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Early polls a pipedream?
War on terror |
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Anatomy of an agitation
Time for value-based growth
From ‘spot news’ to ‘breaking news’
Institutional response can help handle terrorism Intelligence on intelligence
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Early polls a pipedream? It is hardly surprising that the setback for the UPA, especially its principal constituent the Congress, in the recent assembly elections in five states has fuelled speculation of mid-term general elections in the country. This is despite the fact that most members of Parliament would be wary of a snap poll, given the uncertainties of the outcome in any election.
The trigger for the controversy was the statement of Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress that there is a “gathering political momentum” for general elections that could come ‘sooner than later.’ Evidently, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress fears that if the general elections were to be held as scheduled after two years, the sheen that her party has after its euphoric victory in the assembly elections last year could well wear off. The same argument is used to speculate that the Samajwadi Party in U.P. and the Akalis in Punjab would also be keen on a mid-term poll, fresh that they are from spectacular victories in the recent elections in U.P. and Punjab. Yet, it would be premature to jump to any conclusions on the likelihood of a mid-term poll. The Congress on its part is on an overdrive already to cheer up SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and he has responded positively to overtures. The Trinamool Congress has clarified that it is not thinking in terms of a snap poll and the BJP, having failed to make a mark in the State elections, would prefer to trudge along and put a weakened Congress on the mat so that it is well and truly down and out before the next elections. There is also no reason for the Bahujan Samaj Party to seek a fresh election, having been mauled in the recent assembly elections. It would rather wait for the Akhilesh Yadav government to lose its sheen. Clearly, too much is being read into the meetings held by some regional leaders. One thing that is clear, however, is that the non-UPA states would be increasingly vocal and that there would be no dearth of fireworks in Parliament against a weakened ruling combine. For the Congress, there are challenges galore. It has to retrieve lost ground while taking care not to rub its allies on the wrong side.
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War on terror The proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has been dogged by one avoidable controversy after another. Soon after it was notified early last month, States ruled by non-Congress governments complained that they were not taken into confidence and alleged that NCTC’s power of detention, arrest, search and seizure without informing the concerned States, impinged on their rights and on federal principles.
The Union Home Secretary first reacted, imperiously, by claiming that the Centre was not bound to consult the States. It was left to the Union Home Minister to retrieve the situation and belatedly begin consultations with the States. But a section of the media this week again quoted him as telling DGPs and Chief Secretaries that they should not act as ‘stenographers’ of their respective Chief Ministers. While the Parliament was informed that the official had denied the statement attributed to him, the damage was done and reinforced the image of an overbearing Central government. The President’s address to the joint session of Parliament, and the Home Minister’s statement the next day, echo the view of most national security experts, who feel there is an urgent need for a body like the NCTC to wage war on terror. The States too do not appear to be opposed to the idea. Their reservations relate to operational aspects of the NCTC and even the experts agree that a review of some of the provisions of the executive order is called for. With the Union indicating its readiness to take critics on board, it is hoped that when the chief ministers finally meet next month at the annual conference on Internal Security, a consensus will emerge to pave the way for the NCTC to start functioning, possibly under Parliamentary oversight. There are, however, two disturbing aspects that one cannot lose sight of. A multiplicity of agencies have mushroomed in recent years to manage internal security. They are largely secret organisations with little or no public scrutiny. There is possibly a need to monitor their functioning, utility and efficiency. Secondly, most of these agencies are central agencies with little or no action visible in the States to improve professional standards and capabilities of the State Police. Is the country, bleeding from terrorism, putting the cart before the horse?
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Anatomy of an agitation The 23-day-old Jat agitation in Haryana should prompt a cool look at the way it was conducted and handled, and what it was meant for. There is a growing feeling that governments do not react or respond unless agitators block highways and railway tracks. It is also true that the agitators lose public sympathy once they resort to traffic jams regardless of the genuineness of their demand.
