial managers seem to have little patience and will. The tried and tested feel-good short-cuts are unlikely to help bring any meaningful benefits to the economy even in the mid-term, let alone the long-run.

The bigger question remains: what does the government plan to do with these proceeds? Will they be used to retire debt or narrow the budget deficit? Will this money go into the black hole of the power sector where the circular debt has again hit the staggering figure of Rs350 billion? Or will the money be used to give subsidies to loss-making government institutions which devoured more than Rs.500 billion alone in the last fiscal year?

The old stated policy was that privatization proceeds will be used for debt retirement. But there is a catch in the current scenario. Pakistan's domestic and foreign debt burden has increased by 7.4 percent to Rs15.53 trillion in the first nine months of the last fiscal, according to the latest Economic Survey. 

According to leading economist Dr. Hafiz Pasha’s recent calculations, the Sharif government plans to burden the country with another $52 billion worth of foreign debt.

“This includes $6.6 billion from the IMF; $2 billion through Eurobonds; $12 billion from the World Bank through the recently announced Country Partnership Strategy and funding of $32 billion by the Chinese government, announced after the visit of a high-powered delegation to China,” he said in a recent statement. “All this adds up to $52.6 billion. It is interesting that the stock of external debt stood at $52.6 billion on 30th June of 2013. Therefore, the government is in the process of doubling the external debt,” he said.

This means that whatever money is being generated by selling the government’s shares in blue chip companies, as was done recently in the case of PPL and UBL, will not be able to ease the government’s borrowing appetite, let alone help reduce the debt burden.

In fact, for many experts the government has opted for an easy way out to generate funds by selling stocks of blue chip companies which have zero-liabilities.

Dr. Ashfaque Hassan Khan, a former finance ministry advisor and one of Pakistan’s eminent economists, said that the government should have clarity about the objectives of its privatization programme.

“Usually privatization targets those state-run institutions which are bleeding and remain a burden on the national exchequer, contributing in widening the budget deficit and increasing public debt,” said Dr. Khan, who is currently the dean and professor at NUST Business School, Islamabad.

 “Therefore, these loss-making institutions need to be offloaded so that they do not burden the national exchequer… Money thus saved is used for strengthening social and human capital and developing physical infrastructure. In other words, it is transferring government resources from non-productive to productive channels.”

However, Sharif’s financial managers have opted to sell shares of profit-making, well-managed companies that provide a permanent source of income to the government in the form of dividends. 

For example, PPL’s after-tax profit in fiscal 2012-13 (July-June) was around Rs.42 billion against Rs.41 billion in 2011-13. In the first nine months of fiscal 2013/14, its after-tax profit is hovering at a healthy level of Rs.38 billion.

OGDCL, another company on the chopping block, made Rs91billion after-tax profit in fiscal 2012-13 against Rs96.9 billion the preceding year. The first nine-month after-tax profit of OGDCL is at Rs.90.93 billion.

It is ironic that shares of these profit-making companies are being sold instead of the loss-making institutions such as Pakistan Steel, Pakistan International Airlines or Pakistan Railways.

This reflects the sad reality that the Sharif government is unable to generate the much-needed additional resources through taxation and expanding the tax-net. The government has also proved unable to bring in FDI as foreigners remain reluctant to bet on Pakistan due to its grave security situation and the continued political instability.

This unfriendly investment climate can be overwhelmingly blamed on the government, which delayed the vital operation against Al Qaeda-linked foreign and local terrorists by wasting time in the so-called peace talks and pursuing confrontationist policies on the domestic political front.

As per past practice, Sharif’s team is relying on heavy borrowing from banks, external resources and the equity markets as well as by printing new notes rather than taking difficult decisions to put the economy back on the track. 

One year down the road in power, Sharif’s image as a pro-business leader has taken a hit for the road not taken and treading the tried and tested beaten path. Celebrating failures or grand illusions of success are hardly a recipe for turning around the economy.

