The original working paper (PDF) can be accessed at the following link:

Sectarian Conflict and Conflict Transformation in Pakistan

(Source)

Lahore. Prof Abdus Salam, the Nobel laureate who dominated the world of Physics for decades, breathed his last 14 years ago at 08:15(PST) on Thursday November 21, 1996 after a protracted illness. With his sad demise, not only Pakistan but also the entire third world lost a caring friend and a great benefactor.

Salam was born in Jhang on January 29, 1926 and started his career from this place. Imagine the state of science at the time in this part of the world. Salam describes how one of his science teachers explained to his class the fundamental forces in nature. One is gravity that everybody is familiar with. Second is electricity – which does not exist in Jhang, it exists only in Lahore. Third is the nuclear force and that exists only in Europe. That was the state of science education and the level of awareness in Jhang. And Salam starts his career from that humble background. But due to his determination, hard work and constant struggle, he overcomes his initial handicaps and soon becomes a celebrity in the world of physics. He goes to the best centres in the world, interacts with the grand masters of the time, rubs shoulders with giants like Dirac, Pauli, Heisenberg, Dyson and many others and eventually joins the elite club of Nobel laureates in 1979.

This is the story of a village boy from Jhang. An extraordinary story indeed and therefore must be told to every child in the third world. Salam’s story will inspire all young people with the idea that wherever they may come from in the world, they too can make careers in science or indeed in any other profession at present dominated by the rich countries.

Salam received his early education from Jhang – did his Matric and Intermediate from there. Right from his school days, he proved himself to be exceptionally smart in studies.

In 1942, at the age of 16, Salam moved to Government College Lahore where he was lucky to find a great teacher of Mathematics in Prof Chowla who later became one of the great number theorists of his time. Chowla did Mathematics all the time and nothing else. He had little interest outside the subject. The other teachers used to think he was crazy. He had the habit of ending his classes sometimes citing unsolved problems. So, while teaching cubic and quartic equations to Salam’s class, he posed a problem of Ramanujan (a legendary mathematician of the subcontinent) regarding four simultaneous equations in four variables. Salam spent three or four days on that and then came back to Chowla with the solution. Chowla sent Salam’s solution to the journal ‘Mathematics Student’ for publication. This was Salam’s first research paper that he published as a fourth-year college student.

In 1944, Salam took the BA examinations with Mathematics, English and Urdu as subjects. Once again, he broke all previous records by a large margin. He offered additional papers for an Honours degree in English and again created a new record. In 1946, he passed his MA examinations in Mathematics, again seeking the highest score. But this time, he could not break the previous record. His friend, Professor Bambah, who was senior to him by a year had appeared in the MA examination a year before and had created an all-time record by scoring 100 percent marks.

After doing his masters, Salam went to Cambridge University, UK, where he first did his BA Honours in Mathematics and Physics (topping in both), and then PhD in Theoretical Physics. He instantly became famous in the world of Physics with his PhD work.

Upon returning to Pakistan, he became a professor of Mathematics at Govt College Lahore and at the same time head of Mathematics at the Punjab University. After staying here from 1951 to 1954, he decided to go back to Cambridge where he was offered a lectureship at the age of 28. Three years later, in 1957, Salam became a full professor at Imperial College, London. He was the first Muslim to be elevated to a chair in the Anglo-Saxon Society.

People in Pakistan were not aware of what Salam had achieved in Britain. Mian Iftikharuddin broke the news. He was a known politician who owned an English daily, Pakistan Times. He happened to visit London in 1957(perhaps in connection with his son’s admission). He met Salam and was surprised to know that Salam was a full professor there. He couldn’t believe that and kept repeating, “Is it really true, is it really true?” He published Salam’s story in his newspaper and thus introduced Salam – the scientist of international fame – to the people of Pakistan.

At the age of 33, he became an FRS – Fellow of the Royal Society – London. Salam was the first Pakistani and the first Muslim to achieve that distinction. Now, the late Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Prof Akhtar and, more recently, Prof Attaur Rehman are also Fellows of the Royal Society, London. At the age of 38, Salam became director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy in 1964, the position at which he continued for 30 years.

For his excellent contributions to Physics, Salam received several prestigious awards and honours, including the Nobel Prize in 1979 for his work published in 1967 on the unification of two fundamental forces: the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force.

For his contributions towards peace and promotion of international science collaboration, he got the Atoms for Peace Medal and award. He became a fellow/member of more than 30 academies/societies of the world, was awarded DSc Honoris Causa by more than 40 universities of the world. There is a long list of his achievements, honours and awards.

The ICTP has preserved all his documents, awards, shields souvenirs and his personal collections of books. They have a separate room called the ‘Salam Room’ in the centre’s library.

The centre was renamed Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics on the occasion of his first death anniversary on the initiative of the Italian government. It is remarkable how the Italians have owned this great man and honoured him.

Besides his scientific work, the creation of ICTP is an important legacy of Salam, which was set up in 1964 to provide scientists from the third world with opportunities to conduct research and study new developments in Physics and Mathematics. The scope of activities has since been extended to include applied and related fields of science.

How does the centre work?

Each year, the centre organises about 40 schools, colleges, conferences and workshops on different subjects – elementary particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter physics, material science, mathematics, computational physics, geophysics, climatology, biophysics, medical physics and laser and plasma physics. Each year, about 4,000 scientists visit the ICTP. And since its establishment in 1964, more than 70,000 scientists from 170 countries have visited the centre. Out of the 70,000, 70 percent were from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

In short, this is the story of that village boy who started his career from Jhang, becomes a towering personality in the world and leaves behind two important legacies – his scientific work and creation of the ICTP.

The writer is a professor at the Salam Chair, Government College University Lahore.

Source : Daily Times

Given its simple nature and adequate media coverage, very soon the ‘model’ became a guiding principle for the Punjab Government. It definitely goes to the credit of the Chief Minister that he noted such a development and paid attention to it. This is why Shahbaz Sharif has gained a favourable reputation over the years. I know many analysts have issues with the Shahbaz Sharif administration but the truth remains: this is a government whose leadership is responsive to citizens’ concerns.

