Violence and loss

Indian-occupied Kashmir has of course lost a great deal in terms of human rights and a sense of security since it was stripped nearly four months ago of its special status, and divided into two Union territories. Along with that, it has also suffered massive economic losses. According to the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an organization that has existed for 85 years, more than $2.4billion has been lost over the last four months. In the first place, traders have refused to open shops since early August and because of the Indian government’s decision to crack down on telecommunication links and cellphone connectivity sectors dependent on these services have not been able to operate. The internet is not available to businesses which badly impacts on their effort to communicate with the world. The president of the KCCI has said the region must be compensated for its losses which have also occurred because tourism has ground to a halt.This aspect of the violence in Indian-occupied Kashmir has not been examined deeply enough. The fact, however, is that for those dependent on tourism it is almost impossible to survive in a situation where the number of those visiting the valley has fallen dramatically. On average, more than 2500 tourists came to stay each year on houseboats on the Dal Lake. According to Kashmiris involved in the business, there are now none who choose to visit these house boats or other parts of Kashmir. The lack of tourists also means that hotels, cafes, resorts ski slopes and other tourist related businesses all suffer. Those manufacturing handicrafts no longer have buyers.The situation economically is then catastrophic. It is difficult to imagine how Kashmiri families are surviving in this situation. The losses will continue until there is some return of normalcy to the scenic valley of Kashmir and the capital Srinagar. At present, there appears to be no sign that this normalcy will return soon. A louder voice also needs to be raised for the economic rights of the Kashmiri people. So far, human rights abuses have been brought up in the world. But economic survival is an equally important necessity and the suffering of the Kashmiri people will continue to worsen until they are once again able to carry out their usual trade and business activities. When this will happen is still very difficult to say.

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Greener fields

Agricultural land, fisheries, poultry farms and other work places in the agricultural sector just became better places for women workers. On Thursday, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a law which recognizes women in the agricultural sector as formal labourers and grants them the same rights as industrial labourers. In real terms, the Sindh Women Agricultural Bill 2019 will protect the social security rights of women by enabling them to access financial assistance from funds such as the Benazir Income Support Programme, to write out contracts determining their conditions of work when they believe this is necessary and gain the right to collective bargaining, social welfare including child health, and other rights available to those working in the formal sector.The Bill has been before a select committee for some time and its passage has been termed by the Sindh chief minister as a historic moment. Whether this will prove to be the case depends largely on the ability of women, most of them illiterate and impoverished, to benefit from the rights enshrined in the law. This has been the consistent problem with much of the legislation in the country in the past. The presence of the law is however significant in itself. While women perform a large portion of the work in this sector, including sowing fields, taking care of cattle and poultry and in some cases ploughing fields, their work has had no formal recognition. It is almost always unpaid and the workers are guaranteed no rights unlike their counterparts in the more organized industrial sector. This is also true of women workers in other informal sectors. This new law at least makes their situation clear and a point of attention for all stakeholders in farming.Sindh has recently passed a number of landmark bills. The difficulty of course is in enforcing them. However, they do set an excellent example and we must hope that other provincial assemblies in the country including Punjab are inspired by these laws and choose to follow up on them so that a larger number of people are able to benefit and there is greater uniformity in the laws governing the country. This would be an important step which also draws attention to the situation of women whose work is often overlooked. Female agricultural workers in Sindh are integral to running the land estates and farms of that province. They need a guarantee of social protection for the labour that they perform.

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COP25 talks

With the warnings from the UN getting stronger and the climate protest movement getting stronger, action on the part of governments to mitigate the effects of climate change has remained disappointing. At the end of another UN climate summit, a number of major states continue to resist pressure to increase their efforts to combat global warming. This is not a surprise in itself given that the list of resistant countries includes the US, Brazil, China, Australia and Saudi Arabia. Most of the countries have made their opposition on climate change known. The US was the first to pull out of the Paris climate accord under the Trump administration -- and one can remain certain that there is little political will in the US to take action on climate change.The trouble is that the list includes two of the world’s biggest economies -- the US and China -- which remain critical to combat climate change. Without their collective effort, there is little chance of the world meeting the targets set to restrict climate change. The refusal to believe the scientific community as well as millions of protesters will no doubt affect us later. In the concluding draft of the COP25 talks, the conference only endorsed a declaration on the urgent need to close the gap between existing emission pledges and the temperatures goals set in Paris. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for increasing targets before the conference, which has led to him declaring the outcome to be disappointing.If anything, the usually silent developing countries had asked for more explicit language on the importance of submitting bolder pledges. This is a recognition that the developing world faces the challenge of climate change in a much more stark way, and much of the responsibility lies with the developed world of reducing emissions to benefit all. With the next summit set for Glasgow in November next year, the task of persuading countries to submit bolder plans lies with British PM Boris Johnson. This is not a good sign, since Johnson is considered to be a climate sceptic. It is clear that in Madrid the international community has lost an opportunity to show that it wants to tackle the climate crisis. While the EU has reached an agreement to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, action itself has been limited. The bigger problem, however, for now is the countries that are refusing to act.

