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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 28 March 1998 Issue : 04/13
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C O N T E N T S
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N A T I O N A L N E W S
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70pc literacy by 2010 aimed at
Quota for medical colleges abolished
World Bank okays $250m loan for SAP-II
Bank employees involved in litigation should get all benefits
China planning to provide heavy water to Pakistan
LB polls in Sindh put off
Pakistan to export sugar to Iraq
KMTP Deadline set by donors expires today
Fear and panic grip Karachi: 19 killed in target shooting
Census data: Secrecy to be maintained in tabulation
Attack on SC termed Leghari-Sajjad plot
---------------------------------
B U S I N E S S & E C O N O M Y
---------------------------------
Pakistan 2010: redundant World Bank connection
Banks begin quoting dollar-rupee rates
Karachi Stock Exchange closes with clipped gains
IMF team recommends $208m 2nd tranche
Tax exemption for none, says Pasha
US agencies oppose revision of IPP tariffs
Business pressure to reduce mark-up
Competitive market required for privatization
---------------------------------------
E D I T O R I A L S & F E A T U R E S
---------------------------------------
Citizen emeritus! Ardeshir Cowasjee
Stand and deliver Irfan Husain
Making local bodies effective MAH
BJP's challenge to Pakistan Eqbal Ahmad
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S P O R T S
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Pakistan win Test and series after jingly-jangly ride
Jansher crushes Mir Zaman to retain trophy
Pakistan to meet India in ICC trophy opener
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N A T I O N A L N E W S
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980328
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70pc literacy by 2010 aimed at
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Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, March 27: The government on Friday announced the new
education policy that envisaged increase in literary rate from the
existing 31 per cent to 70 per cent by the year 2010.
Announcing the Education Policy 1998-2010 at a news conference
here, Education Minister Ghous Ali Shah said that the government
had decided to increase the education budget from 2.2 per cent of
Gross National Product (GNP) to 4 per cent by 2003.
By the year 2003, Rs709 billion would be required for the expansion
of education and reforms which included Rs150 billion private
sector investment in education sector.
However, he said that all the estimates were based on the
assumption that an annual growth of 6 per cent in the Gross
Domestic Product(GDP) would be achieved.
The minister could not answer how the government would ensure such
a massive funding to implement the policy in case 6 per cent GDP
growth was not achieved which has been the case for the last few
years.
According to the new education policy, 45,000 new primary and
20,000 masjid schools would be established. In addition, 75,000
non-formal basic education schools would be set up by Prime
Minister's Literacy Commission during the first five years.
Evening shift in the existing 20,000 primary schools will also be
introduced.
The existing 45,000 primary schools will be upgraded to middle
level. It will quadruple the number of middle schools and 30,000
new secondary schools will be opened.
Likewise, 305 new secondary vocational institutions will be set up
and 126 new mono/polytechnic institutions will be established
which, according to Syed Ghous Ali Shah, is an increase of 150 per
cent.
The new policy also envisaged increasing the number of universities
from 21 to 42 throughout the country.
About 100,000 new teachers will be recruited in primary, middle and
secondary schools. The participation rate at primary level will
reach 39 per cent and at degree level 75 per cent. Primary
education will be made compulsory through a legislation with
greater emphasis on girls' education.
The new policy did not speak about the ban on student unions as
announced by the prime minister a few weeks back. The education
minister only said that the government would discourage politics in
educational institutions. However, there was no mention of the
proposed legislation as had been hinted at by the prime minister.
Integrated curricula will be introduced for Class I-III. School
administrative committees, village education committees and parent-
teacher associations will be strengthen to ensure support for basic
education.
Education card scheme will be introduced for the poor and needy
students. Teachers training programme will be made more effective.
Teachers will be recruited on merit and their attendance will be
monitored to improve school performance.
The policy plans training in conventional literacy for those having
Quranic education. The existing Quranic literacy programme meant
for females will be extended to cover males. To enforce the
Literacy Act, the Gazette of Pakistan will notify a date for the
purpose.
Moreover, through a legislation, budgetary allocation to education
will be made non-lapseable, non-transferable and not liable to
cuts.
The minister told reporters that greater emphasis would be given on
computer education in schools and technical education. "We will
ensure effective implementation of the policy", he claimed.
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980326
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Quota for medical colleges abolished
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Shujaat Ali Khan
LAHORE, March 25: The Lahore High Court abolished on Wednesday all
quotas for admission to medical colleges except those for the
disabled, children of teaching doctors and students passing out
from the tribal area institutions.
It also upheld the five per cent increase allowed to the GCE A-
levels holders in conversion of their grades into marks. An
identical enhancement extended by the 1997-98 prospectus to
candidates completing their pre-medical education under the
American system was, however, disfavoured and ordered to be
reconsidered by the Punjab Medical Admissions Board.
The watershed judgment, which relies on High Court, Federal Shariat
Court and Supreme Court judgments against quotas in services, it
likely to have an impact on admissions to all quota-based
professional and other institutions in the province and elsewhere
in Pakistan. As in case of federal and provincial civil services,
the Constitution shall have to be amended if the government wanted
to extend the quota system in medical education also.
The judgment, delivered by a division bench comprising Justice
Malik Mohammad Qayyum and Justice Raja Mohammad Sabir, upheld the
FATA quota in view of the area's backwardness but said it would not
be available on the basis of domicile only. The claimants must have
received their education there. Thus a FATA student of a Lahore
college will not be eligible for a reserved seat.
The reservation of seats for sons and daughters of teachers of
medical colleges has been upheld to encourage doctors to teach. The
quota for the disabled needs no justification.
Disposing of a number of petitions filed by aspiring medicos, the
judgment, authored by Justice Sabir, declared the quota system
"discriminatory" and, therefore, "un-Islamic" and
"unconstitutional".
American certificate holders, on the other hand, are not eligible
for admission to the US medical colleges without a two-year
advanced course and admission test. The American certificate
cannot, therefore, be treated at par with the GCE advance level or
higher Senior Cambridge, the judgment said.
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980326
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World Bank okays $250m loan for SAP-II
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 25: The World Bank has approved a $250 million
loan for the second phase of the Social Action Programme (SAP-2)
aimed at improving the basic social services.
The World bank had provided $200 million loan for the first phase
of the programme in 1992 which was launched to reform elementary
education, primary health care, population welfare and rural water
supply and sanitation, with an emphasis on improving the quality of
services for the poor, women and children.
The total outlay of SAP-II is over $10 billion, of which the
government would generate over $8 billion, donor financed social
sector projects will cover about $1.3 billion, IDA will provide
$250 million and other donors, including the Netherlands government
and the European Community will contribute about $450 million to
the cost of the project. The credit is on standard IDA terms with a
maturity of 35 years.
To support SAP-II, the International Development Agency (IDA) will
continue its strategic assistance in partnership with an expanded
group of donors who now include the ADB, the Netherlands
government, Department for International Development of the United
Kingdom and the European Community. The programme provides for
other donors to join the partnership.
According to a World Bank announcement made here on Wednesday,
Pakistan's efforts has begun to pay off, with school enrolment
rising for girls, particularly in rural areas and a sharp increase
in the immunization of children.
With the launching of SAP-II, the government will build on this initial
progress to increase enrolment and literacy rates, provide
adequate basic health care facilities for rural areas, reduce
infant mortality and increase people's access to safe water
supplies and sanitation.
Particular emphasis has been placed on helping the very poor, who
currently have little or no access to these basic services; women,
who in particular need improved services for family planning,
maternal care and clean water; and girls, who need better access to
education.
The World Bank observed that Pakistan's social welfare had improved
over the past two decades but the country still had severe
challenges to confront.
Only 55 per cent of Pakistan's primary school-aged children attend
school compared to over 90 per cent in Bangladesh and India. The
adult literacy rate is estimated at only 37 per cent (20 per cent
for women). Pakistan has 52 girls for every 100 boys in a primary
school compared with 81 in Bangladesh and 74 in India, and 76 on
average in low-income countries, excluding China.
Forty-five per cent of rural population has access to safe water
and 20 per cent to sanitation. Half of all children under 5 years
of age are poorly nourished, and 30 per cent of pregnant and
lactating women are underweight.
Pakistan's population is growing faster than any other large
country in Asia, placing enormous demands on basic public services
and the capacity of government to even sustain current service
levels.
SAP-II will assist the government in developing specific strategies
to improve delivery of these services through reforms which will
include building government capacity for delivering effective
social service programmes through improved planning management,
implementation and monitoring. The programme will encourage
partnerships with NGOs and private sectors to increase their
participation in the delivery of social services. There will also
be pilot initiatives to decentralise decision-making to the
district level and below.
Increasing accountability through strengthening participation of
stockholders, including local communities, in programme design and
management.
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980325
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Bank employees involved in litigation should get all benefits
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, March 24: The retrenched bank and corporation employees who
have challenged their dismissal before the Lahore High Court shall
be eligible for any relief or benefit, including re- employment,
extended by the government to their non-litigating peers, an LHC
full bench ordered on Tuesday.
"The government is supposed to be the mother of all people and it
should not mete out step-motherly treatment to some of them",
Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum told establishment secretary Afzal
Kahut and finance secretary Moeen Afzal, who earlier explained why
the petitioner UBL employees were left out of a federal cabinet
decision on the subject.
The hearing will resume of April 20 as Justice Sharif Hussain
Bukhari, another member of the bench, is proceeding for Haj.
Justice Saeedur Rehman Farrukh is its third member. Arguments on
admissibility have been addressed and the petitions will now be
heard on merit.
Appearing for the UBL, advocate Salman Akram Raja said he has
completed his arguments. Advocates Abid Hasan Minto and Jamshed Ali
Shah will again argue the petitioners' case on merit.
The bench has also received a request from Attorney-General
Chaudhry Mohammad Farooq for appearance in the case. The federation
has so far been represented by Deputy Attorney-General Khwaja
Saeeduz Zafar.
The court had summoned the government and UBL officials to explain
the following statement of Parliamentary Secretary Sardar Kamal
Umar submitted by Mr Saeeduz Zafar:
"The Cabinet in its meeting held on 21.12.1998 took the following
decision regarding the employees of UBL: ".....II. The Cabinet
decided that such employees of the nationalized banks who were
unjustifibly removed from the service and had not received the
golden handshake and who were not involved in litigation with the
banks or the government will be placed in surplus pool and
considered for re-employment in the public sector according to
their qualifications and merit. A committee headed by the adviser
to the Prime Minister on National Affairs comprising Secretary,
Establishment Division and Secretary, Finance Division as its
members was constituted to conduct a scrutiny on case to case
basis. The committee should submit regular reports and brief the
cabinet on the progress in thse cases. The Secretary of the
Committee will be the Establishment Division".
