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Week Ending : 08 November 1997 Issue : 03/45
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Two religious scholars killed in bomb attack
Strike paralyses Karachi
SC to take up case against PM on 12th
Leghari to visit US next month
Senate passes Environmental Protection Bill, 1997
Matriculate appointed adviser at monthly salary of Rs60,000
Saudi Arabia frees Pakistani children
Aero Asia starts operations today
---------------------------------
State Bank rings alarm bells after worst year
Devaluation unlikely to boost exports
Structural reforms creating grave social unrest
Is debt cause for jubilation?
EPZs being planned for Quetta, Gwadar
Foreign investment decline by 27.3pc
Pakistanis in US present proposals to PM
Real estate being opened up to foreign investment
Forex reserves fall by $125m
Equities post modest gains in brief session
---------------------------------------
Back to sanity Ardeshir Cowasjee
The zone of good governance Irfan Husain
Limits of a popular mandate M.H. Askari
By losing he has won Eqbal Ahmad
What is milk? Omar Kureishi
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Faisalabad fiasco and quadrangular
Akram delighted with Anwar, Sohail's knocks
Pakistan's exit debases cricket carnival
Exciting final awaits cricket fans
First phase of Pakistan's ascendancy in Squash-I
World squash championship wide open
Amjad loses to Power in world squash
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971103
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Two religious scholars killed in bomb attack
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Mohammed Riaz
KARACHI, Nov 2: The principal of Jamia Islamia, Binori Town, Maulana
Dr Habibullah Mukhtar, and one of his colleagues were burnt to death
when two motorcyclists hurled an explosive device at their van on
the Business Recorder Road.
The driver also died on the spot as the assailants fired at the van.
Maulana Mukhtar (60) was a son-in-law of the late Maulana Mohammad
Yousuf Binori.
A companion of the Maulana was injured and another escaped unhurt in
the shooting, which took place near the Guru Mandir intersection at
12.50pm.
Late in the night a student of Jamia Nomania was shot dead near
Islamia College while he was going to Binori Town for attending the
funeral of Maulana Mukhtar.
The others who died were identified as Mufti Abdus Sami (40), driver
Mohammad Tahir (26), and student Ibrarul Haq (23). Maulana Bashir
Ahmed Naqshbandi (45), received multiple bullet injuries. Maulana
Abdul Qayyum Chitrali (46) escaped unhurt as he jumped off the van.
Protests spread to other areas of the city by evening and people
started stoning vehicles. They also burned tyres to impede traffic.
Residents of localities on Khalid Bin Waleed, Shaheed-i-Millat and
Jamshed Roads told Dawn about the forced closure of markets and
shops in the neighbourhood. Police were not present, one resident
complained.
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971108
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Strike paralyses Karachi
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 7: A complete strike was observed in the city on Friday
on a call given by the Wafaqul Madaris Arabia, a chain of
seminaries, and endorsed by politico-religious organisations,
against the killings of two Ulema of Jamia Islamia, Binori Town, on
Nov 2.
Maulana Dr Habibullah Mukhtar, principal of the Jamia Islamia,
Binori Town; Mufti Abdul Sami and van driver Mohammad Tahir were
killed by unknown motorcyclists near Guru Mandir on Sunday.
The city was virtually taken over on Friday by the students of
religious schools run by the Wafaqul Madaris, Jamia Binoria, and
workers of both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam; Swad-i-Azam
Ahl-i-Sunnat, Sipah-i- Sahaba Pakistan and Harkatul Ansar.
The protesters set a wine shop (JBS Traders) on fire in Gulshan-i-
Iqbal and blocked the streets and roads by burning tyres and placing
big stones there.
Students of Jamia Islamia, Clifton, pelted shops and offices in the
Clifton Centre with stones and forced the shopkeepers to pull down
shutters. "The rangers have asked us to immediately leave the area",
a shopkeeper told Dawn by telephone.
The miscreants set ablaze a classroom of a school, a roadside hotel
and some hawker stalls.
The furniture of a classroom of a government primary school was
reduced to ashes in the neighbourhoods of Korangi. The police said
the fire broke out due to short-circuit, but fire-brigade sources
held a different view, saying the fire was apparently not caused by
the short-circuit.
In Bilal Colony � a locality in the limits of the Korangi Industrial
Area police � some miscreants burnt a roadside hotel when they found
it open. They also set ablaze some stalls of hawkers near the hotel.
All business establishments, shopping centres and markets in the
five districts remained closed. Transporters, who had observed a
partial strike in the city on Wednesday, did not bring out buses,
water tankers, trucks, coaches, vans, taxis and rickshaws on the
roads.
The police and rangers remained off the roads and this gave the
students an opportunity to freely vent their anger. An Edhi
volunteer said miscreants had damaged an ambulance (EA-0941) near
Hadi Mills in Old Golimar.
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971108
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SC to take up case against PM on 12th
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Rafaqat Ali
ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed
by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah will take up the contempt of court
petitions against the prime minister and seven legislators on Nov
12, the Supreme Court office confirmed on Friday.
According to the cause list issued by the Supreme Court office on
Friday, four cases: Mismanagement of public funds case; petitions
against Anti-terrorism Act; two contempt of court petitions against
prime minister and ten others; and appeal of two Ahmedis against the
Lahore high Court verdict, would be taken up for hearing on Nov 10,
11, 12, and 13 respectively.
The bench will comprise Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice
Mohammad Bashir Jehangiri and Justice Chauhdry Mohammad Arif.
On Nov 12, the court would take up two petitions seeking contempt of
court proceedings against the prime minister and seven other members
of the parliament for their alleged attempts to bring the
institution of judiciary into ridicule.
The petitioners in the case are Chaudhry Mohammad Ikram, additional
secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Syed Iqbal
Haider, chairman of Muslim Welfare Movement.
On the petition, the court had issued notice to 12 respondents
including the PM to explain why contempt of court proceedings should
not be initiated against them as demanded in the petition.
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971108
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Leghari to visit US next month
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Nov 7: President Farooq Leghari will pay a visit to the
United States in December, an official source said on Friday.
The visit would be unofficial but the President would inaugurate a
conference of computer software manufacturers in San Francisco.
The conference is being organised by the Pakistan Embassy to attract
US companies into developing their softwares in Pakistan, as many of
them currently are doing in Bangalore in India.
The programme of the President is being finalised and no date has
yet been fixed.
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971108
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Senate passes Environmental Protection Bill, 1997
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Mohammad Yasin
ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: The Senate on Friday passed the Pakistan
Environmental Protection Bill 1997 amidst unanimous cries of "Ayes,
Ayes" from the treasury and the opposition benches.
As the Upper House took up legislative business, Deputy Opposition
Leader Senator Raza Rabbani told the Chairman of Senate that his
party was not opposing the Bill as it was originally his party which
had introduced the Bill.
Consequently the Bill was passed with unanimity by the House in a
couple of minutes when the Chairman, Mr Wasim Sajjad, moved the
motion for taking the Bill into consideration and then for its
adoption. The Bill had a smooth sailing all the way.
The Bill provides for the establishment of federal and provincial
agencies, a framework for implementation of national conservation
strategy, establishment of provincial sustainable development funds,
the protection and conservation of species, habitats, and
biodiversity, conservation of renewable resources, establishment of
environmental tribunals and appointment of environmental
magistrates, environmental impact assessment and promotion of public
education and awareness of environmental issues through the mass
media.
Under the Bill, in addition to official environment agencies, any
person or organization can request for inquiries and investigation
into environmental issues and/or award of compensation for
losses/damages sustained in this regard. The Bill empowers the
federal government to make rules for implementing important
international environmental agreements to which Pakistan is a party.
The Bill provides that in case of offences by government, local
authorities or local councils, head or other officer shall also be
deemed guilty of such contravention along with the government
agency, local authority or local council and shall be liable to be
proceeded against.
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971105
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Matriculate appointed adviser at monthly salary of Rs60,000
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Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: Among the 12 advisers/ consultants appointed by
the Nawaz government since Feb 20, 1997, is a lucky matriculate, M.
Afzalullah Siddiqui, who has been appointed adviser/consultant at a
monthly salary of Rs60,000 in the National Investment Trust (NIT)
under the finance ministry.
This was disclosed in reply to a question asked by Senator Iqbal
Haider during the question hour in the Senate on Tuesday.
The minister in charge Yasin Wattoo told the House that the
consultant had passed Part 1 examination of the Institute of Bankers
from London. The gentleman is 43 with experience of working in
various banks. He has been allowed a car with 250 litre of petrol
per month.
The list contains name of another consultant Shahid M. Sattar who
has been appointed adviser to the finance minister. His
qualification has been given as- 9 'O' and 3 'A' Levels. Besides he
has diploma in accounting with final examination of the Chartered
Institute of Management Accounts UK. The adviser draws a token
salary of Re1 per month plus actual out of pocket expenses.
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971107
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Saudi Arabia frees Pakistani children
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Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: The government of Saudi Arabia has released the
Pakistani children and a teenage girl who were arrested on charges
of smuggling narcotics in the Kingdom.
The Saudi interior minister has communicated to his Pakistan
counterpart the decision to release the children in his letter. The
letter was delivered here on Thursday to Interior Minister Chaudhry
Shujaat Hussain by the Saudi ambassador, Assad bin Abdul Aziz Al-
Zuhair.
Their release came as a result of the personal efforts made by the
interior minister who had contacted his Saudi counterpart and
requested him to pardon the Pakistani children and release them on
humanitarian grounds.
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971106
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Aero Asia starts operations today
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Shafaat Yar Khan
SHARJAH, Nov 5: Pakistan's largest private airline Aero Asia
formally launches its operation on the Sharjah-Lahore sector with
its first Boing 747 with more than 100 passengers arriving tomorrow
(Thursday).
The introduction of the new private airline, is expected to break
the monopoly of national flag carrier, Pakistan International
Airlines in this sector.
Presently, PIA operates six weekly flight between Lahore and Dubai,
which serves for passengers from Sharjah and other northern emirates
also.
Airline authorities hoped that extra baggage allowance, competitive
fares, convenient arrival and departure timings and will play a key
role to attract more passengers from northern Emirates, particularly
those looking for direct connection between Sharjah and Lahore.
'With 50 kgs of baggage allowance (the highest for any airline
flying to Lahore) and competitive fares (15% cheaper than PIA), Aero
Asia is targeting higher traffic on this sector,' says Rafique Nasir
who finalized arrangements for the airline's new operation.
The airline has waived the fuel surcharge making the fare more
competitive.
For domestic flights which started on May 6, 1993, the airline
operates BAC-111s, but will use a Boeing 707 on the Sharjah-Lahore
sector, with 16 business class and 142 economy class seats.
The airline plans to lease an Airbus A-300 in January 1998 for its
new international routes.
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971103
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State Bank rings alarm bells after worst year
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Sultan Ahmed
A COMBINATION of enhanced autonomy of the Central Bank, the fact
that the government it impugns is no longer in office and the
adverse consequences of the cumulative follies of successive
governments in recent times, has made the State Bank of Pakistan
come up with a forthright report on the performance of the economy
in 1996-97.
Almost all the negative indices listed in the annual report confirm
what have been known to the people through earlier official
disclosures, but the report goes beyond last year and points out to
the beginning of the sad chapter in our recent economic history,
before declaring last year as one of the most difficult and
disappointing year in the economic history of the country.
The report cautions that even if the targets for the current year
are less ambitious or more realistic than last year. They may not be
achieved without adequate exertion and true vigilance on the part of
the government along with the right mix of fiscal and monetary
policies.