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Protest in India

If the government of Narendra Modi had thought that the new citizenship law passed by the Indian parliament’s lower house would be accepted without murmur, it has been proven wrong. Since Saturday there has been an uprising across India against the law which is anti-Muslim since it fast-tracks citizenship for all non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries, but does not extend this provision to Muslims. India has a population of over 200 million Muslims and human rights and Muslim activists say the law discriminates against them and aims to marginalize them.Following rioting in Assam where people are concerned about an influx of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, by Sunday protests had spread to other places across India — on the streets in New Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna and other cities. In some places, non-Muslim Indians have also joined their Muslim peers in these rallies and marches. This is an encouraging sign for the future of India. In Delhi police clashed with students from the Jamia Millia Islamia University as several thousand demonstrators gathered outside the police headquarters. The police then stormed the university campus, and at least 300 students and a dozen police officers are reported to have been injured. Students have said the protests were peaceful and intended only to draw attention to an unjust law. There has also been tension in Aligarh, home to a large university and a sizeable Muslim population. In other places too, police are on the alert though the main scene of violence has been India’s north-eastern states where ethnic tensions have flared up in the past and made people weary of what the new citizenship law could bring.The UN has also expressed concern over the law and the question of equality enshrined in the Indian constitution. In an action that is familiar to many in South Asia, Modi has blamed the opposition Congress Party for the unrest. But the opposition party and its allies are not alone in feeling unease over the law which has already been challenged in the Indian Supreme Court. For decades India has presented itself as a secular, democratic and egalitarian state. This law makes it clear that will no longer be the case and the unrest already been seen on the street could spill over to take more dangerous forms and create dangerous sectarian tensions within India.

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Healthcare crisis

We are aware that there is a lack of sufficient healthcare to cater to the needs of thousands of people in the country. But according to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, each year at least 300 persons die in Rawalpindi and Islamabad mainly in the winter season due to the unavailability of ventilator facilities. PIMS has 52 beds with ventilators and another 12 incubators for infants. According to available data, only 15 to 20 percent of seriously sick patients requiring ventilators are fortunate enough to receive one at a government hospital. The remaining 75 percent of patients must go to private hospitals where beds with ventilators cost around Rs20,000 to Rs100,000 per day. Naturally it is not possible for the majority in the country to pay this price; doctors believe there may be many more deaths due to the lack of ventilators than is currently estimated.The situation highlights the conditions of healthcare in the country. PIMS complains that one of the reasons it faces such a heavy burden of patients is the referrals from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK and northern Punjab. Respiratory ailments, which most often affect the elderly and children, reach their peak in these parts of the country as temperatures drop. But even at other times of the year the health structure available in the country is unable to perform its primary task of saving lives. In many government hospitals, even in major cities like Lahore, two to three patients are placed in a single bed and there is inadequate nursing or specialized care to cater to their needs. Indifference on the part of medical staff has been reported and with such high volume of patients, private hospitals’ negligence is also more likely.There are also problems with other essential equipment. MRI or CAT scan machines at some major hospitals are frequently malfunctional and attendants are forced to transport desperately sick patients to other hospitals, sometimes at the cost of their lives. In fact, there are few hospitals especially outside major urban centres which can properly cater to the needs of citizens requiring care. We were promised by the PTI government that healthcare would be made available to all and the existing structure drastically improved. This is yet to be seen even in KP. Many lives could easily be saved if we were able to put in place a more efficient system, and ensure that even the limited resources available are correctly utilized.

