Sharifs and Shaikhs

The interference by Saudi Arabia in Pakistani politics and domestic affairs often breaches our sovereignty and it has never brought about any positive change in Pakistan; it is the time the Kingdom must be kept at a distance from our local politics. 

But it is a distant dream as our army chief often flies to the oil-rich kingdom where his predecessor, retired army general Raheel Shareef, is serving the royal family as the head of a multi-country military alliance whose structure, role and terms of reference have yet to be shaped or made known. Several working ministers hold Aqama or work permits of Saudi Arabian companies.

Now, we hear that a special plane landed at the Lahore airport to pick a Saudi royals’ friend on Friday. The royal aircraft’s lone passenger happened to be, as the TV screens flashed, ear-to-ear smiling Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. No official word came from the press relation people of the Punjab government about his visit. The party leaders, when contacted by the press corps, mumbled, struggled for words and came up with flimsy guesswork. Some said that he might have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra; others said the Sharifs had spent a good deal of time in the luxurious Saroor Palace and had several friends there. But they did not realise that most of the Sharifs’ friends had been incarcerated in the five (or maybe seven) star Riyadh Ritz Carlton Hotel. Some opposition quarters were happy that the Sharifs had been summoned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in connection with his drive against corruption and their (Sharifs) testimony might be required to bring charges against some old time royal personalities. The Sharifs are good at sailing with the calm waters and ditching the friends of rainy days.

Another plane is taking former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to the royal palace too. He was in such as hurry to meet the Shaikhs that he postponed his planned public rally in Kot Momin on Sunday. The Saudi Arabian establishment has rescued the Sharif family in 2000s after striking a deal with then powerful military dictator Pervez Musharraf. This time, the Sharifs are again in hot waters. What is the purpose of the two brothers’ visit to the kingdom is a mystery. No one knows what is going on in Jeddah, Riyadh, Makkah, and Madinah.

The opposition has rightly decried the duo’s journey to the kingdom, a fishy work, fearing a deal in the works. If any compromise happens which impacts the judicial trial of the family in accountability courts, it will backfire and the public sentiments may go against the Saudi Arabian establishment, and Pakistani courts.

The State needs to interfere in the matter that why a foreign government is making discreet contacts with a political party. There is also a need to maintain a greater level of transparency when a country is dealing with a political party. Who should keep the matters transparent? Of course, it is the responsibility of the “blue-eyed” party to make public what makes it special for the monarchs.

Once Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are back (only if the whimsical crown prince, who once detained Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri, allows them to fly back), they should be grilled by the press and his own party about the visit.

If they fail to give any plausible explanation, the public should give their own verdict through ballot against the Saudi interference.     

NAB’s newfound mission

The accountability watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has announced conducting inquiries into all Panama Papers companies with Pakistani connections. 

NAB authorities should have done this in 2015 when the Panama Papers scandal took the world by storm and claimed several figures in several countries. 

Our then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members, also among the Panama companies owners, refused to step down like other government figures in several countries. A suo moto by the Supreme Court set the accountability in motion, and a joint investigation team (JIT) came up with more startling revelations. 

The verdict was delivered with due justifications but Nawaz Sharif keeps on asking “mujhey kion nikala (why did you oust me?)”.  

After a lapse of good two years, new NAB chairman Javed Iqbal, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, has taken this popular decision. 

Did he do a proper homework before announcing the move? 

No. 

The NAB chairman is playing to the gallery and is opening a Pandora's Box. The exercise will be beating around the bush. Under him, NAB prosecutors performed poorly in the Hudaibiya Papers Mills appeal in the Supreme Court. 

The decision to probe those named in the Panama Gate may inflict sleepless nights on them, but only for a few weeks or months. Later on, it may be a new normal for them to deal with the slow-paced NAB probe department. NAB's working capacity need to be revamped. At the moment, it lacks efficient investigators, and prosecutors and low and poor conviction rate in NAB cases speak volume.

Political parties, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf will be affected the most as most of the named in the Panama Papers are linked with these two parties. As it is the election year, the opening of such cases may arise the element of witch hunting by NAB. These two parties may try to play victim cards to derail the accountability process.