Celebrating failures

Celebrating failures

Celebrating failures

ime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government is basking in the glory of the ‘successful’ capital market transaction of its five percent shares in Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), which brought Rs.15.3 billion to the national treasury. - See more at: http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/moneymatter_detail.asp?id=8366&magId=10&catId=245#sthash.0JC1DPIk.dpuf

The Gullus Within Us

By Amir Zia
Monday, July 07, 2014
The News

Gulluism makes its presence felt among many of us – if not all. It can cut across all barriers of class, social and educational background, manifesting itself in our reckless actions, ill-judged words and violent, unbalanced ideas and thoughts

 
Gullu Butt - the baton-wielding hooligan, who smashed cars outside Minhajul Quran headquarters in Lahore’s Model Town last month, has gradually descended back into oblivion after briefly blazing across our televisions screens, adorning the front pages of newspapers and shocking the collective consciousness of this nation. But in his proverbial ‘two minutes of fame,’ Butt became a living metaphor of our society where by-and-large disregard of the law, senseless emotional outbursts, violent behaviour and irrationality remain in vogue.
In this case, Gullu thought his political mentors and ‘police connections’ made him invincible. Unfortunately for him, the media glare didn’t let him get away with his vandalism. Now he is mercifully behind bars – showing that crime does not always pay even in this land of the pure. Luck sometimes runs out as it did even for his political gurus who in their ‘Gullu’ moments ordered the police to fire on Tahirul Qadri’s supporters, leaving over a dozen people dead.
However, one does not always need to be a ‘Butt’ to be a Gullu. It is a kind of a state of being – let’s call it Gulluism – that can afflict anyone regardless of caste, family, ethnic, sectarian, religious or political affiliations. One can be an Awan or an Ansari, a Bugti or a Burki, a Chachar or a Chandio, a Dasti or a Domki… Gulluism makes its presence felt among many of us – if not all. It can cut across all barriers of class, social and educational background, manifesting itself in our reckless actions, ill-judged words and violent, unbalanced ideas and thoughts. 
A few days ago in Karachi’s Gizri area, I saw a middle-aged and an apparently educated gentleman bouncing out of his shiny, new car when it was hit by a careless young motorcyclist. The gentleman, despite his bulging tummy, managed to run a few steps to grab the fleeing motorcyclist and without uttering a word smashed a slap into his face… But he did not stop at one blow. Three more slaps followed on the face of the stunned motorcyclist, who apparently became paralysed by the sheer speed and aggression of the gentleman. It all happened within seconds, barely providing anyone a chance to intervene. The gentleman bolted back to his car with equal speed and was gone. Had this gentleman been carrying a baton, like our infamous Gullu, he would have certainly hit it right at the motorcyclist’s head. Luckily the episode occurred away from the gaze of television cameras.
And how can I forget a fashionable lady, who parked her car in the middle of the road in upscale Clifton during the evening rush hour and got into a heated argument with another car driver, asking her to clear the road and help ease the traffic jam. The woman screamed, abused and threatened the poor man, daring him to do whatever he wanted to. People gathered – as happens in all such cases – some of them amused, others frustrated or just curious. This free circus ended only when another woman carrying shopping bags took her seat besides the angry lady car driver and off they went in a huff. 
One can call this Gulluism among our educated and the affluent, who in drawing-room discussions, are often seen lamenting the state of lawlessness, disorder and chaos around us. They moan and groan about Gullus, who drive the wrong-side on one-ways, jump traffic lights, park vehicles on the middle of the roads or get furious on the smallest of issue. But many of them seldom hesitate in doing what they always criticise in their sober moments.