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Protest in India

If the government of Narendra Modi had thought that the new citizenship law passed by the Indian parliament’s lower house would be accepted without murmur, it has been proven wrong. Since Saturday there has been an uprising across India against the law which is anti-Muslim since it fast-tracks citizenship for all non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries, but does not extend this provision to Muslims. India has a population of over 200 million Muslims and human rights and Muslim activists say the law discriminates against them and aims to marginalize them.Following rioting in Assam where people are concerned about an influx of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, by Sunday protests had spread to other places across India — on the streets in New Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna and other cities. In some places, non-Muslim Indians have also joined their Muslim peers in these rallies and marches. This is an encouraging sign for the future of India. In Delhi police clashed with students from the Jamia Millia Islamia University as several thousand demonstrators gathered outside the police headquarters. The police then stormed the university campus, and at least 300 students and a dozen police officers are reported to have been injured. Students have said the protests were peaceful and intended only to draw attention to an unjust law. There has also been tension in Aligarh, home to a large university and a sizeable Muslim population. In other places too, police are on the alert though the main scene of violence has been India’s north-eastern states where ethnic tensions have flared up in the past and made people weary of what the new citizenship law could bring.The UN has also expressed concern over the law and the question of equality enshrined in the Indian constitution. In an action that is familiar to many in South Asia, Modi has blamed the opposition Congress Party for the unrest. But the opposition party and its allies are not alone in feeling unease over the law which has already been challenged in the Indian Supreme Court. For decades India has presented itself as a secular, democratic and egalitarian state. This law makes it clear that will no longer be the case and the unrest already been seen on the street could spill over to take more dangerous forms and create dangerous sectarian tensions within India.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2S5fFRv

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Healthcare crisis

We are aware that there is a lack of sufficient healthcare to cater to the needs of thousands of people in the country. But according to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, each year at least 300 persons die in Rawalpindi and Islamabad mainly in the winter season due to the unavailability of ventilator facilities. PIMS has 52 beds with ventilators and another 12 incubators for infants. According to available data, only 15 to 20 percent of seriously sick patients requiring ventilators are fortunate enough to receive one at a government hospital. The remaining 75 percent of patients must go to private hospitals where beds with ventilators cost around Rs20,000 to Rs100,000 per day. Naturally it is not possible for the majority in the country to pay this price; doctors believe there may be many more deaths due to the lack of ventilators than is currently estimated.The situation highlights the conditions of healthcare in the country. PIMS complains that one of the reasons it faces such a heavy burden of patients is the referrals from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK and northern Punjab. Respiratory ailments, which most often affect the elderly and children, reach their peak in these parts of the country as temperatures drop. But even at other times of the year the health structure available in the country is unable to perform its primary task of saving lives. In many government hospitals, even in major cities like Lahore, two to three patients are placed in a single bed and there is inadequate nursing or specialized care to cater to their needs. Indifference on the part of medical staff has been reported and with such high volume of patients, private hospitals’ negligence is also more likely.There are also problems with other essential equipment. MRI or CAT scan machines at some major hospitals are frequently malfunctional and attendants are forced to transport desperately sick patients to other hospitals, sometimes at the cost of their lives. In fact, there are few hospitals especially outside major urban centres which can properly cater to the needs of citizens requiring care. We were promised by the PTI government that healthcare would be made available to all and the existing structure drastically improved. This is yet to be seen even in KP. Many lives could easily be saved if we were able to put in place a more efficient system, and ensure that even the limited resources available are correctly utilized.

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Digital Pakistan

Perhaps on the basis of a few foreign reports of Pakistan’s economy showing signs of recovery, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that the government was now moving to digitalise the functioning of the government. However, not only is there little evidence to suggest an economic recovery is on the way, there is little evidence to show that digitalisation actually improves governance. The digitalisation of governance narrative is peddled by international lending organisations as a mechanism for creating ‘good governance,’ but it offers no guarantees of improving economic performance. While digitalisation is not a bad thing in itself, it is a project that has already been underway for a decade in the country. At the moment, there is little one can offer in terms of concrete comments about the Digital Pakistan proposal without more detail on what exactly the government is planning to do. The digitalisation of land records, government proceedings, traffic status, bill payments, and so much more had already reached a fairly advanced stage before the current government took power.This is why the question of how the programme will be able to ‘deliver public welfare’ needs to be explained – instead of ‘digitalisation’ being talked about in a vague way. Transparent public services are a good thing, but this also requires money being put into public services. If the government is cutting the funding for public services, social welfare will continue to get worse – with or without digitalisation. The idea that the public and private sectors will be able to come together to create digital magic is also for now talk – despite the good intentions of the government.No doubt Pakistan could benefit by becoming a hub for the world’s digital economy, but this requires creating the right foundations for the development of the IT sector. Right now, when it comes to e-commerce, Pakistan remains in the backwaters of the world’s digital economy, which means that there is enormous scope of opening up to this universe of commerce. There is a serious question of course over what digital commerce does to traditional commercial business. New jobs being created on the back of cuts in traditional jobs is not a solution to bring economic development to the country. There is an opportunity to bring together the digital and the real economy in the country, but the government’s think tanks will need to think concretely about this, rather than use digitalisation as a populist slogan.