Mr Kahut said the UBL employees were excluded because their case
was sub judice. There also was the bar of Article 212 of the
Constitution, which exclusively empowers the service tribunal to
adjudicate the service matters of 'public servants'.
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980322
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China planning to provide heavy water to Pakistan
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, March 21: China is about to provide Pakistan with heavy
water for its Khushab plutonium reactor, a nuclear control
institute in Washington has claimed.
Paul Leventhal, president of the private Nuclear Control Institute
said on Saturday Clinton should have deferred certifying China as
eligible to purchase American nuclear technology and Congress
should have imposed a one-year waiting period to test China's
intentions.
Leventhal said the next violation the US should be on the lookout
for is China providing Pakistan with heavy water to start up the
military plutonium production reactor at Khushab.
A group of lawmakers led by the chairman of the House International
Relations Committee also urged Clinton on Friday to prevent
delivery of reactors and other nuclear technology to China.
In a letter to the president they said China had failed to live up
to its promise to curb the spread of its own advanced technology to
countries bent on developing nuclear weapons.
The House members challenged China's assurances it was keeping its
word and Clinton's acceptance of Beijing's pledge.
They said they wanted to make their point in the strongest possible
terms and asked Clinton to act immediately.
Clinton disclosed last Friday that China had secretly agreed a few
weeks earlier to end discussions with Iran on the potential sale of
a chemical that Iran could use for nuclear weapons development.
US officials said China decided to end the discussions after
Washington learned about them through intelligence intercepts and
raised the issue with Beijing.
They said it was not clear whether China suspended the talks with
Iran under US pressure or whether it would have done so in any
case.
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980328
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LB polls in Sindh put off
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 27: The Sindh government announced on Friday that it
was postponing "till further orders" local bodies elections in the
province scheduled to be held on April 18.
A notification dated March 27 and signed by Provincial Election
Authority (the PEA falls under the Department of Local Government)
secretary Munawwar Alam, gave a vague reason that the decision had
been taken due to the Peshawer High Court staying the local bodies
elections in the NWFP.
The notification made no mention of the 30-day period given by the
Muttahida Qaumi Movement to the government for getting vacated the
so-called "no-go" areas. This period ends on April 19 _ a day after
the previously scheduled date for the local polls.
The text of the notification reads:
"The Government of Sindh has postponed the local bodies election
which was [sic] scheduled to be held on 18th April, 1998. The
elections were to be held throughout Pakistan simultaneously as was
announced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Peshawer High
Court has stayed the elections in [the] NWFP till further orders.
In view of the stay of the High Court of NWFP [sic] the elections
to the local bodies cannot be held at the same time and therefore
the Government of Sindh hereby announces the postponement of local
bodies elections till further orders."
This newspaper however had reported as early as March 20 that a
decision to postpone the local bodies elections had been taken at a
marathon four-and-a-half hour long meeting (held on March 19)
between the Sindh Chief Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Sen Saifur
Rahman and several MQM leaders, led by Senator Aftab Ahmed Sheikh.
A source privy to the meeting (which was held at MQM headquarter
Nine Zero in Azizabad just when the 48-hour ultimatum by the party
was about to expire) had told Dawn the same day that a decision had
been taken in principle keeping in mind the 30-day period given by
the party to the government to end the so-called "no-go" areas in
parts of Karachi's District East and Malir.
The source had also said that a notification would be issued in a
"few days" time and it had come just within a week or five working
days of the March 19 meeting.
A minister in the coalition holding a key portfolio who did not
want to be named said that the chief minister himself was not keen
on holding the local bodies elections too soon also because his own
party, the Pakistan Muslim League, had recently undergone an
organizational overhaul and was still in the process of revamping
its district- and division-level structure.
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980326
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Pakistan to export sugar to Iraq
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 25: Pakistan, under the oil-for-food programme of
the UN will export sugar to Iraq, an official announcement said on
Tuesday.
The government of Iraq has been allowed to import sugar under the
memorandum of understanding signed with the United Nations.
Iraq's sugar import requirements this year are reported to be to
the tune of 400,000 metric tons.
"Keeping in view the prospects, the government of Pakistan has
allowed exporters, manufacturers and traders of sugar to export the
commodity to Baghdad," it added. However they are required to
fulfil the following conditions.
1) A contract should be signed with the ministry of trade,
government of Iraq duly confirmed by the embassy of Pakistan,
Baghdad.
2) The supply of sugar under the above said contract should be as
per the UN agreement of oil-for-food deal according to Security
Council Resolution 1143/1997.
3) The contract should be registered with UN Security Council in
New York and a formal NOC should be obtained from there.
4) Exporters who fulfil the above conditions have been advised to
get themselves registered with the Export Promotion Bureau.
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980327
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KMTP Deadline set by donors expires today
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Azizullah Sharif
KARACHI, March 26: The much-publicized Karachi Mass Transit Project
(KMTP) will be in jeopardy if the federal government failed to
contact the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese Exim bank
by Friday (March 27).
The two banks have committed a loan of 200 million dollars for the
project payable in 30 years on easy instalments.
According to Sindh senior minister Dr Farooq Sattar, both the banks
in their strongly-worded letters written to the federal government
two days back have clearly stated that if Pakistan government
failed to contact them by March 27, they will be compelled to
divert 200 million dollars loan for other projects.
The minister regretted that though the federal finance minister,
Sartaj Aziz, keeping in view the international donor agencies'
interest in the Karachi Mass Transit Project, had asked officials
concerned to write them letters, the "anti-Karachi" bureaucrats in
the federal government had not yet made any contact with the ADB
and Japan's Exim bank in this regard.
The minister said that "as a result of several meetings the Haq
Parast leadership had with the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during
the last one year, the premier had not only agreed to lay the
foundation stone of the KMTP in July but had also given specific
directives to the federal finance minister in this regard.
"Ironically, those bureaucrats in Islamabad, having prejudiced
attitude towards Karachi, not only created hindrance in the KMTP
but deliberately delayed the process required for arranging
financial resources for it," Dr Farooq deplored.
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980325
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Fear and panic grip Karachi: 19 killed in target shooting
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 24: Nineteen people, including a leader of the
Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Afaq) and his two cousins, were shot dead
during terrorist attacks on Monday in the city, mainly in the areas
dominated by the Afaq-led MQM. About a dozen vehicles were also
torched in the troubled areas.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Tuesday claimed at a press
conference that three of its workers, two sympathizers and six
relatives of party workers were among the dead. The Mohajir Qaumi
Movement, on the other hand, claimed that the dead included its 11
workers and smypathizers.
The localities of Malir Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Lines Area,
Landhi and Korangi and their neighbourhoods remained in the grip of
tension and fear as people chose to remain indoors. The affected
parts were deserted, with shops closed down and with no public
transport appearing on the streets.
The annual examinations of the secondary school certificate (SSC),
which began on Tuesday, were also affected in the
troubledlocalities, mainly in the district east.
Imtiaz Ahmed Khan alias Imtiaz Koti, a central leader of the Afaq-
led MQM and a close aide of the party chief, was gunned down with
two party men Abdur Rashid Khan, 46, and Saeedur Rehman, 40 in
his business office near Liaquat Market in the limits of the
Saudabad police station on Monday afternoon. Saeedur Rehman was a
cousin of Mr Imtiaz.
Eyewitnesses said five armed men, three of them clad in burqa, came
at the office of Imtiaz in a Datsun pick-up around 5:35pm. The men
in burqa got down and opened indiscriminate fire at the office
killing three people instantly, they added.
The bodies were first taken to a local hospital and then shifted to
the JPMC. The doctors said the victims had received multiple bullet
wounds.
MQM chairman Afaq Ahmed rushed to the affected area and consoled
the bereaved families.
The Saudabad police registered a case against unknown assailants.
The killing sparked violence in Malir Colony and its
neighbourhoods, including Khokrapar, Saudabad, Jinnah Square and
Malir City.
After the killing of an MQM leader and two others, two
motorcyclists opened fire near the Saudabad house of Imtiaz Koti'
mother, killing two young men instantly. The deceased were
identified as Zeeshan Ahmed, 19, another cousin of Mr Koti, and
Imran Ahmed, 18, and their bodies were shifted to the JPMC for
autopsy. Deceased Zeeshan was also one of Koti's cousins.
Eyewitnesses said the two young men were standing at a shop when
the motorcyclists sprayed them with bullets.
The Malir City police station, in whose jurisdiction the shooting
took place, registered a case against unknown assailants.
In the limits of the Saudabad police station, where Koti and two
workers were gunned down, three more people were later killed. Two
of them were found shot dead at separate places near the railway
tracks. Their bodies were shifted to the JPMC where they were
identified as Ehtishamuddin Khan, 30, and Riyasat Hussain, 29. The
third victim, brought form the locality to JPMC, was identified as
Muhammad Shaukat. He had sustained bullet wounds near Malir Tanky
and died on his way to the hospital.
A 35-year-old man was found shot dead near the Khokrapar post
office. Identified as Muhammad Jahangir, the dead was shifted to
JPMC. The victim was a dispenser in a government hospital at
Khokrapar No. 2.
The MQM (Afaq) said the victim was a party worker of unit No. 96.
He was married and had two children, it added.
A press release from the CM's House said the chief minister had
directed the home secretary and the IGP of Sindh, commissioner of
Karachi, and DIG, Karachi, to take all possible measures against
those involved in the killings.
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980326
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Census data: Secrecy to be maintained in tabulation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 25: The government has decided to declare areas
where the data on population count will be stored and tabulated as
classified, Dawn reliably learnt.
The data of population count, which will start reaching the federal
capital under the supervision of troops in NLC trucks, will be
initially stored in three barracks at the naval headquarters, a
source said.
The data will be processed at the headquarters of Census Organiz-
ation and at an office of Statistic Division in G-8 Markaz, guarded
by the army, he added.
"We will start receiving data from tomorrow ( Wednesday) ," said an
official of the Census Organization. The provisional figures of the
population count would be made available within three months, he
added.
The data collected by block enumerators would pass through three
tiers before reaching the Census Organization headquarters, the
source said.
The figures of population count and statistics collected for
national data base would be processed separately, he added.
Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and Azad Kashmir had been totally covered
and some snow-bound places in Northern Areas had been left out,
Chief Census Commissioner Javed Akram told Dawn.
"We have extended time for inaccessible places in the Northern
Areas for a few days," he said. If the snow did not melt by that
time the commission would consider postponing the demographic count
till May or June", he added.
BALOCHISTAN: Regarding the resistance being faced by his staff in
Balochistan, Mr Akram said that out of a total of 8300 blocks in
Balochistan, they had already covered 8000.
He said it was a political problem and it should be tackled
politically. All the Pushtoon leaders, resisting census work in
Quetta, had allowed smooth counting in their native areas, he said.
Mr Akram said strict security would be observed during the
tabulation of data. It would take at least three months to process
millions of forms being collected from all over the country, he
added.
He did not give details of the special security measures being
taken by the government at the Census Headquarters to ensure
complete secrecy during the tabulation of data.
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980327
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Attack on SC termed Leghari-Sajjad plot
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, March 26: The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday
that the Nov 28 attack on the apex court building was the result of
a "conspiracy hatched by the then president and the then chief
justice to destabilize the government".
Syed Mushahid Hussain, federal minister for information, in his
sworn statement before the three member-bench working to identify
those who were involved in the attacked on the SC building on Nov
28, said the conspiracy hatched by the then president, Mr Farooq
Leghari, and the then chief justice, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, had
led to the situation.
The court also recorded the statement of Senator Saifur Rehman,
chairman of the Ehtesab Bureau, Privatization Commission chief Syed
Khawaja Asif and PML worker Najma Hameed.
The federal information minister was reminded by the bench that he
was standing in the witness box, not in the parliament. "You should
remember this is a court room and not the National Assembly," a
judge said, asking him to stay calm and speak only when permitted
by the court.
Mr Mushahid Hussain is one of the six ruling party legislators who
have recorded statements before the three-member bench. On another
occasion Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid told Mr Mushahid Hussain "you
might be a minister, but in the court you are merely a witness".
When asked who was responsible for the incident, an aggressive
Mushahid Hussain said "the incident took place as a result of the
conspiracy of Sajjad Ali Shah and Farooq Leghari."
Khawaja Asif, chairman of the privatization commission, informed
the court that he had come to the supreme court as he was one of
the respondents in the contempt case. He said he left the court
room at 10.15 to attend an official meeting.
He said when he came out proceedings were going on smoothly and he
saw some MNAs and MPAs pleading with the registrar, Mr Mohammad
Zakaullah, for passes.
The SC will record statements of three more witnesses next
Thursday.
===================================================================
B U S I N E S S & E C O N O M Y
===================================================================
980323
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan 2010: redundant World Bank connection
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Mahnaz Fatima
NEARLY EVERY other economic policy in Pakistan is found rooted in
the line of thinking given by the Bretton Woods Institutions. It
might be a different matter though that World Bank has been
responding to local calls and has been trying to incorporate local
concerns in its proposed strategies and policies.
Two notable examples in the case of Pakistan are the Pakistan 2010
plan and its power policy. I will revert to demonstrate the
redundancy of the World Bank connection of the Pakistan 2010 plan.
At a broader level, however, the virtual conversion (Dawn, 13- 3-
98) of the well-known public choice theorist, Joseph Stiglitz,
serving on deputation at the World Bank, Washington, to the kind of
indigenous thought we have been promoting in Pakistan could be
viewed as a triumph of the independent writers in the Third World.
However, this success would be meaningful only if translated for
the benefit of the life of the common man in the Third World in
general and Pakistan in particular. Also, care needs to be
exercised in sifting the First World angle from their proposed
strategies for the Third World.
Further, it is actually a matter of shame that locally generated
ideas and conceptual outlines cannot be fleshed out into strategies
by the various centres of excellence in Pakistan.
The reason being that most of these Pakistani think-tanks thrive on
largesse doled out by foreign funding agencies which restrict their
role by placing foreign thinking caps on the heads of the experts
who are found toeing the line given by the foreign financiers.
Thus the continued inability of Pakistani think-tank organizations
to translate locally generated concepts into strategies for action
or to sift out the donor interest from the proposed strategies for
the benefit of the country.
Reverting to the specific case of the Pakistan 2010 plan; while
full details are not available, it seems to be more of a part of a
similarly named World Bank draft strategy introduced in 1995.
Early in 1995, the World Bank in conjunction with the government of
Pakistan prepared a draft report captioned Pakistan 2010 with a
view to 'redefining' Pakistan's development strategy for the
following 15 years.
In a critique (dated 1-3-96) of this report, this writer had
concluded that while the underlying drift (the word is drift and
not draft) of this World Bank (WB) Pakistan 2010 draft report was
essentially neo-classical. The draft report appeared more like a
patchwork with the development issues patched on perhaps either as
a part of going through its (WB's) own learning curve that spanned
half a century or in response to the local calls being given since
early 1994 or in line with the emergence of the New Growth Theory.
So, while the main prong of this draft report aimed at market
reform, private sector-led economic growth, deregulation, and
liberalization; a complementary add-on prong addressed Pakistan's
specific conditions of underdevelopment.
Therefore, a key feature of this draft report was the emphasis on
poverty alleviation, human resource and physical infrastructure
development, issues of governance, and public administration
constraints.
The targeted human resource development was aimed at through
distinct specific programmes such as the Social Action Programme to
raise the literacy and health levels of the country. This would be
music for the ears of political economists who were only used to
the neat neo-classical tune that had hitherto been called by the
World Bank. However, there was a caveat. That is, what was the
probability of the two prongs of the WB Pakistan 2010 draft plan
meeting to deliver the desired results?
One prong aiming primarily at economic growth is based on the
trickle down model of development which failed to show the desired
results in the past.
The situation has recently deteriorated to the extent that this
neo-classical prescription in Pakistan is not even being able to
achieve the desired rates of economic growth.
The other prong of the draft report aimed at making a direct attack
on the levels of literacy, education, health, and physical
infrastructure. The assumption was that economic growth would
create a demand for physical infrastructure and human resources
whose parallel development would lead to their quick absorption in
a rapidly growing economy.
The problem was thus assumed to be one of the supply of social and
physical infrastructure whose demand was determined to be a
function mainly of the rate of economic growth of the country.
That is, a mild disorder that would lead to a more stable
independent order would be better than a discipline imposed by
oppressive forces that stifle indigenous thinking and growth
because of some kind of vested interest or the other.
This answer is applicable to this day in Pakistan as the war for
the country's economic sovereignty actually started after its
territorial independence and will rage on until fought and won on
the educational front in the country which continues to be a
bastion of colonial or neo-colonial rule.
Unless freed, it will not emit the guiding light needed essentially
to chart an independent future course for the country.
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980325
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Banks begin quoting dollar-rupee rates
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, March 24: Both local and foreign banks operating in
Pakistan began quoting their own dollar-rupee exchange rates from
Tuesday. But their rates remained within a band pre-fixed by the
State Bank.
"When the market opened this morning ,"On the average the banks
bought the greenback at Rs 44.41 and sold at Rs 44.48," the banker
told Dawn. He said as the day progressed the demand for the
greenback declined bringing down its average buying and selling
rates to 44.35 and 44.37. The State Bank has allowed the banks to
buy and sell the US dollar within a band of Rs 44.05 and Rs 44.49.
Previously the State Bank used to buy dollars for Rs 44.05 and sold
at Rs 44.27. The new selling price is higher by 22 paisa or half a
per cent.
The SBP issued a circular on Tuesday to notify the increase in the
selling price of the US dollar. Banks are allowed to quote whatever
dollar-rupee rates they like within 44.05 and 44.49 but the State
Bank will continue to buy dollars at the old price of Rs 44.05 and
sell them at the new price of 44.49. It means an indirect
depreciation of half a per cent in the rupee value. Senior bankers
reached by Dawn said the narrow spread in which the dollar traded
on Tuesday indicated sort of stability in the market. They said it
could not be predicted whether the trend would continue or change.
Immediately after the last rupee devaluation on Oct 15, 1997 the
money market has been rife with rumours of a further devaluation
but the rupee has so far survived these rumours. In the kerb market
the rumours initially made some dents in the rupee value but later
on the rupee firmed up against the dollar. On Tuesday, the dollar
closed at Rs 46.52 and Rs 46.55 for buying and selling in the kerb
market showing no impact of the 0.5 per cent depreciation in the
official value of rupee. On Saturday, the dollar was quoted at Rs
44.53 and Rs 44.56 against the rupee.
>From February 6 the banks have already been quoting their own
exchange rates for all foreign currencies except the dollar and in
case of other currencies they are not bound to keep their rates
within a certain band.
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980328
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Karachi Stock Exchange closes with clipped gains
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 27: Stocks on Friday closed with clipped gains but
the weekend selling was well-absorbed by both the local investors
and the foreign funds at the falling prices, indicating that the
current recovery could be sustained.
"The US investors might not throng the rings as the loud whispering
makes it look like, the prevailing optimism is well-shared by all
and sundry", said a leading stock broker.
The market is rife with speculation that the visiting top US
business executives have come here with clear instructions from the
President Clinton to make massive investment in a number of sectors
including the capital market, he added.
After opening 18 points higher against the last close, what the
dealers called, an extension of the overnight rally, the KSE 100-
share index fell at the fag-end of the session on weekend selling,
which pulled it down modestly to 1,564.48 as compared to 1,568.62 a
day earlier.
Leading index shares attracted profit-selling and it finished with
a decline of 4.14 points or Rs 1.071 billion fall in the market
capitalization at Rs 472.464 billion.
The underlying sentiment remained uppishly inclined as no one was
inclined to make total liquidation on predictions of a sustained
bull-run by the next week.
"The presence of the three top US business executives in Islamabad
and their intentions to make massive investment here seems to be
the chief inspiring factor behind the current price flare-up",
analysts said.
What seemed to have given credence to an expected steady inflow of
the US money in various sectors in the coming months was their
claim that the "President Clinton wants it that way", they added.
"It might be speculative thinking but the recent developments show
that US investors mean that and the market has already received
positive signals", said a member of the Karachi Stock Exchange
adding "the current buying euphoria in Hub-Power, PTCL, ICI
Pakistan and some others owe its origin to this market perception".
He said conflicting reports about the cut in tariff rates by the
foreign sponsors of the Independent Power Projects from the 6.5
cents per klw to 5.5 cents were not confirmed by the official
sources.