We see such incidents of Gulluism almost every other day on our streets. Gullus, who wear handlebar moustaches, those without them and even among the fairer sex – they are all around us.
However, this Gulluism in the lower, middle- and upper-classes is just the tip of the iceberg. In terms of impact, Gulluism of the powerless or of those possessing only a tiny shred of power is limited, though it also contributes to the disorder, underlining the total disregard of the law and weak writ of the state. Sometimes when Gulluism transforms into mob frenzy, we witness mass disorder, mayhem and violence on our streets.
When Gulluism oozes out of the high-and-mighty of this land and political and religious leaders, then there is a bigger trouble. Just over the last decade or so we have seen conflicts and turmoil a number of times because the so-called ‘big men’ bade adieu to commonsense, rationality, and moderation and acted like Gullu.
Recently, Imran Khan, our once beloved cricket-hero, who has now transformed into an ageing angry politician, was seen vowing in a rally that he would hang policemen with his own hands if they try to harm his supporters. These words expose Imran Khan’s Gullu mindset and his total disregard of the law. 
Urbanites, especially his women fans, should be forewarned that despite all the Oxford education, Imran Khan’s concept of justice is too tribal, too Taliban-like. No wonder, the mainstream and new media took him on. There were some interesting tweets, giving him a new title ‘Jallad Khan’, which overshadowed the previous label of ‘Taliban Khan.’
One can at least give this much credit to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari that they never threw such loose balls – at least verbally. In the good old days, Sharif had Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed to make such odd and even dirty remarks. These days, this vacuum is filled by the two Khawajas and a couple of other cabinet members. But Sharif has learned to speak with moderation – if not to act. Zardari’s team is too politically astute to come up with such rash remarks.
Sharif’s Gulluism is manifested in his actions; the way he takes on institutions and picks up unnecessary and untimely conflicts that could be avoided. Zardari’s Gulluism is reflected in his passion for percentages and the way he wheels and deals with friends and rivals alike.
The list of Pakistan’s prominent Gullus is lengthy. We can agree or disagree on their names – depending on our biases or sympathies. Gulluism taken to the extreme by religious-minded people leads to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and a belief that salvation lies in foolish, thoughtless acts of courage or blowing yourself up in a suicide attacks, killing innocent people. When it gets on a tribal chief, he may order his followers to shower rockets at gas fields as Nawab Akbar Bugti did. His Gulluism led to a military operation in which the Nawab lost his life and triggered a chain of violence that still haunts Balochistan.
But who am I to point fingers at others without admitting that there is also a Gullu within me. A few days ago, when I was in an obstinate and confrontationist mood, I was reprimanded by one of my seniors to curb what he called ‘the little monkey’ within me that often raises his head. “You will be a bit better and productive person if you manage to rein in this monkey, which is in all of us. The art is in controlling that creature”, I was advised. Can one dispute that? What I call Gulluism, my senior called it ‘a little monkey’.
Therefore, my dear reader, the ‘Gullu’ or the ‘little monkey’ within us – whatever name you may give it – never pays in the long run. It is self-destructive. It is fatal. The success of individuals, institutions and the nation lies in moderation, respect and adherence to the law. For a better self, society and the country, we must fight this Gullu or little monkey within us. It is a constant battle. Let’s learn to be patient and play by the book. This alone can bring order, peace and progress in our society.