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Flawed ‘honour’

A medical board which has examined the body of Gul Sama, the child aged around 10 years who was allegedly killed for honour as ‘karo kari’ in a village in the Dadu district a fortnight ago, has found her face, neck and torso to be badly fractured. They believe these injuries which caused her death followed a jirga verdict. The body was exhumed from a graveyard near the Kirthar range for examination and a number of persons including the girl’s father are under arrest. There are attempts on to detain others in the case, some of whom have fled towards Balochistan. The precise details of why the girl was declared ‘kari’ is not clear, but people in the neighbourhood say it arose from her playing with children from neighbouring homes.While human rights groups have expressed deep concern over the stoning, the fact is that despite an attempt to tighten up laws on honour killings notably after the murder of Qandeel Baloch, such cases continue under the system of feudal justice and jirga verdicts still in place even in more developed areas. In this case a police officer became the complainant in the matter. We do not know how many other girls may have been killed without the truth surfacing. The parents of Gul Sama say the stones had fallen on her in an accident. However, it is known arrangements had been made earlier for her funeral by a local cleric.The reality is that some 1000 women continue to be killed each year on the grounds of honour. There are also other kinds of violence against women, such as the kidnapping of Dua Mangi from DHA in Karachi. Although it appears the case is turning into one of kidnapping for ransom, with an amount reportedly demanded from the family, what is shocking are the remarks appearing over social media. Using their full names and pictures people ask why Dua was walking in a public space, what clothes she was wearing and why she was accompanied by a young man. Such attitudes explain why women remain at huge risk in our country. The problem will continue until they can be respected as citizens who have equal rights and who must not be used on the pretext of saving family honour or on other grounds.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2s5hrqw

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Digital Pakistan

Perhaps on the basis of a few foreign reports of Pakistan’s economy showing signs of recovery, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that the government was now moving to digitalise the functioning of the government. However, not only is there little evidence to suggest an economic recovery is on the way, there is little evidence to show that digitalisation actually improves governance. The digitalisation of governance narrative is peddled by international lending organisations as a mechanism for creating ‘good governance,’ but it offers no guarantees of improving economic performance. While digitalisation is not a bad thing in itself, it is a project that has already been underway for a decade in the country. At the moment, there is little one can offer in terms of concrete comments about the Digital Pakistan proposal without more detail on what exactly the government is planning to do. The digitalisation of land records, government proceedings, traffic status, bill payments, and so much more had already reached a fairly advanced stage before the current government took power.This is why the question of how the programme will be able to ‘deliver public welfare’ needs to be explained – instead of ‘digitalisation’ being talked about in a vague way. Transparent public services are a good thing, but this also requires money being put into public services. If the government is cutting the funding for public services, social welfare will continue to get worse – with or without digitalisation. The idea that the public and private sectors will be able to come together to create digital magic is also for now talk – despite the good intentions of the government.No doubt Pakistan could benefit by becoming a hub for the world’s digital economy, but this requires creating the right foundations for the development of the IT sector. Right now, when it comes to e-commerce, Pakistan remains in the backwaters of the world’s digital economy, which means that there is enormous scope of opening up to this universe of commerce. There is a serious question of course over what digital commerce does to traditional commercial business. New jobs being created on the back of cuts in traditional jobs is not a solution to bring economic development to the country. There is an opportunity to bring together the digital and the real economy in the country, but the government’s think tanks will need to think concretely about this, rather than use digitalisation as a populist slogan.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2YnrkvQ

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Flawed ‘honour’

A medical board which has examined the body of Gul Sama, the child aged around 10 years who was allegedly killed for honour as ‘karo kari’ in a village in the Dadu district a fortnight ago, has found her face, neck and torso to be badly fractured. They believe these injuries which caused her death followed a jirga verdict. The body was exhumed from a graveyard near the Kirthar range for examination and a number of persons including the girl’s father are under arrest. There are attempts on to detain others in the case, some of whom have fled towards Balochistan. The precise details of why the girl was declared ‘kari’ is not clear, but people in the neighbourhood say it arose from her playing with children from neighbouring homes.While human rights groups have expressed deep concern over the stoning, the fact is that despite an attempt to tighten up laws on honour killings notably after the murder of Qandeel Baloch, such cases continue under the system of feudal justice and jirga verdicts still in place even in more developed areas. In this case a police officer became the complainant in the matter. We do not know how many other girls may have been killed without the truth surfacing. The parents of Gul Sama say the stones had fallen on her in an accident. However, it is known arrangements had been made earlier for her funeral by a local cleric.The reality is that some 1000 women continue to be killed each year on the grounds of honour. There are also other kinds of violence against women, such as the kidnapping of Dua Mangi from DHA in Karachi. Although it appears the case is turning into one of kidnapping for ransom, with an amount reportedly demanded from the family, what is shocking are the remarks appearing over social media. Using their full names and pictures people ask why Dua was walking in a public space, what clothes she was wearing and why she was accompanied by a young man. Such attitudes explain why women remain at huge risk in our country. The problem will continue until they can be respected as citizens who have equal rights and who must not be used on the pretext of saving family honour or on other grounds.

