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Poll panel
is right On the
beaten track |
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Ignominy
Down Under
J&K
2013-15 and beyond
Rebecca’s
grave
When the
Pakistan Army feels uneasy
You
won’t know until you ask
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On the beaten track
Punjab
already has a Lokpal but the Congress manifesto promises a “new effective Lokayukta”. The existing Lokpal, which covers the Chief Minister, among others, has not put anyone in jail for corruption. But the Congress is no longer as serious on fighting corruption as it was in 2002. In fact, charges of corruption are hurled by politicians at one another but no party in Punjab genuinely wants to curb it. If Punjab politicians earnestly wanted to stop corruption, which is one of the key reasons keeping private investment off the state, they would have demanded or passed a law about confiscating property of government servants convicted for corruption as has been done in Bihar and Orissa. The Congress effort to tackle corruption is as hollow as was its 2002 election promise to declare assets. During their 2002-07 rule Congress leaders did not make public their assets. Now again they have pledged to do that. The state Congress chief, Capt Amarinder Singh, speaks of “50,000 false cases” registered against party workers. The manifesto promises a commission to probe them. He also talks of replacing the Vigilance Bureau with a Vigilance Commission under a judge to insulate it from political meddling. The present Akali Dal-BJP government has not implemented the Supreme Court-dictated police reforms meant to separate the investigation and prosecution wings and eliminate political interference in the police functioning. If the Congress is voted to power, MLAs would lose control over police stations. This was a retrograde step taken to empower MLAs and needs to be axed. Promising free power to agriculture and assured supply to industry, the Congress does not explain how it would meet the financial demands of a near bankrupt power corporation, given the depleted state treasury. It is also silent on dealing with the problem of state debt, pruning the top-heavy administration and VIP security, and ending government profligacy. Competing with the Akali Dal in populism, the Congress has no credible agenda for improving the state finances and boosting economic growth.
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Ignominy Down Under
In
a country where cricket has an extraordinary following, it is not surprising that the ignominious showing by India in the Test series in Australia is being seen as a catastrophe. When the Indian team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni landed Down Under after an impressive showing on home grounds, the aging foursome of Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar was looked upon as the trumpcard that would catapult India to huge scores. That wishful thinking has now come crashing with three successive defeats, all by humiliating margins reviving unpleasant memories of a terrible drubbing in England. The Aussies, on the other hand, were ground to dust on home soil last year by their arch-rivals England but knew how to bounce back while India basked in over-confidence. Not only did the Indians seem at sea against hostile pace bowling, they came out psyched by the mind games that the Australian players and media unleashed against them. It is not unusual for Indians to over-react both to victory and defeat. But in defeat it is vital that we learn the right lessons. During the time that we rode to victories Dhoni was lauded as ‘Mr Cool’. Now there are various indignities being heaped on him. When the seniors in our team seemed well past their prime and the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the selectors panel needed to induct some promising youngsters to occupy their slots, we dithered. Now, we blame the veterans for not having made way at the appropriate time. Some basic decisions need to be taken. The seniors undoubtedly must be phased out and fresh blood inducted. Thought needs to be given also to the type of pitches we ought to prepare at home. If we prepare pitches that respond well to genuine pace, are we prepared to risk defeat initially for the long-term gain of being able to face pace better abroad? Shouldn’t the BCCI not subject the cricketers to too much cricket? It is indeed time for a dispassionate appraisal rather than crying ‘wolf’ and finding convenient scapegoats.