But the Bank with its almost total autonomy has a new responsibility
for monitoring the performance of the government and progress of the
economy and bring them to the notice of the National Assembly and
through it to the country.
It did well by coming up with the first quarterly report to the
National Assembly, as enjoined by the new law on the enhanced role
of the Central Bank, for the first quarter of this calender year on
May 31 last, but did not follow that up with a second quarterly
report for the second quarter.
Instead the present annual report for 1996-97 is to be treated as
its second report which is not proper as it covers the whole year
which encompasses three governments within the period and does not
specifically evaluate the performance of the Nawaz Sharif government
in its first full quarter ending June 30.
And now that the first quarter of the Nawaz government in the
current financial year is over (on September 30) it should come up
with its quarterly report soon. The National Assembly with the
overwhelming majority support for the government may not be
particularly interested in the next quarterly report, but the
newspapers and the non-official economic community are.
The large gap between target and performance for the last five year
shows that it is easy to fix attraction targets and difficult to
achieve them in the normal bureaucratic manner.
And when economic growth goes down as low as 3.1 per cent against
the target of 6.3 per cent in a country with a population growth of
3 per cent per annum, almost everything goes out of gear and the
country is left with a series of 14 negative indices and an increase
in domestic and foreign debt which together has risen to Rs 2,240
billion.
In fact, with external debt at Rs 1,198 billion, it is exceeding the
domestic debt of Rs 1,042 billion by Rs 156 billion. And following
the soaring short-term borrowing abroad the cost of that has risen
to a high 11 per cent.
On short-term loans of $2,486 million, the interest payments due are
$263 million. And that makes the IMF's loan of $935 million at half
a per cent interest and even the External Fund Facility of $623
million at around 4.5 per cent interest very valuable.
What the government has to realise is the heavy inter- dependence of
the economic sectors. Economic growth fell to 3.1 per cent last year
as agriculture growth inched up only 0.7 per cent against the
targeted 5 per cent. That happened as the major crops, particularly
wheat and cotton, recorded a negative growth 4.5 per cent. Minor
cops increased by only 3.4 per cent against the target of 8.8 per
cent.
All that resulted in the manufacturing sector growing by only 1.8
per cent against the target of 7.2 per cent, while the crucial large
scale manufacturing registered a negative growth of 1.4 per cent
against the modest target of 6.5 per cent.
In the case of the large scale sector, the paralysis has been
enduring as during the previous three years, the growth had been
only 4.1, 1.7 and 2.6 per cent respectively and ultimately climaxed
in the negative growth of last year. However all official figures
show a constant growth of 8.4 per cent for the small scale sector
and that is incredible.
As the industrial and agricultural sectors grossly under- performed,
the service sector grew last year by 4.1 per cent against the target
of 6.1 per cent and the 4.8 per cent of the previous two years. As a
result of less of the exportable surplus being available from both,
the commodity producing sectors, exports fell by 2.7 per cent
against the target of a 14.4 per cent rise.
To boost exports, the rupee was devalued last year by over 13 per
cent, including 3.65 per cent in September and 7.85 per cent in
October last by the Benazir government and the rupee came down to Rs
40.46 to a dollar by the end of the year from Rs 35.10 on June 30
last year.
But that instead of helping the exports cut down the imports by five
per cent as the imports became more costly, particularly after the
duties went up to the extent of the devaluation. How much of such
imports then came in through smuggling remain a matter for
speculation.
But when the imports fell by 5 per cent instead of rising by 5.1 per
cent as targeted the government's revenues fell and aggravated the
budgetary deficit which rose of 6.2 per cent of the GDP instead of
the targeted four per cent, which was the demand of the IMF.
As agricultural and industrial production fell and imports came to
cost far more, inflation rose to 11.8 per cent officially, and far
more actually, against the target of 8.5 per cent, and the previous
year's 10.8 per cent.
Fall in incomes following the negative indices all round resulted in
lowering the domestic liquidity to 12.2 per cent against the target
of 13.1 per cent based on higher growth expectations, but the rise
in domestic credit was a high 15.3 per cent against the targeted
14.2 per cent because of excessive government borrowing to cover the
budget deficit.
Low economic growth along with the shrinking of the industrial
sector, as a consequence of which, about 4,000 industrial units
falling sick, resulted in the tax revenue increasing by 13 per cent
against the target of 14.9 per cent and the previous year's 14.1 per
cent.
And while the growth of total tax revenues dwindled to 15.5 per cent
against the targeted 18.5 per cent � a large gap of 3 per cent � and
the budgetary deficit rose to 6.2 per cent against the targeted 4
per cent.
The fall in per capita incomes by $20 to $470 lowered the growth of
savings to a 11.8 per cent against the target of 14.7 per cent which
is pretty low by Asian standards, including that of India. Hence
interest at current prices rose by 18.2 per cent against the
targeted 20.5 per cent which is again low by Asian standards.
The SBP report says: "Slowing down the industrial activity is also
linked to a low rate of investment in the last several years. Gross
fixed investment which recorded an average growth rate of 1.9 per
cent (in real terms) in the last five years, actually declined by
3.6 per cent last year and in particular significant negative growth
was recorded in manufacturing and agriculture."
In the crucial balance of payments sector while the balance of trade
recorded a deficit of $3,328 million, the balance of payments
recorded a deficit of $4.2 billion and left the country with a poor
foreign exchange reserve of $1,219 million against the target of
$1,787 million and the previous year's $2,065 million, necessitating
hectic short term borrowing at a high cost.
Having done so badly last year, the government has fixed a growth
target of 6 per cent for the current year, something which has not
been achieved for the last five years.
It is yet hopeful of achieving a 5.1 per cent growth in agriculture
which it expects will boost industrial production for which the
target is the same as last year's 7.2 per cent.
But the government has to go all out to enlist and sustain the
cooperation and energetic efforts of agriculturists and trade and
industry to achieve such results in a year in which it cannot fail
again. The SBP has to remain a vigilant monitor and timely bell-
ringer.
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971103
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Devaluation unlikely to boost exports
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S.M.A. Rizvi
THE DEVALUATION of the rupee by 8.7 per cent against the US dollar
is controversial not only among economists but the business
community too. According to the Finance Minister, the step was taken
by the State Bank, an autonomous body but not so autonomous as to
recover loans from the defaulters.
Instead of the Governor of the State Bank, the decision is being
defended by the finance minister, the commerce minister, the
chairman of the Planning Commission and others.
The main argument in its favour is that it will boost exports and
help achieve the target of $9.2 billion set for fiscal year 1997-98.
Let us see how far this measure will help us enhance exports.
Major export items are yarn, fabrics, and textile made-ups, rice,
carpets, leather, sports goods, surgical goods, fruits nd vegetable,
etc. Let us study their export potential (All figures are based on
government statistics released for the year June 1996 to July 1997).
Cotton: Textile industry is the backbone of Pakistan's exports
having about 65.71 per cent share in the total volume. Since the
last several years, the cotton crop is continuously suffering from
pests, adulterated pesticides, due to bad manure, and shrinkage in
acreage.
The export of raw cotton will, no doubt, benefit from the
devaluation but there is hardly any surplus. For about three decades
the spinning mills exploited the growers by purchasing Phutti at a
very low price. But for the last three or four years the situation
has reversed. Now farmers demand a price of raw cotton which is at
par with the intentional price or more.
Though they are not benefited from it to the export of full
increase. Major portion is shered by feudals lords, grinners and
speculators who also have entered into this field. They hoard cotton
with loans obtained through banks and demand high prices. It is a
long story but to cut short, the country may not benefit from raw
cotton export on account of nonavailability of surplus.
Cotton yarn at one time had fetched $1.6 billion but declined to $1
or 1.2 billion. Last year it had picked up again to $1.3966 billion.
The problem with yarn is, that it is an essential semi- manufactured
raw material which is indispensable for all value- adding
industries, which, although unorganized, fetch the highest amount of
foreign exchange.
Inspite of numerous exercises and studies, the government and the
private sector have not been able to determine correctly what the
domestic requirements are and what export surplus is.
No doubt, devaluation will help boost to export of cotton yarn but
at the cost of domestic value-added export industries. The value
addition in cotton yarn itself is negligible.
Moreover it is a known fact that our fabrics, garments, knitwear,
towels, bedsheets and similar products are ousted from the
international market by textile goods manufactured abroad by our own
cotton yarn, which is sold to them at prices which are cheaper than
those in the local market. Even the APTMA which was vocal for
devaluation has disagreed with the present drastic downward
adjustment. They wanted it to be done gradually and not in one go.
Shortage of yarn in the domestic market will result in the closure
of small factories, causing not only unprecedented unemployment but
also substantial losses in foreign exchange.
Value-added textiles: These will sufferer from devaluation more than
others. The cost of production is already too high. The prices of
raw materials, including yarn, have already gone up.
The cost of machinery, spare parts, dyes, chemicals, packing
materials etc. which are imported had already risen substantially
and now there will be another hike on account of this devaluation.
Even the local inputs i.e. cotton yarn, locally made chemicals and
utility charges will further rise. Wages of labour will also
increase following a new dose of price hike.
The duty drawback rates have been slashed without any justification,
knowing fully that the reduction in Customs tariff has been
neutralised by the high prices of foreign imports consumed by the
industry. While fixing duty drawback rates, no consideration is
given to the refund of income tax paid by the importers at source,
excise duty and other charges levied on electricity, telephone and
gas. Wholesalers are not in the sales tax net.
The exporter, therefore, cannot claim refund of sales tax on
purchases made by them. Pakistan has, since the last six years,
become a "buyers market".
Majority of export is made on deferred payment basis mostly on DA.
Buyers dictate their own prices and terms.
Apart from other factors, export prices are low on account of
internal and external competition. If any devaluation or any other
concession is given to the exporter, foreign buyers immediately
react and start demanding reduction in prices by the same
percentage. Sellers' resistance is almost nil. Why?
Simply because of the inconsistency in the government policies and
forbidding cost of finance, high prices of raw cotton and cotton
yarn. If the government expects devaluation will earn more from the
export of value-added goods, it may not materialise. This sector
needs real incentives, and not just lip service.
Rice: Export of rice is not linked with any competition in
international market. The Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan (RECP)
and the private rice exporters are responsible for the low exports.
Pakistan's Basmati rice is certainly superior to Indian variety.
Inspite of every effort, no proper gradation and standard packing
has ever been made.
There are instances of many Indian businessmen abroad, having
imported Pakistani Basmati, graded it, packed it attractively sold
it at a very high price in the international market posing it as
Indian rice. Rice did not require devaluation for its export, proper
quality control, non- adulteration and acceptable packing could
fetch us a billion dollars without devaluation. Rice export last
year's fetched $460,300 million.
Carpets: The export of carpets is suffering from the unjustified
conditions in respect of child labour, environment and ISO 9000,
which have been imposed by the developed countries. Instead of
devaluation, if these problems were attended to, as our neighbouring
country has done, our carpets would never have suffered a setback in
the exports.
Another problem which the carpet exporters are facing is the non-
payment for their consignments by buyers on one plea or another. The
government should have asked commercial counsellors to help the
carpet exporters to realise their stuck up money.
Sports goods: Sports goods are also facing problems of child labour
and environment to which the government should have paid maximum
attention so that they could increase their exports.
Our footballs, cricket balls and bats are used in internationals
matches but for the last two years a vile propaganda has been going
on against these goods. The government has failed to counter it. If
it had been done, export of these items would have gone up without
any adjustment of currency.
Leather and leather goods: The export of leather and leather goods
has fallen on account of inconsistencies in the government policies.
