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Week Ending : 30 August 1997 Issue : 03/35
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Crackdown on drug traffickers and smugglers imminent
1.5m illegal aliens in country: Shujaat
Benazir announces setting up of HR hotline
ISI to get key role in law & order maintenance
Islamabad slams India for firing across LoC
Joint venture for C-I30 maintenance facility
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Pakistan's share in world exports just 0.18 per cent
Mobil interest in PSO privatization
Rs 25bn to be repaid by Sept 30, says Sartaj
Galloping power rates and harried consumers
Pakistan lags behind as South Asia progresses
Increasing poverty despite economic growth
Fresh look at new S.Korea policies
Bourses allowed to appoint chief executive officers
Law for cos take-over order to be enacted
Uncertainties, rethinking keep leading investors away
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Shepherding the flock Ardeshir Cowasjee
The PAF museum Omar Kureishi
That small aid to the ego Hafizur Rahman
Lahore's 'nattering nabobs of negativism' Ayaz Amir
Out of the closet Mazdak/Irfan Husain
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Cricketers fee held back by PCB
Privatise sports organisations
1st technocrat to head hockey set-up
Mascot, logo unveiled
Squash institutionalisation demanded by Hiddy
50 years of Pakistan cricket: the initial phase
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970828
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Crackdown on drug traffickers and smugglers imminent
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Revoking a decision of the last caretaker set-up, the
government has restored to the Frontier Corps the power to check smuggling
and also extended the jurisdiction of Anti-Narcotics Force and Control of
Narcotics Substances Act to both the Federally and Provincially
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and (PATA).
A crackdown on smugglers and drug traffickers in FATA (NWFP) and (PATA)
Balochistan areas is imminent. In case desired results are not achieved,
the army may be used for anti-smuggling operations.
Informed sources told Dawn on Wednesday that these and some others
decisions had been okayed by the federal cabinet which vowed to take
drastic action against those involved in smuggling of arms and drug
trafficking.
Contained in the National Plan of Action which the cabinet has approved,
the other measures, finalised, include foolproof arrangements by the
Rangers, Coast Guards and the Frontier Corps to check smuggling of arms and
drugs from across the borders. To reinvigorate the crackdown, the
government has restored the power, in this regard, to the Frontier Corps
which the Meraj Khalid-led caretaker government had withdrawn on December
28,1996.
Besides other steps, Civil Armed Forces and Customs authorities have been
directed to tighten noose around smugglers and drug traffickers. The
incentive or reward, equivalent to 10 per cent of the confiscated goods,
will be given to the Civil Armed Forces. Similarly, rewards will be given
to the police for gallantry.
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970830
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1.5m illegal aliens in country: Shujaat
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Friday
said that there are 1.5 million illegal immigrants of different
nationalities in Pakistan, and disclosed that the Sindh government has been
asked to prepare a comprehensive plan to deal with this problem.
In response to a question by PPP MNA Waja Ahmed Karim Dad Baloch, the
minister told the National Assembly that the illegal immigrants are mostly
Bangalis, Burmese, Iranians and Indians.
Spelling out the steps being taken by the government to check the illegal
immigration into Pakistan, the minister said, the government has decided to
activate the security agencies and border authorities of land and sea
routes to stop the entry of illegal immigrants.
To a question, he said though no illegal immigrant can lawfully get a
national identity card, passport or property in Pakistan, the possibility
of acquiring such documents through fake means cannot be ruled out.
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970830
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Benazir announces setting up of HR hotline
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto on Friday announced on
the floor of the National Assembly, the setting up of a "Human Right's
Hotline" and asked the people to report any injustice of the government
agencies to it.
"I openly invite any citizen of Pakistan who has a grievance against any
government entity which they feel has unduly and unjustly taken away their
basic freedom of equal treatment under a fair and open judicial process of
due law, to call the Pakistan People's Party Human Rights Hotline," she said.
The former prime minister in a clear departure from traditional speeches of
the political leaders focused her speech on the human rights issues without
indulging in mud-slinging and political acrimony. She gave several
proposals to check human rights violations and setting up a just society in
the country.
"People of Pakistan want the political leadership to stop bickering and
squabbling and lead them to a solution," she said on the floor.
Surprisingly for the treasury members the opposition leader also referred
to extra-judicial killings in Karachi, a charge on which her government was
suspended last year.
"Scores of extra judicial executions - allegedly murders by government
authorities - are reported each year. Indeed last year alone more than 136
extra judicial killings were under investigation in Karachi alone. And
these were just the reported cases," she said.
The former prime minister also unfolded her party's plan to set up an
independent human rights commission and invited the government as well as
other political parties to join that commission.
"We propose and invite all other parties in the National assembly to join
with us, in the creation of a new Human Rights Commission to be created by
the National Assembly, report to the National Assembly with equal
representation of the treasury and opposition benches," she said.
The commission proposed by her, she said, should include prominent
Pakistanis from all parties appointed by consensus between the leader of
the House and the leader of Opposition with a minimum tenure of three
years. This commission should be empowered by the National Assembly to
subpoena and bring to bear the full power of judicial punishment for crime
against basic and fundamental human rights.
Underlining the need of curbing the government's ability to invade the
privacy of citizens, she said, "A summary to censor the foreign mail was
put up to me when I was prime minister but I turned it down." Later the
caretakers on December 15 1996 issued an ordinance allowing the Special
Branch and ISI to censor foreign and domestic mail.
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970826
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ISI to get key role in law & order maintenance
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Raja Zulfikar
ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: The government has decided to assign a key role to Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI) as envisaged in the National Action Plan on Law
and Order for improved intelligence collection to combat terrorism through
a grand operation.
In addition, the authorities have okayed a proposal to upgrade the
Intelligence Bureau (IB) and provincial special branches to modernise these
agencies to help restore law and order in the country.
Informed sources told Dawn on Monday that the federal cabinet in its
special session on Saturday approved the proposals after a five-hour long
discussion on a number of points carried in the National Action Plan to
check terrorism.
It stressed for enhanced coordination among various agencies and thought it
fit to select the ISI for major operation against law breakers. Other
agencies like the IB and provincial special branches will assist the ISI.
Sources said the main areas for intelligence collection, being given to the
ISI will be to discourage arms smuggling and anti-drug operations. The
cabinet reportedly discussed another related proposal which called for
establishing a task force in which the ISI could play a major role as far
as collecting intelligence was concerned.
Additionally, it was proposed that the ISI would keep a track of
international networks and linkages which eventually led to terrorist
activities in the country. However, the cabinet chose to use the ISI
primarily on arms smuggling and anti-drug operations.
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970826
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Islamabad slams India for firing across LoC
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: A spokesman for the ministry of defence has contradicted
reports of heavy causalities on the Pakistan side by Indian troops' firing
in Kargal and Uri sectors along the Line of Control.
"No unusual activity has taken place in the said areas," the spokesman said
when asked to comment on Indian reports that over 60 civilians and troops
were killed in firing from across the border along the Line of Control. An
Indian Army brigadier claimed in Jammu on Monday that around 70 Pakistani
soldiers died in weekend artillery clashes with Indian troops on Kashmir
border.
The defence ministry spokesman, however, said that Indian Army had resorted
to unprovoked firing on Saturday morning in the Pando, Sankh and Chakhoti
sub-sectors and used artillery and heavy weapons, as a result, three
civilians were killed and as many were seriously injured. Two women were
killed and six others injured due to unprovoked firing by Indian side in
different areas along the LoC in Muzaffarabad on Monday.
Commenting on the unprovoked firing by the Indian army which continued
unabated for 24 hours and claims of heavy causalities on Pakistan side in
Kargal and Uri sectors, the spokesman said: "It is known Indian pattern of
sabotaging the process of dialogue whenever initiated to ease tension
between the two countries."
"It also betrays India's gimmick to smoke-screen the fresh phase of
operation against Kashmiri mujahedeen (freedom fighters) for the right to
self-determination," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has officially lodged a complaint with United Nations
Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan about Saturday's unprovoked
firing by Indian troops in different sub-sectors along the Line of Control.
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970826
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Joint venture for C-I30 maintenance facility
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Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: The Ministry of Defence has finally given a go-ahead
signal to a joint venture of CAE-Canada and Shaheen Foundation to
commission the C-130 maintenance and out-wing improvement facility set up
at Chaklala base with an initial investment of 5.2 million dollars, an
official told Dawn.
The final agreement between the Shaheen Foundation and the Ministry of
Defence is likely to be signed shortly, Managing Director of Shaheen
Foundation Nafees A. Najimi said. "We are ready to take in the first C-130
aircraft for maintenance and the out-wing expansion," Mr. Najimi said. "All
the equipment have been installed and have got the people trained to do the
job," he added.
The project was initiated about a year ago with an understanding of
Ministry of Defence that Shaheen-CAE would get the contract of C-130
maintenance but the project was delayed for several months because of
bureaucratic procrastination. "We would have commissioned this facility
several months ago," Mr. Najimi said. The project had been delayed due to
certain clarification sought by the Ministry of Defence.
CAE Inc having an experience of fifty years of aircraft maintenance is also
the world's largest supplier of flight simulation systems and training and
has facilities throughout Canada, the USA and Europe.
CAE provides full-service of aircraft maintenance, modification and
publications services with a reputation of high-quality work. CAE's quality
control programme has been certified to the demanding NATO standards quote
AQAP-1 in March 1992. Lockheed Aeronautical System the manufacturers of
C-130 Hercules planes has declared CAE facility as "Authorised Hercules
Service Centre."
The CAE-Canada selected Pakistan as facility of this kind was not available
within a radius of 1000 kilometres of Pakistan and around 750 C-130 planes
are in use in Kuwaiti, Iranian and Jordanian air force.
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970824
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Pakistan's share in world exports just 0.18 per cent
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Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: Pakistan's share in world exports has remained unchanged
at 0.18 per cent during the five year period of 1991-95 mainly because of
decline in exports of manufactured goods, according to official statistics.
During this period, it did increase from 0.18 per cent in 1991 to 0.21% in
1993, but only to shrink back to the original position by 1995.
World's exports grew from US $3506 billion in 1991 to US $4490 in 1995,
showing an annual growth rate of 5.6 per cent.
A comparison with Pakistan lays bare a dismal performance in that the
growth rate of our exports during the period remained 2.1 per cent. These
increased from US $6.4 billion in 1991 to US $8.1 billion in 1995.
The decline is observed in all the major sectors of exports. The share of
textile and clothing was 2.25 per cent in the total world exports in 1991,
dropping to 2.13 per cent in 1995. This is because while the world exports
grew at a rate of 8.2 per cent per annum, the growth rate in respect of
Pakistan was only 6.75 per cent.
Yet, the share of this group in total world exports dropped from 6.35% to
6.18% during the period in contrast to their rise in Pakistan's total
exports from 68.4% to 72.8%.