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The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. — Steve Biko
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J&K 2013-15 and beyond It
has been a good year for J&K with less internal turmoil, jihadis and separatists on the retreat and buoyant tourism. In contrast, Pakistan faces a near-implosion, essentially the backlash of a mistaken foundational ideology of permanent enmity towards India that has engendered radical Islam and militarisation. How things pan out remains to be seen as civil authority struggles to assert itself, but the people of J&K realise that Pakistan has brought them grief. Any viable inter-country settlement must relate to the Manmohan-Musharraf formula of making boundaries (read LoC) “irrelevant” through cross-border movement and exchanges leading to the two parts of J&K, each internally autonomous, evolving into a partial “condominium” within twin but separate sovereignties. The Home Minister plans shortly to unveil the J&K Interlocutors’ report for discussion. This internal dimension is best addressed along with the Prime Minister’s Five Task Force reports submitted earlier. Starting with a parliamentary debate, this is best followed up by and through a steering group with major political party representatives drawn from both the Centre and states and a few Wise Men so that consensus can be built at all stages and levels. The separatists will huff and puff, but none should be allowed a veto. A time line of one year should help concentrate the mind. Simultaneously, Omar Abdullah, halfway through his term of office, should now focus on an “Agenda for 2013-15 and beyond” in anticipation of on-going developments that are going to open up huge opportunities for investment, employment, commerce and income-generation through improved connectivity, greater availability of power and the opening up of new tourist circuits. The Banihal rail tunnel is through. This should speed up work to connect with the Baramulla-Srinagar-Qazigund sector by 2013 and the more difficult Banihal-Katra sector, and the Chenab bridge en route, two years thereafter. The shorter, all-weather four-laned national highway from Jammu to Srinagar should also be commissioned by that time. The consequent reduction in the physical and psychological distance between the various regions of J&K and the state and the rest of India will be transforming. An extension from Baramulla to Uri (and beyond to Muzaffarabad) merits consideration. In the interim, rail-medicars and rail-banks can be provided along the existing Baramulla-Qazigund route on fixed days, extending much-needed facilities to underserved areas. The existing optic fibre highway, better insulated from the elements, could be extended and upgraded. The international airport at Srinagar too will soon be fully operational. Pakistan has barred Air India over-flights from Srinagar to Dubai but could be challenged to allow flights from Srinagar to Lahore and Karachi and beyond to the Gulf while China might be willing to consider services to or over Xinjiang to Central Asian destinations and Russia to restore connectivity along the old Silk Route across the Karakoram pass to Leh and Srinagar. There is tourist and commercial potential to be exploited, not least by charter flights geared to particular seasons, events and specially packaged tours. The power situation should greatly improve within the next few years with the completion of on-going projects and improved transmission facilities. J&K plans to repatriate build-operate-own projects like Sallal from the NHPC over the next few years. Further, the state government intends to cure the problem of power theft and high T&D losses by selling electricity in bulk to local communities from designated transformers, making them responsible for distribution, maintenance and billing. Such “communitisation” of elementary education and primary health in rural areas and electricity supply in urban mohallas has yielded extraordinary results in Nagaland and can be an effective instrument for local participation and accountability in J&K. A programme of this nature would mesh very well with the promise and need further to empower and upgrade panchayati raj and municipal bodies in J&K. The 80 per cent turnout in last year’s panchayat poll shows that ordinary people want development and good governance. Such multi-tiered self-determination would probably meet regional and community aspirations for local autonomy and provide a salve to embittered intra-regional relations. Given better connectivity and power availability, the state government should think in terms of setting up a series of well-planned townships with good educational and medical facilities and other social infrastructure. There is a model for such economic opportunity hubs along the Baramulla-Srinagar-Jammu rail and road corridor in the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Corridor project. This could attract investments, especially in the IT and IT-enabled services as well as in the food processing industry which is going to expand greatly in the years to come. IT-related industries would be weather proof and J&K could well become another IT and electronic hub. With its rich bio-diversity covering fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers, J&K has a huge processed food and pharmapotential awaiting exploitation. Small units could be cooperativised on the Amul pattern apart from promoting contractual partnerships between corporate houses and small produces or suppliers with a variety of backward and forward linkages to serve the national and international market. Security is often cited as a negative factor. But peace and development go hand in hand and economic opportunity with suitable training could wean away angry youth from stone-throwing or the gun. The Centre could also offer counter-guarantees for a period of five years against security risks for projects above a certain value. All this could make J&K a major food processing training and R&D centre. Among those attracted back to work and/or investment would be Pandits, émigré Muslims who fled the valley and the larger J&K diaspora around the world. Power generation too could be enhanced were Article VII of the Indus Water Treaty on “Future Cooperation” to be activated. India has been unable to harness its limited entitlement to the waters of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, otherwise fully allotted to Pakistan, because of Islamabad’s obduracy. The latter, in turn, cannot build storages in the upper reaches of these same rivers, as they lie in India. Article VII would permit the two sides jointly to construct and manage engineering works on either side of the LoC for optimal benefit on agreed terms of cost and benefit sharing. Nothing would make boundaries more “irrelevant” than such an arrangement. The best way to exploit upcoming connectivity and enhanced power gains would be to think and plan concurrently, not sequentially, so that no time is lost in encashing the multiplier effect. To this end, the state government should convene a high level “J&K 2013-15 and Beyond” convention with local, national and international participation. Thereafter a special planning group should refine the programme, breaking it down into discrete projects with necessary land-clearances, a major obstacle to industrial development by non-state subjects at present, and develop a phased master plan. The opportunity is there. Seize
it.