The problem of hides and skins, vet blue leather and finished
leather remains unresolved.
They are also a victim of drastic cut in their duty drawbacks.
Although the PTA is making strenuous efforts to improve surrounding
environment and it has been successful to a certain extent but
propaganda against Pakistan in the international market is still
continuing. Export of finished leather has shown an increase inspite
of all odds. The tanners need better environment, correct duty
drawbacks and solution of their problems instead of devaluation.
Surgical instruments face almost the situation as other items.
Fruits and vegetable: These can have a big market but in their case
storage, gradation and packing are the adverse factor, not the
prices. Apples of Balochistan, dates of Sindh and Balochistan, and
mangoes of Multan and Bahawalpur can fetch higher prices without
lowering the value of the currency. After 50 years, gradation and
packing is as primitive as it ever was. No efforts have been made to
improve thee.
One has to visit the airport to see the shabby wooden crates of
fruits and vegetables. Inspite of substantial freight concession,
exports are not increasing as they should. Who in the international
market would purchase these shabbily packed ungraded fruits? Best of
fruit in such packing will never bring good price even if the
currency is devalued heavily.
This practically disposes off all the major items of exports from
Pakistan. It will appear that except for cotton and cotton yarn and
devaluation would not serve the purpose for which it has been done.
Following is the summary of exports, value in thousand dollars.
Mr Sartaj Aziz said that the decision was taken by State Bank, and
it would help the export of agricultural products. But firstly there
is little surplus of these commodities and secondly growers are not
the beneficiaries because practically major portion of agricultural
products go in the hands of big feudal lords on account of their
major share due to "batai system" where the land belongs to absentee
landlords and the Haris, Kissans and Muzarahs, toil and cultivate it
by conceding lion's share of the yield to the owner of the land. The
speculators, brokers and "arhthies" also hoard the agricultural
products. We have seen this in the last Atta crisis.
Another argument advanced by Mr. Aziz is that it would reduce
inflation and gave the examples of USA, Japan and Korea, completely
out of context as far as Pakistan was concerned.
He argued that the export to European Union and other countries
would increase on account of better rupee returns on exports to
these countries.
He added that with devaluation, the Customs revenue would increase
but he said nothing about the duty drawbacks which have not been
increased accordingly. Mr Muhammad Ishaq Dar, the Commerce Minister,
and Dr Hafiz Pasha all were very confident about the increase in
exports and their major thrust in favour of devaluation was export
promotion, unmindful of the high cost of production, raw materials
and other inputs.
In heavily import-oriented economies like Pakistan, the fact is that
the import bill neutralises the good effects of devaluation.
Official import figures may be slightly low, but smuggling will
increase.
The problems with Pakistan is that many-a-right decision have been
taken at wrong time. About five years back India took the bold step
of ending the system of 100 per cent managed value of dollar by the
Reserve Bank.
They first allowed their exporters to sell 40 per cent of their
foreign earnings in the open market and afterwards lifted further
controls. At that time many Pakistani economists and businessmen
requested the government to take immediate corrective measures.
We kept with the old regulated currency system, as is being done
even now, and are facing the consequences. On the contrary the
Indian rupee at that time dipped down to Rs 44 against the dollar
but gradually recovered and is stable at around Rs 35 which is its
real value. All indications are that the revamp devaluations will
increase inflation. Certainly it would not help the value added
textile industry in getting the desired boost-up. It is a fact that
all the previous governments in the last ten years, including the
present one, paid only lip service but did not take any practical
steps to bail out this industry.
The government incentives are generally limited to cotton and the
spinning industry. This narrow approach has stifled the growth of
industry and employment as well. The government is concentrating on
non-traditional items when it is easier for them to increase the
export of traditional ones.
No doubt non-traditional export should be encouraged, but not at the
cost of our regular exports. India which, in 1984 was far behind in
export of textile, has increased it to over $12 billion and has set
a target of $26 billion by the year 2000.
I suggest that the State Bank should start loosening its strong grip
on the rupee in stages and a certain portion of export earnings be
allowed to be sold in open market by the exporters.
The State Bank should also direct all banks to allow, at the request
of sellers, to hedge their sales made in other currencies with
dollar without charging commission and pay the exporter their export
proceeds in Pak rupees at dollar parity. Bank charges should be
absorbed by the State Bank.
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971103
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Structural reforms creating grave social unrest
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Mohiuddin Aazim
THE STATE Bank of Pakistan has again cut its repo rate by a half per
cent to 18 per cent. On July 27 it had reduced its repo rate by a
half per cent to 18.5 per cent.
The one per cent reduction in the repo rate within 3 months coupled
with many similar steps including initiation of two-way open market
operations indicates a major shift in monetary management that
appears to be more market-oriented than before.
The move has come at a time when there is a huge surplus in the
inter-bank money market that has caused a steep fall in the call and
term rates. Besides the 1997-98 credit allocation of Rs 82 billion
for the private sector remains almost intact as the first quarter
ended with no drawdown on the same. Instead there was a Rs 14
billion inflow in that head on account of the private debt
retirement.
The State Bank has become much more autonomous and is asserting
itself and is taking control of the instruments of monetary
management.
But the question that haunts bankers and businessmen alike is
whether an appropriate monetary policy can deliver in the absence of
an equally appropriate fiscal policy as well as political stability?
The answer, a big NO.
The participants of the recently-held meeting of the National Credit
Consultative Committee � the supreme advisory body on the national
credit plan � rather subscribed to the appropriateness of this
answer when it came to the fore that on the one hand the private
sector laments non-availibility of funds despite the credit
allocation having been unused and on the other it also complains of
a grave lull in industrial activity.
Analysed in its right perspective the situation is as follows:
Industrial activity is not picking up because the transitory phase
of the structural reforms have reduced the purchasing power of the
people but at the same time the industrialists are desparately
looking for additional funds to run their day-to-day business or
else to diversify their production line in the hope of creating new
clientele.
On the other hand, banks are wallowing in excess liquidity that has
rolled in as a result of monetary reforms and slowing down of
economic activity and not due to an increased volume of business,
but they are reluctant to advance loans fearing any expansion in
their already huge infected loan portfolios that they have failed to
contain even through the much-trumpeted June 5 special scheme of
recovery of loans and revival of sick units.
While the country's economic managers boast of a successful
completion of a crucial phase of structural reforms, the fact is it
has reduced the purchasing power so drastically that trading and
industrial activity seems to be at a halt.
Executives including those running multinationals here say their
sale volumes have gone down; they are finding it difficult to create
artificial demand any more, even after employing expensive and
innovative advertising techniques.
Traders say there is no buying to be seen anywhere, not even at
grand concessional fairs and at the popular weekly bazars.
So what is going wrong and where? The State Bank Governor, Dr
Muhammad Yaqub says the State Bank is now autonomous and is
relatively free in making monetary policies. Finance Minister Sartaj
Aziz says the economy is ready to take an upturn as a result of the
structural reforms undertaken.
But the common man continues to suffer from back-breaking inflation
and one is at his wits end to calculate the havoc a fast-approaching
high rate of joblessness would play.
The menace of joblessness continues to grow with the large scale
lay-offs in banks and government organisations in the name of
downsizing and restructuring.
Those sitting at the helm of banks and state-run organisations play
with statistics to show that a laid-off employee would earn this
much or that much amount by investing whatever he is being offered
in the name of golden handshake, but they forget that the
depression-cum-inflation, the economy is passing through would badly
expose their claim.
Coming to specifics: Let us see what is happening in the banking
sector and how it is adding to the miseries of the common man.
Currently, thousands of employees of state-run banks and development
financial institutions are being thrown out of jobs in the name of
downsizing through golden handshake or direct retrenchment, as is
the case with the UBL.
Those carrying out this exercise believe it will help them save
billions of rupees every year and make banking institutions more
efficient. But they have hardly taken a realistic view of the impact
of this exercise on the economy as a whole and the banking sector in
particular.
Since the economy is faced with a depression, it presently offers
little opportunities of mixing enterprise with money and since the
sacked employees cannot get an entrepreneur's skill overnight, most
of them would be forced to commit the folly of placing their
retirement benefits in bank accounts, only to earn a negative rate
of return.
There is no denying the fact that the return on savings in Pakistan
has been less than the real rate of inflation. Besides a large
number of the sacked employees would not have much to save after
adjustment of their loans and overdrafts taken from the banks they
used to serve and after meeting urgent financial requirements like
running the household for a few initial months of joblessness and
other pressing obligations.
Accepting the facts as they are, the retrenched employees would
continue to be jobless, inflation may not come down and the current
spell of depression in economic activity may go on.
So what needs to be done? The sooner the economic managers of the
country find a realistic and practical answer to this question, the
better it is for the government as well as for the country.
While finding an answer, the government will have to accept that it
has miserably failed to foster political stability and discharge its
socio-political obligations which impedes the realisation of desired
results through monetary reforms.
The first and foremost object of all the structural and monetary
reforms that the country underwent recently was to ensure revival of
economic activity and making cheap goods and services available at
an affordable price to the people.
But every day experience says that economic activity is not picking
up and the inflationary impact of the structural and monetary
reforms has eroded the buying power of the poeple to an extent where
it would be sheer optimism to hope that economic activity would pick
up in the near future.
This conclusion may apparently seem to have been drawn out of
pessimism but is based on a review of as things stand.
The major setbacks our economy received in 1996-97 is no secret, not
at least after the release of the State Bank annual report that
calls it one of the most difficult and disappointing years in the
history of Pakistan.
It is true that this goverment came into power in the second half of
the last fiscal and as such did not contribute much to the
deterioration of economic conditions, but it should be borne in mind
that the structural and monetary reforms that had been initiated
towards the end of the PPP government and continued during the
caretakers period, took the country by storm during the present
political set-up.
That the present set-up may be upset due to the negative impacts of
the structural reforms is quite obvious.
The period the country is passing through can best be described as
transitory, more so because the reforms so far undertaken may take a
long time to show positive effects and that too if supported by
political stability and coherent economic policies.
If the leadership had the vision, it would have been living in an
altogether changed political atmosphere, less polluted with
polarisation.
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971103
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Is debt cause for jubilation?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Farrukh Saleem
WE HAVE BECOME a people that celebrate new loans as if it were a
matter of true national euphoria. We have a government that is
trying awfully hard to cure the cancer of debt with more debt.
By the time we are successful there may not be very many Pakistanis
left to celebrate, but we as a leading example shall surely go into
the Guinness Book of World Records. The World Bank would then have
its first genuine accomplishment in its 50 years of attempting to
alleviate poverty from the face of this planet.
The entire Ministry of Finance was euphoric when we raised a loan of
some $200 million by pledging the future earnings of Pakistan
Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
Every time we are able to raise a few hundred million dollars by
issuing sovereign-guaranteed bonds, the ministry makes it a point to
let everybody in the country know as to how smart it really is.
When we get tired of holding our 'begging bowls' in Europe we move
over to Japan and feel even more elated at the possibility of
raising yen-denominated debt. 'Samurai bonds', as we lovingly call
them haven't yet been floated but we are going ecstatic at the
opportunity of being able to raise even more debt by selling the
future earnings of Pakistanis working abroad.
How about selling the future dollar-denominated ticket sales of
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)? Our government must take on
more debt. Our leading political lights must also learn that true
success is merely overcoming the fear of being unsuccessful. The
financial whiz kids working for high-powered foreign banks are
enriching their institutions by dumping their wizardry on our docile
finance bureaucracy. The ministry, however, is exhilarated and
Sartaj Aziz is thrilled while the rest of the nation is euphoric. No
one should now have the right to blow out anybody's candle. We must
also continue celebrating more debt coming our way, if nothing more
than a means of being successful at befouling the international
lending community.