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970824
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Mobil interest in PSO privatization
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Our Reporter
HUB, Aug 23: A leading oil company Mobil Corporation is taking keen
interest in the privatization of Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
"Mobil is now watching very closely possibility of the privatization of
PSO," said Mr Mark A. Green, President and Chief Executive, Mobil Askari
Lubricant, at the inaugural ceremony of $10 million lubricant plant at Hub,
Balochistan, on Saturday. The plant has the capacity to produce 25,000 tons
of oil per annum on a single shift basis.
The PSO currently enjoys 78 per cent market share in the domestic petroleum
market.
Mr Phil Thomson Healy, Vice President, Mobil Asia Pacific, spelt out three
compelling reasons to invest in Pakistan: The government's attractive
foreign investment policies, good joint venture partners and focus in the
regional countries for marketing of products.
Mobil and Army Welfare Trust (AWT) have recently acquired the Lube Oil
Blending Plant which will produce the full line of Mobil lubricants for
both automobile, transport and industrial applications. The initial hiring
process of approximately 60 employees is almost complete. The plant has
also been modernized.
Outlining future plans, Mr Mark Green said that both the partners are
participating in the current PQA bid to build liquid petroleum gas terminal
for storage, distribution and marketing activities at the Port Qasim. Mobil
and AWT are one of the four bidders.
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970826
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Rs 25bn to be repaid by Sept 30, says Sartaj
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: About Rs 25 billion will be returned by the loan
defaulters of the banks and DFIs by September 30 this year, Finance
Minister Senator Sartaj Aziz said here on Monday. "Hopefully we will be
able to get Rs 25 billion loans repaid by the defaulters by September 30",
he said adding that the government had received formal offers from the
defaulters to deposit this amount to escape any action. Talking to
reporters after inaugurating a two-day 32nd Annual Convention of the
Pakistan Society of Sugar Technologists here on Monday he said that the
government was expecting fairly good response from the defaulters of the
nationalised commercial banks (NCBs) and the development financial
institutions(DFIs) before September 30 to return their loans.
The government is to recover more than Rs 130 billion from the defaulters
for which the State Bank of Pakistan has given package to the defaulters to
return the money failing which certain action will be initiated against
them including the liquidation of their business concerns. And the Governor
State Bank, Dr. Muhammad Yaqub has reportedly told the officials of the
ministry of finance that he will not allow any defaulter to avoid paying
his loans on the pretext that Riba (interest) is unIslamic. He has said
that when they took these loans, they knew that they would have to pay them
with certain mark up rate.
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970826
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Galloping power rates and harried consumers
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Sultan Ahmed
THE PRIME MINISTER has turned down yet another WAPDA request to increase
already high power rates by 15 per cent in an effort to save domestic
consumers, industrial users and exporters. Earlier, the KESC had also
pleaded with the government for a 20 per cent rise.
WAPDA's revenue collection in the last financial year fell by over 15 per
cent of the target of Rs 102 billion. The losses could be larger this year
as WAPDA continues its corrupt and inefficient ways.
The prime minister had earlier given four months notice to WAPDA and KESC
to put its house in order as he wants then to cut their heavy losses and
power thefts which in the case of KESC is a staggering 40 per cent now.
Reports from Islamabad say that WAPDA's power loss, primarily large theft
in collusion with its staff, has now risen to 45 per cent from last year's
30 per cent. Both WAPDA and KESC officials tend to describe them as line
losses and not as massive theft.
In KESC, power rates went up about 50 per cent within three years and the
theft rate has also jumped 50 per cent from about 26 to 40 per cent.
The problem with WAPDA is not only that billing is far below its output but
the collection is also far below the billing as the federal and provincial
governments and their autonomous bodies and local governments and other
bodies like the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board are the main defaulters
along with many of the 4,000 sick industrial units, many of which have
closed down.
As a result, WAPDA which had 84 per cent of power distribution was not able
to pay Pakistan State Oil for the furnace oil it supplied or Sui Northern
and Sui Southern for the gas they provided for power production.
And its recent efforts to raise another large loan from the public had a
poor response in view of its dismal performance in servicing the lenders
through the earlier series of loans.
So the government had to authorise its banks to lend large sums to it so
that it could release PSO, Sui Southern and Sui Northern from their acute
financial crunch.
The prime minister may transfer some top officials or order other
administrative punishments but cannot delay an increase in the power rates
for too long as WAPDA needs more funds not only to meet current expenses
but also to invest in major development scheme like the long-delayed Ghazi
Barotha hydel power project, costing $2.25 billion for which the World Bank
has already announced a loan of $350 million.
Private sector
Private sector power producers, mostly foreign investors beginning with
HUBCO, have also to be paid 6.5 cents per unit of power and recent payments
exceeded 7 cents following the rise in furnace oil prices by the end of
last year and beginning of the current one.
And as more and more private sector produces supply 60 per cent of their
output at such high rates, made far worse by the steady devaluation of the
rupee, the difference between the price paid to those companies and the
rates for power realised from the consumers will increase.
If 40 to 45 per cent of the power produced is stolen or lost due to
technical reasons those who pay for their power will be forced to pay very
high prices. And if devaluation of the rupee continues or if oil prices
rise again, more so furnace oil, as happened recently, power rates in
Pakistan can go up steeply and disrupt the economy altogether.
In anticipation of such a situation the Benazir government had set up a
National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to regulate the rise
in power rates, but the legislation supporting that authority has lapsed
and the Nawaz government did not want to provide legal sanction to it
through a presidential ordinance.
The requisite legislation has not been formulated and hence the government
has turned that authority into National Electric Power Regulatory Cell,
without the requisite legislative base.
When the Bill to restore the Regulatory Authority comes before Parliament
the issue of energy prices will be debated in full and that can be
exceedingly enlightening and useful to the hard pressed consumers who have
to pay for the power stolen by others with the collusion of the WAPDA and
KESC staff and backed by their unions.
Production, transmission and distribution cost of power can come down
sharply if the factors contributing to high cost in each area can be
tackled. They are:
1. Corruption in procurement by WAPDA and KESC in installation of
sub-standard equipment, shoddy workmanship and maintenance. The collapse of
two towers at Boating Basin erected barely a year ago resulting in a loss
to KESC of over Rs 10 million is an example.
2. Overstaffing. KESC has double the staff needed and WAPDA is also
overstaffed. Despite that there are heavy overtime bills as well as large
dubious medical bills which increase administrative costs.
3. Doctoring meters with and without staff collusion and greasing the palms
of the billing staff who assure consumers they have nothing to fear as long
as they are in the billing department.
Replacement of old transmission and distribution lines, which in Karachi
are stated to be as old as 30 years in some areas cause heavy loss of
power. Simultaneously the quality of the new distribution lines has proved
to be bad which means substandard lines or poor maintenance, often both.
Mitigating losses
If these problems are solved, the loss to both power producers and
distributors can come down 6 to 10 per cent. But Minister for Power and
Water, Chaudhri Nisar Ali, says replacing transmission and distribution
lines will cost Rs 30 billion and the government does not have that kind of
money. So privatization of KESC, and the electric distribution systems
under WAPDA in major cities is proposed.
Earlier the companies had proposed privatising billing, but the unions did
not agree, and in the case of KESC agreed to let the private sector do the
billing of only the domestic consumers as the big money for the staff comes
from industrial consumers.
Finally that agreement too fell through and privatisation of the whole
distribution system is seen as the only remedy for these persisting evils
in the system which inflate power rates abnormally. But the unions are
opposed to that.
The KESC had initiated setting up area metres to ascertain total power
supply to each area and then measure it against the actual billing so that
the extent of power theft could be determined. Some such meters were
installed but they were neutralised and installation of more meters thwarted.
There is also talk of asking private sector power producers to reduce their
rates. But forcing them to do so will be contrary to the agreements signed
and illegal and they can go to court to block the government's move.
Secondly, reneging on earlier commitments will discourage foreign investors
in other sectors as well and bring the country to grief.
It is one thing to ask for voluntarily reduction in rates if they are
willing and can afford it and quite another to pressure them to reduce
agreed rates.
The fact is that India, Philippines etc. have agreed to higher rates but
have not come up with the kind of sovereign guarantees which Pakistan has
offered. Secondly devaluation of the rupee in India is not as high as
Pakistan. The Indian rupee is well below Rs 36 to a dollar while the
Pakistan rupees is officially Rs 40.52 to a dollar and unofficially Rs 41.35.
The rates offered to private sector power producers can come down if the
government agrees to buy more than the 60 per cent of the power produce it
has committed to buy. And when enough surplus power on an assured basis is
available that power can be supplied to India on a cost-plus basis.
When projects like Ghazi Barotha and other planned small hydel power
stations become operational Pakistan will have plenty of surplus power.
And the surplus will be all the more if the massive power theft and loss is
checked and the full output is billed and consumers made to pay for what
they consume.
If that is blocked or least 20 per cent of the power produced which is
stolen and wasted can be saved, the large furnace oil import bill of
Pakistan can come down to that extent.
Kunda syndrome
A Sindh High Court judge told me recently that when he went to his village
in interior Sindh and moved around during lunch time he found no smoke
rising from any house. Intrigued, he asked for the reason and he was told
they were all using power from the kundas to cook their meals.
And in many katchi abadis in Clifton near where the mighties of the
province live, kundas are freely used for various purposes, including
cooking. So much so that hut or shack-owners are charging exorbitant rent
from poor tenants.
Clearly it is not only the industrialists and those who live in posh homes
with numerous air-conditioners who steal power but also many others who
began stealing power for lighting and have end up using it for cooking or
other purposes.
Preventing such abuses will have all round gains for the country and can
even improve our balance of trade and payments by cutting down on oil
imports. Increasing power rates will only are lead to larger thefts besides
higher cost of industrial production and commercial operations, which will
make exports dearer which will hit the frail economy very hard.
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970826
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Pakistan lags behind as South Asia progresses
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Aftab Ahmad
ALTHOUGH Pakistan's GNP per-capita, (as of 1994) stood at $430, higher than
India's at $320 and Bangladesh's $220 in the same year, the average annual
rate at which Pakistan's GNP per-capita grew during the 1985-94 period was
only 1.3 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent for India and 2 per cent for
Bangladesh (as recorded in the World Development Report, 1996).
The lower rate of GNP per-capita growth for Pakistan was mainly due to
higher rate of population growth in this country which was recorded at 2.9
per cent during 1990-94, compared with 1.8 per cent in India and 1.7 per
cent in Bangladesh during the same period. It appeared that the higher
population growth rate in Pakistan was seriously affecting the pace of
economic progress in this country.
While Pakistan had been facing economic problems of a serious nature during
the past few years, the region in which Pakistan was located had moved
forward. As a result of economic reform initiated by India in July, 1991,
real economic growth in that country had reached 6 per cent, by 1995; while
industrial production was increasing at 8 per cent a year. The dollar value
of India's exports grew by more than 20 per cent in 1994 and by the end of
1994 the country's foreign exchange reserves (which had dipped to nearly $
1 billion in mid-1991) had shot up to $20 billion.