What is Jhang model and why is it important? As is widely known, petty corruption occurs because of lack of political will, and where even that is present, and because of lack of effective information and outreach. Information and feedback have helped develop effective modes of governance across the world. For instance in Bangalore, India the citizen report cards were introduced by a civic group and now their use is widespread. These scorecards highlight the specific issues with services and enable the government to make changes. Focusing on the citizen means that all change and reform must be guided by information given by the citizens.

In Jhang, Bhatti, a pro-active DCO had directed all clerks in the district, who handled land transfers, to submit a daily list of transactions, giving the amount paid and the cell phone numbers of the buyer and the seller. Thereafter, the DCO called the buyers and sellers to undertake spot checks to find out whether they had been asked to pay bribes or commissions. In the process, some of the lower officials were taken to task and this spread the right kind of message among the land registration staff: a powerful citizen voice was around. Similarly, this model was then applied to state service providers such as vets who are used to taking bribes from farmers.

The spread of cell phones in every corner of the country — 20 percent of the poorest 20 percent of Punjab households have cell phones, according to a recent survey — provides a huge opportunity to tap citizen feedback and ensure that his or her voice is being heard. State can potentially reach the citizens and check if he or she underwent extortion or received a low quality service. Information and distance are not a big challenge anymore.

The News reported it and later international publications such as The Economist also covered this development. Such was the impact of a simple tool that the Chief Minister and senior bureaucrats took note of this development and now the Punjab government has decided to scale up this operation. It is definitely a heartening development, especially when one is so used to finding no light at the end of Pakistani tunnels of officialdom.

Technology has also helped facilitate this concept. For instance, mobile phones are now a key instrument to advance and deepen citizen information levels. Cell phones are almost universal. Officials in remote corners of the districts can use this distance to extort money from citizens for ordinary transactions — a health centre operation, registration of property, domicile issuance, driving license etc — services that are either free or at nominal official cost or with well defined user charges. The idea of using information and getting feedback removes distances and layers of officials between the supervisor and the citizen to allow the supervisory officers to directly find out if money was extorted or his/her concern was ignored or trampled.

Thus, by a direct connection with the user of a public service, the chain of collusion among petty officials can be undone by regular monitoring from the district or provincial headquarters. The Government of the Punjab has now started to implement this in several districts and divisions, most notably Bahawalpur, with a focus on property registration. The idea that the Chief Minister, a Commissioner or a DCO can check on the delivery of a bribe-free service is quite a novel one. It has started to show some results though there is a long way to go.

It is unfortunate that discourse on corruption in Pakistan is limited to high-level scandals. The everyday corruption that disempowers the citizen is often neglected or made invisible. TV anchors spend hundreds of prime time hours to dig out old and new scandals with a primary focus on the politicos. This has been our national tragedy since the 1950s. After 1947, it was actually issues of evacuee property and complete lack of accountability of the bureaucracy that fostered a culture of embezzlement and malfeasance. But even then the target was the politicians who were disqualified one after the other for their irregularities.

Last month, when I visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for a research assignment, I was amazed to find out how the Jhang model had been noted by the key officials in the province. In fact, the Commissioner of Peshawar apparently was calling up the citizens randomly to check if they had paid a bribe. This is how a good idea is spread and institutional culture can evolve incrementally.

But the long-term success of implementing Jhang model anywhere, including the Punjab, requires strong support at least for a period of 5-10 years. Experience from Bangalore suggests that citizen report cards only worked when the state was behind the idea of its implementation and using the citizen feedback to improve the quality, range and reliability of services. In Bangalore, public transport has been made better, petty corruption has been reduced and services like water and garbage collection have shown improvement.

In our context, this initiative must not be rooted in a piecemeal manner. It needs to be institutionalised through a regulation that bounds senior officers posted at the district level. If and when the local governments are elected in power, this feature of institutional reform should also become apart of their mandates. This is the only way it could outlast one regime.

However, we cannot be oblivious to the larger issues. Zubair Bhatti, the innovator, left the civil service soon after he had implemented this initiative. The reasons were of course personal. But this exit from the service is not an enigma — a lot of capable officers have been leaving the service as the human resource policies of the national and the provincial governments does not reward innovation and those who bring change. Status quo is likely to be rewarded almost always. This leaves us with the dilemma of improving the work environment and compensation packages for the public servants. For instance, most of the civil servants (except the judges in the Punjab) earn a wage that cannot even pay for the basic needs of a family. In such an environment, corruption, dejection and frustration brew and this is a matter of urgent attention.

Whilst the Chief Minister Punjab has taken bold decisions such as the increase in judicial salaries and improving the police compensation, he would be well advised to pay more attention to the state of the public service, especially the executive officers who enforce the writ of the state and regulate rights and entitlements. There are issues such as the federal versus provincial service and their respective share of posts. Indeed, the issue of salaries is well-known but nobody wants to do anything about it other than the customary routine increases such as the one this year. Increasing 50 percent salaries when food inflation has been over 30 percent in recent years is hardly a major change. Most importantly, merit and performance need to be made the cornerstones of the civil service management. Favouritism is still the order of the day not just in the Punjab but across the country and some would say across South Asia. This requires a major policy shift and change of strategy by the elected governments.

The survival of Pakistani state, and to a great degree, rests in making the system work and allowing the governance structures to implement policies. At present, we are far away from this goal.

Pakistan’s citizens desperately need the attention and protection of the state. Their voice needs to be heard and factored in the accountability process. The civil service structure must deliver and there should be many models such as the Jhang variety. All these innovations must be welcomed as we face the alarming prospect of state failure.