Look at the Karachi Stock market, for instance. They have never been
known to be a logical herd but celebrating a new $1.56 billion IMF
loan, that would take us even closer to the frightening $60 billion
national debt-mark, is for the psychiatrists to unravel.
The Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS) has always considered Karachi
to be a good place for business. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE),
the cotton exchange and the foreign banking hub has always been very
kind to PPS supplying the society with a well-heeled clientele. In
the recent past, however, the PPS seems to be reviewing its strategy
as they feel that Islamabad may actually become a more lucrative
market. Washington-based World Bank Chief Mr James Wolfensohn (a
lawyer-turned banker) has said that he is "satisfied with Pakistan's
fiscal position."
Washington is a city known for nurturing the highest per-capita
population of lawyers. Its time for PPS to be pointing their guns at
Washington as well.
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971104
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EPZs being planned for Quetta, Gwadar
--------------------------------------------------------------------
S. Azam Ali
QUETTA, Nov 3: Two export processing zones, one each at Gwadar and
Quetta will be set up to boost Pakistan's exports to the Gulf states
on one side, and Afghanistan and Central Asian states through
Balochistan sea and overland routes, on the other, reliable sources
disclosed here on Monday.
According to these sources, the aim is to accelerate the pace of
industrial investment in Balochistan and increase exports to
potential export markets in the region with emphasis on ECO
countries and the Gulf states. Another objective is to ensure
transfer of technology and creation of job opportunities.
The projects in export processing zones will be allowed if at least
sixty per cent of annual production is exported.
The hi-tech electronics and engineering industries have been
exempted from this condition provided there are arrangements for
transfer of technology.
These sources maintain that maximum foreign equity for these units
would be 40 per cent. This may include investment by non-resident
Pakistanis. If the foreign equity in a unit is 51 per cent its
export requirement will be reduced to fifty per cent of the annual
production.
Main incentives and facilities for investors and industrialists to
be available in these export processing zones will include income
tax holiday for five years, from the date of commencement of
commercial production, complete exemption from customs duty, sales
tax, import and Iqra charges on import of plant and machinery not
manufactured in Pakistan.
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971105
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Foreign investment decline by 27.3pc
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: Foreign investment in Pakistan during 1996-97
totalled $949.5 m, indicating a sharp 27.3% drop from $1306.7m
during the preceding year, according to the latest official
statistics available on Tuesday.
Thus the last financial year witnessed the lowest level since 1994-
95 when foreign investment had stood at $1532.3m including $442.4m
on account of foreign direct investment (FDI) and $1089.9m as
portfolio investment, probably attributable to the flotation of PTC
shares in overseas capital markets.
By 1996-97, FDI had dropped to $682.1m (down from $1101.7m in 1995-
96) and portfolio investment to $267.7m tons. The statistics show a
sizable $62m increase last year in portfolio investment as compared
to 1995-96.
Apart from these fluctuations in the last three years, the 1990s,
nevertheless, show a positive trend so far as foreign investment is
concerned. In 1990-91, it had totalled $237m after subtracting
negative flow of portfolio investment to the tune of $9.0m. In the
subsequent year, however, foreign investment more than doubled to
$553.6m which included $218.5m received in the form of portfolio
investment. The golden year of the decade was 1994-95 when F.I.
reached $1532m mark.
Country-wise analysis shows that United States topped all the other
countries in 1996-97 with a total investment of $357.5m constituting
37.6% of total foreign investment in Pakistan.
United Kingdom has vied with US for the top slot. Its share in
foreign investment witnessed a sharp jump from only $82.0m in 1993-
94 to $282.6m in 1994-95 and to $399.8m in 1995-96. The year 1996-
97, however, saw a substantial drop of about $82m in UK's
investment. Its portfolio investment, after peaking at $243.9m in
1994-95 dwindled to $77.9m last year.
The increase by these two advanced countries in their FDI in
Pakistan was accounted for mostly by private power projects. Thus
their FDI constituted 59.1% of total FDI in 1995-96 and 71.2% during
1996-97.
Only 12 countries account for as much as 85% of total foreign
investment in Pakistan. These are USA, UK, UAE, Germany, France,
Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Netherlands and South
Korea.
A worrying aspect of the statistics is negative flow of foreign
investment from Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.
The total foreign investment by Hong Kong stood at $29.6m in 1995-
96, as against minus $13.1m in 1996-97. This sudden drop is
explained by negative flow of portfolio investment to the tune of
$20.6m. In the case of Saudi Arabia, last year saw a negative flow
of $17.0m on account of FDI as against 1995-96 when its total
investment had amounted to $25.8 � all as FDI.
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971106
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Pakistanis in US present proposals to PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By Our Correspondent
NEW YORK, Nov 5: Pakistani financial experts and bank executives
have requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to speed up
implementation of the economic policy framework laid down by his
government, to revive the idle industrial sector, and to speed up
the privatization process.
A group of eight US-based Pakistani bank executives and investors,
led by the executive vice-president of Citibank, Shaukat Aziz, who
had met the prime minister and his economic team in Islamabad on
Sunday, submitted a 75-page report suggesting ways and means to spur
on the still-staggering economy.
The prime minister, according to financial experts attending the
talks, assured them that their suggestions would be assimilated into
the government's economic policies.
According to an investor who had participated in the talks, the
meeting took an overview of the global economic events, specially
the downturn in the South Asian economies and its implications on
Pakistan.
While noting that Mr Sharif's government was pro-business, the
Pakistani financial experts stressed the need to improve the
investors perceptions about Pakistan. They underscored the
importance of clarifying the vision of the future economic activity
as perceived by the policy makers in Pakistan.
The experts told the prime minister that the decisions and policies
should be clearly defined and notified to the foreign investors
directly by the key players in Pakistan. "We end up reading about
the changes in the newspapers which are often murky and unclear,"
they told the prime minister.
Emphasizing the need to speed up the privatization process, the
financial experts asked the prime minister to add 50 to 100
professionals in various economic sectors as they could prove to be
catalysts in reviving the economy.
They asked the prime minister to institute a massive training
project in order to re-orient and train the civil servants in order
to equip them with skills to manage the deregulated economy which
they felt was essential to the speedy growth.
The prime minister was informed that while the changes in the
economic policies were good, their implementation was lagging far
behind and close follow-ups were needed to realize the full benefits
of the new initiatives taken by his government.
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971107
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Real estate being opened up to foreign investment
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Federal Minister for Commerce, Ishaq Dar said on
Thursday that Pakistan is in the process of opening up new sectors
like the infrastructure, housing and real estate, wholesaling and
retailing, health and education to foreign investment.
He added that the government would announce a new investment policy
towards the end of this month to provide a very enabling environment
to the foreign investors.
Enumerating the incentives being given to the local and foreign
investors under the new regime he said, foreign exchange controls
have been relaxed and 100 per cent equity participation has been
allowed to the foreign investors.
*Ceiling on payment of royalty and technical fees has also been
abolished.
*No prior approval for investment in any sector is required except
arms and ammunition, high explosives, radio active substances, and
security printing, currency and mint.
*Export processing zones with infrastructure, one-window facility
and tax holidays, have been established.
*Tariff rates have been brought down to maximum of 45 per cent on a
cascading basis.
*Special industrial zones have been planned along the motorway.
*Income tax has been reduced by almost half, and the tax base
widened, investment in debt instruments has been exempted from tax,
and incentives provided for value-added exports.
He said all these steps have been approved and appreciated by the
IMF and the World Bank and Pakistan's long-standing friends. The IMF
has, a fortnight earlier, cleared Pakistan's request for a short
term ESAF/EEF facility of $1.558 billion.
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971107
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Forex reserves fall by $125m
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 6: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves slipped by $125
million to $1.514 billion on November 1 from $1.639 billion on
October 25.
A State Bank report released on Thursday showed the approved foreign
exchange reserves at $1.145 billion on November 1 up slightly from
$1.143 billion on October 25. It put the balances held outside
Pakistan at $368.8 million against $415.3 million reported on
October 25.
The fall in reserves is expected to be compensated during the week
ending November 7 since a sum of $157 million was debited to the
State Bank account by the IMF on November 4 as part of the first
transche of $208 million of a $1.56 billion medium term loan. The
IMF had already debited $51 million to the State Bank account on
October 23.
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971108
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equities post modest gains in brief session
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 7: Stock prices on Friday rose modestly in a brief
sessions as foreign investors covered positions at the lower levels
amid light trading.
The trading has to be suspended just an hour after the opening bell
as most of the staff members could not reach the office owing to
strike called by the religious parties to protest the killing of top
Ulema in a terrorist attack on Sunday last.
The market opened at the official time of 9.15 a.m but was closed at
10.30 a.m. as the attendance in the rings was thin in the absence of
leading brokers and their agents.
The KSE 100-share index managed to finish with a gain of 1.98 points
at 1,847.15 as compared to 1,845.17 a day earlier as some of the
leading base shares managed to finish modestly higher.
The market capitalization also showed a modest rise of Rs 607.422m
at Rs 558.680 billion as compared to Rs 558.073 billion a day
earlier as highly capitalized shares managed to finish higher or
unchanged.
The increase was largely attributed to good performance turned in by
the leading shares, notably PSO, Hub-Power, PTCL, and some others
including Adamjee Insurance and MCB.
Floor brokers said the opening was fairly promising as some of the
foreign funds were in the rings and made active covering purchases
on the selected counters.
Although the city was tense amid conflicting rumours about violence
in the wake of strike, those who were present in the rings made
extensive buying, sending signals that the market has shrugged off
some of its current inhibitions,they added.
"That could well mean investors will be back in the rings by the
next week and cover positions, putting the market back on the
rails", said a leading floor broker.
Bulk of the buying interest was again centred around the energy
shares at the lower levels as leading foreign funds covered
positions at the lower levels.
Dealers said the energy sector should have put the market back on
the rails if the trading was not suspended .
Although, Shell Pakistan consolidated its overnight sharp gain, both
PSO and Pakistan Refinery maintained their upward drive and were
quoted further sharply higher.
Kohinoor Energy remained in the limelight and ended with a fresh
good gain on active support on rumours that a foreign party is
taking an equity stake in it.
Volume was light at 2.288m shares, while out of the 29 actives, 17
ended higher, six fell and as many stayed unchanged.
But most of the gains were fractional barring Kohinoor Energy, PSO
and Pakistan Refinery, which posted gains ranging from Rs 1.05 to Rs
5. Adamjee Insurance also came in for active support and was marked
up by Rs 5 as some foreign made active buying apparently on some
positive news.
Barring Exided Pakistan, which fell by Rs 4.50 after being ex-
dividend, other losses were modest ranging from 15 paisa to 75
paisa.
The most active list was topped by Hub-Power, unchanged on 0.805m
shares followed by Kohinoor Energy,up Rs 1.05 on 0.503m shares;
PTCL, unchanged on 0.350m shares; ICI Pakistan, unchanged on 0.400m
shares.
The other actively traded shares were led by Southern Electric, up
20 paisa on 64,000 shares; Sui Northern Gas, higher 25 paisa on
54,500 shares; and Sui Southern Gas, firm 15 paisa on 42,000 shares.
There were some other deals also.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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971102
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to sanity
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
"THE rulers of the country, good, bad or indifferent will continue
to get away with both evil and nonsense for as long as they continue
to keep illiterate the 120-odd million over whom they rule.
"Some comfort, however,comes to us from the signals sent by certain
members of our judiciary, men of conscience who feel that all does
not augur well for the future of law and justice in Pakistan."