But there appears to be a rather "plain no" from the visiting top
US executives to lower the agreed power selling rates to WAPDA,
some brokers said.
Trading volume fell to 53.229 million shares from the previous
66.166 million shares, while out of 186 actives 66 shares rose; 78
fell with 42 holding on to the last levels.
Most of the price changes were fractional and reflected lack of an
aggressive selling. Raja Insurance and some others managed to post
gains ranging from Re 1 to Rs 9.00.
Other good gainers were led by, EFU General Insurance, Pak Paper
Products, PSO, National Refinery, Universal Leasing, Century Paper
and Metropolitan Bank which posted gains ranging from Rs 2 to 4.50.
Among the MNCs which rose appreciably American Life, Exide
Pakistan, Abbott Lab, Fauji Fertiliser and Reckitt and Colman were
leading by Rs 1.10 to 3.
Elite Textiles and Dadabhoy Sack led the list of leading losers
falling by Rs 5 and 4, respectively followed by Faran Sugar. Shell
Pakistan, Crescent Steel and Gharibwal Cement which suffered losses
ranging from Rs 1.05 to 2.75. Others fell, fractionally.
PTCL again led the list of actives easy 10 paisa at Rs 29.40 on 35
million shares - more than a half of the total volume -; followed
by Hub-Power off 45 paisa on 9.649 million shares; ICI Pakistan
which was traded lower by 15 paisa on 1.13.400 million shares; Sui
Southern and KESC were among the other most active shares; falling
45 and rising by 10 paisa, respectively on 1.274 and 1.198 million
shares.
Other actively traded shares were led by NDLC lower 35 paisa on
0.507 million shares; followed by Indus Bank easy 55 paisa on 0.437
million shares; FFC-Jordan Fertiliser lower five paisa on 0.390
million shares; Engro Chemicals up 50 paisa on 0.262 million
shares; Southern Electric up 15 paisa on 0.250 million shares.
Over 0.200 million shares of Knoll Pharma also changed hands at the
unchanged rate of Rs 71.00. It appears to be an inter-managed deal
but no details were available from the brokers.
Defaulting companies: Most of textile shares came in for active
support at the lower levels and finished modestly higher amid
active trading. The interesting feature was that bulk of the
business was transacted at the previous levels barring a decline of
50 paisa in Crescent Spinning which accounted for 2,000 shares. The
largest deal of 25,000 shares was reported in Khurshid Spinning at
the previous rates followed by 6,000 and 7,000 shares in Al-Qadir
Textiles and Crescent Board also at the overnight level.
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980322
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMF team recommends $208m 2nd tranche
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, March 21: The five-member IMF mission, which monitored
economic performance recently, has formally recommended to its
headquarters to provide 208 million dollar second tranche of
ESAF/EFF loan to Pakistan early next month.
Official sources told Dawn here on Saturday that the "Staff
Recommendations" have just been made by the IMF mission headed by
Ontonio Furtado to disburse the second tranche of 1.6 billion
dollar Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and Extended
Fund Facility (EFF).
Now the formal approval is expected to be accorded by the IMF
Executive Board scheduled to meet on March 30 in Washington.
"The Staff Recommendations will lay the basis for the release of
the 208 million dollar balance of payment support", said a source
in the local multilateral donor agency.
He said apparently now there was no hitch in disbursement of funds,
which would also help the government to seek loans from other
foreign commercial banks and may also improve credit rating by
agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor of New York.
One of the major conditionalities of the IMF was to impose across
the board three per cent General Sales Tax (GST) at retail level.
The government had initially imposed this Value Added Tax (VAT) on
six items. However, this tax was resisted by the traders community
which kept pressuring the government to accept only "fixed tax"
instead of tax on the basis of the income.
Sources said that the IMF has been asking the government "not" to
accept the fixed tax regime but eventually it agreed to do so till
the end of the current financial year. However, the government
reportedly held out assurances that it will recover the GST on the
basis of income from 1998-99 at all costs.
Sources said that the Staff Recommendations were made by the IMF
mission after extensive discussions with the government on five
major areas, i.e balance of payment position, revenue collection,
fiscal situation, GDP growth and inflation.
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980325
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax exemption for none, says Pasha
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, March 24: The Economic Coordination Committee of the
Cabinet (ECC), which met here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of
Minister for Finance Sartaj Aziz, has appointed a high-level
committee to examine the possibility of taxing Non-Resident
Professionals working in charitable institutions in Pakistan.
"We believe that income tax should also be recovered from the Non-
Resident Professionals and there should be no exemption for
anybody", said Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Hafiz Pasha.
He has been appointed to head the committee. The members of the
committee have been drawn from the Economic Affairs Division (EAD)
and the Central Board of Revenue (CBR).
Dr Pasha later told Dawn that there was no significant revenue
implications of the proposed plan and that it was a matter of
principle.
"Why should there be any unnecessary and unreasonable tax
exemptions to charitable organizations", he said adding that those
foreign nationals were working in these organizations should pay
their income tax. However, he said that no decision has been taken
and it would be taken up after his committee gave its
recommendations within one month.
"But let me clarify here that it has nothing to do with the multi-
nationals or the corporate sector", the Deputy Chairman Planning
Commission added.
The ECC also reviewed the price index and noted that Sensitive
Price Index (SPI) measured as a percentage change over
corresponding week of the last year is 7.30 per cent.
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980327
-------------------------------------------------------------------
US agencies oppose revision of IPP tariffs
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, March 26: Three major trade financing agencies of the
United States have opposed any revision in power tariffs, earlier
negotiated with the sponsors of 19 Independent Power Plants (IPPs).
The senior officials of the US Trade and Development Agency (TDA),
US Overseas Private Insurance Corporation (OPIC) and the US Export
Import Bank (Ex-Im) have said that they would oppose any revision
in the power tariffs with the IPPs as it might discourage future
foreign investment in Pakistan.
Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, they however,
expressed the hopes that the government would not raise the issue
of revising power tariffs. They also said the US government
believed that Pakistan would honour its commitments and agreements
made with the IPPs.
A delegation of senior trade development officials of the United
States had arrived here on Wednesday and had met a number of people
including minister for communication, secretaries petroleum and
water and power, BOI chairman and discussed with them various
issues including future US investment in Pakistan. They included J.
Joseph Grandmaison, Director of the TDA, George Munoz, President
and CEO of the OPIC and Ms Rita Murrell, Senior Loan Officer of the
Export Import Bank.
And today they met with the high officials of the Pakistani banks,
sponsors of the power projects and financial community based in the
capital.
Responding to a question, Joseph of TDA said that the best way was
to follow the success story of the IPPs in Pakistan.
When asked that the WAPDA's financial problems will multiply in
case it did not re-negotiate power purchase agreements with the
IPPs, he said the US government was not direct party to the issue.
However, he was of the view that Pakistan would not ask for
reviewing power tariffs with a view to encourage foreign investment
in the country.
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980328
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Business pressure to reduce mark-up
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, March 27: Though the average mark-up being charged by the
commercial banks is 16.23 per cent per annum the maximum flat rate
is still as high as 22.26 per cent. This comes close to 24 per cent
when service charges of the bank and other expenses on borrowing
are included.
Businessmen have been feeling the pinch of excessive mark-ups for
quite a long time but now the issue has come under sharp focus.
Bankers say the issue may come under discussion when Finance
Minister Sartaj Aziz meets heads of five major banks and some
state-run development financial institutions (DFIs) on April 1 in
Islamabad. However, the official agenda of the meeting does not
mention it separately.
The meeting has been convened to discuss such issues as loan
recovery under the State Bank incentive scheme; outstanding level
of loan defaults and difficulties in recovery; loan defaults in the
public sector and their borrowing below the market rates and golden
handshake scheme of the banks. Bankers say the meeting would also
review the pace of privatization of banks and DFIs and discuss the
recommendations of the Tarin committee for recovery of stuck-up
loans.
State Bank Governor Dr Muhammad Yaqub is meeting the heads of five
major banks and some state-run banks on Saturday afternoon. Bankers
say the meeting has no specific agenda adding it would rather serve
as a rehearsal for the Islamabad meeting on April 1.
Before that he would have a meeting with businessmen at the
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry where the
issue of high mark-up rates and project financing are sure to be
raised. The meeting is being held primarily to sort out the
problems related to recovery of bad debts and revival of sick
units.
"The managements of major local banks say they would rather prefer
loosing their clients instead of lowering the mark-ups," said a
managing committee member of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. The member who declined to be named said the banks
justified high mark-ups by saying their cost of fund was high and
the profitability low.
A source close to ministry of commerce said Commerce Minister Ishaq
Dar last month forwarded a complaint on high mark-ups by a leading
businessman to State Bank Governor Dr Muhammad Yaqub for an
appropriate action. The complaint was filed by a member of private
sector advisory council Shaikh A. Rashid. It was in the first
meeting of the council held in January that Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif had expressed dissatisfaction over claims of reduced mark-
ups.
He said the complainant had submitted a comparative study of the
mark-up rates of five banks including two state-run and a partly
privatized bank.
The study showed that the flat rates of mark-up being charged by
these banks ranged between 20.00-22.26 per cent. These rates rise
further when the service charges of the banks are included.
The government has recently set up a 22-member committee to
recommend measures for promoting project financing and reviewing
the mark-up structure.
Last year the State Bank had given some monetary incentives to the
banks including a 5 per cent cut in the statutory liquidity ratio
to help them cut lending rates. Accordingly, the state-run National
Bank and Habib Bank and partly-privatized Muslim Commercial Bank
and Allied Bank had slashed the maximum mark-ups.
Bankers say banks are locked in a difficult situation. On the one
hand the business community is building up pressure for a further
cut in mark-ups and on the other hand the cost of fund is rising in
the wake of an economic recession. They say most of the businessmen
who criticize the banks for charging high mark-ups forget the fact
that there is a vast spread between the maximum and minimum mark-
ups.
"While we lend at a little more than 22 per cent to a number of
people we also lend at 15 and even 14 per cent to our valued
clients," senior executive of a partly-privatized bank said.
"Valued clients are the ones who have never defaulted with the bank
and their financial health and reputation is sound," he said.
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980327
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Competitive market required for privatization
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
KARACHI, March 26: The government wants to privatize the Karachi
Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC) within six months, sources
said.
The transaction, which involves sale of 51 per cent equity along
with the management control to strategic investor, is to be
completed within 180 days from the date of award of advisor mandate
by the Privatization Commission.
