The peace conundrum

The recent letter sent by Prime Minister Imran Khan, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extended an olive branch to India and instilled the hope of cordial relations between the two eternal enemies. The first step was proposing a meeting between their respective foreign ministers, on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session.

Initially, India accepted the offer and a possible thaw in relations could be foreseen, but the joy was short lived as India resorted to play its all-time favorite role of the reluctant bride, and with that all hopes of peace came dashing down once again. Of course India has come up with certain reservations but these are preposterous ones, the statements issued by Indian MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) say that insurgents trained and armed by Pakistan have killed Indian LEA personnel which include three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and a BSF (Border Security Force) guard whose body was mutilated as well. Furthermore, Pakistan glorifies terrorists because they have issued postal stamps to commemorate Burhan Wani.

Now either the information sharing amongst departments in India is very slow or they are too naïve to come up with some better pretext. The events in retaliation to which the talks have been put in cold storage occurred, way before India had acceded to hold the meeting and Pakistan had already rejected the Indian accusations.

So what is it that is preventing the Modi Government from initiating peace process. One, Modi Government is under immense pressure from Congress Party after the former French President Francis Hollande told in an interview that Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defense Ltd was made partner in Rafale jets deal on Indian Government’s request, which gave rise to suspicion of embezzlement on Modi Governments part. Two, elections are just around the corner in India and maintaining an antagonistic posture against Pakistan will assist BJP to earn respect in eyes of their supporters and their Right Wing political allies like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Being a peace preaching dove for a party, that capitalises on hate, and uses it as a fuel to run their political campaigns, is a hard pill to swallow and will diminish the probability of BJP winning the upcoming elections. The tactic has been used previously as well, not long ago talks initiative was aborted by the Indian side citing Uri Attacks and a self-proclaimed surgical strike on Pakistan in retaliation by India. So the line, “One step forward, two steps back.”, cannot be given a better form than Pak-India peace process.

Although much desired maturity has been displayed by the Pakistani side, but by not commensurating, the Indian side has exposed itself in the international arena, the duplicity which India exercises by showing outward compliance for peace, but inward defiance for the same has raised many eye brows.

The world has fathomed the ulterior motives of India, and the Modi government may not be able to garner support this time; as no neutral state is going to buy this broken record of India crying foul anymore.

Another paradigm shift witnessed this time is that vitriolic statements once emanating from the office of the Indian Defense Minister; are now coming from the Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat. This is a premonition that India is least interested in holding talks, they know that had the Foreign Ministers put the issues on the anvil, the chances of ironing out the differences would have been bright. However, all these moves on part of India suggest that she does not want to resolve any issue including Kashmir.

Salman Taseer 1-0 bigots

What the slain governor said about Aasia Bibi’s case seven years back has been proven in the Apex court of Pakistan. His clairvoyance and the vision of justice for marginalised minorities of Pakistanhas won today, and finally the justice has been served in this lawless land of the pure. He must be smiling from above that his blood has not gone in vain, and finally the lady for whom he paid with his life on January 4, 2011, has been set free. We can say without any qualms that Taseer won, and the bigots lost!

The biggest irony in Pakistan is that people do not do research on their own, but they rely on hearsay and digest the facts which are muddled and distorted. Galvanise extremist minds with such cooked content and you have a weapon of mass destruction that can eliminate saner minds like Salman Taseer to establish their control on society. Later on, when such people are brought before the court of law and are asked if they actually listened to the source or believed what they heard from the local cleric, their answer is that we acted on information we heard.

The Blasphemy law was passed in 1860, during the British era which included crimes like disturbing congregations, trespass on burial grounds, desecrating religious beliefs or defiling places of worship. Initially the punishment was 10 years imprisonment, but during Zia’s regime in 1986, death penalty was included for blasphemy.