The writer is a policy analyst, writer and an editor based in Lahore. He blogs at www.razarumi.com

Pakistan is a victim of bad governance and corruption. Due to institutional decay and slackness of the top babus (bureaucrats), government infrastructure, especially in smaller districts and tehsils where gubernatorial feudal elite and corrupt officials often make lives of the hapless a living hell, has been dangerously weakened. In this backdrop, the efforts of Mr. Zubair K. Bhatti- a former DMG Officer previously posted as District Coordination Officer (DCO) of a comparatively less-developed and remote Jhang district in Punjab, who made an innovative experience by affectively utilizing cheap cellular technology for eradicating corruption, should be praise-worthy.

Mr Bhatti’s cellular experience succeeded in eradicating bribery and inefficiency from public dealing departments like revenue, registry & arms branches, excise & taxation department and similar paraphernalia of the city district government, where people almost daily go for their problems. Perhaps, he is the first Bureaucrat who has experimented cellular technology for improving government efficiency and eradicating corruption in Sub-Continent.

Mr. Zubair Bhatti did no particular wonders; he simply asked the government officials to jot-down phone numbers of the visitors and then in the evening, he used to phone them, selected randomly, to enquire about their experience of the public sector and the amount they paid for the services like domicile, registration of vehicles or registry deeds etc. He talked to the people in an open tone, first making them at ease to converse candidly with the DCO and then enquiring about their experience. Often, he came to know that most of the hapless people even do not know the exact amount of government taxes. This direct contact of an administrative head of provincial government in a district, gave strong and clear message to the corrupt and corrupt staff in Jhang that their boss is watching their performance everyday and any unlawful activity or extortion will soon be traced down by the DCO in the same evening. Two of the corrupt officials were initially sacked by him; giving strong message to the rest that boss is serious enough.

Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, when apprised about the novel experience, showed interest in it and ordered for its detailed implementation in other districts as well. With the political support from the top echelon of the government, as many as seven DCOs have now introduced this cellular mantra in their districts in Punjab; they are regularly enquiring from the visitors to government offices about the amount paid by them. This way, they daily come to know the nature and level of corruption in their lower hierarchy.

While, it has many more benefits like the DCO can judge the field situation by calling people from the office late in the evening when he is free; it also helps to judge the standard of governance, the scope of working and the nature of public complaints; DCO can then develop a suitable strategy of solving most of the complaints by removing bottlenecks and improving governance & service delivery
mechanism. It also helps to identify the corrupt officials working in registry or arms license branch or in the excise department. Once the corrupt are identified, it is easy for the DCO to relocate them to some other places where they cannot earn any extra money.

It is observed that usually political figures in the district patronize such elements for their personal means. The case of some affluent DC office clerks in Lahore, who managed late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s recommendations for their posting in the registry branch, is still alive in the minds of many a people. Actually, governance is a big problem in Pakistan where every other political government or the dictator tried to exploit the government machinery for personal means. Welfare of the people is always a neglected priority of the rulers in this part of the world.

Jhang Model, as it is known today, is a step in the right direction. It has a lot of chances to succeed in Pakistan. Mobile technology is a cheap means of communication as every other person is carrying a cell phone in his/her hand. Punjab has 70% tele-density. It can help to departmental heads to develop a hassle free liaison with their clientele while sitting in their offices as he/she does not need to hold open-kutchery, or visit around in the DCO office in the morning to personally supervise all the things.

Corruption has always been a big issue in Pakistan. Governments claim to minimize it but in vain. Actually, we have developed a habit of evading corruption and the corrupt. Bad governance, weak laws and the lengthy & cumbersome legal procedures often make it impossible to bring the corrupt to justice. Although, certain laws are in vogue to control corruption like Pakistan Penal Code, 1960, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 but corruption eats up about Rs. 500 billion annually. It is important to point out that NAO was initially drafted to outline the objectives, duties and powers of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) but after the formation of new government in 2002, NAO was subtly altered to
exclude members of Judiciary and armed forces from it. Certainly, the hidden forces of corruption were more powerful than the army backed NAB then.

According to a report of International Crisis Group (ICG), people in Pakistan believe that “country’s 2.4 million civil servants are widely unresponsive and corrupt, while bureaucratic procedures are cumbersome and exploitative.” The report further observed that Low salaries, insecure tenure, and obsolete accountability mechanisms have spawned widespread corruption and impunity. Similarly, report of Transparency
International (TI) has placed Pakistan on the 142nd number, ranked as the 42nd most corrupt nation, equivalent to Bangladesh, Belarus and Philippines. Ironically, even Nigeria is at 130th number. This shows immediate need of comprehensive reforms in government working, and Jhang Model is one way to minimize corruption.

In this backdrop, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif should fully patronize the Jhang Model. It should be introduced in all the 36 districts in an institutionalized way. Not only the DCO but every head of the government department should be directed to keep close liaison with the people visiting his office. While, it is satisfying that Punjab government is also contemplating to set up call centres for making contacts with people and specialized phone numbers’ plan is under study where people can record their experience or the complaints, round the clock.

Shahbaz Sharif and other politicians should remember that good governance, accountability, rule of law and transparency are the most important prerequisites for any development as no local or foreign investment is possible without these preconditions.

The sooner we learn this, the better it is.

According to many emails that I received after posting a blog in the wake of the terrible bomb attacks in Lahore last week, I was ‘spreading politics of ethnicity.’

I don’t know exactly what made these folks think this way, but the accusation does smack of an attitude demonstrated by many of my fellow countrymen when they are asked certain thorny questions regarding ideology and religion: they at once either label the questioner as being ‘anti-Islam’ or ‘anti-Pakistan.’

I am not the only writer in this country who has faced this kind of a barrage, mind you. Men and women like Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Ahmed Rashid, Asma Jehanjgir, and late Akhtar Hamid Khan have had their share of such laminating labels bestowed upon them long before others like Hassan Nisar, Imtiaz Alam, Fasi Zaka, Irfan Hussain, Ayesha Siddiqua, Hassan Askari, Nazir Najee, Kamran Shafi, and myself became the Islamic Republic’s new batch of anti-Pakistan/anti-Islam devils.