Militancy and Media-Lingo

By Amir Zia
Thursday, July 03, 2014  
The News

The stereotyping and branding of ‘terrorists’ under various religious tags is acting as a two-edged sword – defaming Islam as well as granting a sort of legitimacy to the perpetrators of such acts.
 
A few years ago, a non-government organisation held a seminar to discuss its research on literature produced by the local militant organisations. The seminar was titled ‘Jihadi media in Pakistan and its impact’. The focus of the research was mainly the outlawed militant groups carrying out acts of terrorism, sabotage, and violence including the sectarian motivated killings across Pakistan.
My humble submission to the select group of participants was: should we be calling the literature produced by militant or terrorist groups ‘jihadi media?’ Aren’t we providing these banned groups the kind of religious legitimacy they crave for given the fact that the concept of jihad remains sacred for all Muslims?
At the same time, isn’t the mainstream local and foreign media guilty of undermining the great religion of Islam by associating its sacred concept of jihad with terrorism? Isn’t it a fact that mainstream Islamic scholars and a vast majority of law abiding, peace loving Muslims – not just in Pakistan, but across the globe – have nothing to with these acts of terror carried out by a handful of extremists and a very small organised minority?
When the research was finally published, it was titled ‘Militants’ media in Pakistan and its impact’. But this hardly changed the fact that both the mainstream national and western media continue to use sacred Islamic terms while reporting, analysing and describing terrorism and violence committed by the non-state actors.
Phrases like ‘jihadists, jihadi organisations, jihadi literature, jihadi activities, and mujahideen’ remain in vogue to describe outlawed groups, terrorists and their acts of terror by the western media as well as Pakistan’s Urdu and English language press.
Leading academics, researchers and writers also do not hesitate in using such phrases in their flawed sense for terrorists, who as a matter of cold-blooded policy target and kill non-combatant civilians – not just people belonging to other faiths, but fellow Muslims too.
On the one hand, this kind of branding from friends and foes alike suits the militant groups as they try to put a stamp of religion on their otherwise political goals. On the other, it tarnishes the image of Islam, which clearly lays down rules of war and conflict that bar its followers from killing non-combatant civilians, attacking or slaughtering people at the places of worship and destroying public and private property. Islamic teachings even do not allow uprooting, burning or cutting down fruitful trees or spoiling cultivated fields and gardens, let alone taking lives of innocent people including women and children.
There is no dearth of meticulously-done research and edicts by leading Islamic scholars, who explain Islam’s rules of war in light of the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah.
In Pakistan’s context, there is a consensus among all the leading Islamic scholars and the mainstream religious parties – from various factions of the Deobandi Jamiat Ulema Islam to that of Ahl-e-Hadith Jamaat-ud Dawah, various Barelvi and Shia organisations and the Jamaat-e-Islami – that raising arms against the state, attacking the security forces, killing civilians or resorting to suicide attacks is forbidden. That is the reason some of the leading Islamic scholars and leaders themselves became the target of these terrorists groups and many others continue to live under constant threat.
However, despite the consensus among religious groups and other mainstream secular political parties that terrorism and violence against fellow Muslims is against the tenets of Islam, militants have been able to sell their flawed narrative using the mainstream media as well as their own publications – and new media.