However, in the absence of proper regulatory framework, conducive
macroeconomic and law and order environment, experts say, the
chances to attract strategic investor for this problem-plagued
power utility are not very bright. They further say the
privatization in this sector critical for the economy and it should
not be done in haste as it would suggest whether Pakistan would
have a viable and competitive power sector or not.
Currently there is no competition in the sector as two main utility
companies WAPDA and KESC are both government-owned and consumer
has no choice other than to generate its own power through units.
The deals, in the case of Independent Power Projects (IPPs) and Kot
Addu Power Company (KAPCO), are based on Power Purchasing Agreement
(PPA), which have locked the consumers in long-term supply
contracts.
But according to the transaction structure, the KESC is going to be
privatized as an integrated utility, whereby consumers will be
directly engaged with generators for the supply of power through
the transmission and distribution system. Analysts say this would
require a truly competitive market in the country, which is still
not in place. And any deal done in haste would create monopoly in
the private sector with the consumers ending up paying higher
prices.
Dr Salman Shah of Lahore Institute of Finance and Management says
that generation companies should be privatized only after a power
market is developed. "Privatization before developing a market
could lock the generating capacity into long-term Take or Pay type
contracts", he said. He said though, the regulatory agency NEPRA
has been established but will take considerable time to become
fully functional.
On the other hand, the rosy demand-supply projections, which were
made in the 1994 Power Policy to attract foreign investors, are no
more there. The recent figures on energy demand show that due to
more than 100 per cent surge in tariffs in the last two and half
years, the capacity demand growth has declined to 2.3 per cent in
1994-95 and hit lowest level of only 0.45 per cent in 1995-96. In
Pakistan, for years the capacity demand growth on average increased
by the rate of 8 per cent per annum. Energy analysts fear that if
this trend persists in near future instead of an increase in demand
one might witness a fall in the demand.
However, analysts say, the other factor, which is dampening the
chances of early privatization of KESC, is the troubled experience
of foreign investors in most of the Asian power markets. Many
national utilities like Indonesia's PLN and Thai EGAT are currently
engaged in bitter dispute with IPPs and are backing out of their
contractual obligations. Following the sharp devaluation in the
region, they are facing falling electricity demand due to slow
economic growth. Furthermore, for many, Asian power market is over-
invested.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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980322
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Citizen emeritus!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
AN invitation card arrived last week for a seminar organized by
SHEHRI wherein it was announced that 'Ardeshir Cowasjee Citizen
Emeritus' was to be the chief guest (although when earlier invited
to be CG, I had declined). I asked Roland de Souza which damned
fool had thought up the title 'citizen emeritus,' as citizens only
retire when they depart this earth for calmer climes, and I was
still around.
Down-to-earth Roland (lately called Loland), admitted that he was
the DF. I must accept and be there, he told me. SHEHRI is being
satisfactorily institutionalized and the people's awareness of
their rights is steadily growing. They are standing up and
shouting, objecting, fighting.
Right, I told him, but also tell me who it is who has arranged for
tea and buns to be served at the start of the seminar. Normally
this happens when all is over, thus keeping people in their seats
until the last speech of the day. The risk now is that a couple of
hundred will turn up to eat and a hundred will then leave.
However, this did not happen. We had a gathering of 300 or so
(amongst them one High Court Judge and a number of leading
architects and engineers of integrity), the majority of whom stuck
it out to the finish.
Human-Rightist Justice Sabihuddin Ahmad of the High Court of Sindh
was invited to preside. Lawyer Qazi Faez Isa, the president of
SHEHRI, conducted the proceedings. The people's lawyer, Gilbert
Naim-ur-Rahman, Commissioner of Karachi Mir Hussain Ali, KDA
Director General Shah Mohammed Misbah, and, of course Roland-
Loland, were the speakers.
Architect Misbah, the first DG-KDA after many, many years besides
whom one can sit and feel comfortable, fell from the skies during
the caretaker ministership of Maqbool Rahimtoola, who held the
Sindh Housing and Town Planning portfolio. Maqbool is the second
son of the second chairman of the KDA, the late lamented jovial
Habib Ibrahim (1958-60). The first chairman was that good banker,
Mohammad Ali Habib (1957-58). The third chairman of those martial
law days was Colonel Nasiruddin Humayun (1960-62). During the good
early years of KDA's life, town-planners Khwaja Zaheeruddin and
later Ahmad Ali were in charge of the Master Plan and Karachi's
planning and development was as good as that of any growing city
anywhere. There was never even the slightest whiff of corruption.
Thereafter the organization was headed by director-generals, mostly
civil servants, who were as strong as their breed tend to be. They
held office on an average for two and a half years. Corruption was
born : the illegal allotment of plots and the relaxation of
planning and building rules and regulations were institutionalized,
though monetary considerations were still held at bay.
The real money-game started with the promotion of Engineer Z A
Nizami, an officer of the Authority since the mid-60s, who rose to
the post of DG in 1980. He gave away land and favours allegedly for
favours received. The favours he dished out made him a favourite
with the establishment and it was during this time that the
builders' mafia was established and the planning and development of
Karachi disintegrated into a concrete jungle. Z.A. Nizami, largely
supported by another shining civil servant, Salman Faruqui, even
survived the inscrutable, honest Governor of Sindh, serving Lt
General Abbasi.
With Nizami's help, Salman managed to have as many as 30 plots in
Karachi allotted to himself and to members of his family, under
various names. As we all now know, with the tacit approval of
Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
Salman, evading accountability, has fled the country.
Z.A. Nizami stayed in office as DG-KDA for eight years until
Governor of Sindh, Lt. General Rahimuddin Khan, took the bit
between his teeth and removed him in the middle of the night.
After Zia's mysterious and still unexplained death, and the re-
birth of democracy, various non-descript civil servants were put at
the head of the Authority. Weak and helpless as they were, the true
heads were Benazir Bhutto and her husband and their ministers in
Sindh, followed by Jam Sadiq, then Muzaffar Hussain Shah, and their
ministers. Corruption reigned supreme.
During Benazir Bhutto's second round, one of Nizami's proteges,
Rauf Akhtar Faruqui, was made Chief Controller of Buildings,
Karachi Building Control Authority (KMC). The extent of corruption
can be guaged by the following example of a 'note' written by him
on a file pertaining to a construction in the Clifton area :
"9. In this particular case, the request of the applicant involves
: (1) Lifting of ban on highrise buildings ; (2) relaxation in
covered area from 95,000 sq ft to 585,000 sq ft ; (3) conversion of
plot from residential to commercial as shops have been proposed to
be built on the ground floor ; (4) relaxation of rules as described
in the lease conditions ; (5) payment of additional floor charges
beyond ground and one upper floor; (6) payment of commercialisation
charges for shops ; (7) approval for building ground plus 15 upper
floors with penthouse."
The case was pushed upwards for "appropriate orders in the matter."
Swiftly bypassing red tapism, the note arrived on Chief Minister
Abdullah Shah's desk and he noted upon the file : "In view of the
averments made in para 13, the request made in para 9 is accepted
by relaxing rules and policy."
Para 13 was a flip-flop written by the secretary, local government,
the last sentence of which read : "The CCOB- KBA (KMC) has further
pointed out that for major relaxation in the regulations, the
Government is competent. It is further stated that in the past,
Minister for Housing and Town Planning in general, and the Chief
Minister in particular, have exercised such powers."
Wily Rauf Faruqui now has a bunch of some 20 anti-corruption cases
pending against him. He has managed to survive, and the Sindh
government continues to employ him in its Weights & Measures
Department. He remains a firm favourite of the Dons of the
builders' mafia, and is constantly being pushed by various sources
to be reinstated as the DG-KDA. His one time boss and staunch
supporter, former chief minister Abdullah Shah, has been declared
an absconder by the courts.
As DG Misbah has to suffer seven 'wives' (apart from his own wife
to whom he is happily married) : Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi, his
intrepid secretary Shahid Nazir, senior MQM minister Farooq Sattar,
MQM minister for housing and town planning Waseem Akhtar, chief
secretary Saeed Mehdi, secretary HTP, and the commissioner Karachi
who is chairman of the KDA governing body. Apart from Saeed Mehdi,
at any given time, the other six, jointly or severally,
persistently seek his transfer on one pretext or another, hoping to
move him out to Chachhro or Tharparkar or wherever (he was
arbitrarily suspended once by the chief minister for his inability
to be at two meetings at two different places in the city held at
the same time). The builders' mafia is also desperately keen to get
Misbah as far away from the KDA as possible.
Considering the combined clout of all those wishing Misbah out, it
is safe to presume that he is a relatively clean and efficient man.
During his tenure, he has facilitated the organization of a
committee to 'oversee' the working of the KBCA, as stipulated in
Clause 4-B of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979. This has
not been done before. Sitting on the committee, apart from the
usual government 'bumph', and the builders (who never cease to
proclaim their injured innocence), are representatives of various
architectural and engineering bodies, a SHEHRI representative, and
a Citizen of Pakistan (me). Helping Karachi and the committee, we
have on the benches of the Sindh High Court 10 environment-friendly
judges : Chief Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad, Justices Kamal Mansur
Alam, Majida Rizvi, Rana Bhagwandas, Deedar Hussain Shah, Dr Ghous
Mohammad, Sabihuddin Ahmad, Mushtaq Memon, Ibrahim Sirwana and Abol
Inam.
They are all appreciative of the good work being done by SHEHRI, a
non-profit organization in need of further strengthening. Its
affairs are managed by Roland and that other untiring volunteer,
Amber Alibhai. The staff is dedicated and efficient. It is funded
by the philanthropic Fredrich Nauman Foundation and by donations
from the citizens. But its work load is heavy and it needs more
funds to employ more people. We will always have governments bent
on destroying institutions, their own as well as those of others,
and we can only survive if the people, in the interests of their
own self-preservation, institutionalize and strengthen themselves.
Help!
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980328
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Stand and deliver
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Irfan Husain
LAST week's MQM versus MQM mayhem and the subsequent strike
reminded us once again how fragile Karachi's peace is.
A foreigner I met for the first time in the aftermath of this
latest eruption asked me what the government was going to do about
this anarchic state of affairs. Not being privy to the inner
counsels of Nawaz Sharif's kitchen cabinet, I replied that I didn't
think Islamabad could or would do anything. Quite indignant, she
asked if the people were going to continue putting up with this
lawlessness and the government's policy of masterful inaction.