Ironically, just what I meant in the blog, ‘Wake up, Punjab,’ was blatantly proven by the recent comments by Punjab’s Chief Minister and the president of the province’s ruling party, the PMLN, Shahbaz Sharif. Not only did the man conjoin the anti-Americanism of the Taliban with that of his own party, but he also pleaded for mercy from the terrorists specifically for his home province of the Punjab.

Why does Mr. Sharif want the Taliban to only spare the Punjab? Isn’t the Taliban issue a national menace that has affected the whole country? Sharif apologists defend his stance by suggesting that since Shahbaz Sharif is the Chief Minister of Punjab, he is likely to only talk about the Punjab.

If so, then Mr. Sharif and PMLN members from the Punjab should stick to their province, instead of dishing out the lofty tirades and sermons that they love to deliver on the corruption of President Zardari and the incompetence’ of the current PPP-ANP-MQM coalition governments in Islamabad and in other provinces.

Even if one gives Shahbaz the benefit of the doubt that he spoke strictly as the Chief Minister of the Punjab, how is one to explain his weak-kneed attitude towards the Taliban – an organisation which, along with its many clandestine foot soldiers in shape of assorted sectarian outfits, has been responsible for literally slaughtering thousands of common men, women and children in the mosques and bazaars of Pakistan.

These are monsters against which the military, political parties, and a majority of Pakistanis are fighting a deadly battle, losing numerous lives, both uniformed and civilian, in the process.

How can one explain Shahbaz’s insistence that the Taliban should spare the Punjab because the ‘PMLN too is anti-American.’ Was he suggesting that the PMLN endorses the Taliban ideology? An ideology of utter bloodshed, remorseless violence, coercion, and theological psychosis cloaked with rhetorical anti-Americanism and a demand for Sharia law?  An ideology both the state and society of Pakistan have been at war with for the past five years of so?

What does Mr. Sharif mean by ‘anti-Americanism?’ How is his party any different from the parties the PMLN accuses of being ‘American stooges?’ Any high-profile official of American or western states who visits Pakistan is also met by PMLN chief Mian Nawaz Sharif. Why can’t he just shun them?

And how is ‘American interference’ that parties like the PMLN and Jamaat-e-Islami are always lamenting any different from Saudi interference? It was the US along with the Saudis who were the biggest donors to the anti-Soviet Afghan ‘jihad’ in the 1980s. What’s more, the Saudis were also the only other country (apart from, of course, Pakistan) that actually recognised the brutal tyranny of the Taliban under Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan (1996-2001).

Today, after facing the wrath and the madness of the monsters that it helped Pakistan create, the Saudis are willing partners of the US in its war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. So how come not a word is uttered by the PML-N against the Saudis as well?

Effective politics is first and foremost about policies derived from diplomacy and pragmatism and then implemented through a democratic consensus. Ideology works merely as a cover to communicate such policies on a populist level. There’s a lesson to be learned here by Shahbaz Sharif and the PML-N. PML-N’s popularity in central and upper Punjab is still rooted in the solid developmental work it did in that province between 1985 and 2007.

Its weakest link, however, has remained its ideology. Unfortunately, no matter how hard it has tried to sound like a national party, the PMLN’s ideology always seems to be stemming from the ethos of Punjab’s conservative sections. This ethos is the one that also informs the ideological make-up of the Pakistan Army and large sections of the province’s bourgeois and petty-bourgeois classes.

Over the decades it has been accused by Sindhi, Pushtun and Baloch nationalists of dictating (through the ‘establishment’ and the military) a homogeneous Pakistani nationalism, but one that is ingrained in the Punjabi industrial, bureaucratic and political elite’s worldview.

And therein lies PMLN’s ideological dilemma. This worldview is a strange brew of aggressive anti-India positioning; a scorning disregard for any attempt to give Sindh, Pakhtunkwah and Balochistan any worthy degree of political autonomy; an air-tight notion of political and cultural Islam that attempts to overwhelm the many other strains of the faith that exist in the country; and a stringent observance of public conservatism. Add to all this a new-found respect for democracy and claims of anti-Americanism and you have in your hands the ideology of the PMLN.

However, if you slightly alter this, wouldn’t one then get what, say, a reactionary political party like the Jamaat-i-Islami stands for?

Yes. But the difference is the PMLN’s legacy as a doer party. It is this and not entirely its ideology that is helping it bag votes in the Punjab. It is the doing bit that gets votes for other mainstream parties as well such as the PPP, ANP and the MQM.

Nevertheless, whereas the other parties mentioned have been pragmatic and progressive enough to let their ideologies evolve according to the needs of the time, the PMLN seems to be getting stuck in an ideological hole that it continues to dig for itself.

One moment it is quick to show off its new-found credentials as a modern democratic party working for the rule of law and constitutionalism; the very next moment one is baffled by the way this party continues to romanticise ideas and entities associated with the most reactionary strains of Islam.

For example, the PMLN is quick to make sure Lahore’s traditional festival, Basant, is banned because many people lose their lives. If so, many people also lose their lives during Ramadan. According to a research, the number of traffic accidents almost double every Ramadan about half an hour before the opening of the fast as motorists and bikers try to hurry back home. Does this mean that Ramadan too should be banned?

The PMLN government was even quicker to put restrictions on Punjab’s once thriving popular theatre scene and on the late night packages offered by telecom companies because they are ‘a bad influence on the youth.’

Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister, Rana Sannullah, is seen (literally) holding hands with the chief of a banned sectarian organisation, and Shahbaz Sharif says his party’s ideology is close to that of the Taliban. Is this meant to imply that terrorists are a better influence on the youth? Is a suicide bomber exploding himself in public a better influence on the youth than a dance performance by Nargis on a Lahore stage?