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Rebecca’s grave Long
ago I visited ‘Mem ki Qabar’ in Dagshai, where lies a damaged statue of white marble of Rebecca West, a British woman. I saw women, mostly pahari, of all ages and religions, trudging here from far-away places. They were barren. Strangely, they broke small pieces of the statue’s marble and then ate tiny bits of it in their mistaken belief that
they will bear a child, especially a male one. Moreover, the women even went to extent of offering coins, flowers, fruit and lighting incense and bowing down respectfully; in fact, deifying the British “mem” irrespective of their faith. How secular we are, I mused. Indeed, it’s intriguing how myths are born and continue to survive over years,
merging into our culture. Rebecca’s story has kept alive this tradition. Behind this strange superstition lies a poignant love story. In 1909, newly wed John and Rebecca West came from England to sylvan Dagshai, one of the oldest British cantonments, as John, a British army officer, was transferred here. They had hardly settled down in Dagshai, when John was ordered back to England on duty. But he took long to return as John’s work took time. Lonely and sad, Rebecca missed him intensely, waiting in vain for him. She, bearing a child, fell ill and unfortunately soon died with her unborn child. On his return, John was simply heart-broken and shed tears of sorrow at her grave, nestling under pines in the cool climes of Dagshai. To show his great love for his wife, John got a striking white marble statue of Rebecca, their unborn child and a beautiful fairy descending from Heaven showering blessings on them, especially made in Calcutta and brought it all the way to Dagshai. Paharis came to call this unusual charming grave ‘Mem ki Qabar,’ (‘Mem’ being a respectful form of address for a European woman in colonial India). Over the years, a mysterious superstition grew in the minds of simple paharis there, probably started by wives of Indian soldiers posted here. They came to believe that by eating tiny parts of the grave, barren women will be blessed with a child. Perhaps, this was due to the statue depicting an unborn child being blessed by a heavenly fairy. But, unfortunately, women unknowingly thus damaged the statue’s craftsmanship. Today Rebecca’s grave is a far cry from the original one --- vandalised, distorted and beyond recognition. Ironically, it was looked after meticulously during the British Raj when Indians were barred from the cemetery. After learning of the story of the Lady of Dagshai, as I descended the slopes, I could not but instantly recall these lines of Robert Burns,
Scotland’s National Poet (1759-1796): Had we never loved sae kindly,
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All military dictators have had to eventually face not only armed insurgencies but also large-scale democratic movements. The reason behind this has little to do with the Pakistanis being great admirers of democracy, because constant military
The
Pakistan Army as an institution is a curious creature. A self-absorbed bulky white elephant, it can suddenly transform into becoming a raging bull in a china shop every time it feels the vast political and economic space it needs to move around in is being shrunken with the help of fences and boundary walls. Though it has lost almost all of the wars that it has fought against archenemy India, it has done well against in this respect against the people of the country it it claims to defend. It has constantly waged brutal battles against Baloch nationalists (1960-62; 1973-77; 2003-); mercilessly wiped out whole villages with the help of tanks in the interior of Sindh (1983 MRD Movement); ran circles around MQM activists in Karachi (1992), and, of course, has been accused of engineering a genocide of Bengalis in the former East Pakistan in 1971. More than being a dependable and effective fighting machine, the Pakistan Army has risen to become a monolithic corporate and political empire that has increasingly safeguarded its vast economic interests and social perks under the cover of being the guardians of that vague abstraction called the 'Pakistan ideology', and by constantly meddling in civilian political affairs. In