Perhaps without realizing it, she had put her finger on the nub of
the problem: how long will we go on putting up with every tinpot
ruffian who forces Karachi to come to a grinding halt? Or, turning
to the larger picture, until when will we continue accepting the
rapidly declining standards of public behaviour and governance?
Will there ever come a point when ordinary people stand up to our
grotesquely incompetent and irredeemably corrupt political class,
and say: "Enough!"?
I doubt it. We are too cynical, too self-centred and too lazy to
assert ourselves unless something affects our immediate family or
our personal interests. There is very little sense of the community
and no organizational skills among our educated class. Above all,
we lack the motivation and drive needed to reform a decaying order.
Take the case of the recent strike as an example: the people who
suffered ranged from the thousands of Matric students who had to
take their annual exam to the daily-wage workers who were deprived
of their earnings. Those who called the strike were sitting
comfortably in Karachi or elsewhere. And yet, despite the suffering
so callously inflicted on so many thousands of people there has
been no protest, no backlash.
Altaf Hussain's MQM has demanded the end of the no-go areas where
the Haqiqi faction rules the roost. But as I said to an old friend
who is very high in the former's inner circle, this is not about to
happen. Those who set up the Haqiqi group did so because they
wanted a counter-weight to the MQM; in their calculus of power,
disbanding the breakaway faction of the MQM would make Altaf
Hussain far too strong.
The problem with this divide-and-rule strategy is that it produces
inevitable casualties among us civilians who want no part of this
internecine war. And as we continue to observe (and suffer), this
savage infighting has produced huge collateral damage as far as
Karachi's battered economy is concerned. A number of multinationals
have relocated their head offices to Islamabad, many factories have
either moved to Punjab, or shut down completely, and thousands of
cottage industries have packed up. There is no new investment in
manufacturing coming into Karachi, and the number of unemployed
continues to rise. But to those calling the shots this is a price
they are willing to pay.
Those who have seized control of Karachi's destiny have no idea of
the damage they have inflicted on the community they say they are
protecting. Beyond the economic losses and the personal suffering
they have caused, they have managed to alienate the majority both
in Sindh and the rest of the country. Everybody is heartily sick
and tired of their endless whingeing, their fascistic methods and
their interminable fighting with each other and everybody else.
No major power grouping in the country trusts them and even for
their nominal allies, the Muslim League, the partnership with the
MQM is very much a marriage of convenience. Although Benazir Bhutto
might now wish to cut a deal with Altaf Hussain, this is a measure
more of her desperation than any faith she might repose in the
party that, in her eyes, stabbed her in the back during her first
stint. The army mistrusts a party that is alleged to have links
with Indian intelligence agencies, and that it holds it responsible
for the torture of a major a few years ago. The religious parties
resent the fact that whatever its other faults, the MQM is probably
the most secular political party in Pakistan.
So the MQM has painted itself into a corner from which it cannot
emerge without radically changing itself. Since this is unlikely to
happen, we can expect an escalation in the violence between the two
factions of the ethnic party, accompanied by more strikes and more
indiscriminate mayhem.
Meanwhile, the only one to benefit from this situation is Benazir
Bhutto: many people are recalling her firmness in dealing with
terrorism wistfully, and forgetting the alleged custodial killings
that paid for the short-term peace in the city. Indeed, if there is
any one thing for which she deserved credit in many people's eyes,
it is for curbing ethnic violence in Karachi. By releasing many
alleged terrorists arrested by the previous government to buy the
MQM's support in keeping the PPP out in Sindh, the government may
have made today's mayhem inevitable.
So how do we emerge from this morass? The government is desperate
to keep its shaky coalition in Sindh intact, so it will go to
almost any length to keep the MQM happy. The more sober elements in
the MQM want to stay in the government, fearing a crackdown if they
pull out, causing the collapse of the coalition: however the
hotheads and Altaf Hussain may yet impose a different decision. The
authorities and the intelligence agencies seem determined to keep
the Haqiqi group afloat, dangerous though it is. Checkmate.
If we are to break this logjam of conflicting goals and ambitions,
the people will have to assert themselves. And we come back to the
question of how long before we say "Enough!"? Will the MQM's
supporters tell the militants and the leadership that they have had
enough of strikes and killings, and they wish to be left alone?
Already, they have registered their disapproval by casting far
fewer votes for the MQM in the last election than they did before.
Perhaps this welcome trend will be strengthened in the ensuing
local bodies polls.
But today's situation demands a greater commitment than just
waiting passively for the next election. There is now a desperate
need to send a clear signal to all the hate-mongers in the country
that we will not remain idle bystanders any longer. And we also
have to send the government a message that it should start
governing or quit. They should stand and deliver!
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980323
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Making local bodies effective
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MAH
ALMOST immediately after the reported announcement that the federal
government would provide constitutional cover to local bodies, the
Punjab government surprised everyone by pulling out a rabbit of an
ordinance from its legislative hat.
Called the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 1998, it
provides that the members of a panchayat, to be constituted in a
village of not less than 300 people, shall be nominated by the
government, ignoring completely one of "Principles of policy" as
enshrined in Article 32 of the Constitution, which imposes, in
unequivocal terms, an imperative obligation that the state shall
encourage local government institutions composed of elected
representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions
special representation will be given to peasants, workers and
women.
Having opted for a Euro-American government structure by seeking to
combine a parliamentary form of government with a federal
organization, Pakistan has, over the years, relegated panchayat and
local bodies to the background, and just put them in the
Constitution under the "Principles of policy." The local bodies, as
a result, became handmaid of provincial governments. They exist and
their elections are held at the will of the government. During all
these years local bodies underwent no meaningful structural
changes, and were subjected to administrative and political
neglect. They did not have enough resources to meet their
obligations. Only small and limited powers were given to them. They
were marginalized.
If a local body took actions which the ruling party in the province
did not like, it was suspended and superseded. Prolonged and
widespread suspension has always been the order of the day. Thus,
neither the people's initiative nor their adequate representation
has been possible. With the involvement of the provincial
administrative machinery in the tasks of local governance, the
local bodies were reduced to the status of parastatals in relation
to the provincial government.
The local bodies, as units of self-government, have to settle local
problems and undertake local development, according to the wishes
and desires of he people of the locality, and not in accordance
with the wishes of the people in the provincial capital. If they
have to develop into a system of self-sufficient and self-governing
local communities, their rights, obligations, powers, resources,
methods of elections and organizations require constitutional
protection.
Since our own constitution is a crotchet work drawn heavily from
the constitutions of other countries, particularly India, it is
time we examined how constitutional status has been conferred on
municipalities and panchayats in India. For the purposes of this
article, let us confine ourselves to Panchayats only.
Despite the provision in the "Directive Principles of State
Policy", as embodied in Article 40 of the Indian Constitution that
the state "shall take steps to organize village panchayat and endow
them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable
them to function as units of self-government", the panchayats did
not become statutory bodies till the passage of the Constitution
(Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, which came into force on April
23, 1994. (The Seventy-fourth Amendment Act, 1992, deals separately
and exclusively with urban municipal government in India).
This piece of legislation has been hailed in India as one of the
most comprehensive measures for democratic decentralization, not
from the Centre to the states but from the states to their local
bodies and panchayats, which are much closer to the people than the
members of governments in the state capitals.
Ensuring a degree of institutional uniformity of panchayat system
of government, the Seventy-third Amendment provides for elections
on adult franchise to be conducted by the state election
commission, a limited period of their suspension, reservation of
seats for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, a list of
duties, appointment of state finance commission on the model of its
central counterpart, and creation of a planning committee at the
district level.
As laid down in the 73rd Amendment, every state is required to
constitute panchayats at the village, intermediate and district
levels. Every state has to make provisions, by law, with respect to
composition of panchayats in such a way that the ratio between the
population of the territorial area of a panchayat at any level and
the number of seats in such panchayat to be filled by election
shall be the same throughout the state.
All the seats in a panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by
direct election from territorial constituencies in the panchayat
area. Each panchayat area has to be divided into territorial
constituencies in such a manner that the ratio between the
population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to
it shall be the same throughout the panchayat area.
The chairperson of a panchayat at the village level shall be
elected in such a manner as the state legislature may, by law,
provide, but the chairperson of a panchayat at the intermediate
level or district level shall be elected by and from amongst the
elected persons thereof.
Apart from electoral composition of the panchayats, the Amendment
provides for additional memberships. The Legislature of a state
may, by law, provide for representation of (i) the chairpersons of
the panchayats, at the village level, in the panchayats at the
intermediate and district levels; and (ii) sitting members of the
houses of the state legislature and parliament, representing
constituencies, which comprise wholly or partly a panchayat area at
a level other than the village level, in such panchayat.
The Seventy-third Amendment provides for reservation of seats in
every panchayat for the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes, and
women. The number of seats reserved for the scheduled castes and
the scheduled tribes shall bear the same proportion to the total
number of seats to be filled by direct election in the panchayat as
their population in that panchayat area bear to the total
population in that area, and such seats are to be allotted by
rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.
Further, out of the total number of seats reserved for the
scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes, one-third have been
reserved for women belonging to them. Again, out of the total
number of seats to be filled by direct election in every panchayat,
one-third number of seats (including the number of seats reserved
for women belonging to the scheduled castes and the scheduled
tribes) have been reserved for women, and these seats are to be
allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.
The legislature of a state has to provide, by law, the manner in
which the offices of chairpersons in panchayats at the village
level or any other level shall be reserved for the scheduled
castes, the scheduled tribes and women. However, the number of such
reserved offices for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes
in the panchayat at each level shall bear the same proportion to
the total number of such offices as their population in the state
bears to the total population of the state.
Secondly, out of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the
panchayat at each level, one-third of the offices shall be reserved
for women. Thus, the role of women in village panchayats have been
adequately legislated for.
The life of an elected panchayat has been fixed for a period of
five years, unless sooner dissolved, but an election to constitute
a panchayat shall be completed before the expiration of six months
from the date of its dissolution.
The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of
electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the
panchayats shall be vested in a single member state election
commission to be appointed by the governor, and the state election
commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like
manner and on the like grounds as a judge of a High Court.
As regards powers, authority and responsibility of panchayats, the
73rd amendment indicates in the Eleventh Schedule, 29 areas (from
agriculture, land improvement to health and sanitation, public
distribution system and maintenance of community assets) for
possible devolution to the panchayats. For this, the state
legislature is required to enact a law to endow the panchayats with
necessary powers to enable them to carry out their functions and
responsibilities in respect of these twentynine subjects.