Militants’ own publications, which include booklets, monthly and weekly magazines, books and pamphlets, are generally directed towards their hardcore followers, sympathisers and new recruits and converts, while new media is being used more for wider propaganda purposes. The worldview propagated in militants’ media is confrontationist, myopic and intolerant as it twists Islamic teachings – by selective and out of context inclusion even of the text of the Quran and Hadith and lacing it with their narrow political or sectarian message to incite violence, terrorism and radicalisation in the society. Their monthly, weekly or daily publications – many of which are easily available even at bookstores and at newspaper stalls from major cities to small towns and villages – can be at best described as propagandist in nature, using the Islamic terms of jihad, mujahid (holy warrior), shaheed (martyr) for their activities and activists. These publications have a high impact on their narrow targeted readership, though in terms of overall reach in society they remain limited.
It is ironic that it was the mainstream national and western media which should get the credit for ‘popularising’ the Islamic concept of jihad in all its narrow sense from New York to Karachi and London to Peshawar during the days of the Afghan resistance against the forces of the former Soviet Union and its backed communist government in Kabul. The United States and all its western and Muslim allied nations stand guilty of exploiting Islam for their political ends – the poisonous fruit of that harvest we are reaping even today.
All through the 1980s and even in the initial years of 1990s, the terms of jihadists, jihad, mujahid, shaheed were used to glorify the violent non-state actors – who served as the proxies of the United States and its allies. Successive Pakistani governments openly patronised many of these extremists groups.
Once the international yardstick of journalism advocated the use of neutral words such as militants for violent non-state actors rather than exalting or vilifying them with defining terms or adjectives. This journalistic practice was overwhelmingly abandoned during the heat of the Afghan war.
However, all these terms, which once had positive connotations in the western media changed to the negative from the mid-1990s when Al-Qaeda and its inspired organisations took on the west. After the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist strikes on the United States, these terms are now overwhelmingly used by the western and the national media for non-state actors who are largely seen as ‘villains’ and ‘terrorists’ by the states and their institutions.
The stereotyping and branding of ‘terrorists’ under various religious tags is acting as a two-edged sword – defaming Islam as well as granting a sort of legitimacy to the perpetrators of such acts.
Today, the mainstream media inadvertently helps associate Islamic concepts with militancy, which is more the result of sloppy journalistic practices that do not take into account the larger impact of the indiscriminate use of words including jihad and jihadists for terrorist groups and their members.
The answer to this predicament in this war of narratives is a conscious effort to not use religiously-loaded terms for militants and violent non-state actors. Media persons, especially in Pakistan, have to revert back to the basic and old tried and tested yardstick of using neutral words for these non-state actors rather than labelling them as the militants wants to be labelled.
This becomes all the more important as the Pakistani armed forces have finally started the much-awaited operation against militants in the North Waziristan – the last safe haven of Al-Qaeda linked and inspired foreign and local militants. The mainstream media can deprive these militants of one of their major shields and blunt their ideological weapon if it stops associating them and their activities with Islamic concepts.
Jihad after all is not just about raising weapons. It is a much higher concept that begins with self-control and acting with moderation and justice – be it in peace or during wartime. In an overwhelming Muslim state like Pakistan, it is only the government that can give a call of jihad and not a group of narrow minded clerics. If extremists are allowed to use and abuse this sacred Islamic concept, each and every one of our neighbourhoods will stand divided not just against the other, but even from within. The media should help the state win this battle of narratives.