Also, NAB can easily be influenced by the government. We have seen special treatment by NAB to the Sharifs and Captain Safdar in references against them and a different approach towards Dr Asim Husain and Sharjeel Insam Memon. Also, the NAB authorities did not file an appeal with the Supreme Court in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against the verdict of the Lahore High Court in 2014, because the defendants belonged to the Sharif family. If some breakthrough was done in the Panama Papers case, it was due to the efficient work of the JIT members, who had all the resources at their disposal and had the full backing of the Supreme Court judges.

To make its new mission a success, NAB needs to reform its structural working and exercise a great level of autonomy. It should collaborate with other investigating and spy agencies like the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence to accelerate fact gatherings. These agencies’ involvement in the Panama Papers case of Nawaz Sharif had brought about a great change in the results. Also, it needs to go beyond borders and establish a working relationship with other accountability watchdogs for corruption is now an international disease, and mostly one corruption involves more than one countries.

Hopefully, NAB is serious to counter corruption in Pakistan, and it will succeed in its mission. 

Shoe bite after Kulbhushan-family meeting

India should have said a big ‘thank you’ to the Pakistani government for allowing the wife and the mother of jailed, convicted and sentenced to death RAW spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet him on the Christmas Day. 

At least, the family and Kulbhushan Jadhav must be happy over the meeting and grateful to the Pakistani government for giving them a chance to meet and speak to each other, though through thick glass and on telecom, as per the protocol. 

It was a good effort by Pakistan to send goodwill gestures to the audience in India and elsewhere. 

The ‘purely humanitarian’ move, however, is being spoiled by the Indian government and its media on some flimsy grounds, and the ultimate sufferers of this bashing exercise will be the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav. The family, while in Pakistan thanked the Pakistani government for being considerate towards them, and in India, they have been wearing a graceful mum despite bashing by the Indian government and the media of Pakistan. 

More meetings are likely to happen as Pakistan did not call it the final or last meeting. Kulbhushan Jhadav is a condemned prisoner but it is unlikely that he will be sent to gallows.  

India accuses Pakistan of violating the agreed terms for the meeting. Indian demand for a consular access to what it called its retired navy official was not meant for this meeting. India has long been demanding consular access to Kulbhushan Jhadev, which Pakistan denies. India has moved the International Court of Justice on the grounds of Vienna Conventions. The Indian government, however, made it an issue that the pair of shoes of Kulbhushan Jhadev’s wife were not returned. Her bindi and mangal sutra were also confiscated before the meeting, which, in the Indian culture, is a hostile and indecent act. Also, soon after the meeting, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry released the photos of the meeting and dubbed Kulbhushan Jhadev the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan. His mother was hackled by a woman reporter as the “mother of the killer”.    

Pakistan need not explain the accusations. Both countries play to their domestic galleries. The aftermaths of the meeting explain it all. Pakistan should investigate the shoes of the spy’s wife and if something fishy is found, it should convey the details to the Indian government. If nothing comes out of the shoes’ sole, it should send a note with a few sentences of apology to the family and also return the pair of shoes. The atmosphere of malice and mistrust running high between the two neighbours will not fade anytime soon.    

Either side needs to take a deep breath and take the meeting of the death row spy and his family a starting point for a backchannel diplomacy. Pakistan has got vibrant and forward-looking army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is open to follow government’s policy on India, unlike his predecessors. On the other side, however, sits the hawkish government of Modi, which is not ready to change its political direction. Ceasefire violations will also bring no good to any side. As Pakistan and India, both will have elections in 2018, political parties on either side should show maturity and make India-Pakistan ties a crucial part of their campaigns.

Politics played on the grounds of Pakistan-India friendship will bring smiles in the region. 

Modern Literary Hangouts of Lahore

For decades, Qaim Naqvi spent his evenings in the Pak Tea House. 

From his office in the information ministry, he would dash for the bar, whom he called his second home.

“My first home provided me with a place to sleep, while the second home would feed me with reading, writing, and discourse to keep me alive,” recalls the grayhead poet, who was elected the secretary of Halqa Arbab-i-Zauq in the 80s. Qaim Naqvi would go home midnight to sleep and then awake in the morning to get ready for the work.