According to a report published in a section of the national Press
recently, India's foreign exchange reserves stood at as much as $ 29.45
billion in July, 1997.
Another country in the region, viz., Sri Lanka had been able to raise its
GNP per-capita (as of 1994) to $640 which was roughly 50 per cent higher
than that of Pakistan. In addition, Sri Lanka had a literacy rate of 90 per
cent (as of 1995) and life expectancy at birth of 72 years which showed the
pace of social uplift in that country.
Even Bangladesh (which came into existence in 1971) was striving hard to
accelerate the pace of its economic progress. Not only had the country been
able to double its Gross Domestic Product during the 1980-1994 period from
$13 billion to $26 billion but it had also succeeded in bringing the rate
of population growth down to 1.7 per cent (during 1990-1994).
Unfortunately, Pakistan had not been able to keep pace with the other
countries in the region in the 1990s. The country had recorded an
impressive GDP growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the 1980s, but the same could
not be maintained in the 1990s and dropped to around 4.5 per cent.
The last fiscal (1996-97), in particular, proved to be the worst year when
the agriculture and the manufacturing sectors registered growth rates of
0.7 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively compared with the annual average
growth rates of 5 per cent (for agriculture) and 8 per cent (for
manufacturing) registered during the 1980's. In the 1980's, the F.O.B.
value of Pak exports had registered an average annual growth of 7.7 per
cent. However, over the last few years, exports had stagnated and since
vital imports ( such as wheat, edible oil, POL etc) could not be cut down,
a very difficult BOP position had been created for Pakistan.
In the above situation, the country's foreign exchange reserves often went
down below the $1 billion mark and the external debt burden had ballooned
to $30 billion (besides internal debt of Rs.1000 billion).
Undoubtedly, the most serious problem facing Pakistan's economy in the
1990s was that the country's debt servicing liabilities had increased to
such an extent that the whole exercise of budget formulation had become
almost futile. A comparative study of the federal budgets 1995-96 of
Pakistan and India, carried out in August, 1995, had, inter alia, revealed
that whereas the budget allocation for debt servicing in India's federal
budget, 1995-96 (at Rs.520-billion) worked out to 52 per cent of their net
federal revenue (at Rs. 1007 billion), allocation for debt servicing in
Pakistan federal budget, 1995-96 (Rs. 157 billion) came to about 63 per
cent of its net revenue receipts (Rs.249 billion). In the subsequent two
years (federal budget 1996-97-revised-and federal budget 1997-98),
allocation for debt servicing had risen further, to 77 per cent and 76 per
cent of the net federal revenues, respectively. If the allocation for
defence was added to it, the same worked out to Rs.836 billion (Rs. 316
billion for defence) in India's federal budget 1995-96 out of its net
revenue receipts of Rs.1007 billion whereas in Pakistan's budget for the
same fiscal year, allocation for debt servicing and defence taken together
(Rs. 157 billion plus Rs. 115 billion) exceeded the net revenue receipts
(Rs.249 billion) by as much as Rs. 23 billion.
During the subsequent two years, the position had not improved but rather
gone worse. To get out of the situation, Pakistan must either retire part
of its debt by speeding up the privatisation process or it should boost its
GDP growth and exports as China had done during 1980-94 or it should do
both simultaneously.
A comparative study of Pakistan's economy vis-a-vis other economies in the
region brought to light the structural weaknesses in Pakistan's economy. If
Pakistan had a will to maintain a competitive position in the region,
particularly in relation to its bigger neighbour, having the advantage of
its population which made it the second biggest market in the world, then
Pakistan would have to remove the structural weaknesses in its economy.
In the first instance, Pakistan would have to bring down its population
growth rate further which was too high at 2.9 per cent not only from the
world standard but it was, also, higher than the population growth rates in
other countries in South Asia, as mentioned above. Secondly, in order to
achieve the above objective, Pakistan must substantially raise its literacy
rate which stood at 38 per cent (as of year 1994) compared with 90 per cent
of Sri Lanka and 52 per cent of India. Thirdly, Pakistan needed to raise
its national saving which was presently estimated at only about 12 per cent
compared with about 22 per cent of India. Without increasing the national
savings, Pakistan could not invest adequate amounts on physical and social
infrastructure.
Last but not th'e least, Pakistan should make all possible efforts to
improve its external debt GDP ratio, Pakistan's total external debt at $
29.6 billion (as of 1994) constituted 57 per cent of its GDP at $ 52
billion in the same year, whereas India's total external debt at $ 99
billion (as of 1994) worked out to only about 34 per cent of its GDP at
$294 billion in the same year. To achieve, all the above-mentioned
objectives it was imperative for Pakistan to ensure rapid and sustained
economic growth in the shortest possible time.
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970826
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Increasing poverty despite economic growth
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mian Asif Said
THIS refers to the article increasing poverty despite economic growth in
your August 14 issue, by Dr Mahbubul Haq. He was the chief economist of the
Ayub Khan era and later deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. His own
economic policies were largely responsible for creating the 22 industrial
families who controlled most of the national wealth - a phrase coined by him.
In the 70s, sensing Bhutto's cynical and sham leaning, sold to the masses
as socialist,he switched allegiances and became a staunch supporter of
state control and the so-called distributive justice which tore our entire
economic fabric to shreds-a volte-face for which he was duly rewarded with
a ministerial rank.
Alas, even our illiterate masses are on to him now, and nobody seems to
listen to his economic bromides. The latest is that the principal cause of
a third of our population living in utter poverty is the lack of
agricultural reforms. He cites the examples of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
and South Korea where agriculture yields far exceed those of Pakistan. His
remedy for our ills? Reduce the ceiling on land-holding to seven or eight
acres per family.
His fondest hope? Somebody up there will take note and use this as a
popular political slogan (like the 'Roti, Kapra, Makan' of yore), and per
chance recall him to implement this bird brained brained programme.
Of course, the good doctor is crafty enough to project his agenda with
half-truths, the more true half being that rapid development in the
countries mentioned above would not have been possible without heavy
investments in mass education.
This no one can deny, and there is general consensus among our
intelligentsia that a universal literacy drive has to be the top priority
and a sine quo non for any meaningful economic development and alleviation
of poverty.
But there is no statistical evidence to support the theory of rapid
agricultural growth with a stand-alone policy of land distribution per se.
As we all know, the highest per-acre crop yields are currently being
achieved, not in Sri Lanka and India (with their total land fragmentation
policies), but in large agri-corporations in Europe, North America,
Australia and New Zealand - land-holding run into millions of acres at a
time.
These agri-corporations are run by a highly educated corps of corp
technologists ably supported by sophisticated funds managers. It is they
who control over two-thirds of the globe's production of goodgrains.
But they would have failed had their governments been short-sighted and
operated a crop confiscation policy, i.e. paying farmers one- third to one
half of the value of their produce in order to subsidize urban masses,
exactly what Pakistan has done over the past 50 years.
Even today the USA spends hundreds of billions of dollars in the shape of
crop subsidies. The bedrock of the success of European dairy farming has
not been the high milk yields of their Holstein and Fresian cows, but their
huge budgets for CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). These countries
regularly pay their milk producers twice that we pay (Rs 18 per litre vs Rs
9 per litre).
Then the turn around and heavily subsidized their expensively manufactured
dairy products through export programmes. You can buy the EC's subsidized
Feta cheese today in Teheran for Rs 30 per kilo, the same cheese which
costs European dairies Rs 60 kilo in terms of the price of raw milk alone.
The same is true for American wheat. It is not mechanised farming and heavy
inputs of chemical fertilizers alone that accounts for the low
international price of Kansas wheat. The magic word is export subsidies.
Were these to be discontinued tomorrow, the international price of wheat
would shoot up to Rs 15 a kilo.
As a so-called "failed state", we can all easily identify that our 40 odd
million population below the poverty line resides either in rural areas or
city slums, where they came in search of decent housing, clean drinking
water, medical facilities, and reasonable employment, these basics having
been denied them in their rural locale. The starting point has, therefore,
got to be our villages where over two-thirds of our population still
reside. For any state policy to be a success, we have to reverse the drain
of resources from rural to urban centres. Contrary to perceived wisdom, we
need to:
Earnestly begin paying our farmers a crop price above its import cost to
the country. For instance, today we are paying Rs 9 per kilo for wheat
flour (this is equivalent to Rs 11.5 per kilo of wheat because the flour
has a 15 per cent moisture content (as any delighted flour mill owner will
reluctant tell you). This means the government should gladly pay its
farmers Rs 430 per maund of wheat instead of importing it with foreign
debt. This is 75 per cent above the government's declared wheat support
price. The same confiscatory pricing continues to be applied to all other
crops including cotton, sugarcane, pady/and oil seeds (for the last
mentioned of which we annually expend nearly US $ 1 billion a year in
imported palm and soya bean oil).
If the government did so, it would not have to fight the farmers in
Sargodha. They would be earning Rs 15,000-20,000 for two crops per year per
acre giving them an annual yield of 10-12 per cent on the average price of
Rs 150,000 per acre of land.
However, with this return they would not fight for a meagre Rs 150 per acre
as tax. In fact, they would gladly pay ten times as much. On a trip of
Sargodha early this year I was surprised to see the apparent affluence
among village workers. On questioning my local host, it transpired that the
area farmers had got together and refused to sell their sugarcane to the
mills at the declared governmental confiscatory price of Rs 22 per maund.
As a result, they had been able to obtain prices as high as Rs 45-50 per
maund form the mills.
Had the government shown better sense in its support price for cane prior
to last sowing season, we would not today be importing sugar from all over
the world.
And once self-sufficiency is achieved, and if we wish to be a true
agri-power like New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and USA, we need to
aggressively pay our farmers as outright subsidy starting with crops that
are in short supply. For instance, oil-seeds can be promoted with per acre
subsidies large enough to entice our farmers. The example of Saudi Arabia
in wheat cultivation is before us.
This desert kingdom is not only self-sufficient but is today exporting
wheat. They managed to do so by subsidizing their wheat farmers (not that
paying five to six times the cost of import is a smart idea, but they
obviously value food security, if for no other reason then to prevent
political turmoil.
In fact the solution is starting us in the face. After announcing
agricultural support prices above their import costs, and then some, the
government can easily implement an aggressive agri-tax, the proceeds of
which can be used to subsidize the short crops (or extractions thereof,
like edible oil) that it needs to import.
During his 50th anniversary of independence speech our naive PM was mulling
over the idea of generating Rs 40-50 billion worth of credit for poor
farmers to buy seed, fertilizer, and pesticides. The solution is really so
simple. Just pay them a fair price for their crops. One caveat though.
In this exercise, the state machinery involved would have to ensure they
pick up the farmer's produce from the field and pay him cash on the
barrel-head and not let the 'arthies' (middle-men) get to him before they do.
Lest some of our sceptical readers pooh-pooh this as a pipe dream, it may
be mentioned here that I have recently returned from India where I had led
the Pakistan Dairy Association's delegation at the invitation of the Indian
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). First a little lesson in history.