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GST to VAT?

The issue of Value Added Tax (VAT) is set to return to national politics after the FBR’s decision to move towards implementing a VAT regime in the country. The last time such a move was announced, in the PPP-led era in 2011, it was shelved after protests from traders and the business community. Changing the existing regime of taxing consumption has been on the IMF’s agenda for Pakistan for almost a decade. However, the question remains as to why we need to replace the existing GST regime with a VAT-based tax regime. Imposing GST across all sectors in the country itself has taken a significant amount of time. One must ask how a VAT regime would be better – for the purposes of the state, producers, sellers and consumers. The difference between the two formulas lies in where tax is charged. GST is paid by end consumers, while VAT is paid by all of those involved in a supply chain. This is what explains the reluctance of the often dozens of actors involved in a supply chain to move to a VAT regime. Such a move is likely to push prices higher for end-consumers, who will pay the surcharge for dozens of taxes collected along the chain, instead of just paying a percent tax on the final retail price.In a time of demand compression, one must wonder whether the FBR is set to undertake another measure that will slow down demand for goods in the country. Whether there has been some internal politics involved that has sped up this decision is another question we need to ask. With the top echelons of government having indicated that they would like to create a new Pakistan Revenue Authority to replace the FBR, this could be a dove offered by the FBR to implement the government’s wishes. The FBR has indicated that surveys are being conducted of different industries under the proposed VAT plan. The claim that this is a system that allows for ‘real taxes’ to be delivered is suspect.The point is that the government needs to directly be able to tax real income, rather than imposing multiple taxes along the chain. Already, it seems to have no control over the tax it is tasked to collect. VAT would be a forced reset of the taxation system, which might bring the tax revenue down, instead of up, and repeat a lot of labour that has already been done. For now, the VAT plan seems to be based on a gradualist approach. This might end up working where others have failed. The shift to VAT will be funded by the World Bank. The government can only hope this will not be another dead debt. In itself, the shift from GST to VAT appears to be an unnecessary way of complicating an already complicated tax system. One hopes this decision will be revisited.

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GST to VAT?

The issue of Value Added Tax (VAT) is set to return to national politics after the FBR’s decision to move towards implementing a VAT regime in the country. The last time such a move was announced, in the PPP-led era in 2011, it was shelved after protests from traders and the business community. Changing the existing regime of taxing consumption has been on the IMF’s agenda for Pakistan for almost a decade. However, the question remains as to why we need to replace the existing GST regime with a VAT-based tax regime. Imposing GST across all sectors in the country itself has taken a significant amount of time. One must ask how a VAT regime would be better – for the purposes of the state, producers, sellers and consumers. The difference between the two formulas lies in where tax is charged. GST is paid by end consumers, while VAT is paid by all of those involved in a supply chain. This is what explains the reluctance of the often dozens of actors involved in a supply chain to move to a VAT regime. Such a move is likely to push prices higher for end-consumers, who will pay the surcharge for dozens of taxes collected along the chain, instead of just paying a percent tax on the final retail price.In a time of demand compression, one must wonder whether the FBR is set to undertake another measure that will slow down demand for goods in the country. Whether there has been some internal politics involved that has sped up this decision is another question we need to ask. With the top echelons of government having indicated that they would like to create a new Pakistan Revenue Authority to replace the FBR, this could be a dove offered by the FBR to implement the government’s wishes. The FBR has indicated that surveys are being conducted of different industries under the proposed VAT plan. The claim that this is a system that allows for ‘real taxes’ to be delivered is suspect.The point is that the government needs to directly be able to tax real income, rather than imposing multiple taxes along the chain. Already, it seems to have no control over the tax it is tasked to collect. VAT would be a forced reset of the taxation system, which might bring the tax revenue down, instead of up, and repeat a lot of labour that has already been done. For now, the VAT plan seems to be based on a gradualist approach. This might end up working where others have failed. The shift to VAT will be funded by the World Bank. The government can only hope this will not be another dead debt. In itself, the shift from GST to VAT appears to be an unnecessary way of complicating an already complicated tax system. One hopes this decision will be revisited.