Ban the theatre actors and dancers, curb night-time offers from telecom companies, put a stop to men wearing shorts in public (I’m serious), let hate-mongers make whirlwind tours of Lahore’s educational institutions, keep badmouthing the president, but at the same time sound meek, hopeless and even reconciliatory when it comes to brutal terrorists. Is this the PMLN’s idea of a ‘sovereign,’ just and democratic Pakistan?

Spurred on by one particular TV channel which itself has kept its own historical skeletons locked in the closet while lecturing the nation on sovereignty and a corruption-free Pakistan, the PMLN has begun to perform not for the people as such, but for TV audiences. And that is dangerous.

The PMLN’s growing self-righteousness that sounds so pleasant on TV cannot continue to get it votes. As mentioned before, it is the party’s legacy of being a resourceful political entity that can actually undertake developmental work that matters.

And come to think of it, it is easy to criticise the current PPP-led coalition government for struggling against the Taliban menace. But the truth is, the real failure in this respect is more obvious in the Punjab than anywhere else.

The Punjab government and those who support it should seriously start to rethink their priorities. Again, one of the easiest (if not also the laziest) things to do is to sound all lofty, high and mighty talking about sovereignty, independent judiciary, corruption, et al, on the TV; but all this starts to seem dizzying and fluff-like in the midst of loud, rude bomb attacks by men who are a million times worse than what the PMLN is so concerned about.

In parting, I would also like to sincerely advise the doings of certain TV channels whose policies are clearly echoing those of the PMLN. On these channels, amidst sounds and visuals of gory suicide attacks, death and destruction, one can still catch sheer hate-mongers masquerading as preachers, ‘scholars,’ talk show hosts and ‘security analysts.’

My question to these channels is, if you think that corruption and lack of accountability are not good for the country, then how good are those we see sprouting utter hatred and mischief in your studios? And anyway, accountability, like charity, should begin at home, shouldn’t it?

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com.

Source: Dawn

Existentialist threat

The PML-N’s right wing ideology is an open secret. Thus it is not surprising if the party has now come clear on its stance vis-à-vis the militant outfits. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has finally exposed the real face of his party by giving an inane statement in a blatant show of provincialism.

Taking a narrow provincialist stance while totally ignoring the national crisis, Shahbaz Sharif pleaded with the Taliban to spare Punjab from its terrorist attacks. He said that since the Taliban opposed foreign dictation and were pursuing the policy of terrorism to fight against a foreign invasion (i.e. the Americans) and the PML-N too opposed General Musharraf’s policies, Punjab ruled by the PML-N should be spared terrorist attacks. Mr Sharif said, “Musharraf planned a bloodbath of innocent Muslims at the behest of others only to prolong his rule, but we in the PML-N opposed his policies and rejected dictation from abroad.”

The absurdity of these comments cannot be overstated. Not only is this statement a foolish one, it is a highly insensitive one. Has Mr Sharif forgotten that Punjab is only one province of the country and there are three other provinces — Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP? The whole country is on fire and reverberating with terrorist attacks left, right and centre. The Punjab chief minister realised his folly and tried to make amends a day after giving this statement by saying that his words had been taken out of context and that he “lauded the brave people of the NWFP for their fight for the survival of Pakistan”.

This belated amendment did not help matters much. Nighat Orakzai, an MPA from the NWFP Assembly, strongly protested at this statement and threw her dupatta away on the floor of the Assembly, saying that Mr Shahbaz Sharif should now wear it.

Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer also condemned the chief minister’s remarks and was of the view that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah must be turning in his grave right now at seeing this injustice being done to his beloved country.

At a time when Pakistan is fighting militancy on its soil, the PML-N taking a pro-militant stance is rubbing salt into the wounds of the Pakistani nation. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has dug a pit for himself by passing these callous remarks, exposing his true character and that of his party’s in the process. The suspicion against the PML-N that it has been harbouring ties with banned militant outfits has now been all but proved.

We saw in the by-elections in Jhang how the Punjab law minister was hobnobbing with a leader of a banned outfit and when confronted with the news, he showed no remorse. Such is the level of politics being played by the PML-N at the cost of this nation’s future.

The Punjab government has long been in denial over the presence of militants in Southern Punjab. It needs to wake up before it is too late. The news of the TTP offering to stop these attacks if the Punjab government assures that it would stop the crackdown against the militants further highlights the implicit nexus between the terrorists and the PML-N. It would not be far from the truth if we were to say that the PML-N is proving itself to be the greatest existentialist threat to the remaining part of Jinnah’s Pakistan. Spare this country, Mr Chief Minister — we lost half of it in 1971, do not pave the way for another disaster by supporting the terrorists.

Source: Daily Times

If you have some love with the history and the current affairs of Pakistan, then it is very easy to assess some important things going around. Certain things that are happening around these days are making some more clarity towards some bitter issues of politics.

The great Marxist teacher Lenin once said, if you don’t learn from the history then you are to be blamed of repeating it. If I see present situation then I feel a bit annoyed with PPP policies of reconciliation, even with General Zia ul haq’s remnants as Benazir Bhutto always used this historical term to describe them.

Whether it is a case of Rana Sanaullah’s plaza or his public postures with the Sipah Sahaba Terrorists in the election rallies, or whether it is judiciary at work to continue maligning the present government with all its efforts and not wasting a single minute to always be in news. PML-N supporting Taliban and not saying a single word against them and their brutalities. Some of PML-N people even speaking against women’s rights, paving the way of SSP terrorists to openly hijack the people of Jhang and addressing the rallies, the khadim e aala Shahbaz Sharif even not speaking a single word against his so called ministers and workers.

So here I ask myself that in what’s fools paradise are we, and want to live just deceiving ourselves. History has been able to make me aware that the historical alliance of right wing PML-N with the terrorists and jihadists is no more a hidden secret. More over the still awaiting urge of becoming the Ameer ul Momineen is alive. Our Prime Minister is trying to facilitate or appease the judiciary with all his efforts but he will always face a tough call from them as they don’t trust him (and the PPP), as was for instance stated by their supreme loyal Justice Javed Iqbal repeatedly on different forums.