The verdict of Supreme Court is indeed a historic one, it has laid the foundation of building a Pakistan where minorities will be protected as stated in the constitution, and has sent a clear message that bigots will not be allowed to misuse the name of the Prophet (SAW) to achieve their nefarious designs. The remarks of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, “Blasphemy is a serious offence but the insult of the appellant’s religion and religious sensibilities by the complainant party and then mixing truth with falsehood in the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was also not short of being blasphemous”, created ripples in the extremist quarters that they cannot use blasphemy to settle personal scores.

Now the onus lies on the political parties of Pakistan and their lawmakers to amend the law so that if someone falsely accuses another of committing blasphemy, and its proven that the defendant was being framed by the one who has accused; then the accuser should be taken to task and an example may be set for others to stay away from such preposterous accusations. But, the problem is that in a society where things can escalate quickly even political parties decide to brush off serious issues and go with the flow.

Hitherto, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (PPP) following the Prime Minister Imran Khan have expressed their support for the Supreme Court’s Decision, other political parties and their leaders do not want to enter this realm, for no one wants to become another Salman Taseer. However, what they do not realise is that how long will this continue and how many Mashal Khans and Aasia Bibis are yet to bear the brunt of being falsely accused. It is high time we addressed the misuse of Blasphemy at the hands of those who want to exercise their hard power through use of sensitive topics; if the west can come out of its witch hunt, why cannot we?

Furthermore, there are groups that are waiting for such issues to use them for their expediency. Such groups garner their support from the strata of population who believe whatever they are told is true and if they are not up in arms at such junctures, they may die as infidels and may never enter heaven. Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is one such group that leaves no occasion to further its agenda, and now it has become a political party as well. When personal interests like gaining power are involved, the cause cannot remain an altruistic one for long; and the most dangerous situation brews when religion is used as a tool for political gain

Moreover, Fatwas by the TLP leadership have been issue which openly ordain their followers to kill the three Honorable Judges who were part of the bench that acquitted Aasia Bibi. It does not end here, they have also asked Pak Army generals to rebel against the Chief of Army staff.

The institutions need to take necessary action right away as issuing such edicts openly can prove to be catastrophic and land the country in a precarious situation. Followers of TLP also need to be told that Islam is a religion of peace and the Holy Prophet (SAW) forgave the people who pelted him with stones, who hurled abuses at him, who caused him pain.

The people of Pakistan have a chance to get rid of extremism which wears the guise of religion. People like Salman Taseer have been martyred to highlight this issue, their blood has borne fruit which has grown on the branches of the Judiciary. Now it is up to us to point out those who have used the name of our Holy Prophet (SAW), and have played with the sentiments of the masses for their own advantage to propagate nothing but an extremist mindset. If they are not dealt with properly this time, then we as a nation will have lost an opportunity to set our course on the straight path.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Pseudo intellectuals and politics

“So you all are impressed with the Chinese system of accountability where they blow out the brains of corrupt individuals. You want to see Pakistan as corruption free as China, but little do you know that it ranks seventy-seventh on the latest corruption perceptions index by Transparency International”, said former general secretary of Islamabad High Court Bar Association, Hyder Syed after taking a sip of tea in his chambers.

Preposterous notions such as these are rightly debunked by individuals like Hyder Syed, as constructed and readily accepted by the majority. We accept information without verifying the source because it comes from a seemingly educated person. Unfortunately, we have seen an exponential increase in this new breed of men. These men possess academic degrees, they walk well, they talk well, they have this veneer of sophistication and they will leave you impressed, until they utter something which makes absolutely no sense at all or pass contradictory statements.

This was not the case in olden days, because if someone wanted to learn about something, either he would head towards the library or he would take lectures on that particular subject. The advent of the web has made information sharing among the masses easier, we hoped that it would make the coming generations more knowledgeable; but, this dream seems to be an elusive one, and it’s unfulfilment can partly be blamed on the use of social media and Millennials who are hooked to their phones.

Social media has provided everyone with a space to write and upload any type of content which they deem fit. People post about topics without having a speck of knowledge about them. Before it’s introduction, the only source of information for citizens were books, electronic media and print media. The content in these mediums is published for a mass audience and have gatekeepers in the form of erudite editors and staff. Only after intense scrutiny, is the information passed on to people.