Those inconvenienced expect the government to use force to break the blockade. The Jat leaders need to introspect if this is the only way to press their demand. That the state government mishandles Jat agitations is amply clear. First, the Hooda government gives a long rope to the protesters by allowing them to stop illegally and indefinitely the free movement of people and goods. It intervenes only after much damage has been done. There are peaceful ways of crowd management. The situation should not be allowed to reach the boiling point. Preventive arrests and detention of vehicles carrying protesters in villages come in handy on such occasions. Those damaging public or private property should not get away lightly. Why should courts have to tell the government to restore road/rail traffic? That Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has a soft corner for the Jats and khap panchayats is well known. The rounds of talks he held with their representatives could have been begun before the protest. How could he hold out the assurance – as reported -- that the Jats would get reservations in six months when the backward classes commission is still seized of the issue? Things would be much easier if reservations are made on the basis of income instead of caste. Few would like well-off sections to grab benefits meant for the poor. Besides, reservations alone would not lift them economically as government jobs are limited and shrinking. Those in the private sector are growing but are available to those with right skills and merit. The Jats and others need to prepare their children accordingly.
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Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough. — George Bernard Shaw
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Time for value-based growth
The
total alteration in underlying circumstances has not been squarely faced. As a result, we are guided, in part, by ideas that are relevant to another world. ... We do many things that are unnecessary, some that are unwise, and a few that are insane.” said John Kenneth Galbraith. Here the point that is intended to be made is that the new government that is going to be formed in Punjab should look for “out of box” ideas to fulfil the aspirations of the people. The just concluded elections have provided ample proof that people are interested mainly in development-related issues. Parochial issues and those having nothing to do with the state’s economy did not find favour with voters. Gone are the days when Punjab was India’s number one state with a robust economy. Today it is one of those left far behind in the race for economic advancement. Not only are its finances in poor shape, the state has not been performing satisfactorily in wooing large-scale industries. In the services sector and the knowledge industry, too, Punjab has done very little whereas it has enormous potential to be among the front-ranking states. It needs to learn from Gujarat, Maharashtra and the southern states. A report by the India Brand Equity Foundation has observed that there is ample scope for growth in sectors like chemicals, food processing, the knowledge industry, gems and jewellery and textiles. Ironically, one reason for Punjab’s economic decline can be given as the side-effect of its prosperity in the wake of the Green Revolution. The state could not sustain prosperity, as it resulted in widespread materialism — a strong drive to acquire more and more riches by hook or by crook. The ultimate result was selfishness. Our selfishness causes us to get wrapped up with our own needs and desires, forgetting about others. Tragically, when we forget about others we often drift away from our core values. The political leadership has to devise a strategy with a view to restoring to Punjab the status it enjoyed in the recent past. This requires a clear vision for economic growth. The new government must show a strong desire to see the state a developed and prosperous one again. Of course, the focus must be on building world class infrastructure, especially in the areas of power generation, health, education, roads, railways, etc. But the ultimate aim must be building a humane and compassionate society. There is need to create an environment in which people are healthy and happy. The existing inequalities must be reduced and benefits of economic growth must reach all sections of society, including those in the villages. Max Weber in his book, “The Protestant Ethics in the Spirit of Capitalism,” states that European prosperity came not only from the markets, but also the religious ideology, ethics and values.” There is need for a powerful synergy among ideas, religious practices, ethics and values to any region’s growth. It includes people’s integrity, quality, passion for winning, respect for all, humility, high levels of cultural tolerance and being continuous learners. Once a speaker started his lecture with a Rs 500-note and asked those in the audience if anyone was interested in having that note. A large number of hands started going up. He crippled the note and asked again if anyone still wanted it. There were a number of people still interested. He dropped the note on the floor and started to grind it. The intrinsic value of the note doesn’t diminish. Similarly, the values we cherish keep guiding our actions and reactions, and have a bearing on our character. If the value system in governance is not maintained, the entire system becomes meaningless and inefficient. The greatest strength of Punjab is in its widening pool of young human capital, and its potential can be realised when its education and skills are in