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Realities of life

Some of the most basic aspects of life for many of us are something we rarely think about. As the world, and Pakistan, marked November 19 as World Toilet Day, it surfaced that in Pakistan two million households and 13.2 million individuals have no access to toilet facilities. In urban areas, access to toilets is available to 99 percent of people. We do not often think about the wider implications of this. According to the UN, globally 4.2 billion people have no access to safe sanitation. This results in millions of deaths and a huge burden of disease. The UN holds that providing toilets to people is not only a sanitary requirement but also one that is fundamental to human rights and dignity. Prime Minister Imran Khan has already launched the ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’ initiative. We hope that within it the issue of toilets for all will come under consideration.In addition to the fact that some people still lack toilets, there is also the issue of public facilities especially for women. These are rarely available even in major cities, causing considerable hardship in some situations. The lack of toilets at schools meanwhile holds back girls from acquiring an education and from meeting their basic needs. An associated problem is the entry of faecal material in drinking water which is responsible for millions of cases of stomach disease and gastroenteritis. For example, in Lahore affluent from sanitation systems is discharged into the environment or into nonfunctional sewerage systems. When sewerage affluents mix with drinking water it creates diarrhoeal disease especially for children. The burden of such disease, which includes cholera and typhoid as well as polio, also carried by water, is extremely high in Pakistan. More than twenty-two percent of infant deaths in the country are caused by diarrhea. The problem is more common in households which lack basic sanitation.The absence of safe sanitation and consequent disease also leads to children being stunted or being under-weight. Toilets are important for every individual in the nation, but especially for the elderly, for children, for women and for those who are sick. Other countries had launched major initiatives to reduce open defecation by teaching communities how to build toilets. In some cases, at least these campaigns have been a success. Pakistan needs to follow such examples and learn from them.

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An unpleasant episode

With the departure of Nawaz Sharif for medical treatment abroad, a long and unpleasant episode in the politics of Pakistan has come to a close. Though this is not the end of the story as yet, it is definitely the end of a chapter that was marred by accusations, counter-accusation, and repeated exchange of unsavoury comments about each other. Especially the PTI-led government could and should have avoided casting doubts about Nawaz Sharif’s health. A more balanced and considerate approach was expected not only of the prime minster and ministers but also of other PTI leaders who took it upon themselves to hurl indignities at the most unfortunate of times for the Sharif family.PTI leaders took different stances at various stages of this morbid drama. First, they refused to acknowledge the gravity of the illness by making fun of it; second, they found themselves offering to provide all medical help needed; and finally, they tried to impose a surety bond apparently to show to their voters that the PTI government could extract money which according to them was ill-gotten. As the story developed, now all three stances appear to be ill-conceived and ill-timed. Now, after the LHC ruling, views and remarks by government ministers and officials have been quite at odds with each other, revealing a setup in confusion. Now in his first public speech after the LHC ruling, Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken with unexpected rage. There are different views as to why he sounded as he did. Imran lashed out at all his political opponents. He also said that some members of his own cabinet had become shaken by the sit-in staged by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Ironically, part of his attack once again targeted Maulana in ‘religious’ idiom, something the maulana has been roundly castigated for doing. The tone and manner of the prime minister’s mocking diatribe against Bilawal Bhutto is not usually expected from heads of government, who should reflect dignity and grace in all matters.The main issue, however, is where we are headed from this point on. Over the past week or so there has been much conjecture and speculation. Members of the ruling alliance have been displeased with some of the PTI’s actions and the Chaudhry brothers (the PML-Q) as well as the MQM have stated this clearly. Essentially, what the prime minister and his team need to focus on is not petty politics, attacks on opponents or the public demonstration of anger. Instead they need to live up to the promises they made to the people on their way to power: including major changes in the system of policing, healthcare, education and in other sectors. They were not promised soaring inflation and impoverishment. Throwing leaders behind bars can only get us so far. Experts say that because of the fear of NAB the bureaucracy has come to a standstill; so too has the system itself. An environment of more political harmony is greatly needed. We need good policy and good planning rather than raw emotion.