spite of all this and especially due to the fact that Pakistan's civilian set-ups have always seemed to be looking utterly chaotic and ragged compared to the shining, monolithic and high sounding cohesiveness of the army, most Pakistanis have been known to actually applaud military intervention in civilian affairs. Though the above is true, many analysts and politicos who use this argument to endorse military intervention fail to mention the fact that honeymoon periods of military regimes in Pakistan have been rather short-lived. All military dictators have had to eventually face not only armed insurgencies but also large scale democratic movements. The reason behind this has little to do with Pakistanis being great admirers of democracy, because constant military interventions thwarting the evolution of the democratic process has not exactly produced a democratic polity. The main reason why military regimes have had to face intense political opposition in a not-very-democratic Pakistan is that Pakistan (unlike its monolithic military) is an extremely diverse entity with numerous ethnicities, Muslim sects and religions. Theoretically such a diversity is best served by an uninterrupted and evolving democratic system that produces its own filtering system, checks and balances, and helps most elements of an animated diversity become part of the country's political, economic and cultural processes. However, the Pakistan armed forces' views in this regard have usually been rather myopic and with which it has constantly tried to enforce its monolithic and narrow understanding of nationalism and faith over a diverse polity of ethnicities, Muslim sects and religions present in Pakistan. In its pursuit to do so - ever since Ayub Khan's military regime - the military has bagged the help of various other forces of myopia and supporters of monolithic ideological constructs, such as politico-religious parties, right-wing sections of the media, conservative politicians, and many technocrats, industrialists and bureaucrats, all of whose own political and economic interests now seem to be attached to those of the military's. That's why in the last few decades, especially ever since the mid-and-late 1970s, apart from, the military and its civilian mouthpieces have been so enthusiastic about safeguarding 'Pakistan ideology' and its Iqbal-meets-Maududi 'Islamic' raison d'être. Of course, the safeguarding of the so-called Pakistan ideology (largely constructed in the 1970s after the 1971 debacle in former East Pakistan), may mostly mean the safeguarding of the military's, the religious parties' and their capitalist and bourgeois supporters' political and economic interests from the perceived 'chaos' of a democratic system that, they fear and warn, might strengthen the political and economic aspects of Pakistan's diverse polity and that this can lead to the Balkanization of the country. That's why the military and its economic and political allies have continued to harp loudly about the 'threats' that Pakistan faces from forces that want to divide the country on ethnic and sectarian basis, and it seems one of these threats include democracy. Over and over again whenever a democratic (rather, an anti-dictatorship) movement or even the country's largely immature and pot-holed democratic system has shown hints of liberating large sections of the population from the shackles of the vagueness and myopia we call the Pakistan ideology and hurl the people towards a more pluralistic, autonomous and progressive set of economics, politics and culture, the military has gotten nervous - as if it was about to loose a conquered people. This is the time when it intervenes. The above process is vehemently denounced as being chaotic and a threat that may break Pakistan. And, of course, never mind the fact that things like economic corruption were largely institutionalised during the Ayub and Ziaul Haq dictatorships and the fact that the military has come under increasing criticism of being one of the most shady institutions when it comes to generating and accumulating wealth, it's allies are quick to denounce democratic set-ups as being inherently corrupt and a danger to the country's security apparatus. By arrangement with Dawn,
Islamabad.