How can a person who has not studied political science or international relations in detail discuss such issues. A graduate during his stay at a university gains technical knowledge about the discipline of his choice, if he is an electrical engineer he will know more about circuits than a psychologist, if he is a doctor he will know more about the organic machine called man than he knows about Geology or the Earth.

The problem is that we do not want others to think that we are not knowledgeable about a certain topic, we try to impress them by stating things with impunity. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, because if we do not know about something at all, we will not jump to erroneous conclusions. The phenomena cannot be explained by anyone better than the English philosopher Bertrand Russell who said, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubt.”

Time to break the reverie

On 4th of August the nation came across the enrapturing news that Exxon-Mobil was close to hitting mega oil reserves that will surpass the oil reserves of Kuwait in size.

The writer had already imagined himself behind the wheel of gas guzzling convertible V8 Ford Mustang cruising down M2 he called a friend who is working at an oil and gas firm to make plans about buying his dream car in the near future as Pakistan is to drown in a deluge of Petro-Dollars very soon.

Unfortunately, the voice on the other side of the phone was bland and devoid of an alacrity, which proved to be a rather ugly twist that shattered the writer’s dreams. His friend told him that may be Care Taker Minister for Maritime Affairs Mr. Abdullah Haroon was misled by his subordinate staff or he misconstrued what the staff had briefed him about.

Not giving up so easily on his dream, the writer and his friend decided to delve deep into the issue and they got their hands on the latest activity map and report which is issued monthly by DGPC-Directorate of Petroleum Concessions. A thorough examination of the map and report transpired that as of now there are no exploration activities being carried out by any company near or adjacent to the Pak-Iran border. The only source behind these towering claims was an aerial survey which can not substantiate presence of oil reserves, the only information it can provide is about structural orientations.

It is pertinent to mention here that oil exploration is an intricate and daunting task which includes processes like 2D and 3D surveys followed by geo-physical analyses, even then one cannot claim to have found oil reserves until and unless the test wells start producing crude oil because there are plethora of examples where results of surveys and test wells contradicted each other. So to put the record straight the chances of hitting any mega oil reserves right now are equivalent to hitting nothing at all.

Although the Minister has tried to eat a humble pie by shifting his stance from “is about to hit” to “hopefully will hit”, the intriguing part is that how can he state something which is not corroborated by actual facts and figures. As a corollary such sweeping statements can have a negative impact on businesses, especially in a multi-billion-dollar industry of oil and gas.

Ironically, this is not the first time in Pakistan that statements have been made without prior deliberation. In 2015 the then Prime Minister Mr Nawaz Sharif claimed that we have found huge gold and copper reserves in Chinot, which could help the country wave its good-bye to the infamous begging bowl. Today hardly anyone remembers the promises of this discovery.

Similarly, not long ago our Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Maleeha Lodhi held up a picture of a girl in the UN General Assembly while speaking about the atrocities committed by the Indian state in Indian occupied Kashmir, later on it was debunked that the picture was of a 17-year-old Palestinian girl injured by a shrapnel in an Israeli attack and the rest is history.

Now with high spirits the nation has embarked upon a new mission. We are going to build dams by collecting donations but have we considered that collecting 1.4 trillion rupees like this is a gargantuan task?

There must be a difference between the statements of an average social media user who can post anything he deems appropriate on his account and those holding prominent positions in echelons of power as the public considers this information as authentic. What sort of a message are we conveying that, in Pakistan the only thing which is certain is uncertainty, where every now and then castles of sand are made and forgotten.

The point of concern is that instead of learning from our blunders we tend to stick to the same plan time and again. The current situation can aptly be described in words of George Satyana; “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

The only way out of this vortex is to consult specialists, before stating anything or taking initiatives the feasibility reports may be furnished and then discussed at length. Unequivocally it is impossible for a single person at the top to cross examine and process all the information, so the people who are responsible for briefing the top brass should work diligently and make sure that things are elucidated in a crystal clear manner.