In pre-partition India, the milk supply of Bombay city largely came from a
Kaira district of Gujarat state. The collection, pasteurisation and
transport of the milk was handled by a British Company by the name of
Polsons Dairy.
The Raj (much like our today) had given Polsons a monopoly over milk price
paid to the farmers and declared them sole suppliers of milk to Bombay. Of
course, Polsons paid the milk farmers a pittance as compared to their sale
price in Bombay. In 1946, the farmers sought the help of Sardar Vallabhai
Patel, a political giant of those days. He advised them to refuse supply of
milk to Polsons unless they were paid their due (shades of the Sargodha
episode today?). The farmers routinely drained their milk for three weeks.
Eventually the Raj surrendered and recognized the Kaira district farmers
union, which today is better known as Amul, one of the largest dairies in
India, and a Rs 20 billion business house owned by the areas farmers
cooperatives.
But the Amul story would not have had a happy ending if it was not
supported by a massive governmental subsidy over the past three decades,
better known today as Operational Flood.
It is estimated that the Government of India spent nearly US $1 billion in
setting up field milk collection centres and district level processing
plants to support the farmers in producing more milk. As a result, India
has today just passed the USA as the largest milk producer in the world.
Its production of 75 million litres per annum compares with our 22 billion
whereas at partition, what is now Pakistan, was the largest producer.
Another basic reason for the ongoing success of Indian agriculture as
compared to ours is that over the past 20-25 years governments there have
learnt that micro-management on part of the federal and state bureaucracies
does not work. Governmental agencies have been used to set up schools,
technical training institutes, and dispensaries.
These have then been handed over to local bodies at the village and
panchayat levels to fund them through local taxes and to run them as they
see fit. Democracy at the grassroots is flourishing contrary to our model
of corrupt politicians robbing us to our tax money t o build motorways and
peoples convention centres.
Lastly, our financial institutions need to re-focus their lending
practices. This can only happen if the State Bank, by fiat, forces them to
extend credit to the farming sector vs industry in proportion to where our
population resides.
In other words, at least two-thirds of credit must be directed towards
village level programmes and farming support rather than towards industry
whose total combined annual value added is less than that of our poor
landless peasants and share-croppers that produce the bulk of Rs 200
billion worth of milk a year, which is equivalent to two thirds of our
annual export earnings!
Now, what are the chances for revival of Pakistan's agriculture? The urban
industrial base of our leaders with the mandate should give you the obvious
answer - the same as that of a snowball in hell, which is where we all seem
headed with unwavering determination and an awesome sense of purpose. See
you there.
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970828
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Fresh look at new S.Korea policies
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 27: Pakistan is having a fresh look at the prospects of
attracting investments from South Korea following Seoul's decision to
liberalize its overseas investment policy.
The restriction imposed earlier by South Korean government over the amount
of foreign direct investments made by Korean entrepreneurs has been relaxed
with effect from 1st of August.
Sources here said that the positive development was likely to be considered
in formulating new investment policy expected to be announced next month.
Pakistani diplomats want the government to evolve right policies to attract
direct foreign investment from South Korea.
According to the deregulation package recently announced by South Korean
Ministry of Finance and Economy, domestic firms will be able to freely
invest overseas by merely reporting to their main creditor banks
irrespective of the amount of investment involved.
Taking his cue from this development the Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of
Pakistan, Seoul in a letter to the Board of Investment (BoI) has suggested
that to attract the attention of small and medium Korean entrepreneurs,
Pakistan should formulate a lucrative policy to exploit this opportunity
and benefit from the facilities extended by the South Korean government to
its businessmen.The proposal is now being examined by BOI.
It may be noted that previously only investments valued at $10 million or
less were possible by simply notifying to main banks, while investments
from $10 million upto $50 million required prior approval from the Bank of
Korea.
However, overseas investment beyond $50 million needed to be placed before
Inter-Agency Committee for its approval for getting a go ahead signal from
the central bank.
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970828
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Bourses allowed to appoint chief executive officers
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: The federal government has acceded to the demand of the
stock exchanges to appoint outsider Chief Executive Officers (CEO),
according to reliable source.
The three stock exchanges should have these officers is one of the
important conditionalities of the $250 million loan to be provided by the
Asian Development Bank.
Currently, the bourses are managed by their respective presidents elected
from among their members. The need of CEOs has been felt for quite some
time for running day to day affairs of stock exchanges in accordance with
the rules, thus freeing the elected presidents to exercise more vigilance
to safeguard interests of investors which have generally gone by default
because of the former being preoccupied with running day to day affairs, it
is contended.
The stock exchanges had, however, expressed their apprehensions that the
power to nominate CEOs, if vested with the government, would be misused by
the politicians and the bureaucrats, to the detriment of the democratic
functioning of the capital markets.
CEOs nominated by the government would also be in conflict with the basic
nature of bourses as self-regulated bodies, although these actually
function as closed clubs of the brokerage houses comprising their
memberships.
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970829
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Law for cos take-over order to be enacted
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Ilyas
ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: The Federal Government may soon table in the Parliament
a law which will empower the Corporate Law Authority (CLA) to order
take-over of the companies which persistently fail to pay dividend to their
shareholders.
This was stated during a presentation about CLA before the National
Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Sardar Mansoor Hayat Khan
Tamman, MNA, here on Thursday. The CLA Chairman, Mr Shamim Ahmed Khan, and
other senior officials of the Authority attended the meeting and answered
questions put by the Committee members.
The proportion of companies defaulting on dividend as revealed by the CLA
Chairman recently was 70%. In the meeting with the Standing Committee, it
was disclosed that out of 782 listed companies over a period of time, as
many as 151 had not paid dividend over the past five years.
While journalists were kept out of the meeting on the plea that the
statements made there might send the market tumbling down, Sardar Tamman
told Dawn that the companies that were sitting pat on the investors' money
with market value of shares close to the bottom would be subjected to the
procedure of involuntary take-over.
While details of this new amendment in the law have still to be worked out,
all that he could say was that another party offering better value for the
shares would be authorized to take over the relevant company along with its
management. Such a measure would result in the value of shares going up in
the market, it is expected.
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970830
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Uncertainties, rethinking keep leading investors away
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 29: Shares finished the last session of the week on a bearish
note as leading investors kept to the sidelines on some rethinking on the
state of economy and a good bit of political uncertainty in the backdrop of
conflicting rumours. The index was down 19 points.
"The market now appears to be victim of lack of buying support rather than
large selling from any quarter," said a leading broker.
Most of the leading overbought shares are now in place and should attract
covering purchases if the market is to respond to its technical demands, he
added.
The strong presence of any of the leading foreign funds even on some of the
leading MNCs further added to the current woes of the market. However, it
went to the credit of its inherent strength that it did not attract panic
selling.
The KSE 100-share index lost another 24.06 points in the morning session as
leading index shares attracted fresh selling but on follow-up support at
the falling prices. It was last quoted at 1,739.43 as compared to 1,763.49
a day earlier.
In the evening session, it managed to cut early morning losses and was
quoted higher by 5.21 points at 1,744.64, showing overall loss of 18.85
points over the day.
After breaching three psychological barriers of 2,000, 1,900 and 1,800
during the last about two weeks, the index appeared to be heading to fall
below the 1,700 barrier also, some analysts said.
However, leading among them are divided on its last support level. Some say
it will fluctuate between 1,650 and 1,750 in the coming weeks preceding the
release of the first tranche of $200 million under the recently Extended
Structural Adjustment Facility with the IMF and that could well be its most
realistic level.
Some others said it could stay above the resistance level of 1,850 points
after the release of IMF loan as that will signal the return of shaky
foreign investors into the market.
"The market has already passed through necessary correction as some of the
leading actives are now said to be in a highly oversold position and could
attract a lot of short-covering, possibly by the next week," said a leading
floor broker.
Thus, the direction of the market is unclear and it is too early to predict
how it will behave when trading resumes next week, he added.
Volume figure fell to 32 million shares, about a half of the daily average
turnover, partly because of a short Friday session and partly to slack
demand from the institutional traders as well as leading foreign funds.
Losers led gainers by 161 to 52 with 72 staying unchanged out of the total
285 actives.
Volume leaders including Hub-Power, ICI Pakistan and FFC-Jordan, which of
late have assumed the role of trend-setters, were also neglected as
investors were not inclined to take risks on fear of further price erosions.
Minus signs again dominated the list with leading shares such as PSO, Knoll
Pharma and Lever Brothers being the top losers, falling by Rs 9 to 15 on
active liquidation.
PTCL, which holds about 32% weightage in the index and is being traded on
spot basis, also fell by one rupee at Rs 36.50 on a volume of 25,000 shares.
KESC, Pakistan Refinery, Singer Pakistan, Pakistan Gum Chemicals, Mitchells
Fruits and Spencer Pakistan also fell by one rupee to Rs 2.
BOC Pakistan, which has been under pressure for the last few sessions,
recovered Rs 2 on short-covering at the lower levels followed by Dawood
Hercules, which also rose by an identical amount on the strength of an
interim dividend of 25%.
Burshane Pakistan, Pakistan Services, New Jubilee Insurance and Crescent
Sugar followed them, rising modestly on news of higher interim profits.
The most active list was topped by ICI Pakistan, up 95 paisa on 12.600
million shares, followed by Hub-Power, lower 45 paisa on 8 million shares,
Dewan Salman, up 70 paisa on 4.400 million shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer,
easy 35 paisa on 4.200 million shares, and Japan Power, lower 15 paisa on
0.500 million shares.
DIVIDEND: The board of directors of International Investment Bank has
announced cash dividend at the rate of 12.5% for the financial year ended
June 30, 1997.
DEFAULTING COMPANIES: Trading on this counter was featured by a sharp
increase in the share value of Shams Textiles, which surged by Rs 1.15 to
Rs 7 from the previous Rs 5.85 on a turnover of 500 shares. All other
shares, which came in for trading, were further marked down by five to 25
paisa but without any transaction. A dozen shares came in for trading out
of which 11 tended lower while one finished recovered.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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970824
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Shepherding the flock
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Ardeshir Cowasjee
ONE supposes that if our leaders were honest with themselves they would be
honest with their people. Why must all politicians who jockey themselves
into the prime ministerial chair insist that they are democratically
elected, that they are 'leaders' of the people? Why can they not simply
admit that they are fascists?
When the voice from the Dead Capital says that the days of army rule are
over, that the army can no longer play any part in the politics of the
country led by the people, then martial law may possibly be round the
corner. When the voice says that the government would not be so stupid as
to take on the judiciary, it means that it will do precisely that.
Within a month of settling back into the prime ministerial seat, knowing
that he would do wrong and that he may once again be chopped by 58(2)(b),
on April 3 Nawaz Sharif, suspending rules of procedure, prohibiting debate,
had a constitutional amendment rushed through parliament. His first
amendment of his second term and the thirteenth to the Constitution,
amended this famous article that has so often empowered a president to
dissolve the National Assembly "in his discretion where, in his opinion, a
situation has arisen in which government of the Federation cannot be
carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an
appeal to the electorate is necessary."