tune with the demands of the global economy. It is not just technology that is the key to growth, but the ability of people to develop and use technology. The government’s policy should not aim at supplanting industry but putting industry on top gear. To realise the full potential of Punjab, industry and the government need to keep improving the quality of education. There is no better legacy, no greater hope we can leave for our children than the possibility of good education. Education is a great equaliser in life. Acquiring right skills and having the determination for the execution of any project in time should appear to be the passion in Punjab. The true Punjab brand will be one that is built with the bottoms up. Punjab needs to enhance agricultural competitiveness by improving the rural infrastructure, making credit availability easier, resorting to contract farming and going in for crop diversification in a big way. The state should develop new industrial clusters and become an attractive destination for
NRIs, MNCs and anyone interested in investing in Punjab. There is considerable scope for promoting religious tourism as Punjab has very attractive religious places. It should be positioned as an enterprising, confident, culturally rich, humane and compassionate society. Punjab has another great advantage because of being a border state. With the hope of bilateral trade between India and Pakistan increasing tremendously soon, it can reap more advantages than any other state. Focusing on trade with Pakistan can help provide a fillip to Punjab’s economy. It will be obviously easier for Pakistan, particularly its Punjab province, to trade with India’s Punjab because of their common language and culture. Let the state rise to the occasion.n The writer is a senior professor,
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From ‘spot news’ to ‘breaking news’
The
Tribune Spot News always had me crane out my neck while travelling in a public transport to the City Beautiful in those days. I would then be eager to fix my gaze on the letter-board and know the most important happenings in the world. It had a thrill of its own. It still has, despite the latest updates and notifications of all sorts landing with us in the present times of information technology. Newspaper offices these days put up the spot news carrying the blurb using electronic news-boards, reflecting in the briefest possible manner the highlights of a particular day. Earlier, except for the radio, there was no other way of keeping oneself informed of the important happenings of the day. The brevity, currency, relevance and immediacy of the spot news has always remained quite interesting to take note of. Here is a sample of some of the news items I read there, and some imaginary too: “Alas, Jawahar! Armstrong lands on moon! 7th Fleet leaves for Indian Ocean! Quake kills 400 in Chile! England 103 for 7 Wickets! Bangladesh freed! Terror attack on Twin Towers! Shastri dies in Tashkent! Carter arrives in New Delhi! Janata comes to power! Cong leading in 9 states! Indira Gandhi assassinated! Cloud burst in Himachal! Build up on Indo-China border! Talks fail in Vienna! Bijender wins gold! Osama killed!” And so on. So much so that after one of the presidential elections, The Tribune carried its spot news fill to make a headline the following day which read: “It’s Giani Zail Singh”. Nowadays it is the breaking news that breaks more wind than news. It also varies in the degree of TRP generation. The first blow “Breaking News” gives is to the concept of the “Golden First Hour” of a critical incident, which doesn’t rule out unauthenticated news travelling and spreading. The beauty of this all-time relevant curio is that despite having an appellation — “Breaking News” — it’s never breaking and can run the whole day, in one piece. Well, I will not dwell more on this since it covers events like a truck stuck in a pothole, when three lanes had to be merged in two. Too much. With the jet-set — leave it, it’s a cliché now — Internet speed, even breaking news is going to be just passe since by the time it breaks, it’s already broken. The “citizen journalist” has his eyes wide open and is adept at his/her nimble finger-work on an i-phone. But there is enough scope in the days to come for tomorrow’s news today. With the stress, anxiety and trauma caused by the news today, there is a good market for “Expected News” or “About to Happen News” or “News in the Making” in not very far-off future. It can, of course, be just a wish-list of the news though. Like “So and so hanged!” (You know who); “LOC gone even!” (You know how); “US behaves! (You know it won’t ever); “Russia regains!” (You know it might happen); “Israel offers fig-leaf!(Uggh!)”; “China melts down!” (Well who knows?); “Sensex sleazes to the lowest!” (How shallow!); “Gandhi’s clone lies! (How true!); “Death secret found out!” (Don’t tell terrorists); “Moon address no more a craze in shanties!” (O’ if it could be so!). And hold your breath, “God exposed!” (Run for cover Lord!) Some weird news is weirdly making entry here: “Angel caught red-handed taking bribe”; “Jinni in the bottle again”; “Japan imports snail-speed train from Bangladesh”; “Kindly vampire takes it all”; “First water-run truck rolls out”; “Air enough to sustain hunger”; and, hold your breath again, “Man bites dog!”n