The nation is tired of brushing the dust under the carpet, now the time has come for us to wake up and make sure that we do not accept lollipops anymore. Pakistan has witnessed some drastic changes lately which is a prelude to idyllic times ahead, it is hoped and prayed that the nation will not be given false hopes for sake of political expediency by the upcoming government of PTI and they are successful in burying this culture of irresponsibility.

The writer is a Geophysicist.

Pseudo intellectuals and politics

“So you all are impressed with the Chinese system of accountability where they blow out the brains of corrupt individuals. You want to see Pakistan as corruption free as China, but little do you know that it ranks seventy-seventh on the latest corruption perceptions index by Transparency International”, said former general secretary of Islamabad High Court Bar Association, Hyder Syed after taking a sip of tea in his chambers.

Preposterous notions such as these are rightly debunked by individuals like Hyder Syed, as constructed and readily accepted by the majority. We accept information without verifying the source because it comes from a seemingly educated person. Unfortunately, we have seen an exponential increase in this new breed of men. These men possess academic degrees, they walk well, they talk well, they have this veneer of sophistication and they will leave you impressed, until they utter something which makes absolutely no sense at all or pass contradictory statements.

This was not the case in olden days, because if someone wanted to learn about something, either he would head towards the library or he would take lectures on that particular subject. The advent of the web has made information sharing among the masses easier, we hoped that it would make the coming generations more knowledgeable; but, this dream seems to be an elusive one, and it’s unfulfilment can partly be blamed on the use of social media and Millennials who are hooked to their phones.

Social media has provided everyone with a space to write and upload any type of content which they deem fit. People post about topics without having a speck of knowledge about them. Before it’s introduction, the only source of information for citizens were books, electronic media and print media. The content in these mediums is published for a mass audience and have gatekeepers in the form of erudite editors and staff. Only after intense scrutiny, is the information passed on to people.

How can a person who has not studied political science or international relations in detail discuss such issues. A graduate during his stay at a university gains technical knowledge about the discipline of his choice, if he is an electrical engineer he will know more about circuits than a psychologist, if he is a doctor he will know more about the organic machine called man than he knows about Geology or the Earth.

The problem is that we do not want others to think that we are not knowledgeable about a certain topic, we try to impress them by stating things with impunity. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, because if we do not know about something at all, we will not jump to erroneous conclusions. The phenomena cannot be explained by anyone better than the English philosopher Bertrand Russell who said, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubt.”

Today political discussions have become all the rage and those who do not know why Pakistan saw seven prime ministers deposed within six years from 1952 to 1958, are seen giving sweeping statements on the political dynamics of Pakistan with confidence. While others continue to share unauthentic information, the cycle continues unabated. No one is interested in reading books by neutral writers, who are considered an authority on the subject.

No wonder political parties target, the young demographic who has the maximum number of pseudo intellectuals and are the most gullible. They believe the exorbitant schemes and plans told to them without raising questions or asking for roadmaps.

This issue is more of an epidemic which has engulfed the globe rather than a specific region. However, there is a silver lining, we can encourage the younger generation to explore and develop critical thinking. Push them to ask questions.

The reading culture which was in vogue once, has to be revived again. Libraries are the gateway to knowledge, and this must not be forgotten. The world cannot rely and sustain on cherry picked ideas, superficial and distorted information. Our people need to see the real picture, otherwise the choices we makes as a society will prove to be ruinous.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Representation of smaller provinces in the federation

A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Similarly, a federation is as strong as its federating units. However, if federating units (Provinces) are not given their due share in resources or are not represented adequately at the center, the repercussions can be dire including a growing sense of alienation among the people of that province.

It has been observed in Pakistan that political parties which make it to the echelons of power after garnering votes from all four provinces are more likely to look after the concerns of smaller provinces including their representation at the center. Until the 1990s the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was renowned as a party of the entire federation, as it had its power base in all the provinces but now PPP has been relegated to the position of a provincial party.

While Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN) always concentrated on the single largest province of Punjab as it provided them with enough seats to make a government in the center. Hence, providing leverage to smaller provinces at the center was the of their concerns.

But now there is a new party that has  leastemerged on the horizon and has successfully bagged seats from all provinces. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proved to its critics that it indeed is the party of federation and does not represent people from only one province. Moreover, Prime Minister Imran Khan has also vowed that smaller provinces will be given attention they deserve.

If we looked at the composition of the federal cabinet we shall find only one minister from Balochistan; Mrs Zubaida Jalal. In the case of Sindh previously only one minister; Mrs Fehmida Mirza was included in the cabinet, but later the Prime Minister realised that having one minister from rural areas of the second largest province which has approximately a 50 million population was not a justified move. So a second Federal Minister Mr. Ali Muhammad Mahar was also included in the federal cabinet recently. However, PTI needs to realise that more representation is expected from backward regions in the future as it will instill confidence in the people of these areas.

Similarly, the situation is equally abysmal when it comes to bureaucracy. One can hardly find a single Federal Secretary from Balochistan. This reeks of the narrative, that representation of smaller provinces in Federal Government is also not in accordance with the quota allocated to each federating unit. According to the Statistical Bulletin about employees of the Federal Government 2016, and 2017, by the Establishment Division; 171,237 posts are lying vacant in Federal Government and the majority of these positions belong to smaller provinces like Balochistan, Sindh, Former FATA region and Gilgit-Baltistan.

To further add insult to injury the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) illegally changed the qualifying criteria of CSS exam since 2013. The mentioned change affected the number candidates who passed backward regions adversely. In the last result of the CSS only 5 passed the exam against 52 available seats from Balochistan, 16 candidates from Sindh(R) passed the exam against 64 vacancies, 34 passed the exam against 58 vacancies from KPK and 11 passed the exam against 32 available seats from GB/FATA. Furthermore, rather than rectifying the illegal change and passing those candidates who were affected by the illegal changes, FPSC sought an ex-post facto (backdated) approval from the previous cabinet. Thus getting a green signal to implicitly bypass the quota system. The present government should declare that ex-post facto ordinance as null and void ab-initio, so that seats of smaller provinces can be filled back.

It is note worthy that certain quarters are of the opinion that the quota system should be done away with. The premise behind their argument is that if people belonging to backward regions are not at par with those of developed areas then they should not be recruited in Federal Government. This notion can comfortably be controverted by the fact that candidates belonging to these regions do not have the educational facilities and institutions at par with institutions in urban areas.

Through the eighteenth amendment in 2010, the sectors of health and education have been handed over to the provinces and they are responsible for turning moribund sectors into functioning ones. However, 60 years of negligence cannot be rectified in a single decade. Moreover, the purpose of having quota system transcends the idea of giving leverage to people from backward regions in competitions. The quota system is more about giving due representation to different ethnicities as per their population, which is a prerequisite for a strong and stable federation.

The events that led up to the partition of Bangladesh and Pakistan, have not been forgotten. Seeds of heart wrenching discrimination were sowed, and germinated on the beds of inequality; as East Pakistan was not given their due share in the government or other state employments. Pakistan cited that India took advantage of the situation through Machiavellian maneuverings. Such events serve as a clarion call for generations to come and we have also learned our lesson the hard way.

It is never too late to correct our path, the new government has stepped-in to run the country and with more power comes more responsibility. It is high time that initiatives are taken which can prove to be building blocks for a strong federation. The members of the cabinet from smaller provinces should voice the issues, people of their provinces face. It is their foremost duty to make sure the Prime Minister and the Federal government, give due share to previously discriminated provinces.

The writer is a freelance columnist

The peace conundrum

The recent letter sent by Prime Minister Imran Khan, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extended an olive branch to India and instilled the hope of cordial relations between the two eternal enemies. The first step was proposing a meeting between their respective foreign ministers, on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session.