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You won’t know until you ask CLEANLINESS is next to godliness, they say. Pakistan being a country where there is no shortage of the latter, are Pakistani clean as well? A crucial distinction: Cleanliness is not the same as tidiness. One keeps you safe from disease, the other helps you keep up appearances. Poor sanitation and sanitary practices are most commonly linked with poverty and the lack of education. This makes obvious sense. Any understanding of the manner in which diseases are communicated starts with basic concepts such as what germs, bacteria, viruses or transmission are. Without that, any grasp of the issue can only be superficial. Then, there is the matter of access to sanitation products. It`s useless to impress upon a population the importance of washing your hands if it has no running water; which family would buy soap, quite literally money down the drain, when there are greater demands on one`s resources such as enough food to stave off starvation? There is no dearth of studies on the lack of basic hygiene and sanitation practices across the country (and a generous number of initiatives taken by local and international organisations to address the situation). But what about the thousands for whom life is not quite so grim, and who potentially have both access to vital information and the ability to make use of it? The concept of bacteria, for example, has been successfully taken up through the numerous animation films and television advertisements created by a leading soapmanufacturer. In areas where television is accessible, the manufacturer should by now be a household name. Television and radio are full of information on the importance of hygiene, the manner in which diseases are transmitted and how people can keep themselves safe. The country spends millions of rupees on awareness campaigns about the transmission and control of serious illnesses such as polio and hepatitis. The message that drinking water should be boiled and children vaccinated is repeated often. The indication, then, would logically be that at least in the urban areas, amongst the somewhat educated segments of society, there would be a reasonable amount of health literacy. At least this is what I had assumed until I started asking. I was talking to a woman who works as a housemaid in Karachi. She is 39 years old and has six children, at least three of whom went/are going to school and can read and write English with reasonable comprehension. Her household income averages at about Rs25,000 a month, and the flat she lives in is not rented. The family is under debt to a money-lender (for the purchase of their flat), but they have a television and are thinking of buying a washing machine; the family always looks clean and well-turned-out. This lady is familiar with hepatitis to the extent that it is a serious illness, but she does not know how it is communicated or can be prevented. She has never heard of typhoid or cholera, and does not know what polio is. She knows that children need to be given `certain injections to keep off diseases` but none of her children were ever inoculated against anything. She has seen advertisements for polio campaigns and her area is visited by the immunisation teams, but none of her children were ever given the drops. She knows it`s important to wash your hands after going to the toilet but does not know why precisely. She also knows that it`s important to boil drinking water, but does not know why. And so she does this chore only sporadically, even though she has a stove, a gas connection and a large cauldron. How does one explain this? This conversation led me to initiate an informal survey amongst friends and colleagues; all the answers were identical. Even in urban Pakistan, amongst people with potential access to the relevant information and resources, there is either very low health literacy or little evidence of acting upon it. Indeed, one colleague wrote back to say that in his experience, it seemed as though such care was viewed as nakhra, a trivial concern of the elites. And, worryingly, this attitude does not seem to be linked at least in my very small survey with literacy: an actor who didn`t know how that tapeworm had entered her system or an 18-year-old who didn`t know that under the skin were things called muscles which could be sprained. Are there gaps, then, in the manner in which the campaigns are run, the information disseminated? 1t`s a knotty problem, and one that can`t immediately be blamed on the fact that Pakistan is an under-educated or developing country. Consider, for example, that according to the US Institute of Medicine, an independent organisation established in 1970 that works as the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, nearly half of all American adults lack health literacy. Yet the problem must be addressed, for behind the bland terminology are people who continue to fall ill despite having the means to prevent it and further burden an already fragile public healthcare infrastructure. (In this context, a 2009 study published in the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association showed that of 211 respondents, only 4.7 per cent of trainee physicians at a Karachi tertiary-care teaching hospital reported decontaminating their hands before having direct contact with their patients. The majority considered the `lack of sinks, soap, water and disposable towels` as the major barrier.) Last April, the Federal Health Minister told a conference in Beijing that promoting health literacy is amongst Pakistan`s priorities. In January 2010, the National Commission for Human Development and the National Trust for Population Welfare signed a memorandum of understanding on a `literacy for family health` programme, under which the NCHD planned to introduce health literacy in its adult literacy centres. Are such and many other initiatives having an effect? Ask the people around you. By arrangement with Dawn,
Islamabad.
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