By the same 13th Amendment, Article 101 was also amended. The president can
no longer appoint a governor for each province merely "after consultation
with the Prime Minister." Now he must do so "on the advice of the Prime
Minister."
Ommitted by the Amendment is the clause in Article 112 empowering a
governor, with the previous approval of the president, to dismiss a
provincial assembly.
And, now, after an amendment to Article 243, the president no longer has
the "discretion" to hire or fire the armed forces chiefs. It has passed to
the prime minister.
Having emasculated the president, three months later, on July 3, the 14th
Amendment was rushed through in the same manner, adding article 63A which
has converted the legislators into a mindless herd. By this amendment, 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 party policy in
relation to any Bill."
If any action is to be taken against a legislator "the disciplinary
committee of the Party, on a reference by the Head of the Party, shall
decide the matter in seven days. In the event the decision is against the
member, he may file an appeal, within seven days, before the Head of the
Party, whose decision thereon shall be final." In other words, der Fuhrer
is both prosecutor and judge. And, the final touch, the cherry and the
icing, no court, High or Supreme, can take cognizance nor have any
jurisdiction over any action taken under this Article.
Whilst this amendment was hurtling through the house, not one tiger, not
one lion even snarled. Consequently, now, no member of any party can be
guided by his conscience, his principles or his moral integrity if he
wishes to remain a member. No "reasonable man" could be expected to approve
of the passing of this amendment.
Worse was to follow on August 13, when the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 was
enacted. The act legalizes illegalities, such as the extra-judicial
killings committed by Babar's men, all in the name of the law. It infringes
on the rights of man and the fundamental rights guaranteed by the
Constitution of this country. It is being bandied about that extraordinary
situations require extraordinary measures. Fine. But extraordinary measures
could have been taken to shore up the investigative machinery and the
prosecuting authorities. Again, no "reasonable man" could be expected to go
along with the enactment of such an act.
The Act, it is said, will 'phase away.' Acts do not simply 'phase away',
they have to be repealed for them to vanish from the statute book so that
they are not used by governments such as ours to suit their own purposes.
Now, under this Act, any policeman or any army sepoy is presumed to be a
"reasonable man" who can, after giving "sufficient warning" use the
"necessary force" he may deem appropriate to prevent the commission of
terrorist acts or scheduled offences against any person who, in his
opinion, "in all probability is likely to commit" such act or offence. This
"reasonable man" is allowed to fire or to order firing upon such person,
and kill him.
Such "reasonable man" can also arrest without warrant any person against
whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he is merely about to commit any
such act or offence. Without any warrant he can enter any premises and
arrest any person and take possession of any property considered likely to
be used in the commission of any such act or offence. If this "reasonable
man" is satisfied with the reasonable grounds for mere suspicion that a
person "has possession of written material or a recording in contravention
of Section... he may enter and search the premises..."
The Act does not define the word "reasonable" or the phrases "reasonable
suspicion" or "sufficient warning." It also leaves it open to the
government to specify the manner, mode and place of execution of any
sentence. Thus, we can now have public hangings. A man can be hanged from
the hook of a crane on a building site should the government so decide. One
supposes that it takes a "reasonable man" to appreciate that brutality
breeds brutality.
The amendments and the Act have received the assent of our president.
Understandable. He has a cushy job in a cushy house which pays him a
present cushy salary and will pay a future cushy pension. Where else could
he get such employment?
On August 22 the press informed us that instead of increasing the number of
much needed Supreme Court judges from 17 to say, 27, the president has
reduced the number to a paltry 12. This has been done in disregard of the
Chief Justice's recommendation of the appointment of an additional five
judges to make up the required minimum of 17, and has encouraged the
appointment of ad hoc judges, insecure in their appointments and thus
reluctant to show too much independence. How can CJ be happy?
The prime minister has also (some say foolishly) taken on the army. He gave
in to his kitchen cabinet deputy, Chaudhry Nisar. Prior to the retirement
from the army of Nisar's brother, Lt-General Iftikhar, Nisar was keen that
his term be extended and he remain in uniform. But the army chief was
adamant - there will be no extensions. According to army rules and
procedures, Iftikhar duly retired on May 15. But, to keep Nisar happy, he
was immediately appointed as defence secretary, an unbelievably untactful
and blundersome appointment that places him higher than the COAS in the
hierarchy of what is known as the 'Higher Defence Organisation'.
Now to Nawaz's law minister, to whom our minds immediately turn when we
dwell on the subject of amendments, bills, and the enactment of laws. When
I think of Khalid Anwer's role in all this, I pick up Galbraith on
Economics, Peace and Laughter, and read a letter written by John Steinbeck
to John Kenneth Galbraith in 1961 after the post of US ambassador to Delhi
had been offered to him by JFK:
"The newspapers don't seem to accept your refusal of India. Or, have you
weakened?... You have the enormous, if unsuspected, power of the free and
inspective mind. Two years of the subtle disciplines and unfelt strictures
of the State Department and even you would find your thinking limited and
perhaps not even know it was so. And the strangest thing is that people
very quickly learn to love their chains and in a little while begin to
think of them as wings."
Galbraith, on second thoughts, did accept the appointment and in his book
he has written of Steinbeck's words: "The warning remained with me. The
temptation to surrender to organization is indeed very great. In the
ensuing years, every time I was tempted by the thought that Taiwan was
China, that Indo-China was the fulcrum of the free world, or even that one
should bow to protocol and proceed to Palam airport near New Delhi to
welcome any visitor of the rank of Technical Sergeant or above I thought of
John."
Khalid does not have to consider sergeants. But it is sad to see him on PTV
thumping his desk with the rest of the herd when the leader rises to speak,
slumbering whilst he speaks, and then waking to clap when it is all over.
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970826
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The PAF museum
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Omar Kureishi
WHEN I was a child I believed in the tooth-fairy. When a milk tooth fell
out you put it under your pillow and in the morning when you looked under
the pillow, there was a shining rupee coin. It was only after I had stopped
being a child that I found out that the tooth-fairy was my mother.
Dreams do come true but not on their own. There has to be a catalyst. All
grand projects and ambitious schemes start as dreams. But between the
beginning and the completion are the waking hours. Hours that are filled
with planning and studies and of revisions and decisions. Then comes the
hard work, the sweat and toil. Through it all there must be no erosion of
commitment which means leadership.
These thoughts went through my mind as I walked through the grounds of the
PAF Museum, a walk through the proud history of this service. The PAF
Museum is situated in the South West corner of the Faisal Base, a 26-acre
green belt which is a good enough reason to visit it. The Museum is housed
in an area that was a parched wasteland not so long ago. Now it has been
transformed into a theme park of simple but elegant beauty and quiet
dignity. But what comes through strongly is the tradition of excellence
that has been the hallmark of the PAF. It is all there, the humble
beginnings to the present-day sophisticated, hi-tech guardians of our
skies. But its power does not come from the machines but from the men who
fly and maintain these machines, a testament of the rich human resources of
this country.
Though there had existed a museum in Peshawar and a Fighter Gallery at
Sargodha, a need was felt to integrate under one roof the entire history of
the PAF along with all available exhibits. In 1986 the then Base Commander
of PAF Base Faisal, Air Commodore M. Abbas Khattak conceived of this idea.
This was the dream and it is only befitting that he should have inaugurated
the Museum, now as the Chief of the Air Staff. He has every right to be
proud of his achievement but told me that it was a team effort. He is
perfectly right. No part is greater than the whole. But it's the captain of
the team who puts it all together and provides the inspiration. Somebody
leads the formation.
If there appears to be a certain extra effusiveness when I write about the
PAF, it is because there has been a strong Air Force connection in my life.
It may have something to do with the fact that my late brother Sattoo was
an Air Force officer and among the many loves of his life, the Air Force
representated his most productive years and provided him with his happiest
memories. He shared those memories with me.
I then worked for many years with two Air Marshals, Nur Khan and Asghar
Khan. They were not only two of the finest professionals but two of the
most decent men I have known. Despite their stern exterior, they were
really "softies," kind and compassionate. It was a rich and rewarding
experience for me and the professional association gave way to a friendship
which I value. There were many others, some no longer with us, I remember
fondly and each of them something special. Air Commodore Rabb, Group
Captain "Bapu" Murad, AVM Steve Yusuf, the gentlest of gentlemen and many
others. Among those still with us there is Air Commodore Ballwant Das.
That is why when I was invited to the inauguration of the PAF Museum, I
accepted happily though I must confess I found the prospect of looking at a
Museum far from thrilling. But I was in for a happy surprise. I spent over
two hours walking around in the company of Air Chief Marshal Abbas Khattak
and other senior officers. Although all others at the Museum are military
aircraft, the pride of place is reserved for a Viking which was
Quaid-i-Azam's aircraft. How it was brought to Karachi is itself a
remarkable story.
The aircraft was parked in a corner of a hangar at PAF Peshawar. To move it
over 1000 miles when it had not been moved even an inch in the last 30
years was a daunting task. The aircraft was dismantled, each panel, each
bolt, each nut was photographed, tagged and made fit for surface
transportation. The entire aircraft was dismantled and moved by specially
modified flatbed trailers through the road network of Pakistan. The
aircraft was put together on the main tarmac of the Base and reconstructed.
Incidentally the contractor who provided the surface transportation refused
payment when he learnt that it was the Quaid-i-Azam's aircraft.
There is a great deal to see at the Museum and it's going to be open to the
public soon, once the security and other aspects of guided tours is
organised. The PAF Museum is a wonderful gift to the city of Karachi and I
am sure that people will throng to it and take their families. They will
not only have a great time in its enchanting environs but will find the
Museum educational and a source of pride. The most heartening aspect is
that the original cost of the project was Rs.250 million. The Chief of Air
Staff with the help of the Air Board, finalised a more scaled down version
and reduced the overall cost of 10% of the original estimate. It has lost
nothing by this. Like the Air Force itself, the Museum has no flab.
Curiously, although it is a military museum, I felt very much at peace.
Perhaps, it was the greenery. Perhaps, the knowledge that my brother Sattoo
was a part of this history. Or simply knowing that the high standards one
associates with the PAF are in safe hands.
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970827
--------------------------------------------------------------------
That small aid to the ego
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hafizur Rahman
ISLAMABAD is a city of flag cars and car flags. Not counting the envoys of
foreign countries who fly their respective national flags on their
limousines, we had, before November last year, over sixty ministers and
ministers of state whose staff cars flew the Pakistan flag. So did those of
the chairman of the Senate, the Speaker of the National Assembly and their
deputies.
In Ms Benazir Bhutto's second coming as prime minister there were also
numerous (some say innumerable) advisers and others who had been granted
ministerial status. They too sported the flag, and in the case of many of
them, that was the only thing they ever did.
And then came Mian Nawaz Sharif, the prodigal turned spoilsport who decreed
that his ministers would not enjoy the pleasure of flying the national flag
on their official or private cars. What a come-down for the johnnies called
ministers!