(Dawn, November 25, 1994).
Since this was written, the 120 million have risen to 140 million
and the comfort signals sent to us by certain members of our
judiciary have somewhat evaporated.
In the past week, many pretences have been washed away and it has
now become clear to most of us exactly where each player in the game
now being played between the parliament and the judiciary stands,
and what each wants at the cost of the country and its people. There
is little left for the skirts now to cover.
The President, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan, Tumandar of all the
Legharis, aspires for a second term, as did his predecessor in
office, Ghulam Ishaq. He will take a 'principled stand', backing the
principles which will help him achieve his aim. At the same time, he
is vulnerable and fears Article 47 of the Constitution, ("Removal or
impeachment of the President,") for he is aware, as are the others
aware, of his acts of omission and commission. Only two-thirds of
the total membership of both Houses at a joint sitting is necessary
to decide his fate. He also fears the 'hereafter' on Mother Earth.
Senate Chairman, Rhodes Scholar Waseem Sajjad, continues to be
economical with the truth, as he was so long ago, when the then COAS
Aslam Beg, the man who wears shades in the shade sent for him. He
would like to be president rather than merely 'acting' on occasions.
He is dolled up and waiting in the wings.
The prime minister, Mian of Lahore Nawaz Sharif, head of the
executive and of the legislature, has despotic tendencies which, to
his credit and in his ignorance, he does not even pretend to hide.
He depends on what he calls his overwhelming mandate. Democracy
being what it is in this country, as reported in this newspaper on
October 30:
"Sources said the prime minister told the meeting that he enjoyed a
massive support and was ready to go to the people in case he was
forced to accept the decision of the Supreme Court. They said the
issue of resigning from the prime ministership was also discussed at
the meeting. Nawaz Sharif said he would come back with a bigger
majority in case fresh elections were held. However, he expressed
fears that the country would plunge into chaos and that everything
would become uncertain in case he stepped down or was thrown out
through illegal and unlawful means."
And on October 31, from other sources: "We are ready to hammer out
an agreement with the CJ in the larger interest of the country. In
spite of a massive mandate, the prime minister is ready to find a
solution to the crisis. But nobody should think that he (Nawaz) is
weak."
Did he have to make public his weakness and how useless and light
his heavy mandate really is?
On the high that he was, he suspended rules, prohibited debate and
rushed through the 13th Amendment, emasculating the president and
theoretically strengthening his hold over the army. Not content, in
exactly the same manner he rushed through parliament the 14th
Amendment, prohibiting dissent, and under which an elected
representative would be disqualified on the ground of defection �
defection being defined as: "a Member of the House shall be deemed
to defect from a political party if he ...(a) commits a breach of
party discipline, which means a violation of the party constitution,
code of conduct, and declared policies, or (b) votes contrary to any
direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, or
(c) abstains from voting in the House against any party policy in
relation to any Bill."
Should any member be guilty of any of the above three, the head of a
party (for all intents and purposes judge, prosecutor, defence
counsel, and jury) can order that he be disqualified and lose his
seat.
What this 14th Amendment in effect did was to cut the number of
members of the House to merely the leaders of the political parties
therein represented, rendering party members dumb shadows. What is
distressing is that this amendment was passed with a majority of
over two-thirds of both Houses. Not one, repeat, not one, member
stood up, spoke for democracy and recorded his vote of dissent.
Fascism that day took firm root. All that then remained to be
destroyed was the moral force of the judiciary and the physical
force of the army.
Even now, at this late stage, it would be worth telling Nawaz Sharif
and his desk-thumpers how democracy really works. Last week in the
land of the Mother of Parliaments, a senior Tory MP, Peter Temple-
Morris, seriously considered defecting from his party over party
leader William Hague's decision to fight the next election on a
campaign opposing the European single currency, despite the
assurance by the party whips that he would be able to both vote
against his own party's line in the Commons and campaign against it
at the next election. However, rather than be treated as a sort of
'licensed leper' during the election, he chose resignation. He wrote
to his local association in his constituency telling them that the
Tory leader's new stance was contrary to his personal statement at
the last election, and that he would be resigning his seat. Being
sympathetic to Labour Prime Minister Blair's reform agenda and
policies in general, his intention was to cross over to the Labour
party. If accepted, he would be given a chance in a suitable
byelection. That is how defection works. However, as things turned
out, with a change of policy stances on the single currency issue by
both the Labour party and Tories, Temple-Morris has since changed
his mind and will not defect.
Coming back to droll reality, Chief Justice of Pakistan Sajjad Ali
Shah this August recommended the elevation of five High Court judges
to the bench of the Supreme Court, three of them from the Lahore
High Court. Nawaz Sharif needed LHC Chief Justice Shaikh Riaz and
wanted him to remain in Lahore, and he felt that the other two,
Munir and Arif, would prove hostile to him in the Supreme court. We
all know too well how he fought to keep these three where they are.
The Chief Justice, on October 29, struck. After admitting a petition
filed against the 14th Amendment, after hearing the petitioner's
lawyer, he gave an interim order suspending the amendment. He did so
without hearing the government counsel, Sharifuddin Pirzada, who had
been flown from Karachi to Islamabad in a special plane. Since then,
the government has been trying to rush through the 15th Amendment to
the Constitution amending Article 191, the first draft of which
reads:
"191, Rules of procedure: (1) Subject to clauses (2) and (3), the
Supreme Court may make rules regulating the practice and procedure
of the Court.
"(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1), serious cases
involving critical constitutional issues shall be heard by all the
judges of the Court or so many judges thereof as may be available
and willing to sit on the bench.
"(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) but subject to
clause (2), the benches, roster and fixation of cases before the
Supreme Court shall be regulated by a panel consisting of the Chief
Justice and the two senior-most judges."
(Article 191, now reads: "Subject to the Constitution and law, the
Supreme Court may make rules regulating the practice and procedure
of the Court.")
The amendment would clip the wings of the Chief Justice. But how to
get it through both Houses? Palms have already been extended for
alms.
What else remains to go into the cauldron? A petition challenging
the validity of the 13th Amendment has been filed. The CJ can also
suspend this one. The president can come to the aid of the Supreme
Court and notify the five judges, or he can do nothing and please
the government.
The government can impeach the president. The prime minister can be
disqualified. Each man in power has many weapons up his sleeve which
he will wield in the name of anything held to be 'holy'.
Daggers have been drawn, blood will be spilt, whose depending upon
the army decree. We must be thankful that we have a decent
individual, General Jehangir Karamat, as Chief of Army Staff.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for many of his officers.
Noon, Friday October 31. Epilogue: Sense has prevailed. After
wasting two months of valuable time, Nawaz Sharif has realized that
time should not be wasted on non-issues. Let us hope that now, when
he starts his third term as prime minister, he also realizes that
the nation will not accept his brand of fascism.
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971108
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The zone of good governance
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Irfan Husain
FOR most travellers setting foot in Pakistan for the first time, the
first experience consists of fighting their way through a mob of
smelly, pushy taxi drivers and their touts blocking the exit of the
airport and harassing them mercilessly as they emerge with their
luggage.
Miraculously, this state of affairs has undergone a sudden and
dramatic change at Karachi's Quaid-i-Azam International airport. The
pick-up-and-drop lane, usually clogged with so-called VIP cars, is
now used only for the purpose for which it was intended. Taxis now
queue up, and passengers get into the one at the head of the line,
and the next one moves up. The lane previously used by cabs is now
reserved for Civil Aviation Authority vehicles, and the car park has
been divided into clearly marked zones. In short, for the first time
that I can remember, there is sanity and order at the airport.
So how did this transformation take place? The answer says more
about governance in Pakistan � or the lack of it � than a hundred
seminars in 5-star hotels could.
In order to fully appreciate what has been achieved at the Karachi
airport, try and imagine a single place in Pakistan today where a
car with government or defence forces number plates can be towed
away. VIP culture has been so deeply ingrained into every level of
our administration that it is normally inconceivable for a cop to
even think about taking action against the high and mighty.
Foreigners who fly into Karachi for the first time now will probably
not even notice that there is no chaos at the airport, but those of
us who had despaired of any possibility of improvement can now
rejoice in the possibility of positive change, given the will and
commitment.
While a number of individuals and agencies should be given credit
for this transformation, the idea and impetus came from a small core
group of concerned citizens. I know Sami Mustafa will not be happy
at being singled out, but I am mentioning his role as many readers
are already familiar with his name. Apart from being an occasional
contributor to this newspaper, his Book Group has done marvellous
work in making attractive, high-quality books available to
underprivileged schoolchildren at reasonable prices. Among other
initiatives, he, in conjunction with the Citizens- Police Liaison
Committee, has sorted out the traffic nightmare in a Karachi
locality that has a large number of private schools.
Basically, the idea behind bringing sanity to the traffic at the
Karachi airport was to demonstrate that despite all the pessimism
and cynicism, good governance is possible. This particular area was
selected because it is the most visible demonstration of our VIP
culture as well as the chaos that has become symbolic of Pakistan.
How Sami Mustafa and his friends managed to put their ideas into
practice is an object lesson in persistence as well as the
possibilities in the cooperation between concerned citizens and
dedicated government officials. Fortunately for us, the latter are
not yet an extinct species.
Sami's group first held a series of meetings with senior Sindh
government officials, including police officers, and convinced them
of the pressing need to sort out the mess at the airport. The
informal working group knew they would be treading on sensitive toes
if they were to uniformly enforce the rule of law. However, they all
agreed that the experiment would fail if they started making
exceptions. The next step was to convince the army corps commander,
as well as the senior air force and navy officers based in Karachi,
that their vehicles should not block the pick-up-and-drop lane.
Actually, getting the cooperation of the civil and military
bureaucracy at the highest level was easier than convincing taxi
drivers that they had to abide by the rules and stop jumping the
queue. The yellow cab association invoked Mr Nawaz Sharif's name as
their patron saint, and threatened dire action if their members were
made to toe the line. But the group pressed ahead regardless, and
the new arrangements are now in place, proving that with the right
mix of circumstances and individuals, change is possible.
And herein lies the rub: How many people do we have who will invest
their own time and money for civic action? As the level of
governance has fallen progressively, the number of individuals and
NGOs attempting to fill the vacuum has multiplied, but obviously,
they cannot play the government's role as they have neither the
manpower nor the money. Ultimately, there is no substitute for the
state. And this is the point Sami and his group are making: unless
government officials and agencies are involved, there can be no
long-term solution to the crisis of governance that has taken the
country to the brink.
For them, sorting out the traffic at Karachi airport was merely a
demonstration, not an end in itself. When they took turns at
monitoring the situation around the clock and then hired people to
report violations, they did so in the hope that their work would
have repercussions beyond the airport. Just as a pebble thrown into
a pool causes ripples far beyond the point of impact, so too they
would like to see the area of good governance expand to other parts
and institutions of Pakistan.
One objection Sami and his friends have to the model created by the
partial success of NGOs is that they start with the assumption that
the state, its organs and its servants are a hindrance rather than a
help. Thus, while they may achieve a certain measure of success,
their work usually cannot be replicated, and hence have limited
impact on the overall crisis of governance. The airport project has
demonstrated that in order to make a difference, there is no option
but to co-opt government agencies and officials.
This brings us to the next problem, and that is how to ensure that
other groups of citizens have the same zeal and powers of persuasion
that Sami Mustafa and his friends have displayed? And how many civil
servants like Mirza Qamar Beg, and police officers like Asad
Jehangir and Saleem Wahidi, are willing to push through a project
which may make them unpopular, and will certainly not advance their
careers?