Everything seemed smooth until 2000 when his second home’s owner Zahid Hussain closed it down to convert it into a tyre shop. This left Qaim Naqvi and scores of other intellectuals and writers devastated, to whom the dimly lit eatery had provided evenings full of inspiration and an environment to escape from the worldly realities.

Once he recovered from the shock, Qaim Naqvi started spending his evenings in an apartment in Shadman, the publishing office of Ali Javed Naqvi. Soon, a vibrant literary cachet was developed. In 2013, when the government interfered and got opened the Pak Tea House, its artistic and intellectual clientele welcomed the decision. The historic hotel is still the favourite haunt of iconic writers, who spend hours discussing everything under the sun.  

Qaim Naqvi, however, did not return to his once second home. “Now, this Shadman flat is my second home,” he says.  

Like Qaim Naqvi, several other artists and intellectuals have found and developed their favourite haunts during the closure of the old cafe.

“When we stay in one place for a certain period of time, it’s natural to develop an affinity with the place,” explains broadcaster and poet Tasawr Shahzad, who regularly sits at the Adabi Baithak at Alhamra, The Mall. This baithak is frequented by several artists, poets, and writers.

“The baithak provides me with a complete package,” he explains why Adabi Baithak is the best choice.

“I can visit art exhibitions here, attend a music class, watch a quality stage show, interact with singers, actors, and friends and take a good cup of tea at an affordable rate,” he smiles.       

He says such hangouts are like oxygen for writers.

“You know that literature does not evolve in isolation.”

Once poets and writers would travel from all parts of Lahore to the Pak Tea House to enjoy the company of their favourite writers. Now, they have choices in several parts of the city to find such restaurants, and places to interact with iconic writers, and meet and sit with their friends and like-minded people.  

The Nairang Art Gallery on Jail Road in one such hangout. The artistically-decorated lounge of the gallery holds a weekly sitting of famous historian Dr Mubarak Ali. Famous story writer Intizar Hussain used to visit the place in his days.   

Most of the Punjabi writers and activists like to throng a café at the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (PILAC) at Alhamra Cultural Complex on Ferozepur Road. The purpose-built café has tables and chairs for groups.

PILAC Director Dr Sughra Sadaf says the café is home to several groups and individuals, who start coming here at dusk.

Punjabi Parchaar, a group of activists working to the Punjabi language, keeps the café alive with weekly programmes. Its president Ahmad Raza says the café attracts a good quality, able crowd.

Journalist and Punjabi writer Sarfraz Ali visits the place on weekends. He says it is just like more than a ritual for him to visit the Pilac café on Saturdays and Sundays. “My muse flies high when I vent my feelings here late night,” he smiles.  

Also, Chopal in Nasser Bagh, Aiwan Iqbal and the office of Anjuman Taraqi Pasand Munsfeen are formal haunts for several writers and artists.

With the passage of time, some writers have developed their taste for Wi-Fi haunts.

Several writers and journalists visit Readings on Main Boulevard of Gulberg and Books and Beans on Guru Mangat Road where books, a variety of drinks and Wi-Fi environment are an irresistible attraction for them.

Shanzay Syed, an English poet and a Punjab University student, met Hamna Batool at Readings. She was browsing the shelf for Naguib Mahfouz’s books three years ago when Hamna also happened to be there and she was also looking for the Egyptian Nobel Laurate’s books. The coincidence made them friends and later on, both started meeting here at the bookshop’s coffee area to exchange views. Their friends also join them at this, what Shanzay calls, books dating point. The coffee shop is also graced by ace writer and critic Saleemur Rehman and Mustansar Husain Tarar. The Books and Beans lounge often sees journalists Sohail Warraich and Nasrullah Malik. A nearby Mehr Hotel is a favourite place for the journalists of Dawn, Express, Ab Tak and Daily Times journalists.   

Faiz Ghar in Model Town also provides a venue for discussions and reading to literature lovers. Some groups feel conformable in the cosy ambience of Gloria and Jeans near Hussain Chowk in Gulberg and X 2 café in Liberty Market.