Picture Perfect

By Amir Zia
Monday, June 23, 2014
The News

The farce of the much-hyped ‘peace-talks’ with the local Taliban is over and now rests in the dustbin of history. Let’s try to forget how much time and energy some of our honourable ministers and cheerleaders of the Taliban wasted on selling this unsaleable, futile exercise to the nation.

After wasting many crucial weeks and months, the civilian leadership has finally decided to stand with the armed forces to fight the twin ghost of extremism and terrorism. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and many of his key team members suddenly turned over a new leaf. They have at last seen the light to salvation. Now, by the grace of Almighty Allah, they are on the ‘same-page’, where our military leadership wanted them to be. 
Yes, the farce of the much-hyped ‘peace-talks’ with the local Taliban is over and now rests in the dustbin of history. Let’s try to forget how much time and energy some of our honourable ministers and cheerleaders of the Taliban wasted on selling this unsaleable, futile exercise to the nation. Let’s ignore the fact that those who raised a red-flag against the policy of appeasing these violent non-state actors were branded as ‘enemies of peace’. Let’s also disregard the statements of some of those ministers who want us to believe that it was the civilian leadership’s initiative and direct orders to the military high command that led to Operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ against militants. Such pronouncements are nothing but a poor attempt by government spin-masters and propagandists to show that they remain masters of the situation.
The good thing is that finally most politicians are apparently with the military leadership in combating the Al-Qaeda linked and inspired local and foreign militants who are out to undermine the writ of the state and are responsible for the killing of thousands of civilians and security personnel. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Raheel Sharif together seen in photographs and television footage visiting Peshawar Headquarters or holding meetings to discuss the nitty-gritty of the operation offer a great visual and optimism to this beleaguered nation. It is picture perfect.
The 20 major terrorist attacks that occurred when the PML-N government was holding its doomed peace talks with militants from end-January till June 8 and which resulted in the martyrdom of 195 people, including dozens of soldiers was the price the nation paid for this failed process.
The government is unlikely to come up with a tangible explanation as to why it bet on talks, rejecting all sane advice given by military experts, independent analysts and some mainstream political parties against this option. Who will take responsibility for this failed plan that gave crucial breathing space to militants and resulted in the killing of 195 people and the audacious attack at Karachi’s old airport? Will Prime Minister Sharif hold the architects of these so-called ‘peace talks’ accountable? Will any heads of cabinet members roll?
When a nation is at war, national consensus and unity are a must. But it does not mean that in the name of consensus and unity, those in power stop being self- critical, avoid admitting mistakes and impede the process of accountability. This self-correction and accountability is as vital as taking on the enemy on the battlefront. It is the first step for setting the course of the national narrative on the right track when a country is passing through a protracted internal conflict as the one Pakistan faces today.
It is in Prime Minister Sharif’s enlightened self-interest to publicly identify, isolate and hold responsible all those around him who till yesterday were branding this conflict an ‘American war’ and attempting to portray Pakistan’s foes as friends. This intellectually dishonest element can again try to confuse the issue and destroy national unity against extremism and terrorism as the operation drags on – which it will, given the elusive nature of the internal enemy.
If the prime minister really means what he told the nation on the floor of parliament on June 16 that Pakistan “will no more be allowed to become a sanctuary for the terrorists,” then he should help the armed forces by spearheading the ideological fight against this scourge. And the first step in this direction remains getting rid of the Taliban sympathisers around him who have more tears in their eyes for terrorist kingpins like Hakeemullah Mehsud than for our soldiers laying down their lives for the country.
The nation has no doubts that the armed forces will destroy the terrorist safe havens and training centres in North Waziristan despite its treacherous terrain. Reclaiming and establishing the writ of the state in this last stronghold of militants is a matter of months if not weeks. Our soldiers have already done this in more than 85 percent territory of Fata. They can do it North Waziristan, which according to military sources remains the ‘centre of gravity’ for many of the local and foreign terrorists. It is this place that has been serving as the hub of terrorist activities across Pakistan. It houses various terrorist groups, from the local Taliban to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and a host of other shadowy bands of militants. It is where the majority of suicide bombers are trained and harboured. It is where the explosives-laden vehicles are prepared.
Pakistan’s armed forces will complete their mission of establishing the writ of the state in this lawless region for the first time in history where only three percent of the territory is under the control of militants and around 10 percent being contested. But the more arduous task would be fighting this faceless enemy in the major cities, towns and villages. It will require steely and unwavering resolve as the terrorists enjoy the advantage of selecting their targets across Pakistan and launching surprise attacks through their sleeper cells.
These terrorists groups abuse the sacred name of Islam and have their supporters, sympathisers and networks among many religious seminaries, mosques and legal religious and rightwing organisations. It is indeed a difficult scenario, but not a challenge that cannot be countered. The real task would be to defeat their ideological narrative, which at one level remains responsible for fanning sectarian violence and hatred and at the other declares the efforts of bringing peace, rule of law and halting the use of Pakistani territory for global and domestic terrorism as a foreign war.
This battle of narratives is much more crucial in defeating these violent non-state actors to make Pakistan a normal country – at peace with itself, its neighbours and the world. And winning this battle of ideology will be a prolonged process, requiring reclaiming our seminaries, mosques and mainstream education institutions from the clutches of fanatics and extremists.
Do the government, our major secular, religious opposition parties and clerics have a plan for this? They need to get on ‘one page’ to back the armed forces in winning this battle of narratives.
Similarly, the mainstream media has to play a crucial role in achieving this goal as Operation Zarb-e-Azb remains on the roll. This means that our electronic and print media does not in any way glamorise terrorists, become a vehicle to propagate terrorists’ viewpoint or treat them as equal to the state. In the past, while the independent media has played a responsible role in the wake of such challenges, at times it has advertently or inadvertently also stood guilty of serving as a mouthpiece of terrorists and confusing the issues.
In the wake of the operation, the extremists are likely resort to terrorist attacks – at sensitive installations, security forces and even soft civilian targets – in an attempt to deflect pressure on their last remaining sanctuary. This blowback would be a test for the nation, which has been suffering at the hands of these terrorists since early 2002. But this conflict remains unavoidable and a must to win peace for Pakistan. 
The armed forces and the nation are already bracing this challenge. It is now up to our politicians – especially Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – to lead from the front and provide the vision to win this internal war. Zarb-e-Azb has given hope to Pakistan. Pakistan has no choice other than to win this war.