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Institutional response can help handle terrorism Usually, the state ignores or pays less attention to the associated challenges that accompany violence. Economic assistance for the victims emerges as an immediate challenge as does development in the affected areas. In Pakistan’s context, the issue of IDPs (disappeared persons) is also a critical one. Rehabilitation of victims of terrorism, IDPs and terrorist detainees help keep up the public’s confidence in the state. Quite obviously, ad hoc reaction to challenges cannot garner that and an institutional response is needed. It is crucial to develop a comprehensive institutional response, especially since terrorism and conflict in Pakistan seem set to continue in the near future. That has more than a bit to do with the fact that the state has not evolved a strategy to deal with conflict, including the ethno-political and sectarian violence, a nationalist insurgency in Balochistan and, most importantly, the networks and structures of terrorists that remain intact despite extensive military campaigns in the tribal areas. For victims of conflict, the immediate crisis that emerges after a terrorist attack is critical. The government usually does not prioritise a response to that as highly as it does the security response. A little more attention to these issues can make a huge difference, not only in building faith in state institutions, but also in contributing towards saving the population from terrorists’ influence and propaganda. Compensation or assistance for civilian victims of terrorist attacks is a critical issue across the country, which deserves the attention of the state. It has assumed greater importance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata because of the impact of the conflict there. Lack of reliable data and long delays and complexities in the process to access assistance have emerged as key obstacles. The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) and the Institute of Social and Policy Science (I-SAPS) have done some excellent work on the issue and both have been working on increasing awareness and sensitising in that respect. I-SAPS, in a recent report titled “Compensating Civilian Victims of Conflict and Terrorism”, noted that even federal and provincial governments did not have any budget lines for that purpose. After every act of terrorism, officials announce financial assistance for the victims, but every case of compensation has to be sent to the chief minister for approval. Apart from lack of a uniform procedure, political influence also plays a significant role — from determination of the compensation amount to its disbursement. In Fata, another issue that has emerged in recent years is the government distributing compensation money for victims of terrorism mainly to “lashkars” or peace committees for further disbursement, which has given rise to complaints of embezzlement. In recent years, the scale of internal displacement induced by conflicts and natural disasters has grown exponentially. The largest IDP population is from Fata and Swat in the Malakand region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The state’s response to internal displacement in Swat was comparatively quick and effective but in Fata it was considered slow and inadequate. The rehabilitation of IDPs and the rapid completion of development initiatives in the displacement-affected areas in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are crucial. According to data compiled by Pak Institute for Peace Studies, terrorists destroyed 137 schools across Pakistan in 2011 alone, while 49 incidents of targeting public or private property were reported. These figures do not include the attacks on railway tracks, gas pipelines or power pylons. Twenty-six mosques, shrines and other places of worship were also attacked and in these cases the government did not even consider compensation. Although the Fata Secretariat has launched an initiative called the Damage and Assessment Programme to rebuild the destroyed schools, it is proceeding very slowly because of cumbersome procedures and the lack of interest by the government and international donors. Apart from rebuilding schools, shortage of the teaching staff is another issue, where the government is yet to pay adequate attention. The situation is even worse in Balochistan, which is already the poorest and least developed of the four federating units of Pakistan. The government and civil society have been less responsive to victims of conflict in the province. The provincial government does not have a rehabilitation plan, which has contributed to fuelling public sentiments against the state. The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies has pointed out in its 2011 issue that physiological services in response to the conflict-related traumatic situation do not exist in the healthcare system of Pakistan. Although in the absence of proper healthcare facilities in conflict zones, trauma centres might seem like a luxury, it is also true that terrorism and armed conflict have acute physiological effects on people that deserve consideration. This is the area which civil society and the media should keep under the spotlight. All these challenges need a coordinated institutional response. The government needs to evolve a national conflict rehabilitation policy, which should have representation from the relevant federal and provincial departments and institutions, and resources should be pooled by the federal and provincial governments. Though national and provincial disaster management authorities already exist in Pakistan and some of the challenges fall under their ambit, their performance needs to be made effective, and a special coordinating body should be formed under its supervision to focus only on terrorism and conflict-related disasters. The writer is the Editor of a quarterly research journal, Conflict and Peace Studies.