Writer and playwright Mustansar Hussain Tarar regularly sits with his fans and friends in the Model Town Park to bask sun in the winter and under a large, big tree in the summer after his morning walk.

Some haunts were developed in the mid-2000s, but they could not weather the ups and downs of the business. For some years, the Institute of Peace and Culture Studies in Garden Town offered good quality programmes and film screenings. Similarly, people would wait for a call from the Bol Café in Gulberg which offered interaction with international intellectuals on Skype.

Dr Shahida Dilawar Shah, columnist and writer, predicts the closure of other literary haunts too.

“You see the busy life has devoured our leisure time,” she says. And the other thing is the absence of iconic writers in these literary hangouts. She says she had been to such hangouts and found that groups were indulged in backbiting, leg pulling and ugly politics.

“This is not the purpose of literary bars and discussion,” she bemoans.

Journalist and writer Kazim Jafri, however, sees it a minor issue.

“It is up to you what sort of friends you choose at the hangout,” he says.

“We should not forget several timeless stories of Manto were conceived and written in such cafes,” he argues, pointing to the picture of Manto in the Pak Tea House. 

America on notice spree

When Donald Trump was making gaffe after gaffe during his presidential campaign for the White House earlier this year, the American and world media was pinning hopes on his deputy called Mike Pence billing him as the voice of sanity in the Republican’s camp. He, however, sounded the sanity past perfect when during a visit to Afghanistan on Friday, he stepped into the shoes of his White House boss and hurled an ugly warning in an anti-diplomatic tone that President Donald Trump had now “put Pakistan on notice”.

Is Pakistan a junior level employee in a corporate office where the US is its boss?

A day before, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, in anti-diplomatic tone, warned the countries and the Nation Nations that the US would remind them when it chips in its largest share for the world body.

Sigh. Period.

Even before it, the American president has hurled warnings on the North Korean administration, Iran, Syria and the Muslim world. Now, his deputy warned Pakistan not to provide safe havens to terrorists and that Donald Trump had put Pakistan on notice. The US vice president made the remarks while addressing US troops at the Bagram airfield. He should have, however, put the troops’ commanders on notice for not winning the war despite having the most sophisticated warfare against the not-so-trained Afghan Taliban. The American vice-president should have put the Afghan authorities on notice for their failure to seal the Afghan-Pak border areas. He should have issued a final notice to the operators of drones for their failure to track and get the militants who cross from Pakistan into Afghanistan dodging the most modern technology. He could have found several people in the CIA and Pentagon worthy of getting noticed for their failures in the Afghan battlefield. The longest war of America can provide Mike Pence a plenty of people worthy of notices.

When the Christmas and New Year holidays are over and the American administration is back to work, the Pakistan Foreign Office should reach their counterparts in America and explain to them what Pakistan has done, and what has been doing since the inception of the war, and remind them of their part of the job. Also, Pakistan should mail a list of the culprits in the American side who deserves to be put on notice.

But in war and love, such notices hardly work.

A day earlier, when the whole world snubbed Nikki Hale for her threats to put the countries on notice, Pakistan should have shrugged off the American warning. But the Pakistani Foreign Office took to the diplomatic path and reminded the superpower that allies are not put on the watch list. Does the Trump administration understand this tone?

No. Never. Nada.

Pakistan should accelerate its efforts to eradicate terrorism and extremism from its soul regardless of what the world says. This war is in the benefit of Pakistan and if Pakistan win, the whole world will stand by us. 

Shahbaz Sharif as PM candidate? Oh, no!

With announcing Shahbaz Sharif as the next Pakistan Muslim League-N candidate for prime minister, Nawaz Sharif has cleared smokes clouding the future of his younger brother and uncertainty in the party circles about Maryam Safdar vs Shahbaz Sharif competition about the coveted office. 

The manners, under which the announcement was leaked, and the history of Nawaz Sharif’s sticking to his words, however, beg several explanations.

Consider.

The development was leaked through a journalist and then a few kitchen cabinet members that Nawaz Sharif, during a party huddle at his Jati Umra palace, had nominated Shahbaz Sharif a candidate for the prime minister in 2018 elections. 