I want to urge the PPP leadership to wake up and go to the masses and voters whom are their true and loyal supporters. The diminishing of anti-labour laws and signing of women protection bill are indeed a historical achievement, but still there is a lot more needed to confront the nexus of right wing media and judiciary under the umbrella of army.

Thus, historical lesson for the PPP is to reconcile with the poor masses and working class of this country.

Hobnobbing with terror
Legal eye

What are the irresistible compulsions of power politics that forced the PML-N to jump into bed with the proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and its head Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi to win the provincial assembly seat in Jhang this week? Is this simply a case of reprehensible electoral politics with the PML-N stooping low to mix with hate-mongers in order to defeat the PPP in a heated election contest?

Is this a reflection of the PML-N’s political ideology that has traditionally pandered to the politics of the religious right that nurtures bigotry, intolerance, hate, obscurantism and paranoia to garner public support? Does it not raise serious questions about the ability and willingness of this mainstream party to attack the menace of terrorism that is rooted in an ideology of religion-inspired intolerance and violence that organisations such as the SSP and Jamaat-ud-Daawa stand for?

It is hard to determine what is worst: that Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah chose to campaign for the PML-N candidate in PP-82 along with the SSP head, that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif threw his support behind this informal alliance between the PML-N and the SSP, that the PML-N candidate won with the SSP’s support, or that the PML-N leadership exhibits an utter inability to comprehend and acknowledge the gravity of this misstep.

The joint campaign of Rana Sanaullah and Ahmad Ludhianvi — when viewed together with (i) the fact that Shaikh Yaqoob who won during the last election from the Jhang area on a PML-Q ticket (by virtue of his informal alliance with the SSP) later defected and joined the PML-N, and (ii) the decision of the Punjab government to allow another banned organization, Jamaat-ud-Daawa, to convene public rallies and give sermons on Kashmir Day — raises alarming legal, political, ideological and security-related concerns.

Pakistan already suffers from an inadequate legal framework to grapple with the scourge of terrorism. Successive governments have failed to take effective measures to confront the ideology of religion-inspired violence that lies at the heart of our problem of terror, and the organisations and so-called madrasas that preach this ideology of hate and intolerance. Some changes were introduced within the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in 2002, which have created a mechanism to ban terrorist organisations, monitor the activities of their members, acquire control over their funds, and ensure that the message of such organisations is not disseminated to the public. But such mechanism has proved insufficient and ineffectual.

But instead of strengthening this moth-eaten legal framework that doesn’t produce adequate penal consequences for banned terrorist organisations and their members, the Punjab law minister has rendered this entire framework meaningless by electing to participate in an election campaign alongside the SSP chief and then stubbornly defending this reprehensible act.

Let us first revisit the facts and the related law. One, the SSP has been notified as a proscribed organisation under Section 11B of the ATA and its name is included in Schedule 1 that lists such banned organizations. Two, Ahmad Ludhianvi, the alleged head of the SSP, has been notified as a member of a terrorism organisation under Section 11E of the ATA by virtue of the inclusion of his name in Schedule 4. Three, under Section 11EE of the ATA, the federal and the provincial governments have to determine the checks to be imposed on the day-to-day activities of the individuals so listed under Schedule 4, depending on the danger they pose to the society; and in this regard Rana Sanaullah has a key role on behalf of the Punjab government. And, four, promoting a banned organisation, its message or its members by any means is in itself an offence under Section 11W of the ATA that can result in a five-year jail term.

By seeking the support of Ahmad Ludhianvi in the PP-82 by-election and by campaigning and addressing public rallies alongside this notified member of a terrorist organisation in full public eye, the Punjab law minister has (i) brought the SSP into mainstream politics, and (ii) indirectly legitimised and promoted the SSP’s ideology and message.

Who, then, will file a criminal complaint against the law minister under Section 11W of the ATA for disseminating the message of a banned terrorist organisation? Will the law enforcement agencies dare prevent Ahmad Ludhianvi from spreading his message, now that the law minister has himself taken him to the bully pulpit? And more disturbingly, how will Rana Sanaullah objectively determine the level of threat posed by the SSP and Ahmad Ludhianvi for purposes of restraining and regulating his public exposure and activities for purposes of Section 11EE of the ATA?

The justification proffered by the Punjab law minister for his tango with Ahmad Ludhianvi has been threefold. One, he had been allowed by the PCO Lahore High Court to contest elections in 2008 (he lost but bagged over 40,000 votes), which somehow gives him a clean chit of health for all purposes. Two, all other parties, including the PPP, woo proscribed organisations and their members during elections. And, three, members of banned organisations should be brought into mainstream politics as a way to cure their terrorist propensities.

The problem with these explanations is that they defy law (and reason). The PML-N, and Rana Sanaullah, publicly decried and rejected the PCO courts and their decisions. How can they now use one such a decision as certification of Ahmad Ludhianvi’s character and integrity? And if other parties indulge in rotten acts, is that reason enough for the PML-N to jump into the muck?

Further, if Rana Sanaullah wishes to bring terror suspects into mainstream politics, should he not try and introduce amendments in the law to offer some kind of amnesty scheme for those who acknowledge their horrid acts and promise to desist in the future? How can a law minister whimsically decide to simply disregard the law and wipe off the stigma attached to a notified terror suspect such as Ahmad Ludhianvi, especially when he publicly justifies the SSP’s ideology and activities and his association with the organisation? After Rana Sanaullah’s public embrace of Ahmad Ludhianvi, should Schedule 4 of the ATA simply not be scrapped?

Other than the legal implications of the Punjab law minister’s indiscretion, this ugly episode raises searching questions about the PML-N’s politics and ideology. Do considerations of electoral success justify all kinds of compromises? Will ends continue to justify means for the PML-N that otherwise makes loud noises about introducing politics of issues and principles to Pakistan? But more disturbing than the question of ethics is that of ideology and its implications on the fight against religion-inspired violence and terror.