(By arrangement with Dawn, Islamabad) |
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Intelligence on intelligence MUCH of the loss of resources and mental peace caused by cases such as the memo affair, the Adiala Eleven and involuntary disappearances could have been avoided if the working of intelligence agencies had been regulated under the law. Yet, there is no sign of the needful being done. Fourteen months have passed since the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances made a series of recommendations to the government for regulating the intelligence agencies’ functioning. Unfortunately, the government has not released the commission’s report. Its law officer got away in January last year by telling the Supreme Court that the report contained classified material that could not be shared with the people. This attitude of the government is not only in violation of the people’s constitutional right to information but also amounts to shielding the intelligence network against legitimate oversight and censure. However, quite a few observations and recommendations of the commission were published in the press and these have never been denied. For instance, the commission is said to have found evidence to support allegations of military intelligence agencies’ involvement in the arrest and detention of some of the missing persons. Accordingly, it stressed the need to ensure that arrests were made only by legally authorised officials. The intelligence agencies were advised to rely on the police force for taking anyone into custody. The commission is reported to have made a strong plea for reining in the intelligence personnel, which clearly reflected the judicial authorities’ unease at the undue freedom practically exercised by the agencies. The government has no valid excuse for ignoring these recommendations. While the report of the 2010 commission has unnecessarily and unjustifiably been put in cold storage, the report of the Saleem Shahzad Commission of Inquiry is fortunately available, thanks to its authors’ plea for making it public. This report by the commission headed by Justice Saqib Nisar of the Supreme Court and which was submitted to the government on Jan 10 last is extremely important not only as a guide to some of the citizens’ most fundamental rights but also for offering a workable plan to put intelligence agencies in some order. Pointing out the importance of making the agencies accountable, the commission says: “Currently, it seems that the legal and organisational foundations of the two major agencies (ISI, IB) all rest on mere executive orders, there is therefore an urgent need for laying down a comprehensive statutory framework — perhaps a Pakistan Secret Services Act”. The commission is not content with confirming what many leaders of public opinion and citizens have been complaining of for years, namely, the absence of any law on these agencies’ powers and procedures. It deserves credit for going on to lay down a system of their accountability at three levels: “within the agency and before the minister-in-charge; before a Parliamentary Committee [and thus parliament and the public]; and before a judicial forum”. There is an explicit suggestion that, under the proposed law, “duties which fall beyond the competence of the various agencies, such as press censorship, liaising with political parties and the conduct of foreign policy, should be expressly excluded from their mandate”. The commission also offers valuable suggestions for a proper chain of command and a “more accountable work culture”. Arguing that “the agencies should be made directly accountable to the parliament”, the commission refers to the possibility of creating bipartisan standing committees on intelligence in both Houses of parliament. “The aim of parliamentary scrutiny should be two-fold: (i) improving the efficiency of the agencies; (ii) preventing excesses through oversight and ensuring public confidence in the agencies”, it argues. As for the agencies’ judicial accountability, the commission says: “A special judicial oversight mechanism may be set up for dealing fairly and effectively with complaints against the agencies”, emanating from any source, and adds that it may be useful to create the office of a human rights ombudsman. These salutary recommendations merit earliest possible consideration. The government might plead lack of time while it is fighting for breath. It can be shown the state should start breathing more comfortably and might be better able to face the diverse crises it has courted if it took substantive steps to regulate the working of secret services. The people on their part have for long been stressing their right to know under what law they are followed by tough-looking plainclothesmen, their mail is censored, their phones are tapped, they are threatened by phone or SMS, and they are picked up at odd hours to answer all kinds of irrelevant questions. They want to know under what law the agencies are authorised to restrict their right to travel or to join a superior service. They also wish to find out under whose authority the intelligence agencies work and where the forums of appeal and redress are. Thus there is every reason that the government should immediately begin to find a way of bringing intelligence activities within the parameters of the law and of fundamental human rights. To begin with, a joint parliamentary committee may be set up to draft the required reform package. The law commission may also be requested to suggest means to enforce judicial accountability of the agencies. Unfortunately, the moment one mentions the need for regulating the secret services some people start clamouring about attacks on the state’s security and its sacred services. These quacks are the worst enemies of the defence forces. There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the privileges the intelligence agencies have assumed are bringing a bad name to the defence services and undermining public confidence in their probity, discipline and sense of responsibility, without which even the best equipped forces cannot discharge their primary duty to defend the state’s territorial integrity. On this point one cannot do better than quoting the two commissions referred to above. The 2010 commission (missing persons) said: “We, on our part, tried to persuade the representatives of the agencies in every possible manner, impressing upon them that such illegal detentions for long periods would be counter-productive and not only bring a bad name to the country but would also lower the esteem of these agencies and our armed forces, which is in no way desirable. The sooner there is a realisation of this the better for all of us” (quoted by the Shahzad Commission). And the 2011 commission (Saleem Shahzad) says: “If the agencies conduct their activities completely beyond the purview of the law, and without maintaining any sense of transparency and accountability in their conduct, they risk losing their most precious strategic asset — the trust of the people, whose security they are supposed to ensure. Currently, it seems that we would be better off with more accountability than we presently have even when it means a little less of secrecy”. By arrangement with Dawn,
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TERRORISM is not a mere security issue. It disrupts society in ways that go beyond the body count, particularly in its physiological, social and economic aspects. Maintaining, and in some cases restoring, the confidence of people in a terrorism-hit state is an uphill task, but efforts are made to sustain the same often through responses on the security front.