The timing of the announcement is curious. On Tuesday, military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was in the Senate committee ensuring the supremacy of Parliament. The popular perception is: the military establishment feels comfortable with Shahbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar. If there were some grey areas between the civilians and the army, the good general has removed that perception. One may think that the announcement elevating the chief minister to the prime minister slot is a goodwill gesture to the establishment by Nawaz Sharif.   

Now, when Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is running the government comfortably and the PML-N parliamentarians feel comfortable dealing with him, the announcement of his successor would impact his authority and even performance. Shahbaz Sharif is known for his penchant to deal party leaders and parliamentarians with disdain and relies on his blue-eyed bureaucrats to run the government affairs and party affairs. He hardly attends the assembly sessions; he has no time to meet party lawmakers; and he is always in a hurry to plan, execute and get done the projects. With Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister means there is no jubilation in the party ranks.   

Will Nawaz Sharif honour his words is another big question. When the PML-N had a comfortable majority in the National Assembly after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif, and the party could easily get him to the prime minister office, he was left out. Initially, Nawaz Sharif announced that Shahbaz would be his successor. Within days, he changed his mind and brought Shahid Khaqan Abbasi forward. His second choice was not bad. But the change in the plan fueled rumours of the family rift, especially Maryam-Hamza Shahbaz rivalry to succeed the party and the government offices. Nawaz Sharif has a history of negating his own statements. Remember the late retired Justice, Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, who was pitted against Asif Ali Zardari in 2008 to contest the president office. Those were times when the PML-N was to lose the game because of its poor number show. In 2013, when Nawaz Sharif had all the required strength, he preferred little known (or better known as the man with no his own opinion) Mamnoon Hussain over the retired judge for the post. He has already done the same with the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, the Chaudhry of Chakri (Chaudhry Nisar Ali) and the Syed of Khairpur (Ghaus Ali Shah).   

Will Maryam Safdar Nawaz have the last laugh? Very likely, as she is considered close to her father, and the recent confrontation stirred up by Nawaz Sharif against the judiciary is stated to be orchestrated by this eldest daughter.

Shahbaz Sharif or Maryam Safdar Nawaz? Imran Khan or Bilawal Bhutto Zardari?

Let the people deliver a verdict in the 2018 elections. 

Literature or STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)?

In our part of the world, there is a national focus on fostering STEM among boys and girls leaving out literature and social science behind. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would promise to turn a dedicated chief minister’s complex into an information technology university. 

State-of-the-art Arfa Kareem Tower stands tall inspiring people to study computer sciences. The Higher Education Commission announces hundreds of foreign study scholarships for STEM graduates. 

The market has lucrative and an abundant supply of jobs for STEM scholars.

Punjab University’s BS programmes of STEM disciplines see neck to neck fight as everyone wants to get admission to STEM departments and those with around 90 percent of marks can secure a berth there. Those who cannot make to STEM disciplines, and still want to have a higher education degree, turn to social sciences departments.

In these circumstances, who would turn to literature and how do Lahore schools cope with this problem?

The consequences of ignoring literature and social sciences are upon us. Once can see frustration and intolerance among the youth. Literature promotes harmony, love, co-existence and empathy, whereas STEM programmes are least bothered about even workplace ethics. 

Dr Huam Baqai vouches for the fact.

An associate professor with the Institute of Business Administration, Dr Baqai says that they contacted several employers to know about the productivity of their graduates.

Their response was shocking.

Many of the employers said the graduates had good content knowledge but that was not enough. The workplace can teach a raw beginner all the content and skills required for the job in a few months. The graduates of the IBA, however, lacked workplace co-existence. The feedback pushed the programme managers to increase the number of humanities subjects from three to seven and 10.

Schools should have some subjects taught for learning and intellectual grooming purpose only, not for grades. Evaluation of subjects like literature (humanities and social sciences) should be redesigned as STEM graduates get 100 out of 100 which is not done in literature subjects for right or wrong reasons.

One or two semesters at a university programme may not be enough to inculcate the love of reading in university students.

The role of the family in inculcating the love of reading in children.

A strict reading regime should be developed at home. Parents should become a role model for their children. They should take them very often to libraries and bookshops. Do not criticise the technology, it’s a new fast rapid way to gain knowledge but the excessive use of technology is harmful.