There can be at least two divergent visions for the future of our country that can be pursued by political parties. The first is that we need to reform our polity urgently: within the political arena we need to foster an electoral culture that focuses on issues, and not alliances based on bigoted sectarian, tribal and ethnic identities; as a society we must shun obscurantism and intolerance preached and practiced in the name of religion; and as a state we must develop an effective security policy that is grounded in our indigenous economic and military strength and promotes our strategic interests without relying on jihadists and mercenaries.

The other is that we will continue business as usual. Politics will continue to be defined by opportunism, where winning by any means, fair and foul, will be the norm. Our social ethic will remain rooted in hypocrisy and we will allow self-appointed protectors of our faith to inspire intolerance and hatred, and consequently divide us further. And as a state, we will continue to breed and protect jihadists, while putting them on various national terror lists to pay lip service to the concerns of the international community till the temporary focus on terrorism subsides.

Unfortunately, the electoral strategy of the PML-N vis-à-vis the Jhang by-election and its larger approach towards militant organisations still thriving in Punjab betrays obliviousness to our urgent need to rehabilitate our state and society.

The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.
Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu

Source: The News

The pattern of by-elections in Jhang and PML-N’s alliance with Sipah-e-Sahaba is a worrisome development. However, this is not the first time that PML-N has established alliances with terrorist organisations. Only a few days ago (in February 2010), PML-N forged an alliance with a terrorist Mullah Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid (the spiritual father of all suicide bombers in Pakistan) in order to grab a few dozen more votes in Rawalpindi. The alliance with Mullah Abdul Aziz was facilitated through the notorious pro-Taliban journalist Hamid Mir (of Geo TV):

Some civil society observers monitoring the polling went aghast when they saw strong Lal Masjid brigades in the afternoon of that fateful day taking positions inside most of the polling booths, driving out the PML-N candidate Malik Shakil Awan’s opponents’ polling agents and later stuffed the ballot boxes to their will, ensuring PML-N’s veiled agenda of patronizing terrorism within Punjab for their political hegemony at all costs.

Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz taking credit for Shakil Awan’s victory later said that Sheikh Rashid never came to him for apologizing being part of the Musharraf government that had launched military operation.

It may be recalled that about a week ago Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah having ties with the leader of Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunna (formerly Sipah-e-Sahaba) was spotted touring Jhang with the chief of this terrorist organization in an attempt to gain votes, which later also led to a heated debate in the national assembly, where the members angrily shouted shame, shame for blatant patronization of terrorism by an overtly democratic party.

While the members of the civil society kept wondering what lies in store for the nation and the country, especially when a mainstream party like PML-N fully unveiling itself has come out openly harboring and patronizing terrorist organizations under a game plan aiming at try capturing power by all means.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5313688-pmln-shakil-turns-out-lal-masjid-militants-in-na55-bypoll

Apparently, what we are currently witnessing may be termed as the (re-)emergence of the PML-N’s Sipah-e-Sahaba group.

It may be noted that PML-N’s Sipah-e-Sahaba group has in the past attacked Christians, Shias and Barelvis in various parts of Punjab, particularly in areas surrounding Faisalabad, Jhang and Sargodha. For example:

Daily Telegraph reports: “Pakistan faces Christian protest after eight people ‘burned alive’”

– “Missionary schools across Pakistan closed on Monday in a three day protest against the deaths of up to seven Christians who were burned alive in clashes with Muslims”
– “Two children – a brother and sister aged six and 13 – their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were among those killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in Punjab province on Saturday”
– “One report said that six Christians died in flames, while two were killed by gunshots”
– “Muslims torched Christians’ homes following unsubstantiated allegations some of them had desecrated the Koran. Some 40 homes were burned down.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5964923/Pakistan-faces-Christian-protest-after-eight-people-burned-alive.html

— “They protested against attacks on their houses and burning alive of seven members of their community by a mob”
— “Violence had broken out in a Gojra village on Thursday after an alleged incident of desecration of the Holy Quran during a wedding ceremony”
— “The arrested men include Qari Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a leader of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan”

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/13+negligence+of+officials+blamed+for+gojra+riots-za-14

In the following article, Shafiq Awan offers an excellent analysis of the cost of Jhang elections to Pakistani nation:

The cost of Jhang by-poll

By Shafiq Awan

Ronald Reagan once said politics is supposed to be “the second-oldest profession … I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first”.

Just as the first profession welcomes everybody – whether a gentleman or a cad, a lawmaker or a law breaker, a rich man or a poor beggar, a labourer or an industrialist, an intellectual or an illiterate – politics is also following a similar rule. In fact, it is a step ahead. The Punjab government’s recent handshake with the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) for the Jhang by-polls may have been aimed at mustering a few thousands votes, but it has also achieved something else: the administration’s move has pumped life into the banned outfit in Punjab, especially Jhang. Members of the organisation are moving freely and being welcomed and accommodated by provincial law-enforcement agencies, police stations and other government offices. All were previously no-go areas for the outfit.

When Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah led a rally, along with the banned outfit, in Jhang, what message did he want to send to the administration? Obviously, the PML-N government in the province has a new ally and the support would not be limited to by-polls. The administration was clearly directed to accommodate the SSP.

Why does the law minister always find himself in the middle of such controversies? While the Sharifs have bigwigs in their fold, Sanaullah is an easy prey. The perception is he often crosses the limits to please the bosses who order him. His treatment of the Interior Ministry’s warning over a possible terrorist attack in Lahore to the Punjab Home Department is an example.

Commenting on the information, Sanaullah said he could not trust the Interior Ministry. Had he taken the information seriously, the loss in the Model Town blast could have been limited, if not averted altogether. There have been reports that suspected terrorists Talib alias Qiamat and Siddiq alias Jappo – who were released a few weeks ago – were also kept at the Model Town office of the Special Intelligence Agency that was targeted.