And yet it is clear that unless we try, we will never know how many
motivated citizens and government officials will emerge from their
drawing rooms and offices and expand the zone of good governance
until it covers the whole country.
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971105
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Limits of a popular mandate
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M.H. Askari
THE impatience of the leaders � even of those who come to power with
a solid popular mandate � with state institutions which by their
very nature limit the exercise of unbridled political power in any
democratic system has been a disconcerting factor in Pakistani
politics and this, perhaps more than anything else can explain the
situation which confronted Pakistan recently.
It is not always remembered that the line separating democracy from
the authoritarianism of an ostensible democratic government which
derives its power from the massive support that it may command in
the legislature is very thin.
There can be no question of the immense mandate which has brought Mr
Nawaz Sharif to power and when he was sworn in as prime minister in
March there could have been no question of his not being able to
complete his full tenure of five years. However the past few weeks
have seen doubts being expressed over and over again whether he
would be able to remain in office for the full tenure. Even now when
the immediate question of the appointment of judges to the Supreme
Court seems to have been settled to the satisfaction of all parties
concerned, the veteran politician Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan has
declared that the all-parties conference which was held in Islamabad
recently would mobilise public opinion for a change of government
"as the existing leadership had failed to deliver the goods."
Even more alarmingly, there has been a demand, mercifully from a
small section of the people, for the restoration of the President's
powers to dissolve the national assembly and dismiss the government
under an article of the constitution which has since been expunged.
The powers to do so had been arrogated to the office of President by
the late Gen Zia-ul-Haq under the authority of his martial law.
Unfortunately it is not always remembered that there are lessons to
be learnt from Pakistan's recent history. While at the outset,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's power base was as solid as it can be, towards
the latter part of his tenure he began to lean more and more on what
have been called the coercive elements of state authority. In 1973,
Bhutto abolished the elitist CSP cadre of the bureaucracy, in
keeping with egalitarian reforms of the system which he had promised
in his party manifesto in 1970. But not much later whatever remained
of the civil services began to be heavily politicised.
Finally, as many observers have pointed out, Bhutto's need to secure
the tacit support of the civil and military bureaucracy, and even of
the police, an elite section of which he converted into the Federal
Security Force (FSF), increased his dependence on state authority
and eroded his popular base. In the end, as it is only too well
known, the FSF was given a free rein to suppress all opposition.
In dealing with the non-PPP governments in Balochistan and the NWFP
also, Bhutto exploited his massive popular support to strengthen his
highly centralised style of government. This led to his seeking more
and more support from the military which he had, at the beginning of
his regime, attempted to trim and prune. Ironically, it was his
misplaced confidence in being able to mobilise support from the
army, as evident from his imposition of martial law on a selective
basis to deal with the post-1977 election agitation, that proved
Bhutto's undoing. His own hand-picked army chief, who had started
scheming against him as soon as the agitation started, deposed him
through a coup at a time when he least expected and finally had him
executed. It is clear that in his ambition to wield absolute
political power, Bhutto had squandered the moral support of the
massive political base that he had been able to build during his
years in political wilderness.
It was practically the same that happened to Benazir Bhutto who
first came to power on the crest of popular support. Mesmerised with
the adulatory slogans by the crowds in the major cities which turned
out to greet her on her return from self-exile in 1986, Benazir
Bhutto failed to realise that the elections in 1988 had given her
only a nominal majority in the national assembly. It is known that
she as well as her close aides were totally unaware of the moves
made by the then President, Ghulam Ishaq khan, which culminated with
her government being summarily dismissed through a presidential
order.
It was perhaps her popular support which remained intact despite the
presidential action which brought her back to power in 1993. But
then, as the Asian Wall Street Journal was to say in its editorial
after Murtaza Bhutto's murder (as quoted by Mr Roedad Khan in his
recently published account of the vicissitudes of Pakistan) that
"arrogance of pharaonic proportions was to lead her toward political
doom." The editorial also said that she remained woefully unaware of
the opposition which was building up against her and "instead of
trying to mend her ways (she) continued to blame everyone but
herself for Pakistan's woes." There are innumerable factors which
have hampered the growth of the democratic process in Pakistan. The
South Asia scholar Lawrence Ziring in his "Pakistan: The Enigma of
Political Development" has even argued that "Pakistan's leaders
never intended to rest the national foundation (of the country) on a
constitutional rock." However, it is easy to see that it is the
leaders, though being the product of democratic process, who have
most undermined the foundations of Pakistan's democracy.
The standoff between Mr Nawaz Sharif's government and the higher
judiciary was perhaps the most unnecessary and bizarre and yet the
most avoidable development, something that had the potential to rock
the very foundations of the political process which has only
recently started to stabilise.
Ironically, the crisis began in what to the layman appears to have
been essentially a routine matter: the chief justice recommending
the appointment of five judges to the Supreme Court and the federal
government calling upon him to "review" his demand. The deadlock
which ensued was subjected to prolonged "negotiations" between the
Chief Justice and, somewhat unexpectedly, the chief minister of
Punjab, but these did not lead to any positive outcome. The Chief
Justice subsequently decided not to negotiate any more with the
government and the government at this stage even contemplated a move
to curtail the strength of the Supreme Court through legislative
action, but, however, decided not to do so at the last minute.
However, the stand-off remained stalemated, with the Chief Justice
insisting upon his recommendation of elevation of five judges to the
apex court while the government remained unresponsive. There were
reports that the matter had been under review among others by the
President and the Chief of Army Staff.
The National Assembly by adopting a resolution on October 29
reiterating the supremacy of the parliament over all other organs of
state appeared to reaffirm its authority to amend the constitution
and fix the number of judges comprising the Supreme Court. There was
then disturbing speculation that the President may be impeached or
that the country may be placed under martial law � which fortunately
turned out to be baseless.
In a statesman-like statement, free of any contentiousness, the
prime minister told the National Assembly on October 31 that the
government had decided to implement the Chief Justice's
recommendation. The National Assembly then unanimously adopted a
resolution raising to 17 the Supreme Court's strength.
The development has generally been received with a sense of relief
and a spokesman of the Supreme Court has even said that the Chief
Justice was "happy" and "satisfied" with it. In another development
which cannot but be seen in the context of the government-judiciary
standoff, the chief of army Staff, Gen Jahangir Karamat has
reportedly been unhappy at the fact that the print media had been
quoting him out of context. An ISPR statement said that "the army is
clear about its role, position and responsibility" and that it has
been functioning and will continue to function within the parameters
of its responsibility. Nevertheless, it must be recognised that if
the ultimate positive outcome of the prolonged crisis has in any way
been influenced by the position adopted by the military
establishment or the chief of staff, their role in having
strengthened the foundation of democracy can only be appreciated.
The lesson to be drawn is that elected governments, too, should
understand that there are clear parameters of their authority as
enshrined in the Constitution and good governance demands that they
should function within these parameters. Democracy lies in taking
even those with you who are not necessarily supportive of your
manifesto but with whom a consensus can always be established.
Regardless of the temptation to cash in on a massive popular
mandate, the business of the state should be conducted in a spirit
of give and take.
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971102
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By losing he has won
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Eqbal Ahmad
IT IS Pakistan's moment of glory. Wisdom has prevailed over folly.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has won by losing. Mr Justice Sajjad Ali
Shah has earned his title as the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The
common good and the cause of democracy has been served. Very well
indeed!
What should have been a routine matter developed into a grave
constitutional crisis. All of last week I was reminded of a well
known fable:
The river was full, and flowing vigorously. The scorpion had to get
urgently across as his family were stranded on the land beyond,
needing food and care. The scorpion entreated with the frog to take
him across the river. The frog being scared of the scorpion's
poisonous fangs, hesitated. But the creature had the gift of
persuasion, and reason on his side. "How can I hurt you?" he asked
the frog "If I bite you, you will die and I shall drown too." "You
speak wisely scorpion," said the frog. "Fear, fowl and irrational,
overwhelms me. But I must overcome it."
Thereupon, the frog embarked on the journey carrying the lucky
scorpion on his back. As they reached mid-stream, the scorpion
plunged his pincers into the back and underside of the frog.
"Ouch!", he yelled "stop biting me as you will drown if I die." "I
know", said the scorpion. "But I can't help it. It is my nature." At
the expense of stating the obvious, one may offer the moral of the
story: Instinct may compel behaviour that is counter to reason. When
it does, instinct should be suppressed.
It took weeks, but the Prime Minister's reason prevailed over
instinct, and just in time. In this land of political suicides this
is a record. We have reason to celebrate. Mr Nawaz Sharif's
government was swimming quite nicely through the stormy economic and
social conditions it had inherited from its predecessor. Then in
mid-stream, it began to commit harakiri as though driven by tragic
nature.
A host of political opportunists, particularly of the opposition
parties, abandoned caution and considerations of the national
interest, to eke out their paltry profits from this constitutional
crisis. History shall record these bit players as vultures of a very
low order. The Prime Minister should take note that all his recent
bows to obscurantism did not yield even a fraction of gratitude from
the obscurantists he has sought to placate. But it has reinforced
the sectarianism he has vowed to eradicate.
There is a premium in our political culture on confrontation rather
than compromise. Mr Nawaz Sharif has shown courage in pulling back
from the brink. He could have dug in his fangs, down and be drowned.
He did not. He and his cabinet colleagues shall hopefully view this
as a victory of reason, not a tactical retreat to be undone at a
more opportune time. Democracy in Pakistan has been strengthened by
it, and the government has not been weakened by any means. For Mr
Sharif to perceive this as a defeat will be self-defeating.
The developments of the last four weeks hold, nevertheless, lessons
that all should ponder for this country's sake and for democracy's.
The first is that people in high office ought to distinguish between
authority and power. Authority � the worthiness to be recognized as
legitimate � is the civilizing factor behind power, the element that
makes the difference between coercing a multitude and governing a
society. Power � the ability to get what one wants, or to produce
desired changes � progressively degenerates when it is de-linked
from authority. The divorce between the two yields dictatorship,
tyranny, rebellion, or anarchy. Political instability and military
rule in Pakistan have been premised on the absence of linkages
between power and authority. The future of democracy in this country
rests on our will and capacity to associate power with authority.
Since Plato's time, political theorists have observed that
concentration of power undermines authority. The converse is equally
true: institutionalized devolution and separation of powers enhances
the authority of the state, the government and those who preside
over it. This is the golden rule of good organization generally.
"How do you keep your vast organization running so smoothly?", I had
once asked the head of General Motors Corporation. Came the prompt
reply: "By allowing maximum autonomy to the managers of our various
sectors." Added the corporate leader ironically: "The communists
coined democratic centralism. We practise it." The Soviet Union fell
apart not because power was decentralized there but because it was
not. Strong men produce weak nations.
Concentration of power produces augmentation of institutionalized no
less than individual anxieties. An observer of the fish bowl that is
Islamabad saw what the Prime Minister and his advisors must finally
have seen: Whatever his failings � and there were some � the
sympathies, spoken and unspoken, of the press, the legal profession,
the bureaucracy, and the army's officers' corps lay with the Chief
Justice. Of course, Pakistan's soldier-in-chief became a visible and
central player in the high game of politics.
More importantly, the constituency he represented was restive, very
restive indeed. At work was anxiety, not ambition. The political
class will do the country, and itself, a favour by comprehending the
sources of this anxiety.
Today, there is no noticeable ambition to political power in the
high command of the armed forces. To the contrary, their attention
is focused on maintaining the army's autonomy, its ethos,
professional integrity, and fighting capabilities in a world of lost
friendships and shrinking supplies. Armies are rarely very
articulate institutions; this one has inherited a colonial tradition
of in-articulation.