The Amendment enjoins the state Legislature to authorise, by law, a
panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and
fees; to assign to a panchayat such taxes, duties and fees levied
and collected by the state government; and to make grants-in-aid to
the panchayats from the state consolidated fund.
One of the significant provisions is the constitution of the state
finance commission for each state within one year from the
commencement of the Amendment (April 23, 1994) and thereafter, at
the expiration of every fifth year, to review the financial
position of the panchayats and to make recommendations to the
governor as to (i) the principles which should govern the
distribution between the state and the panchayats of the net
proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the
state, which may be divided between them, and the allocation
between the panchayats at all levels of their respective shares of
such proceeds; (ii) the determination of the taxes, duties, tolls
and fees which may be assigned to, or appropriated by the
panchayats; (iii) the measures needed to improve the financial
position of the panchayats; and (iv) the grants-in-aid to the
panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state.
Further, the Amendment requires the (Central) finance commission to
make recommendations, among other things, to the president as to
the measures needed to augment the consolidated fund of a state to
supplement the resources of the panchayats in the state on the
basis of the recommendations made by the finance commission of the
state.
Consequently, the Tenth Finance Commission in its report (December
1994) recommended a specific grant of Rs 5380.93 crore for all the
states for the five year period from 1995 to 2000.
Though the Constitution (Seventyfourth Amendment) Act, 1992, lays
down the principles of municipal governments, one of its key
provisions relates to the creation of a district planning committee
in every state at district level to consolidate the plans prepared
by the panchayats and the municipalities in the district, and to
prepare a development plan for the district as a whole. The
legislature of a state, by law, has to make provision with respect
to the composition of the committee and the manner in which the
seats in such committee shall be filled.
But not less than four-fifths of the total number of members of
such committee shall be elected by, and from amongst, the elected
members of the panchayat at the district level and of the
municipalities in the district in proportion to the ratio between
the population of rural areas and of the urban areas in the
district. The district planning committee has to undertake planning
for matters of common interest between the panchayats and the
municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water and
other physical and natural resources, the integrated development of
infrastructure and environmental conservation.
In Pakistan, there is a right move, however late in the day, to
give constitutional cover to local bodies. Whether it would be
based on some new concepts or it would have provisions borrowed
from the Indian Constitutional amendments, would be known when the
constitutional package is unwrapped and revealed.
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980322
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BJP's challenge to Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Eqbal Ahmad
IN an early gesture as Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee
underlined the importance he attaches to India's relations with
Pakistan: he turned up at the India-Pakistan hockey match, greeted
the players, and watched the game just long enough eight minutes
to see his team score a goal. That's quintessential Vajpayee. He
likes to be friendly and gracious, and loves to win.
He leads a shaky coalition of 19 parties and an obese team of 42
ministers to which he anticipates additions. A cat with nineteen
tails may not survive very long. If it does, it will not run
efficiently. Mr Vajpayee has been wise and bold, nevertheless, in
assigning jobs. For the finance portfolio, he bypassed Murli
Manohar Joshi, a ranking BJP leader and economic nationalist
favoured by the RSS, for Yashwant Sinha, a relatively new comer to
the party and economic liberal, a clear signal of moderation to
capital both domestic and foreign.
As Home Minister, BJP president L.K. Advani has the responsibility
of keeping order which is quite a challenge for one given to
disturbances of peace. The irrepressible Mr George Fernandes leads
the Defence Ministry. He is likely to make media-waves and follow
the brass the best he can. The prime minister has kept the foreign
affairs portfolio to himself, which is an indication of his
interest and also of the importance he attaches to India's foreign
relations.
If Vajpayee's government lasts even half its legal tenure its
domestic impact is likely to be ideological while he accords
substantive attention to India's foreign relations. At a conference
in Sri Lanka last week several Indian scholars, including Ashish
Nandy who is among India's most original thinkers, emphasized BJP's
evolution toward moderation and secularism, and also its dependence
on allies whose agendas can only dilute its own. They were
convincing up to a point in so far as hard policies are concerned,
BJP's government is likely at best to yield continuity rather than
change. "They shall make symbolic changes", agrees Ashish Nandy.
The impact can be harmful nevertheless. Symbolic gestures and
events invariably make substantive differences in the lives of
nations and peoples. Often the effects of concrete events and
policies are more easily reversed by antidotal policies than are
symbolic influences. Symbols shape culture, outlook, attitudes and
identities. Pakistanis who have lived through the hollow
opportunism of Z.A. Bhutto's populist posturing and Mohammed Ziaul
Haq's 'Islamization' process will recognize the truth of this
observation. The one was as serious about the people's interests as
the other was about Islam. Each in his own way was a 'moderate',
given to opportunity rather than principle. Yet, the legacies of
their symbolic engagements continue to distort Pakistani political
and cultural life.
As a party, the BJP runs the dual jeopardy of carrying both the
populist and the sectarian germs. Unable to deliver an effective
and purposeful government it is likely to compensate for its
failures with symbolic gestures toward its rhetorical promise of
'one nation and one culture.' As Rabindranath Tagore had feared
seven decades ago, symbolic gesticulations of this sort can have
devastating effects upon the multi-caste, multi-cultural and multi-
religious country.
A sense of anxiety prevails among India's neighbours, especially in
Pakistan. Their concern has been augmented by BJP leaders'
statements that they might induct nuclear weapons in its military
arsenal. There are ambiguities in those statements; there is no
certainty as to what they actually intend. India's neighbours
none of whom wish to live in shadow of India's nuclear bomb
should nevertheless take this threat seriously and make, as
vigorously and quietly as possible, what effort they can to
dissuade Delhi from so dangerous a course. There are greater risks
in it for Pakistan than for other countries, as it alone has
unresolved disputes with India. Moreover, Pakistan's security
environment will be affected by the activation of the Prithvi and
Agni missiles programmes an inevitable consequence of inducting
nuclear weapons, and it alone will have to weigh its nuclear
options.
The need to build pressure on India against the induction of
nuclear weapons is urgent. But if it is to be effective it ought to
be quiet and systematic. Recent statements of Pakistani officials
once again underline our officials' proclivity to disregard the
relationship between sound and effect, and ignore the distinctions
between diplomacy and propaganda, polemic and politics. To the
great powers we need to convey a sense of concern and resolve which
are best conveyed by quiet diplomacy and tactical silence. Bluster
and threats suggest panic and pugnacity. A momentous issue is then
reduced to a South Asian squabble.
Without underestimating its importance to Pakistan's security, we
ought to understand also that Pakistan is not the target of BJP's
quest for nuclear power. In fact BJP's leaders are among the few in
India who are genuinely contented over the creation of Pakistan.
Authentic communalists, they are happy to be rid of no less than
250 million Muslims, now divided between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In retrospect India's partition was an RSS dream come true, and
they would not want to undo it. As for India's quest for hegemony,
it is well known that hegemony is not achieved by possessing the
nuclear or any other bomb. BJP leaders wish to declare their
nuclear weapons because they view it as a passport to the 'great
power club', and they are obsessed with formally entering the club.
Dangerously silly but true!
The BJP has long been committed to inducing nuclear weapons in
India's arsenal, and may actually do so. There are few domestic
constraints. In India as in Pakistan public opinion does not oppose
nuclear weapons. Differences exist within the establishment only on
the degree of ambiguity concerning its possession, differences
which governments have easy ways of resolving. Moreover, BJP's is
likely to remain a shaky coalition, hence unlikely to deliver
desperately needed bread and butter to the people. Governments
which do not deliver seek refuge in patriotic fervour. Hence the
need to neutralize the BJP's inner compulsions with external
stimuli. This is better achieved by quiet diplomacy than public
warnings and confrontations.
Over the years Mr Vajpayee has taken interest in Pakistan. He
believes that normal and stable relations with it is essential for
India to become a successful player in international politics. "The
great powers exploit our differences", he said to me many years
ago. As India's foreign minister, his enthusiastic efforts to
improve relations had surprised Pakistani officials. He is likely
again to make vigorous gestures to improve trade and cultural
exchanges.
Yet, he is not likely to negotiate Kashmir on Pakistani or even
Kashmiri terms. His government cannot repeal Article 370 of the
Indian Constitution even if it wants to. But it can harden its
military posture in Kashmir, and escalate the ongoing covert
warfare with Pakistan. Given the current composition of our
establishment, Pakistan's response may be symmetrical. Indo-
Pakistan relations shall become then highly susceptible to
miscalculations. In Islamabad, as in Delhi, it is time to let
analysis prevail over instinct.
Pakistan should weigh its alternatives in case India does
weaponize. A number of questions arise; among them the following.
What strategic or political benefits accrue from renouncing
Pakistan's posture of ambiguity? Security being the objective, why
will open as against understood / assumed possession of nuclear
weapons enhance its security. Will the pressure of great power on
Pakistan be comparable to their pressure on India? Are we willing
to bear those pressures? What kind of arms race shall become
inevitable as a result of two-way weaponization? Is Pakistan in a
position to enter such an arms race against India? What,if any, are
the strategic, political, and economic advantages in continuing to
keep a posture of ambiguity? There is a taboo of sorts on this
subject. Officials could do citizens the favour of initiating the
needed discussion.
There is crying need also to review our Kashmir policy. Ground
realities have changed in the valley. I have argued this case
repeatedly and at length in this space. Quotations from General
Sunderjee and citations of Indian human rights violations cannot
change those realities. If the national interest is to be served,
they ought to be confronted.
But nothing is more central right now to Pakistan's security than
peace in Afghanistan and improvement in relations with Iran. They
are neighbours with long borders with Pakistan, and share with us
the affinities of culture, history and faith. Since Pakistan's
founding, Iran had been a loyal friend, and a source of security
because our interests were complimentary. Harmony is our
geopolitical imperative. In recent years our policy or the
perception of policy, particularly as it concerns Afghanistan, has
soured relations between us. It must be restored to its natural,
collaborative state. There is no place more central to starting
this process than Afghanistan.
Not long ago our officials used to claim kudos for bleeding the
Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Soviets departed. The Americans
left also having cashed in there investments. A decade later,
Afghanistan's Mujahideen are continuing to make mince meat of the
country and its hapless people. Our officials deny responsibility
with impressive ingenuity and zero effect.