It's a pity, really, depriving politicians of this joy and privilege. I
mean to say, what was the harm if the practice had continued? After all,
entitlement to the car flag means so much to us Pakistanis that most of us
would gladly give five years of our lives for it.
I remember a federal minister long ago who refused to drive to a function
where hundreds of guests were awaiting his arrival, just because a flag car
was somehow not available. The desperate personal staff had to borrow one
from another minister who, fortunately, was free that afternoon.
That is, he was neither performing the opening ceremony of a tandoor, nor
going in the company of a photographer to condole the death of a
colleague's half-sister's brother-in-law. Nobody dared suggest to the
minister (the one who had misplaced his flag car) that no harm would come
to him if just this once he went to a public place without a flag waving on
the bonnet car.
However, he himself made the unsolicited remark that so far as his own
person was concerned, the flag meant nothing to him: it was a question of
principle. Absence of due respect to a cabinet minister showed lack of
respect to the country itself and its hallowed institutions.
Khan Jalaluddin Khan of Hazara made history in the context of the national
flag. He was a minister in the cabinet of President Ayub Khan. Once in
Karachi when his flag car broke down en route to a function, he hailed an
auto-rickshaw and boarded it along with his security guard. That was not all.
He unscrewed the small flag-mast from the car and held it in his hand while
the rickshaw driver, who also turned out to be a Hazarawal, proudly drove
him to his destination. An intrepid man, the Khan thus complied with the
protocol that a minister must always travel in a flagged vehicle.
The Khan, or Jalal Baba as he was known, was very popular as a political
leader. Of humble origins - he started life as a driver in a transport
company - he ended up by becoming a wealthy transporter and business tycoon.
I can never forget the naive statement issued in his name by the Press
Information Department when his appointment as minister was announced. He
invoked the blessings of God on his parents and on the Field Marshal. He
paid tribute to his father and mother whose prayers had elevated him to
that high position and blessed the Field Marshal "for putting a flag on my
car."
So the flag is not an ordinary thing. It is the ideal of a politician's
dreams and ambitions, and a visible and palpable symbol of the prestige and
authority that he wants to command among his countrymen.
Imagine therefore the consternational and disappointment of scores of
federal and provincial ministers when Mr Z.A. Bhutto directed in 1972 (for
the first time in the country's history) that they could not use flags on
their cars. Were he a lesser man they might have revolted, but before him
they all agreed that nothing better could have been decided by him.
"After all," they echoed, "we are awami leaders. Why should we fly the
flag?" But I know they resented the decision and said it would only lower
the prestige of the government in the eyes of the awam. Naturally they were
not worried about themselves; only about the good of the country.
As responsible citizens we are all expected to show respect to the national
standard and to protect and preserve it. But a minister in Punjab in the
early fifties took extra care that no harm should come to his car flag.
When the car was garaged in the evening he would remove the flag and keep
it in his bedroom. His explanation was that his chauffeur was an idiot and
one never knew what he might do with it. "After all," he used to say, "its
the national flag and no joke."
In President Ayub's time car flags were a craze. Since the bureaucracy was
at the zenith of its power, all manner of officers were permitted to fly
the flag. Every now and then the Cabinet Division would issue a press note
that the President had been pleased to allow so-and-so to do so.
But what about those whose craze for the flag was not endorsed by the
Cabinet Division? Were they to be left behind? No. They resorted to
improvisation and got the departmental crest or the insignia of their
agency put on the flag. Others simply got their designation inscribed on
it. Thus it was not unusual for a flag to tell you that the officer in the
car was, say, "Director General, Stud Bulls & Milch Cows Department."
It did not matter if anyone was impressed or not. But the unwary traffic
constable did stand to attention and salute. I suppose that is what really
mattered in the end.
They say that because of the new laws about floor-crossing, politicians in
government have no manoeuvrability left and are totally at the mercy of
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. I am sure that, in this constricting
atmosphere, if he were to relent and let them fly the flag on their cars,
they might feel more like ministers of old days - proud and self-confident.
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970829
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Lahore's 'nattering nabobs of negativism'
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ayaz Amir
SPIRO AGNEW'S famous characterization of East Coast journalists whom he and
his master, Richard Nixon, hated with a holy passion applies with equal
justice to the babus who exercise their mighty responsibilities in the
ancient halls of the Punjab secretariat.
Once upon a time, it is reasonable to assume, these babus may have burned
with the fires of youthful enthusiasm. Once upon a time many amongst their
number may have been inspired by a vision of a brave new world. But this
would have been in the remote past, for to consider even with a benign eye
their performance or rather their attitudes today is to come away convinced
that here is a breed of men, and just a sprinkling of women, whose
uneventful lives are ruled by two complementary passions: careerism and
negativism.
A true son of the Punjab secretariat will do anything to advance his
career, including licking up to the very politicians whom in his private
moments he affects to sneer at and slander. Furthermore, if he be at all
faithful to the dry spirit of his chosen calling, his first instinct will
be to raise a negative barrier to any proposition, reasonable or otherwise,
that may be put to him. Often this amazing process has nothing to do with
rational consideration. Just as in western legend trigger-happy sheriffs
shoot first and ask questions later, the babus of Lahore have honed to near
perfection the art of raising objections first and only then pausing to
consider the issue under discussion.
Doubtless I exaggerate but not by much. For in my limited experience of the
official world I have yet to recall a single instance of an obviously sound
proposal being accepted without a long and meandering debate which, far
from throwing any light on the the matter being considered, serves to
surround it with so many reservations and qualifications that between the
original proposal and what is eventually agreed (that is, if any agreement
is reached at all) no points of resemblance remain.
In public the higher bureaucrat cultivates a sphinx-like demeanour: that of
the wise man silently taking in everything. This is a sham. Behind the
closed doors of a committee room the same person will turn voluble as he
goes about proving that every question, even if it is a settled one, has
endless sides to it. The typical bureaucrat seldom arrives anywhere; he is
always off at a tangent, travelling with self-important mien down obscure
byways which may be of interest in themselves but which often end up in the
middle of nowhere.
Politicians, whom it has become a fashion to revile, I have often heard
speaking pithily and vividly. Expect not the typical babu to abide by
Polonius's advice that brevity is the soul of wit. At meeting after meeting
where mortal intelligence might be forgiven for assuming that the point
under discussion could be disposed of by a few well-chosen words, I have
seen babus floating out to sea on relentless tides of loquacity and
irrelevance. Getting them back to shore, while not wholly impossible,
becomes a taxing exercise if it has to be repeated time and again.
The bureaucrat of course has his uses. In the limited sense of the word he
is a technician. He writes minutes, puts together information, collates
precedents, cites rules and even gives helpful advice. In the business of
government these are indispensable functions. Someone has to do them and it
is the bureaucrat or the clerk who does them best. It is important to
remember, however, that because of the very nature of his calling, which
puts a premium on sticking to the rules, the bureaucrat takes in a narrow
view of things. As a result, it is not uncommon for the typical member of
this tribe not to see the wood for the trees. There would be no harm in
this if the bureaucrat was kept in his place and if he was entrusted only
with tasks for which he has the necessary training and experience. In
Pakistan, however, the trouble is that politicians come to rely excessively
on bureaucrats, turning to them not only for technical help but also for
political advice. The consequences of this are usually fatal.
Setting aside the early mandarins like Ghulam Muhammad and Iskander Mirza
who rose to the highest positions and left trails of disaster behind them,
other periods in our history are also instructive in this regard. Ayub
Khan's was a bureaucratic presidency, with officials more powerful in its
councils than politicians. No wonder, for most of its eleven years it
remained hopelessly out of touch with public opinion. Stranger still was
the case of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who allowed a bizarre medley of bureaucrats
and policemen to rise to powerful positions in his government. As a popular
politician he at least should have known better. But the tradition of
looking to the bureaucracy for advice in matters where its knowledge is
less than perfect is a strong one and survives to this day.
This brings us to a central paradox of the bureaucratic temperament. Along
with negativism it also knows how to pander to the wishes of its political
or military masters. The high-flying bureaucrat in Pakistan today is
someone who knows how to trim his sails. Radical proposals that are a
threat to the status quo such a person will oppose because that is what his
instinct tells him to do. But at the same time if he knows that his
political masters have become wedded to a particular scheme or course of
action he will become a leading exponent of such a scheme even if it be
something totally and patently absurd. For the true bureaucrat does not let
his negativism interfere with his careerism.
How many times have I seen important babus murmur dulcet voices of assent
to proposals that on the face of it are outlandish and bizarre. When in her
first term as prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto wanted to launch the
People's Works Programme which anyone could have told her would not work
because the provincial governments opposed to her would ensure its failure,
she found a willing accessory in a senior bureaucrat, who not only took
over this programme but also began to sing its praises. My friend Salman
Farooqi (may his head stay above his present troubles) indeed made a career
for himself by turning negativism on its head and saying no to nothing. Any
passing whim or fancy to enter a prime minister's head and Farooqi would
readily assume the task of implementing it. From yellow taxis and private
power stations to cleaning up the environment: nothing was beyond his reach.
What is the purpose of this ode to the bureaucracy? Perhaps no more than to
keep the role of the bureaucracy in perspective. If fundamental
administrative reforms are what the country needs, then we can be pretty
certain that these are not going to come about at the hands of the
bureaucracy or the babus of Lahore. Indeed, all the nattering negativism
that they are capable of will stand in the way of such reforms. This might
appear to be a self-evident proposition, except that even in the present
climate the bureaucracy is enjoying more clout than it should. This is a
prescription for preserving the status quo at a time when the destruction
of the status quo should be at the top of the political agenda.
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970830
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Out of the closet
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazdak/Irfan Husain
SHEDDING a name can be mildly traumatic, especially if the nom de plume you
are discarding has come to acquire a persona and a personality of its own.
Indeed, writing a column under my own name seems slightly uncomfortable,
almost like being underdressed at a formal dinner. Since my early twenties,
I have been freelancing off and on in a variety of dailies and periodicals,
but excepting for the odd book review and occasional piece on food, I have
remained largely anonymous despite the hundreds of articles published in
the national press over the last three decades. From time to time, readers
have objected to this anonymity in letters to my editor, and friends have
complained at my ability to snipe from the shadows. My old pal, Javed
Jabbar, became quite animated recently over my use of a pseudonym. Salman
Taseer, another old friend, insists that my cover was the worst-kept secret
in Pakistan.
So why the anonymity, and why am I coming out of the cold now? Thirty years
ago, I allowed my father to talk me into joining the government, and
although I have no regrets - apart from the fact that this career choice
forced me into a life of genteel poverty - I was obliged to use a
succession of pseudonyms for much of my working life. But now that I have
taken early retirement, I can at last step out of the closet. Friends
wonder why no action was taken against me for being consistently critical
of governments and leaders over the last three decades. A depressing
explanation is that they were totally unconcerned about my ineffectual
attacks. But having worked in the government for all these years, I know
from personal experience that nobody wants to initiate disciplinary
proceedings unless absolutely forced to, given the red tape and the fact
that my use of pseudonyms gave me a degree of deniability. Also, I made it
a policy never to use information received in my official capacity in any
of my columns.