Hence, its frustrations have to be understood by civilian leaders.
It is an army that has ruled this country � long and badly � which
is not a pleasant reminder. It has fought three wars without
winning, and was badly defeated in one. It had a pyrrhic victory in
a proxy war � Afghanistan's � as its military objective there � the
attainment of something its theoreticians called 'strategic depth' �
remains a remote dream. Its agenda in Kashmir is unfulfilled. To
make matters worse, it is economically squeezed. Inflation is
emaciating it as an institution, and its personnel individually.
Jawans rarely get to eat meat; and officers are served meat just
about twice a week.
In this bleak environment, its leaders cherish the army's autonomy
and their unity of command and purpose. They get anxious when these
are threatened. Like the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the press and
professional organizations the army officers of today regard with
apprehension the concentration of power in the executive branch of
the government. Like others, they too regard devolution of power and
a system of checks and balances as essential features of stable and
democratic governance. To make matters worse, Prime Minister Sharif
was perceived by many as prone to concentrating power in his office.
Rumours reinforced this perception. Rumours play a large role in our
society. Official misuse of the media, which renders radio and
television extremely unreliable sources of information, enhances the
role of rumour and gossip as vehicles for comprehending the workings
and intent of those in power. Since the passage of the 13th and 14th
amendments rumours had filled the air � of how the Prime Minister
proposes to tame the judiciary, how he plans to take control of the
army, and how eventually he would circumscribe the press. None of it
may have been true but the rumours were all there, causing anxieties
and shaping attitudes. To many people in many places, the Chief
Justice appeared to be standing up to an ominous trend. That
explains the spontaneous and broad based support he elicited.
But rumours were not the only stimulants to anxiety over a trend
toward concentration of power, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's
overwhelming parliamentary majority permits him a nearly free hand
to legislate, make rules and change the rules of government. Then
came the anxiety-inducing legislation. Some objected to the 14th
amendment on purist ground: any constriction put on legislators is a
violation of their rights. Most people thought the purist position
inappropriate in a country where so many elected representatives
used their freedom of choice to go on the auction block. The
majority welcomes the prohibition on lotabazi as a necessary
deterrent. But then the government added to it a blanket prohibition
on dissent itself. The Court had no choice but to throw the baby out
with the bath water.
Similarly, the anti-terrorist law was legislated despite an informed
consensus against it. The Prime Minister appears convinced that it
has effectively ended sectarian violence in Pakistan. That is not
true and his advisors ought to tell him so. Moreover, it is a bad
policeman's law. Its provisions too are unlikely to win judicial
approval. The Prime Minister should realize this lest an
unfavourable ruling cause another rift with the judiciary. True, the
parliament is the supreme legislative body. But true also, that the
judiciary has the ultimate authority to rule on the
constitutionality of laws.
If the right lessons are drawn from this event, great good will have
come out of a bad situation. The weeks past revealed a polity
stronger and more lively than most observers had imagined. The
President avoided partisanship and played a quiet, moderating role.
The Court stood its ground and has reinforced the principle of
separation of powers. In doing so it had the active support of the
institutions of civil society � the bar associations, the press, and
the intelligentsia as a whole. Above all, the Prime Minister finally
acted wisely. To him goes the ultimate credit of defusing a crisis
that could have caused great damage to the country. Those who
describe the conclusion of this crisis as Nawaz Sharif's defeat are
medieval 'pahalwans'. They do not know what democracy is about, nor
what modernity entails.
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971103
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What is milk?
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Omar Kureishi
MS. AMINA JILANI writing in her Jaywalker column (Dawn magazine
October 26) was in top form. Responding to a letter published in
this newspaper about a traffic accident that led to the death of two
young girls by a car driven at high speed by a driver allegedly
inebriated, she laments the fact that this particular incident went
unreported by the newspapers and wonders why.
She writes: "The crash allegedly took place in the early hours of a
Sunday morning. Now, our newspapers, including this one, publish
regular reports on car accidents in the city particularly when
anybody involved have been killed. In that Sunday's two Karachi
papers, it was reported that a motorcyclist was knocked down and
killed by a water tanker and pedestrian killed by a hit and run
vehicle. No mention of the two dead girls. On Monday it was reported
that two men were killed in an accident between a taxi and a minibus
and another man killed when a coach turned turtle. No mention again
of the two girls."
This omission baffles her but only momentarily for she goes on to
raise some serious questions. Those in the car that killed the two
young girls were obviously well-connected. She asks what sort of
children are being raised, what sort of education are they being
given at home and at school. Writes Ms Jilani: "The two boys in
question, "A" level students in one of Karachi's elite moneyed
breed, to the best of our knowledge have received no punishment, no
censure, they have merely picked up from where they left off."
I share Ms Jilani's concern though it is not easy to provide her
with the answers. It is all a matter of perception. When a poor boy
steals oranges from an orchard, he is a thief. When a rich boy does
the same, it is a bit of a lark. I can do no better than bring in
the Hungarian born British writer George Mikes, best known for his
book How to be an Alien. In another book, he recalls an old story
which is about explaining something very difficult to understand. A
blind man asks a young girl what milk is. The girl is astonished
that someone can be so foolish that he doesn't know what milk is."
Milk is white," she tells him. The old man tells her that he is
blind and he doesn't know what white means. The girl tells him that
it is easy to explain, and tells him that a swan is white. The old
man tells her that a swan may be white but he has never seen a swan.
"It has a curved neck," she tells him. The blind man says that he
has no idea what "curved" is. The girl lifts her arm, bends her
wrists forward like a swan's neck." "Feel it," she says. "That's
curved." The old man feels the girl's arm, touches the curved wrist
and exclaims joyfully: "Thank God. Now at last I know what milk is."
We all have our own ways of defining terms. When we say, as we are
inclined to say ad nauseum, that the law must apply to all equally,
we do not have ourselves in mind. It is a fact of life that the poor
and the wretched of this world, the meek (who are destined to
inherit the world which has always seemed to me a post-dated cheque
on a crashing bank) are twice penalised. Once for the simple fact of
being poor and then again for being victimised because they are
poor.
The yard-stick we apply in dispensing justice differs. Take just the
fact that even in our jails, a class system operates. We have A, B,
and C class prisoners and these are awarded not by the nature of the
crime but by social classification. Thus we will find that a lowly
pickpocket will be lodged in C class while a rich and powerfully
connected serial killer will be in A class. This is an elementary
example but it goes to the core of the problem of law enforcement.
So long as there are exceptions, the system of law-enforcement as
such will be flawed. I have always maintained that the law should be
perceived as the protector of the people and by that token the law-
enforcer should be seen as a friend. The reverse is true. The common
man, if I may refer to the majority of the population in so rustic a
fashion, has no confidence in the judicial system and the
relationship with the law-enforcer is an adversarial one.
My idea of a just society would be when any man, woman or child can
walk into a police thana without fear, without feeling intimidated.
He or she should walk in seeking help and support and made to feel
that they will get it, without a price tag.
As to what sort of education the moneyed breed are getting in elite
homes and schools, I cannot really say. But what I can say with
certainty is that the majority of the children in this country are
getting no education at all. We would need someone like George Mikes
to tell these children what schools look like.
I hope the above addresses some of the concerns of Ms Amina Jilani
and others like her who tilt at windmills. It's the best that I can
do. I entirely agree with the American visitor who said that the
future is "Scary, man real scary."
===================================================================
971103
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Faisalabad fiasco and quadrangular
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Qamar Ahmed
Stunning defeat in the decisive third and final Test against South
Africa at Faisalabad where Pakistan were decimated and were bowled
out for 92 while chasing a marginal target of 146 to win with all
the time in the world may not have come as a rude shock as much for
the players as it was for hundreds and thousands of people at home
and abroad who were glued to their television sets anticipating a
series win for Pakistan after they had dominated the Test for almost
three days out of three and a half. The manner of self-inflicted
distruction was such that it once again makes the mind wander
triggering signals of suspicion which are associated with the modern
day game.
A defeat at Christchurch two years ago in the final Test after
Pakistan had won two Tests on the trot and emphatically too, a
massive 324 runs beating at Johannesburg against South Africa in the
one-off Test and then an innings defeat at Harare against Zimbabwe
only a few days later which sparked the fixing and bribery
controversy found an echo after the defeat at Faisalabad. Without
casting aspersions on the team which somehow failed to come to the
expectations of the cricket loving public and in no way denying the
merits of the respected visitors excellence, it is common knowledge
that outside elements have their own axe to grind.
Even in normal circumstances Pakistan is known to have flunked. They
floundered at Headingley in the early seventies in Australia a
couple of times and in the West Indies too but then we only had
stars and no team, individuals with diverse interest and angles with
an eye on self projection. That is why Pakistan could manage to win
only one Test series overseas and that too against New Zealand in
the late seventies. Therefore it is nothing new really that Pakistan
has once again let a golden moment slip. There may not have been
something fishy in that but the way our players threw away their
wickets and failed to rise to the occasion was quite embarrassing,
to say the least. For this debacle the people who trained boys were
also to blame.
Surely the humiliating defeat in the third Test has now come to them
as a rude awakening. Chopping and changing the team every now and
then has brought little and no result. It has unsettled a team which
has started to emerge alongside the best. Now that they will be
faced with the best like Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies in
the one-day quadrangular they will be once again with a new captain
and a changed side. That will not do them any good unless they
really play to their full potential which they seldom do.
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971105
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Akram delighted with Anwar, Sohail's knocks
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 3: Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was delighted not only
because Pakistan beat the West Indies by eight wickets but two of
his frontline batsmen were back in form.
"Winning is always great and it's needed more frequently. But what
is more important is the fact that Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail were
back in form," Akram said from Lahore.
"I always had confidence in both the players, specially Saeed Anwar.
He (Saeed Anwar) was through a rough period but I am glad that with
sheer determination, he is back to his old ways," Akram, who has
taken over the charge from Anwar, said.
Akram maintained that as a leader it was his moral duty to support
his key player. "Saeed Anwar has done for the team in the last three
years or so more than anyone else has done. But this was the period
when he wanted someone to boost his morale."
Saeed Anwar's 108 not out was his first century in 11 matches. He
now becomes the second leading century-maker after Desmond Haynes of
West Indies who has 17. Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar has 12
centuries.
"Aamir Sohail had been struggling with the bat as well as off-the-
field. But now he has sorted out all his problems and it is great
that he should now be looking forward to perform even better," Akram
said.
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971108
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Pakistan's exit debases cricket carnival
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Zafar Samdani
LAHORE, Nov 7: Soaring carnival spirits were somewhat deflated as
Pakistan crashed out of the Golden Jubilee Quadrangular Tournament
on Wednesday, but Lahore is still a city living by cricket.
The question uppermost in everyone's mind till the national team's
exit from the eight day cricket-vaganza � this is how the Pakistan
Cricket Board billed the event � was: what are Pakistan's chances of
winning?
Inevitably, the team was rated high, with sentiment prevailing over
ground facts. The track performance of participants suggested Sri
Lanka leading the quartet and South Africa about one-fourth of a
length behind but expected to produce a burst of speed in the home
stretch.
Clandestine gambling operations offered a miserly rate for the
islanders and no lucrative bargain for backing the springboks. The
West Indians, trailing the field by a distance, could be backed at
long odds. Pakistan's position kept fluctuating with the bookies but
never was the team installed as favourites.