Two facts about this ugly civil war are incontrovertible: Pakistan
is the dominant power in relation to Afghanistan, the strongest,
most retrograde, and anti-Shi'a warring faction enjoys its support.
Iran, along with Uzbekistan and Russia, is aiding the Taliban's
fractious opponents. Thus external factors have become organically
linked to Afghanistan's warrior culture, and its economy of drugs,
guns, and smuggling. If peace is a goal, those links must be
broken. There is no point in apportioning guilt. The problem and
opportunities can be identified.
Afghanistan has lost its centre. The people that were known in
traditional Muslim societies as ahl al-hall wal aqd have vanished
from it. There are no peace makers left in Afghanistan. That
possibility lies outside of it. That responsibility rests with
Pakistan and Iran, with the United Nations serving as a
facilitator. Only when a peace process starts in earnest can one
persuade the United States, European powers, and Japan to provide
the incentives of a meaningful aid package for Afghanistan's
reconstruction. Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, a highly respected
Algerian diplomat, arrives in Islamabad today seeking peace for
Afghanistan in the United Nations' behalf. The time to begin the
high game of peace is now. May one hope that Prime Minister
Vajpayee will have the pleasure of watching Pakistan score this
time?
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S P O R T S
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980326
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Pakistan win Test and series after jingly-jangly ride
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Qamar Ahmed
HARARE, March 25: Pakistan notched up a three-wicket win over
Zimbabwe in the second and final Test to wrap up the two match
series 1-0 here on Wednesday.
This was the sixth win in a Test against Zimbabwe but not without
those usual hiccups. Pakistan, in fact, made heavy weather of it
through some reckless batting.
That Pakistan managed to get to the required target of 192 was
mainly due to some good batting by Saeed Anwar who made 65 and a
highly disciplined innings by Yousaf Youhana who made 52 invaluable
runs.
Pakistan had started the day at 58 for one, needing still 134 runs
to win the Test and the series. Mohammad Wasim, who had made 192 in
the first innings, was run out in the second over of the day at his
overnight score of eight. There was a comfortable single as he
drove to mid-on region but Saeed Anwar sent him back. The two put
on 45 runs for the second wicket.
Minutes later, Inzamamul Haq, like in the first innings, played
another wild stroke to hit the bowler out of sight and had to pay
the price for it. Adam Huckle had invited him to play a massive
drive which he missed and was stumped by Andy Flower for 10.
Saeed Anwar was timing his shots well and looked like winning the
match on his own when his downfall came. Having reached his 16th
Test fifty with seven fours and a six in 95 minutes batting. He was
65 when he played uppishly at short mid-wicket to substitute Andy
Whittall off Guy Whittall and was caught low down.
With Yousaf Youhana he had added 28 runs.
With his dismissal, Pakistan had once again started to look in
danger of losing their way. Just before lunch Pakistan lost yet
another wicket, that of Moin Khan who offered a simple catch to
Alistah Campbell at second slip.
Pakistan were 149 for 5 at lunch and needing another 43 runs to
win. Yousaf Youhana and Ali Naqvi, who had come late in the order
because of a twisted ankle, were at the crease.
Naqvi not able to move his feet properly was, however, given out
immediately after lunch off spinner Adam Huckle by the Zimbabwean
umpire Russell Tiffin. Naqvi was astounded and left the crease
reluctantly. He did not seem to have touched the ball as Andy
Flower appealed for a catch at the wicket. Youhana, however, was
well disciplined and never missed any opportunity of picking up
runs. He reached his third fifty of the series in 123 minutes
batting with the help of five fours and a six off Huckle. Minutes,
later, he was out at 52 off Guy Whittall when Murray Goodwin caught
him at gully. Pakistan needed six more runs to win which was duly
reached without any further damage.
Rashid Latif hit the winning single to wrap up the series.
Mohammad Wasim was the Man-of-the-Match and Waqar Younis was named
the Man-of-the-Series for his 13 wickets in two Tests at an average
of 17.76.
Pakistan play two one-day games here at Harare on Saturday and
Sunday before going back to South Africa for the Triangular Series.
REUTERS ADD:
"The fourth innings of a Test is often difficult and we played very
badly in the middle order," Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said.
"Inzamam (ul Haq), who is our main batsman, went cheaply but Yousaf
Youhana played brilliantly and Saeed Anwar played well.
"Plus Mohammad Wasim produced that brilliant 192 in our first
innings and that was a match-winning knock for us."
Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton pinpointed dropped catches in
Pakistan's first innings as the biggest disappointment of the Test.
"We had them at 187 for eight in their first innings just before
the end of the second day but five dropped catches cost us dearly,"
Houghton said.
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980323
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Jansher crushes Mir Zaman to retain trophy
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A. Majid Khan
KARACHI, March 22: Defending champion Jansher Khan, currently
ranked world no two, took 49 minutes to crush reigning Asian
champion Mir Zaman Gul,seeded fourth, with a straight games victory
to retain the title of the PIA Open Squash for the Hasan Musa
Trophy here on Sunday afternoon at the Jahangir Khan Squash
Complex.
Top seed and pre-tournament favourite Jansher triumphed 15-12 (18
minutes), 17-16 (21 min), 15-11 (10 min) in the final of the
tournament which carried total cash prize of Rs 80,000. The co-
sponsors of the event included L.G. Electronics, Pak Suzuki,
Cocacola and Wilson.
Jansher Khan got a winner s cash prize of Rs 15000 and runnerup Mir
Zaman Gul Rs 9,200,beaten semifinalists-Rs 5,500 each,
quarterfinalists-Rs 3,200 each, second round losers -Rs2000 each
and first round losers-Rs 1,000 each.
Sindh Governor Moinuddin Haider,who was the chief guest, gave away
the prizes. Pakistan Squash Federation Senior Vice-President Air
Vice Marshal Zahid Anis, who flew here yesterday from Islamabad,
witnessed the final.
Jansher Khan, aged 28, demonstrated his overall superiority over
31-year-old Mir Zaman Gul, who once had been among the top ten of
the world but gradually has gone down in rankings and is currently
ranked no 38. Howeer, he put up spirited fight in the first two
games but later on faded out.
Today playing with the knee cap on his left knee, Jansher Khan was
more quick and agile on the front of the court in executing
tantalising drop shots as well as in the court coverage. However,
the Khan did commit mistakes when he went for hasty winners to hit
the board.
Mir Zaman Gul,who yesterday recorded an upset victory over second
seeded Zubair Jahan Khan in a marathon semifinal, put up a gallant
fight. He came closer to snatch the closely contested second game
before Jansher, amazingly recovered, to ensure a straight game
victory. Nevertheless Mir Zaman played all-out attacking game and
hit delightful drops, angles and crosscourt shots and lobbed when
trapped on the front of the court.
Watched by packed to capacity Championship court gallery, Jansher
Khan twice went in front 3-2 and 4-3 getting stroke in the first
game. After 5-5 Mir Zaman hit a forehand volley to nick and he was
also awarded two successive penalty strokes to lead 8-5. In a game
of short rallies both the players tried to outwit each other in
stroke making and twice Mir Zaman came in the way of the Kahn to be
panalised for two penalty strokes. At 8-8 referee Zarak Jahan Khan
issued a conduct warning to Mir Zaman.
Jansher Khan trailed 9-10 when he produced a brace of his winning
backhand drops to take control of the proceeding. He was 13-10 up
when Mir Zaman also hit two winners to be 12-13. A 25-stroke rally
followed and Jansher went 14-13 ahead with a perfect forehand drop
and when Mir Zaman hit the board the Khan was the winner at 15-12.
Jansher appeared in total control of the second game when he raced
to 9-3 lead, producing a series of winners as Mir Zaman turned
erratic. However, Mir regained his touch and also hit winner after
winner. The Khan seemed to have lost his concentration as he
committed several unforced mistakes. The score stood 11-11, 12-12,
13-13 before Mir Zaman volleyed to nick 14-13 but Jansher Khan made
it 14-all with classic forehand volley to nick after a 20- stroke
rally.
The fans enjoyed the fascinating second game and when Mir Zaman was
16-15, ahead Jansher rose to great height to show has class by
slamming three winners in a row for a 17-16 win. After 5-all in
the third game, Jansher Khan mounted considerable pressure on his
opponent by moving him all over the court. Maintaining a good
length and varying the pace of the game Jansher went ahead 11-7 and
finishing the match at 15-11 as Mir Zaman, made many mistakes.
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980322
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Pakistan to meet India in ICC trophy opener
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, March 21: The draws of the International Cricket Council
(ICC) Trophy pit Pakistan against India in the opening match of the
knock-out gala.
The match between the former world champions will be played on Oct
5 in the tournament that is being staged at Dhaka's National
Stadium.
The opening event will, however, be played between England and
Zimbabwe on Oct 1. The match would be a qualifier for the final
stage and the winner will meet world champions Sri Lanka on Oct 4.
The final of the competition, being participated by all nine Test
playing countries and billed as second biggest event after the
World Cup, will be played on Oct 9.
The match between Pakistan and India means that one of the teams
would be eliminated from the tournament after their very first tie.
To add woes to the worries, the winner of the match will play
either Sri Lanka or England or Zimbabwe in the semifinal on Oct 7.
The draws of the tournament, according to PCB sources, have been
prepared without taking consent of the participating teams. They
said there was no criterion and the matches were fixed according to
the whims and fancies of the local authorities. The board sources
pointed out that the three sub-continent teams were fixed in the
lower half while the rest of the teams were placed in the upper
half.
"The draw seems to be a clash between sub-continent and rest of the
World," they argued.
The PCB sources said they had no problems in facing India in the
first game but added that the real thrill of the tournament would
have been if the two sides had been placed in different halves with
a possibility of meeting only in the final.
"More than half of the attraction (in the tournament) will be over
after the Pakistan and India match," they believe.
The complete draws are:
Oct 1: Qualifying match between England and Zimbabwe.
Oct 2: Australia v New Zealand
Oct 3: West Indies v South Africa
Oct 4: Sri Lanka v qualifier (England or Zimbabwe)
Oct 5: Pakistan v India
Oct 6: first semi-final (winner of Oct 2 match v winner of Oct 3
match).
Oct 7: second semi-final (winner of Oct 4 match v winner of Oct 5
match).
Oct 9: final.
Informed sources said the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) were
planning to organise all the match under lights. For this,
deliberations were still in progress. However, if the lights could
not be installed, the match would be played in sun light.
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