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Cost of war

While the US has made a great deal of its war on terror and what it terms its success in defeating extremist militancy in many countries, there is little discussion on what this war has cost. According to a new report put forward by a Brown University institute, 801,000 lives have been lost in the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the other places. Around 42 percent of those killed were civilians. The indirect deaths which come as a result of war, generally in the form of hunger, deprivation and lack of access to medical care are perhaps impossible to count. However, experts who have compiled the report put the total deaths at 3.1 million or more. This number is around 200 times higher than the number of US personnel killed during the operations in various countriesThe financial cost of this war is put at $6.4 trillion according to two reports put out by academic institutions and a think-tank. The authors point out that this money could have been used to feed people, reconstruct countries and provide the basic necessities of life to millions on this planet who do not possess them. It has also been pointed out that war in fact causes greater loss as water pipes and infrastructure is destroyed, making day to day life much harder for people in battle zone. Comments on the reports point out that within the US politicians and activists from both Conservative and Democratic Party are calling for an end to these wars. They argue that the government must be pushed towards diplomacy rather than rushing into wars which cause only more deaths and perpetuate the cycle of violence.The reports also point out that the money spent on what are termed as contingency operations take a huge chunk out of the Pentagon budget, which is also intended to provide medical and disability care for veterans. They ask whether the amount spent of wars can in any ways be justified. The answer is obvious. The wars fought since 2001 have achieved almost nothing at all. Countries where the fighting was conducted remain in the grip of conflicts and militancy. The world has pulled further and further apart with specific groups seen as ‘the enemy’. In some ways, this is a repeat of the pattern witnessed during the cold war. We should have learnt our lessons by now. War of any kind creates only more hatred.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2rSUdns

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An unpleasant episode

With the departure of Nawaz Sharif for medical treatment abroad, a long and unpleasant episode in the politics of Pakistan has come to a close. Though this is not the end of the story as yet, it is definitely the end of a chapter that was marred by accusations, counter-accusation, and repeated exchange of unsavoury comments about each other. Especially the PTI-led government could and should have avoided casting doubts about Nawaz Sharif’s health. A more balanced and considerate approach was expected not only of the prime minster and ministers but also of other PTI leaders who took it upon themselves to hurl indignities at the most unfortunate of times for the Sharif family.PTI leaders took different stances at various stages of this morbid drama. First, they refused to acknowledge the gravity of the illness by making fun of it; second, they found themselves offering to provide all medical help needed; and finally, they tried to impose a surety bond apparently to show to their voters that the PTI government could extract money which according to them was ill-gotten. As the story developed, now all three stances appear to be ill-conceived and ill-timed. Now, after the LHC ruling, views and remarks by government ministers and officials have been quite at odds with each other, revealing a setup in confusion. Now in his first public speech after the LHC ruling, Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken with unexpected rage. There are different views as to why he sounded as he did. Imran lashed out at all his political opponents. He also said that some members of his own cabinet had become shaken by the sit-in staged by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Ironically, part of his attack once again targeted Maulana in ‘religious’ idiom, something the maulana has been roundly castigated for doing. The tone and manner of the prime minister’s mocking diatribe against Bilawal Bhutto is not usually expected from heads of government, who should reflect dignity and grace in all matters.The main issue, however, is where we are headed from this point on. Over the past week or so there has been much conjecture and speculation. Members of the ruling alliance have been displeased with some of the PTI’s actions and the Chaudhry brothers (the PML-Q) as well as the MQM have stated this clearly. Essentially, what the prime minister and his team need to focus on is not petty politics, attacks on opponents or the public demonstration of anger. Instead they need to live up to the promises they made to the people on their way to power: including major changes in the system of policing, healthcare, education and in other sectors. They were not promised soaring inflation and impoverishment. Throwing leaders behind bars can only get us so far. Experts say that because of the fear of NAB the bureaucracy has come to a standstill; so too has the system itself. An environment of more political harmony is greatly needed. We need good policy and good planning rather than raw emotion.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/341e3Lu