Mobiles have been incessantly bleeping in five-star lobbies. An ear
to the small instrument and a hand on the driving wheel is no
unusual sight in Lahore, but it has been more on show in the last
few days than ever before, presumably because of heavy betting on
the quadrangular matches.
Not just on results. Information on the grapevine suggests that
millions would be staked on the toss tomorrow (Saturday) when the
coin is flung in the air. Batting first, everyone agrees, places a
team in the driving seat.
Sri Lankans were the hot favourites from the start, but the South
African win on Thursday has made the final more of an open contest
even though the islanders batted without Jayasuriya and two of their
key bowlers. But then South Africa also rested paceman Donald.
The finalists appear well equipped for overcoming odds which makes
the match anybody's game, the Sri Lankans remain ahead in most
people's contention. A full house is expected.
If it has been a week of hectic calculations for punters, genuine
followers of the sport were also served a stroke-full feast of
cricket. Spectators shouted, roared, banged plastic bottles and beat
drums with every delivery. They were only disappointed by dot balls.
They came to the matches with the fullest preparation for a picnic,
not that there is a dearth of eatables in the stands which leave the
stadium in a sorry, garbage-filled state much before the end of
play. Sandwich baskets, coffee flasks and fruit are brought by most
families in the more expensive enclosures while in the general and
women's enclosures, traditional homemade food is mostly the menu.
The city is flooded with cricket-related banners which inundate the
scene around the venue. Inside the Qadhafi Stadium, young men with
their faces painted, drooled up girls, older people getting into the
mood, wave flags.
With strict security arrangement setting up a formidable buffer
between players and cricket enthusiasts and the teams hotel not
easily accessible to all, cricketers have reliable protection from
excessive attention of cricket-mad crowds. Determined admirers
nevertheless find a way of reaching them.
Or other personalities converging on the provincial capital for
professional or cricket interests. At the final, practically every
past and present Pakistani cricketer of note is expected to be
present.
Always hospitable, most citizens are in an unprecedentedly generous
mood. Sunil Gavaskar should be able to drive away a Pajero of his
preference and no bills presented. Henry Blofeld could ask for
royalty from shops selling artificial jewellry. His Sharjah
originated focus on earrings has reportedly upped their sales. Among
those who may not recognise Geoffrey Boycott, he has just to
pronounce an 'o' to find out how much more following his insight
into the sport may have won him in our part of the world than his
prowess with the willow had earns when he toured the country as a
cricketer.
This is not to say that foreigners and locals, commentators, experts
and cricketers not mentioned here haven't made an impact. None more
than Jonty Rhodes. The tournament's participants included many a
famous cricketer. But it is his athletic feats in the field, plus an
ever smiling and clapping presence that have made him the most
popular cricketer of the tournament.
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971108
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Exciting final awaits cricket fans
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Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, Nov 7: An exciting competition will be witnessed in final of
the Golden Jubilee Quadrangular Floodlit Cricket Tournament between
two evenly-balanced sides of South Africa and Sri Lanka at the
Qadhafi Stadium on Saturday.
It has been reliably learnt that Sri Lanka management would play the
same team which beat the West Indies and Pakistan sides during
league matches in this tournament.
In a strange move, the Sri Lanka team has planned to open the
bowling attack with a spinner. More interesting is the strategy to
open the bowling with off-spinner Aravinda de Silva. It will be
something amusing to see whether the plan of an off-spinner
operating with the new ball succeeds or not. No doubt, the strong
South African side is considered to be rather weak while playing the
quality spin-bowling, but during the Test series against Pakistan
and in this tournament, South African batsmen have been competently
handling the spin bowling. That is why the South African side has
unbeaten record in this competition. No one should be surprised if
the South African team maintains its unblemished record and wins the
tournament. But the Sri Lanka side is no "push-over"!
Winning of toss has played very important role in this tournament.
Team winning the toss likes to put the other side in to bat as it
wants to avoid to bowl and field in the evening when dew makes
gripping of ball by bowlers and catching or stopping the ball by
fielders very difficult. However, South Africa is the only side
which won two matches of the competition bowling in the evening. It
had registered wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The pitch looks full of runs. Most of the fans lost interest in the
tournament after the ouster of Pakistan. The hard-fought last league
match between South Africa and Sri Lanka was a very poorly-attended
show despite the fact that game of the highest order was on display.
But the final is expected to draw reasonable number of cricket-
lovers. Many concessions have been announced by Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) in tickets. That should also have a good effect on
attendance in the final.
South Africa 'on-the-tour' management committee had a meeting late
on Friday evening and finalised the team for the all-important match
of the tournament. Paceman Alan Donald has been brought into the
side in place of the diminutive, unorthodox left-arm spinner Paul
Adams. All the other players of the team which beat Sri Lanka on
Thursday have been retained.
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971103
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First phase of Pakistan's ascendancy in Squash-I
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A. Majid Khan
Squash and Pakistan have virtually become synonymous. No other
nation in the world has in its fifty years history earned so much
international glory and honour by dint of its unique record and
unparalleled achievements in the realm of sports.
Whether in the British Open or World Open or at the Asian level, the
country has maintained its grip not only on the courts but in the
councils too. The foundation of the Asian Squash Federation as well
as the Professional Squash Players Association (ISPA) � later re-
named as the Professional Squash Association (PSA) � owed a great
deal to Pakistan.
While celebrating its golden jubilees the country remembers with
pride the world renowned sportsmen particularly in squash, who kept
its flag flying high in several continents and all corners of the
globe.
Living legend Hashim Khan, born 81 years ago in 1916 in Nawakille, a
village near Peshawar (NWFP) in the British ruled India, is rightly
called the Baba-i-Squash (Father of modern squash) for its was he
who put Pakistan for the first time on the map of world squash.
Serving in the Pakistan Air Force, before serving as a ball boy in
the Peshawar Club's uncovered cemented courts where the British
officers used to play squash, Hashim Khan learnt his game the hard
way. With the passage of time he improved his technique and mastery.
He demonstrated his power in the Western India championship winning
the title three years in a row (1944, 1945, 1946) at the age of 28
beating Abdul Bari before returning to his native city Peshawar
after the partition of India in 1947.
For almost six years there was no squash organisation in the country
at the national level. Jalil Qureshi, a former national amateur
champion, took the initiative in forming the Pakistan Squash Rackets
Federation in Karachi in 1954. It was milestone in Pakistan's squash
history. The Federation has alternately been patronised and promoted
by the Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Air Force.
Hashim Khan, now living in the United States brought the first
international glory to Pakistan in 1951 by ending the Egyptian
ascendancy when he outplayed Mahmood al-Karim in straight games in
the prestigious British Open, then regarded as the unofficial world
championship. It was a professional event but the amateurs also did
compete in the tournament. Winning the British Open at the age of 36
was a great feat indeed. He subsequently went on to establish a new
record of seven victories in the British Open (1951 - 56 and 1958.)
besides six successive wins (1978-83) after the event was instituted
in 1976.
Hashim, Roshan, Azam and Mohibullah Senior � all the great Khans
hailing from NWFP � together ruled the international squash for an
unprecedented 13 years, winning 13 British Open titles in a row,
besides winning many other tournaments in Australia, Canada, USA,
Egypt, Scotland and other places.
The Pakistan Air Force not only helped Hashim Khan to earn honours
and glories for Pakistan, but also built a modern squash complex �
Hashim Khan Squash Complex � at Peshawar in recognition of the
legendary champion's services to national squash.
Hashim's younger brother Azam Khan and Mohibullah Khan all were in
PAF who later took foreign coaching assignments. Hashim and
Mohibullah settled in USA and Azam in London after Pakistan's
domination in professional squash went through an eclipse in 1963.
Roshan Khan, one of the finest stroke players the world has seen,
performed a remarkable feat by beating the then uncrowned squash
king Hashim Khan in the 1957 British Open Final.
Roshan Khan had, however, to struggle hard to prove hat he was
equally good but lacked required support and incentive which later
came from Pakistan Navy which helped him prove his capabilities and
calibre. Before the British Open victory Roshan Khan had beaten
Hashim in the Pakistan Professionals Squash Championship Final held
in 1956 at the Karachi Parsi Institute Squash Court.
The Karachi victory further highlighted Roshan Khan's position as
one of the world's leading squash stars. He won the 1956 Dunlop
Professional Championship final one though losing his teeth in the
bargain. Like a wounded tiger he fought back to claim the title and
then proceeded to win a number of international tournaments.
Azam Khan also demonstrated his squash power by wining the Britain
Open four times in a row (1959-62) and several other international
tournaments. The last member of the great Khan clan was Mohibullah
Sr who won the 1963 British Open but thereafter Pakistan's first
golden squash era ended.
Aftab Javed, Gogi Alauddin, Mohammed Yasin and Mohibullah Khan
Junior, Qamar Zaman all did their best to recapture Pakistan's
supremacy in the British Open but could not fully succeed. Aftab
Javed thrice reached the British Open finals losing to Egypt's Abu
Talib, Australia's G. Hunt and Ireland's Jonah Barrington
respectively in 1966,67,71.
Gogi Alauddin, called the master of the lob; twice entered the
British Open finals but lost to Barrington in 1973 and was beaten by
Qamar Zaman in the 1975 final.
Mohammad Yasin, too, entered the 1974 British Open final but gave a
walkover to Hunt of Australia because of the injury he sustained
though he surprised defending champion Barrington in the semi-final.
Mohibullah Junior reached the 1979 British Open final but was beaten
by Hunt. Qamar was the only player of the post Khans era, to reach
the British Open finals three times (1978-80) more but each time he
lost to Hunt who surpassed Khan's record of seven wins in 1981.
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971104
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World squash championship wide open
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Dicky Rutnagur
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3: the non-participation of Pakistan's Jansher
Khan, eight times the winner and holder, creates the inevitable
situation of a new champion of the World Open Squash Championship
being crowned here on Saturday. The tournament begins tomorrow.
In order of seeding, the main contenders for the vacant title are
Rodney Eyles, the 30-year-old Australian, who was the losing
finalist in Karachi last year, Peter Nicol, of Scotland, semi-
finalist in 1994 and 1996, and Canadian Jonathon Power, the most
improved player over the last two years.
On the basis of results this season, Eyles is not a likely champion.
Only once in six tournaments since June has he progressed beyond the
quarter-finals stage.
In view of Nicol's performances against Jansher, the Scot must be
fancied. He stretched him to the full distance in the British Open,
in April, and beat him twice afterwards, in the Al-Ahram Tournament,
in Cairo in June, and in the final of the Kuwait Open, a fortnight
ago.
On the other hand, Nicol has twice lost to Power. indeed he is
fortunate that Power is drawn in the opposite half. Seedings
indicate that England's Simon is Nicol's main rival for a semi-
finals place.
However, Nicol has more to fear from Ahmed Barada, of Egypt. Indeed,
he beat him in the Al ahram Tournament, but only after a long and
fractious match in which Barada's tactics were so wickedly physical
and unfair that he was reprimanded and fined by the Professional
Squash Association.
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971107
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Amjad loses to Power in world squash
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Dicky Rutnagur
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6: For the first time since the World Squash
Championship was instituted in 1976, Pakistan are unrepresented at
the quarter-finals stage. her last survivor, qualifier Amjad Khan,
found himself too inexperienced to cope with the speed and brilliant
racket work of Canada's Jonathon Power, one of the three contenders
most likely to succeed Amjad's illustrious uncle, Jansher Khan, as
World champion.
Power beat Amjad in only 35 minutes, 15-9, 15-6, 15-4. The Pakistani
youngster had come through to the second round by upsetting the 16th
seeded Irishman, Dcrek Ryan, yesterday.
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