However, it says a lot for friends and acquaintances in positions of power
that despite being aware of my identity, they did not demand that action be
taken against Mazdak (or Akbar Hussein, or Shakir Husain, or Abdul Ghani,
or Ferida Sher - all names I have used at one time or another) for some
pretty scathing stuff I have written about their party and government. In
particular, I must give credit to Benazir Bhutto for her forbearance as she
knew just who Mazdak was, but despite the fact that some of my columns
annoyed her, she chose to ignore my criticism of her government and her
style of governance rather than exercising her prime ministerial powers to
retaliate. Indeed, at my more vitriolic moments, I felt I was being
ungrateful as BB had been kind and gracious to me in the past. But after a
point, my responsibilities to my readers and my own conscience did not
permit me to support the PPP any further. In any case, I have always
operated on the principle that anybody in power is a legitimate target. As
the great Russian anarchist Bukanin said over a hundred years ago: "To
govern is to exploit."
I suppose the fact that I am no longer in the government will take some
time to sink in: after years of insulation from the rough and tumble of
real life in Pakistan, being without the clout that a relatively senior
position in government automatically confers will probably be a bit of a
culture shock. But as a friend pointed out recently, "You can't eat the
perks." Mostly, I have no regrets about spending thirty years in
government; the private sector might have paid me a lot more, but it could
never have given me the range of experience I have acquired in my official
career.
My assignments have taken me from finance to speech-writing to information
to culture, and I have learned a lot in each stint. My latest incarnation
in the private sector has brought me to education, a subject that has
always been close to my heart. I expect my present job to stretch me
intellectually, and for once, I will be free of the ever-present red tape
that has slowed me down like an anchor.
As an anonymous hack of long standing, it is flattering to have a stranger
discover my identity and gush over my attempts at analysis. But invariably,
the conversation turns to my prognosis of the current situation, and here I
confess to being floored: at the end of the day, my guess about what is
going to happen is as good as anybody else's. Friends who have long been
aware of my shifting aliases have often grumbled over the opinions I have
expressed from time to time. I make no apologies for my views as for me, a
column is a very personal thing and the ideas, Likes and dislikes I voice
are entirely my own. Very often these run counter to the policies of this
newspaper, and my editors and I have strong disagreements over their use of
the blue pencil. Much to their credit, they still tolerate me and my column
despite my touchiness at any changes they make.
One problem in doing a weekly column is that every so often I don't have an
idea in my head. Or I find that the subject I was planning to write about
has already been covered by a colleague, and I am back to square one. At
such times, I dig deep into the recesses of memory and experience and come
up with oddball pieces on food, history or travel. My long-suffering
editors put up with these antics, and my poor readers do not seem to
protest. There have been times when my official work has exhausted me and I
have just a few hours before my deadline. But somehow or other, I have
forced myself to sit down and hammer out something in the middle of the
night. So what keeps me going? When Richard Burton, the famous explorer,
was asked a similar question, he replied: "Damn fool, the devil drives."
My good friend Ayaz Amir puts it slightly differently. According to him,
being a columnist is a huge ego trip and can become addictive. The fact
that he resigned his Punjab Assembly seat to return to these pages proves
what a powerful addiction it can be.
===================================================================
970830
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cricketers fee held back by PCB
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 29: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has so far not sanctioned
the tour and match fee to the cricketers for the Sri Lanka visit for the
Asia Cup despite the fact that the event ended about seven weeks ago.
The Sri Lankan tour money has not only been held back by the PCB, the win
bonus has also not been distributed between the players which has caused a
lot of ill-feeling amongst them.
According to an agreement between the PCB and Coca-Cola, US$50,000 were to
be distributed among the players for the year 1996 - a year in which they
beat England, Zimbabwe, New Zealand (one-day internationals), in Sharjah
and in Australia.
The cricketers are already annoyed with this settlement as they claim that
the previous arrangement was more lucrative for them. They say that
according to the previous agreement, there was cash incentive for every
series.
For example, each player was to get Rs 100,000 if the team beat England in
England and then Rs 50,000 for each player if the national team won against
New Zealand at home. "But by fixing the amount, we will get at least 400%
less than what we would have got on series-by-series basis."
So much so, US$50,000 will be distributed according to slab system which,
they feel, is not justified.
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970827
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Privatise sports organisations
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Fernandez
KARACHI, Aug 26: "In the present era of globalisation, the Pakistan
government should inculcate the corporate culture and privatise the
national cricket, hockey and squash bodies," stated Mr. Arif Abbasi, former
Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Chairman of the
Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) in an exclusive interview to 'Dawn' here on
Tuesday.
"The tradition of appointing patrons for the country's cricket and hockey
should be done away with as the President of Pakistan and the Prime
Minister, who are the patrons of the two institutions respectively, have
plenty of more important state business to handle than to devote their
invaluable time to sporting matters," opined the Chairman of the Sindh
Olympic Association (SOA).
"Then the Pakistan Air Force (PHF) should wash its hands off completely
from squash and concentrate their energies on making the organisation a
truly professional outfit," added Mr. Abbasi.
"What the President and the Prime Minister should now consider in right
earnest is to appoint one man to transform the PCB, the Pakistan Hockey
Federation (PHF) and the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) into a fully
corporate bodies, to be followed with the person relinquishing charge of
that particular office," explained Mr. Arif Abbasi.
"Once the three sporting federations are converted into public companies,
although the PCB is already registered as one way back in 1978-79,they
should then be floated on the Karachi Stock Exchange," asserted the former
Chief Executive of the PCB.
"You see, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) has gone public and is listed
on the Melbourne Stock Exchange. Likewise, Manchester United, the world
famous British football club, has been floated on the London Stock Exchange
and so also have Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County,"
said Mr. Arif Ali Khan Abbasi.
"With the ACB and the British soccer clubs having gone public, they have
managed to snap up millions and millions of pound sterlings. In every
respect, this has made them wealthy institutions and thereby ensure their
success. Money and money alone breeds success in the running of sporting
organisations," added the former Chief Executive of the PCB.
"Then again, I would like to draw your attention and note that when the
Pakistan cricket, hockey and squash bodies have share holders, they will
see that things are done in a commercial manner in order to safeguard their
investments," stressed Mr. Arif Ali Khan Abbasi.
"I have read in the newspapers that the PCB has appointed former Test
cricketer Waqar Hasan as its Treasurer. With all due respect to the man, I
like to add that he is basically a businessman. So I ask in what way would
he be able to help the board," queried Mr Abbasi?
"Here I would like to tell you, the best treasurers of the board have been
former Habib Bank presidents Shafi Arshad and Agha Fasiuddin along with the
late Mohammad Daud. They were professional bankers to the core and knew
fully well not only to generate funds for the Board but also to arrange
bridging finance," said Mr. Arif Ali Khan Abbas.
"Then I hear there are plans to arrange for movable floodlighting system
for the National Stadium (Karachi). I have gone through the whole exercise
a long time ago and have found this system unsuitable for cricket," said
Mr. Arif Ali KHan Abbasi.
"I had already made arrangements with Philips Electrical for the latest
state-of-the-art floodlight system, which can be lowered in a cyclendrical
manner for maintenance purpose. So why try to deviate from that," queried
the former Chief Executive of the PCB.
"Those sports federations that cannot raise funds to become self-suffient,
should be allowed to die a natural death," said the Chairman of the Sindh
Olympic Association.
"There is no point in sending athletes to the Olympic and Asian Games who
do not meet the required standard. And I really cannot understand why there
more officials than athletes that go to these Games," concluded Mr. Arif
Ali Khan Abbasi.
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970826
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1st technocrat to head hockey set-up
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A. Majid Khan
A good number of former Olympians and organisers have welcomed the election
of former Olympian Akhtar Rasool, the skipper of the victorious 1982 Bombay
World Cup , as President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation as it is for the
first time that a technocrat is heading the PHF
Before being voted as new PHF President on Aug 18 at the Federation's
Lahore meeting, Akhtar Rasool, a Punjab MPA, was the senior vice-president
of the Federation and also a member of the national selection committee.
His elevation to the federation's presidentship followed the resignation of
Mohammad Nawaz Tiwana as the PHF President after his transfer from the PIA
where he was the Managing Director.
Akhtar Rasool, an ex-Olympian-turned-politician, had been the provincial
minister of Punjab during the first Prime Ministership of Mohammad Nawaz
Sharif and as such enjoys the blessings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The newly elected PHF chief had outstanding hockey career, spread over
about 15 years. He played as centre-half in almost all the international
tournaments. Akhtar Rasool captained Pakistan to victory in the 1982 Bombay
World Cup when Air Marshal (Rtd) Nur khan, the then PIA Chairman, and a
non-technocrat was the PHF chief. But Pakistan's former captain, Brig (Rtd)
Manzoor Hussain Atif, then Director of Sports, PIA and of course a
technocrat, was the PHF Secretary. Pakistan also regained the Olympic title
when Nur Khan was the PHF president.
The 32 years old hockey supremacy of India was brought to an end during the
tenure of late Gen Mohammad Musa, a non-technocrat President of the PHF.
But the happy change was to a great extent the handiwork of Brig (Rtd)
Abdul Hamid Hamidi, at the 1960 Rome Olympic, when Pakistan won the first
gold in hockey.
Later on Hamidi, too, held the office of the PHF Secretary before Col (Rtd)
Mudassar Asghar, a former Olympian, replaced him as PHF Secretary more than
five years ago. Muddassar is serving in the PIA and is the PHF secretary.
The national hockey history bears testimony to the fact that we had won the
three Olympics golds and equal number of World Cups, the Asian Games title
as well as the Asia Cup during the tenure of non-technocrats heading the
federation. However the technocrat secretaries of the federations most of
the time carried out their assignment to their best capabilities.
Now that the long-standing demand of former Olympiana and internationals to
have a technocrat as PHF President have been conceded Akhtar Rasool would
be facing a very challenging task of hockey's revival in the country, the
reactivisation of the federation's affiliated units as well as seeking the
sponsorship for funding of the domestic and international commitments.
Hockey, virtually our national game, has lost its appeal and even in the
biggest province of Punjab with Akhtar Rasool as the President of the
Punjab Hockey Association, the club hockey is confined to one or two
divisions. In Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan it has been reduced to minimum
and the organisers at all levels have failed to deliver the goods. These
smaller provinces have little say in the national hockey affairs. This
trend is not considered healthy for the national hockey and the new
President has to look into it for ending this sense of deprivation. Akhtar
Rasool's announced commitment to take the game to the grass root is
generally appreciated by perceptive observers of the game for it is the
only way to lay a strong foundation of national hockey.