Initially, India accepted the offer and a possible thaw in relations could be foreseen, but the joy was short lived as India resorted to play its all-time favorite role of the reluctant bride, and with that all hopes of peace came dashing down once again. Of course India has come up with certain reservations but these are preposterous ones, the statements issued by Indian MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) say that insurgents trained and armed by Pakistan have killed Indian LEA personnel which include three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and a BSF (Border Security Force) guard whose body was mutilated as well. Furthermore, Pakistan glorifies terrorists because they have issued postal stamps to commemorate Burhan Wani.

Now either the information sharing amongst departments in India is very slow or they are too naïve to come up with some better pretext. The events in retaliation to which the talks have been put in cold storage occurred, way before India had acceded to hold the meeting and Pakistan had already rejected the Indian accusations.

So what is it that is preventing the Modi Government from initiating peace process. One, Modi Government is under immense pressure from Congress Party after the former French President Francis Hollande told in an interview that Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defense Ltd was made partner in Rafale jets deal on Indian Government’s request, which gave rise to suspicion of embezzlement on Modi Governments part. Two, elections are just around the corner in India and maintaining an antagonistic posture against Pakistan will assist BJP to earn respect in eyes of their supporters and their Right Wing political allies like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Being a peace preaching dove for a party, that capitalises on hate, and uses it as a fuel to run their political campaigns, is a hard pill to swallow and will diminish the probability of BJP winning the upcoming elections. The tactic has been used previously as well, not long ago talks initiative was aborted by the Indian side citing Uri Attacks and a self-proclaimed surgical strike on Pakistan in retaliation by India. So the line, “One step forward, two steps back.”, cannot be given a better form than Pak-India peace process.

Although much desired maturity has been displayed by the Pakistani side, but by not commensurating, the Indian side has exposed itself in the international arena, the duplicity which India exercises by showing outward compliance for peace, but inward defiance for the same has raised many eye brows.

The world has fathomed the ulterior motives of India, and the Modi government may not be able to garner support this time; as no neutral state is going to buy this broken record of India crying foul anymore.

Another paradigm shift witnessed this time is that vitriolic statements once emanating from the office of the Indian Defense Minister; are now coming from the Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat. This is a premonition that India is least interested in holding talks, they know that had the Foreign Ministers put the issues on the anvil, the chances of ironing out the differences would have been bright. However, all these moves on part of India suggest that she does not want to resolve any issue including Kashmir.

It is a time of reckoning for both sides, especially India as they are used to looking at things through a jingoistic lens without realising that our region is inflicted by poverty, ignorance and lack of basic facilities.

The idea of fanning the flames of war is absurd;as millions of people on both sides are still living below poverty line.To then have this Sword of Damocles hanging above our states, in the form of war, is devouring financial resources that otherwise could have been utilised for the amelioration of the downtrodden masses.

The people of India, must also discourage their government from taking aggressive stances every now and then by relying on baseless threats. Unfortunately, owing to ignorance and poverty the masses are easily carried away by the rhetoric and they also start to toe the line of fire and fury.

We should learn from the people of Europe who were once embroiled in the bloodiest of conflicts in history like WW-II but after having firsthand experience of conflicts they have learnt their lesson and countries that once drew daggers are now joined by a union unlike any other where their people can interact freely.

While people of subcontinent have not witnessed such brutal conflicts in recent history that turn bustling metropolis into a necropolis and this is the reason they take war as something which excites them. They say wise is the one who learns from the blunders of others and we also need to learn from the blunders of other nations. Moreover, those nations were diligent enough to rebuild their countries and those wars were not between states as heavily nuclear armed as India and Pakistan are today.

Now the onus to bring the Indian government to the table; lies on the shoulders of Indian people as Pakistan has already extended its hand for peace. The two, third world nations cannot constantly afford to be under the dark clouds of war.

The writer can be reached via twitter: @murtazakazi1