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Cost of war

While the US has made a great deal of its war on terror and what it terms its success in defeating extremist militancy in many countries, there is little discussion on what this war has cost. According to a new report put forward by a Brown University institute, 801,000 lives have been lost in the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the other places. Around 42 percent of those killed were civilians. The indirect deaths which come as a result of war, generally in the form of hunger, deprivation and lack of access to medical care are perhaps impossible to count. However, experts who have compiled the report put the total deaths at 3.1 million or more. This number is around 200 times higher than the number of US personnel killed during the operations in various countriesThe financial cost of this war is put at $6.4 trillion according to two reports put out by academic institutions and a think-tank. The authors point out that this money could have been used to feed people, reconstruct countries and provide the basic necessities of life to millions on this planet who do not possess them. It has also been pointed out that war in fact causes greater loss as water pipes and infrastructure is destroyed, making day to day life much harder for people in battle zone. Comments on the reports point out that within the US politicians and activists from both Conservative and Democratic Party are calling for an end to these wars. They argue that the government must be pushed towards diplomacy rather than rushing into wars which cause only more deaths and perpetuate the cycle of violence.The reports also point out that the money spent on what are termed as contingency operations take a huge chunk out of the Pentagon budget, which is also intended to provide medical and disability care for veterans. They ask whether the amount spent of wars can in any ways be justified. The answer is obvious. The wars fought since 2001 have achieved almost nothing at all. Countries where the fighting was conducted remain in the grip of conflicts and militancy. The world has pulled further and further apart with specific groups seen as ‘the enemy’. In some ways, this is a repeat of the pattern witnessed during the cold war. We should have learnt our lessons by now. War of any kind creates only more hatred.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2OxkVJY

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FBR reforms

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) deserves some comments mainly for two reasons. One, the pending reforms within the FBR structure; and two, the revelation by senior FBR officials about tax evasions amounting to as much as Rs100 billion in just the first four months of this fiscal year. FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi has announced that the timeline for the proposed reforms – or ‘reorganization’ as it is sometimes called – has been put on hold. Readers may recall that in October the prime minister had proposed some major reforms in the FBR and had also given respective timelines for each set of reforms. The establishment of the Pakistan Revenue Authority was proposed to be done by June 30, 2020; and a reorganization of the FBR headquarters was supposed to be completed by the end of this month.Some other reforms proposed by the PM included the administrative and functional restructuring of Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs) to be done by December 2019; and collection of sales tax on services by the FBR should have been completed by the end of October this year. With a set of more than half a dozen major reforms, the timeline seemed unrealistic from the beginning. Some of these reforms are required to streamline the tax collection and to progress on the front of financial documentation. But the groundwork needed for such major steps appears to be missing; neither has there been adequate debate and discussion to take on board the various stakeholders involved in these processes. Even some senior officials within the FBR are reported to have raised concerns about the establishment of a new revenue authority. What the FBR needs at the moment is a thorough review of its functions; and any recommendations for major reforms should be initiated after a threadbare process of consultations, with ample time to materialize them.The second cause of concern is the announcement by senior tax officials that the country’s corporate sector has been involved in nearly Rs100 billion of tax evasion and avoidance during the last four months. The biggest revenue collection arm of the FBR is the LTU in Karachi, which claims to have unearthed this tax fraud and a press conference was deemed appropriate to make this announcement. Though no company names have been revealed, the revenue commissioners highlighted this as a major achievement of the LTU. One wonders, how the words ‘avoidance’, ‘evasion’, and ‘fraud’ were bandied about without careful consideration of the meaning of these terms. Karachi, being the largest contributor to the national exchequer, should be treated more carefully. Of course, the government does not need another controversy at this stage.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2QyyOdR

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Bonds and bans

Life is the most precious commodity for humans; and protecting life is the chief function of any state. It does not appear that in the case of three-time former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif this has been recognized by the government. For now, Nawaz Sharif’s name remains on the ECL despite his critical health condition which doctors say must be treated overseas. In what has been seen as an insensitive decision, the government has linked permission for him to travel abroad to an indemnity bond of Rs7 billion to be guaranteed by members of his family. The lawyers for the former prime minister have moved the LHC regarding this unusual condition. The court has issued notices seeking a reply from the government.Beyond legal matters we have the question of how the government has handled the matter since Nawaz Sharif became seriously ill a month ago, with his platelet count falling below the safety range despite attempts to treat the condition. In such critical circumstances surely the government would have realized that attempting to keep Nawaz on the ECL would end up damaging the government. There is no need to alienate so many people. A federal cabinet meeting held on Tuesday was also divided on the issue with several ministers, including ironically enough the minister for human rights speaking out strongly against allowing Nawaz Sharif out of the country.Nawaz Sharif is not well. Any sensible government would realize that if unfortunately, his health continues to deteriorate it will be held responsible by a very large number of people. There is a need for reason, good sense and simple humanity to prevail. The jibes made over social media about Nawaz’s health simply make the existing situation still more unpleasant. The former prime minister should ideally be able to get treatment abroad without any conditionalities in a dignified fashion as befits a former head of government and a leader who owns a place in many hearts.

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2KquLfr

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