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970826
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Mascot, logo unveiled
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 25: The mascot and logo of the golden jubilee international
season were unveiled here at a five-star hotel on Monday. The PCB chief
Majid Khan, PCB Treasurer, Waqar Hasan, President, KCCA, Nusrat Azeem,
Tahir Memom, PCB's marketing official, and Pervaiz Iqbal, representative of
the event managers, graced the occasion.
The logo shows a right-handed batsman (Aamir Sohail) guiding the ball
towards the third-man. In the ball is PCB's logo (Pakistan written in Urdu)
and the zero of the 50 which shows 50 years of independence of the country.
The batsman wears the kit of five different colours which shows the
national colours of the countries which will be participating in the
jubilee celebrations of the country (India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the
West Indies).
The mascot has been designed with smiling bat carrying the slogan: "Cherish
the golden moments".
"A mascot intends to arouse human feelings of triumph and celebration over
a much cherished fine fifty. The features of the Bat, smiling from ear to
ear, also denote depth of feeling and spirit of celebration. It is an
invitation to all to come and join in with the participating international
teams and cherish golden moments of Pakistan's 50 years in the fun-filled,
entertaining, joyous season dubbed as Cricket Vaganza '97," says the
message of the event managers.
While inaugurating the mascot and logo, the chief executive of the PCB,
Majid Khan, said it was the biggest golden jubilee event of the country
which will be shown almost all over the world.
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970827
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Squash institutionalisation demanded by Hiddy
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A. Majid Khan
KARACHI, Aug 26: Hidayat Jahan Khan, former world renowned squash star who
was the runnerup to legendary Jahangir Khan in the 1982 British Open, has
said that Pakistan, even without proper institutionalisation of the game,
has produced world beaters and several players of international repute.
Ignored in his own country Hidyat Jahan acquired the British nationality
and twice represented England in the 1983 and 1985 World Team Championship,
was talking to Dawn here before returning to his adopted country.
Quetta-born Hidayat Jahan, popularly known as Hiddy, elder brother of world
famed Zarak Jahan and Zubair Jahan, stated that Pakistan possessed enormous
young talent which can be groomed into world-beaters.
Even in his own days there had been no proper and organised system out of
which players were trained and coached. He and other players of the
fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, were not the products of any
institutionalised squash as we found in Australia where the Government had
set up an academy. Today Australia's living legend Geoff Hunt is the head
of squash coaching, he stated.
Pakistan has no such institution but even then it enjoys a unique position
in the world squash, pointed out Hiddy, former international, who
represented Pakistan in the World Team Championship and also competed in
the World Open and other international events before getting the British
nationality.
Pakistan in its fold has several former world renowned players, including
ten-time British Open record holder Jahangir Khan and six-time World Open
winner, whose expert guidance for coaching can be acquired. Qamar Zaman,
Mohibullah,Gogi Aladdin and a few other former world famed players can also
be engaged in coaching of talented youth under a well-planned coaching
programme stated former runnerup of the prestigious British Open World
Number One and reigning world champion Jansher Khan is a Pakistan assets
but today we find no other youngster as a replacement for the great Khan
who as a junior was then rated as a replacement for Jahangir Khan in the
mid -eighties, stated Hiddy. There is wide gap in the competitive standard
of remarkable Jansher Khan and other up-and-coming youngsters, emphasised
Hiddy. This gap is a big challenge to Pakistan maintaining supremacy in
world squash, though his younger brother Zubair Jahan has come up well to
be among the top ten of the world. Zubair is the best after Jansher Khan in
Pakistan but he needs more incentive and encouragement at this stage to go
further up in the world ranking, said Hiddy.
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970826
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50 years of Pakistan cricket: the initial phase
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Lateef Jafri
LIKE every other thing, Pakistan as a newly-born country in August 1947,
had to make a fresh beginning even in cricket. Luckily there was no dearth
of infrastructure in the shape of clubs in Lahore. The provincial setup,
Northern India Cricket Association (NICA), used to field a strong and
well-balanced side in the Ranji Trophy, the main prize in cricket contests.
Among the youngsters Fazal Mahmud, Khan Mohammad, Maqsood Ahmad, Nazar
Mohammad, Gul Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmad had made their mark not only in the
inter-provincial fixtures but in the universities Rohinton - Baria Trophy
duels. Among the seniors, brothers Wazir Ali and Nazir Ali, Prof Dilawar,
Dr Jahangir Khan, Baqa Jeelani, Mohammad Nisar, Amir Elahi, Lala Amernath,
Khwaja Saeed Ahmad, D.R. Puri, Muni Lal, Chuni Lal, Daljinder Singh, to
name only a few, were products of Lahore clubs who shot into prominence in
the Indian competitions and many of the above-mentioned personages
scintillated in representative matches against England and Australia on the
home fields and in England.
Later on Syed Wazir Ali, Amir Elahi and Gul Mohammad had shifted to
Southern Punjab and Baroda and Khwaja Saeed Ahmad beefed up the side of
Western India States Cricket Association (WISCA) and winter after winter
played notable roles in the subcontinental cricket. Saeed Ahmad, Amir Elahi
and Wazir Ali were indispensable parts of the Muslim eleven in the Bombay
Pentangular. Wazir Ali was the backbone of the Indian batting in the 1932,
1933-34 and 1936 Tests against England, if Nisar thundered down the run-up
to send his ball of terrific velocity and Jahangir Khan impressed with his
controlled deliveries.
Crowds flocked to see the bowling of Nisar, a towering figure, persistently
on the kill with a speed, described by critics as faster than Harold
Larwood's for the first six overs.
Prof Dilawar, a man of massive build, was a confident stumper, while as a
solid opener he flicked and hammered the bowling to the delight of the
onlookers. Both against Jardine's team (1933-34) at Calcutta and Madras and
at Kensington Oval in 1936 Dilawar played in refreshing mode and method;
there was no ruthlessness in his strokes but a discreet attitude in facing
the attack.
In Sindh season after season the grounds were full of spectators to enjoy
the exploits of J. Naoomal, Abdul Aziz, Abbas Khan, Dawood Khan,
Qamaruddin, Badruddin, Harris, Kishenchand and Girdhari. Ramchand, also of
Sindh, later represented India. Naoomal's favourite strokes, straight
off-drives and powerful square-cuts even against good-length deliveries,
were the fans' delight. Naoomal went to England in 1932 and as an opener
confidently dealt with the fiery English attack consisting of Voce, Bowes,
Freddie Brown and Hammond. With an alert nature he made brisk shots against
the side that Douglas Jardine brought to India in 1933-34 which included
such difficult swingers as Nichols and Clark and a spinner of the high
class of Verity. Even in Ranji Trophy and Bombay Pentangular Naoomal's
batting was admirable.
Sindh had its own quadrangular and pentangular where the Parsis, Hindus,
Muslims and the Rest played the game with gusto, shrewdness and the spirit
of fighters. Cricketers were being produced in large numbers on the grounds
which too were not scarce. Rubie Shield also saw young faces trying to get
the better of the rival outfits in a tournament reserved for schools.
With so much cricket activity before the coming into being of Pakistan it
was not difficult to organise the game afresh. Justice A.R. Cornelius,
former Chief Justice of Pakistan and a respected figure in cricketing
circles, took upon himself the onerous responsibility of establishing the
board of control and using his great experience thrashed out a
constitution. This gave formality to the setting up of the game's
organisation and soon activities started on proper lines. In fact they
gained momentum as the West Indies, led by John Goddard including such
stalwarts as Walcott, Weekes, Stollmeyer, Gomes, George Headley and
Christiani, came on a short schedule to Pakistan, while touring India in 1948.
Fortunately Pakistan's cricket had been strengthened with the arrival of
M.E.Z. Ghazali and U.R. Chippa from Poona and Bombay respectively to the
Muslim land. The unofficial Test at Lahore's Bagh-i-Jinnah ended in a draw
with Mian Mohammad Saeed, the captain, and Imtiaz knocking up centuries.
The stylish Imtiaz exhibited superb strokes in both innings as he was a
splendid success three years ago with his bat moving like a scimitar
against the Australian Services eleven with two centuries to his credit for
the North Zone and the Combined Universities at Lahore and Poona.
Sindh too had the resilience to share honours of the match with the West
Indies. The only tie that went in favour of the visitors was staged at
Rawalpindi against a weak Commander-in-Chief's XI, led by the veteran Dr
Jahangir Khan.
Later, representative matches were played during exchange of visits with
Ceylon, no doubt Pakistan gaining success. However, the trip to the country
in 1949 of a strong Commonwealth conglomerate, raised by George Duckworth,
former England wicketkeeper, was quite significant and it proved the
growing stature of the nascent nation in the comity of cricket-playing
countries. It was a strong squad with experienced batsmen, including West
Indians Sir Frank Worrell and Jack Holt, and a combination of cunning and
wily spinners as Tribe, Pepper and Ray Smith. Pakistan lost the unofficial
Test match at Lahore with a margin of an innings and 177 runs. Sindh too
could not put up a good resistance at Karachi. NWFP and the
Commander-in-Chief's XI ran away unscathed.
Leaving aside the results the players and the teams, assembled rather
hurriedly, gained a lot of experience and the matches against the
Commonwealth provided an opportunity to the officials to assess the
strength and weakness of the country.
Two years later Pakistan was included in the MCC's itinerary on a full tour
of India. The first unofficial Test in Lahore was drawn as were the ties at
Sialkot, Bahawalpur and another one at the Punjab metropolis against the
Combined Universities.
Some of the country's players viz. Maqsood Ahmad, Ghazali, Nazar,
Shujauddin, Imtiaz, Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmud and Amir Elahi were in
excellent form and ready to lock horns with the Englishmen in the second
unofficial Test at Karachi Gymkhana.
In pleasant weather and a full house Pakistan seized a first innings lead
of seven runs. But the MCC, thanks to a quick century by Tom Graveney and
responsible batting by Lawson, set a target of 285 for Pakistan to chase.
Khan Mohammad, the medium - pacer, excelled while Fazal's leg-cutters
strained the nerves and skill of the visiting batsmen. Amir Elahi and U.R.
Chippa, short-statured yet a famed bowler of Bombay Pentangular, harassed
the batsmen with their crafty spin.
Hanif Mohammad, not yet out of his teens and school, laid a solid
foundation of the second innings with a serene and sound 64. Ghazali swept
with splendour to hit 35. Then Hafeez Kardar made an unbeaten 50 in the way
and manner of a true captain and Anwar Husain with correct timing and
deportment took the team to the shores of success.
It was left to the pair of Fazal Mahmud and Kardar to clinch success for
the country by four wickets.
Dec 2, 1951 proved to be a red letter day in Pakistan's cricketing history.
It was the first big victory for the country. The crowds, not only at the
venue but in all the sporting centres, joined in the acclamation of the
squad with happy faces.
Pakistan were given the Test status with membership of the Imperial Cricket
Conference on July 20, 1952. They were also sent an invitation for a full
tour of England in 1954. Pakistan, certainly, had deserved the pride of
place among the main cricket-playing nations with the talent and strength
that it had in the country.
(To be continued)
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