A PML-N grey head disclosed that the SSP leaders met the party leadership in Raiwind, as they wanted some guarantees for long-lasting relations. Defending the meeting, he said it was a political strategy to have a new political ally: the argument was while an organisation could be banned, the thousands of followers and voters could not. He said the party leadership was only convincing the followers of the organisation to vote for its candidate. But he conceded the process was being routed through the banned outfit’s leadership. He said even during the local government elections, the SSP would be a PML-N ally – “whenever and wherever required”.

In the next general elections, the PML-N would adjust seats with the organisation in Jhang. He dispelled the impression that the PML-N government decided not to confront the SSP after an assassination attempt on Nawaz Sharif in 1997. Then prime minister, narrowly escaped an attempt on his life when a powerful bomb exploded on a bridge he was due to use.

The SSP was accused of planting the bomb, but no proper action was taken against the outfit. The PML-N official admitted that the Sharifs were careful, as during their last regime, Gujranwala SSP Ashraf Marth was assassinated by SSP assassin Riaz Basra. Marth was married to then Punjab Assembly speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi’s sister and was the brother-in-law of then interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Then SSP chief Azam Tariq was charged and arrested for involvement in Marth’s murder.

Ironically, the case was not pursued, and Azam Tariq was released. A senior government official, defending ties with the SSP, said orders had been given to “deal with the outfit with a soft hand … they are to be introduced in mainstream politics”. But is it the job of government officials?

The organisation is even being consulted for demarcation of constituencies and other arrangements for the next local government elections. While the officer refused comment, he did not deny it. The Punjab government’s blatant support to the SSP could further widen the sectarian gulf in the province. The other sects feel insecure and deprived.

They say they have been shocked by the Punjab government’s support for the group. The recent violence at an Eid Miladun Nabi procession in Faisalabad by a subsidiary of the SSP and Punjab government’s view of the case speaks a lot about the relationship between the outfit and the PML-N. The party may win the Jhang by-poll, but at what cost?

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\10\story_10-3-2010_pg7_15

Finally, it seems that the federal government has taken note of PML-N’s links with sectarian and jihadi terrorists. However, not much will happen we know as the PML-N and Sipah-e-Sahaba are two important organs (two sides of the same coin) of the most powerful right wing establishment in Pakistan.

Govt won’t let banned outfits work: Malik

Friday, March 12, 2010
By By our correspondent

LAHORE: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has admitted that banned militant organizations are still working in Pakistan, warning the outfits to wind up their network, otherwise, strict action would be taken against them.

He expressed these views while talking to the media at the Horse and Tattoo Show organized at the Lahore Race Club on Thursday. The Interior Minister stated that he had convened the meeting of all Home Secretaries in next week to make a policy to deal with the banned militants. He expressed his anguish over the hoisting of flags of Sipah Sahaba and other militant activity in Jhang during the campaigns of by-polls, adding the activity would also not be allowed in future.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=228600

When will you wake up, Punjab?

‘PML-N teaming up with banned outfit for LG polls’

* Deputy Opp leader describes PML-N’s links with Sipah-e-Sahaba as ‘shocking’
* Ex-Rahimyar Khan nazim alleges govt will only conduct LG elections when assemblies’ tenure ends
* Pervaiz Rasheed says ‘no harm’ in Sipah-e-Sahaba supporting PML-N

By Rana Kashif

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to form an alliance with a banned religious outfit and the PML-Zia (PML-Z) for the upcoming local government (LG) elections, Daily Times learnt on Thursday.

In the recent by-elections, the PML-N won in the PP-82 (Jhang) constituency with the support of a banned religious outfit, whereas it supported the PML-Z candidate in Bahawalnagar (PP-284), who also turned out to be the winning candidate.

Sources within the PML-N told Daily Times that the party would ‘most likely’ form an alliance with the Sipah-e-Sahaba and the PML-Z in the upcoming local bodies elections. They said the party believed in gaining all possible support going into the local bodies elections, and the PML-N did not “see any harm” in forming an alliance with the Sipah-e-Sahaba or the PML-Z, as members of both parties are Pakistani citizens who had a “right to vote”. The sources said that forming such alliances was a part of politics and there is nothing “wrong” about it.

Shocking: Separately, the opposition bench in the Punjab Assembly expressed its concerns over the Sipha-e-Sahaba’s support for the PML-N in the Jhang by-polls. Deputy Opposition Leader Muhammad Yar Hiraj said it was “shocking” that the PML-N had connections with a banned religious outfit. He alleged that the PML-N was an ‘opportunistic’ party and would form an alliance with any party at the need of the hour regardless of the other party’s philosophy and beliefs, a fact obvious by its affiliation with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

He also said the main reason behind the delay in conducting the LG elections in Punjab was to allow the PML-N time to form an alliance and gain enough support before the polls.

Political gains: Similarly, former Rahimyar Khan district nazim Mir Rafiq Hayder Leghari said the PML-N was not ready to hold local bodies elections, and in case the elections are held, they would be scheduled at the time when the current assemblies’ tenure would be about to end. All this would be done to gain ‘political benefit’, he added.

Upon being contacted by Daily Times, PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said the party’s philosophy was against the formation of an alliance with a banned organisation.

However, contradicting his earlier statement, he said that all election candidates had the right to contact any political organisation to gain support, adding that there “is no harm” in the banned religious outfit supporting the PML-N in the upcoming local bodies elections.

Justifying his party’s stance, Rasheed said that when “prisoners could be given the right to vote, there was nothing wrong with the PML-N gathering the support of Sipah-e-Sahaba members, who had a right to vote being citizens of Pakistan”.

One-way support: He said that while the PML-N did not reject the banned outfit’s support, the party “did not accept or support the philosophy of any banned organisation or person”. The Sipha-e-Sahaba has strong links in various pockets of the province including Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, Lahore, Sheikhupura and the Melsi areas.

Source: Daily Times