Another solution can be the marriage of science and literature. Our generation is aware of and interested in zombies. It is because the media generates their interest in it. So why cannot we make films on themes of science and literature? Literature is important for scientists because you need to know how to write as you need to do a lot of writing in your career.

It is time for creative minds to make topics of science and literature attractive to the young generation. It will be a constructive contribution of media to society building. New research has shown that media has not only gained independence but all other organs of society are getting heavily dependent on media. It is against this background that media, not least digital media, should play its role to educate cyber kids on science and literature.

Sameen Shah, a PhD scholar, is studying the new trends keenly.    

She says she believes in this age of science where our children are surrounded by gadgets, social media and microblogging trends, a 'human' experience rich with emotions, empathy, values, and compassion has become both rare and difficult to understand. Teaching literature to our children can probably soften the hard and rough edges of their personalities, helping them develop a better understanding of that 'human' experience.

“With the wonderful amalgam of emotions, imagination, and surreal narrations, literature can help us look beyond our limited understanding of life experiences. It takes away the selfish streak that we are all painted with and begs us to go beyond our selves and develop emotional connections with other [fictional] beings. Every corner of the world that has seen wars, conflicts, cruelty or a sudden surge of materialism has observed a resulting apathy. They have always found a way to compensate that using literature, arts, and poetry. It helps keep the human element alive and reconnects people using collective experiences. Children, of all, can benefit greatly by studying literature as it helps them develop a deeper understanding of the world and how multiple perspectives can be employed to study the same phenomenon,” she says.

She is right but this ugly job market is devouring literature fast.

There is blood in Quetta church

There was blood again in Quetta – this time in a church ahead of Christmas. 

By the time, this piece was being written, nine had been killed and over 30 injured in, what police said, a botched suicide attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church on Quetta's Zarghoon Road. 

More causalities are expected in the days to come which will go unreported because of the media’s obsession with politics and their tendency not to do any follow-up of the cases. 

The law enforcers will soon forget the case. 

They have a huge backlog of cases to solve. 

They say two suicide bombers tried to breach the security of the church, which was in service at that time and around 400 people in the church, a place of worship when the guards and police officials deployed there challenged them. We hear the church has been targeted earlier too.  

Balochistan often hits the headline because of a bloodbath. This time, the killers spilled the blood of Christians; earlier, the blood of police officials, paramilitary personnel, Hazara people, laborers workers on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Punjabi settlers have spilled on several occasion. A police officer with his family – his wife, son, and granddaughter - was shot at and killed in a targeted killing whereas one onlooker was also injured, for being at a wrong place at the wrong time in the gun attack in Nawan Killi area.

Not long ago, police were in the mourning, when a blast killed a DIG and two others in the same bloodied city. Police officers, who are supposed to protect others, have been the targets of blood-thirsty assailants, what to say of the laborers working on a CPEC projects who were killed in a duck shooting in Kech district on Wednesday. Levies found bullet-riddled bodies. According to a source, as per DawnNews report, the deceased were from Punjab and working on a CEPC project. In earlier weeks, Hazara people were gunned down. 

As is the norm, a high-level crackdown ensues whenever there is a high profile murder in a targeted killing, government functionaries religiously followed the rituals and vowed to arrest the murderer of police officers.  

Balochistan kept on wearing an impatient calm when there was a wave of death and destruction in tribal areas and targeted suicide bombing across the country from 2001 till 2013. When military operation Zarb Azab claimed peace in most of the parts of the country, Balochistan erupted with sectarian and terrorist violence. There have been attacks on CPEC projects, shrines, religious congregation, political leadership and the common man.

It seems Balochistan is under attack from dissidents and terrorists. The government needs to take up a two-pronged strategy to deal with the violence in Balochistan – talks with Baloch leaders and action against Taliban and religious extremists.

Baloch nationalist leaders and workers have been pushed to the wall by the state for their political demands. The demands included provincial autonomy and less and less interference in the federal government. The government, however, answered their demands with the assassination of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in an army operation. Several Baloch leaders were hounded, harassed and killed. Now, several Balochs have been under exile, waging their struggle against the government and the establishment. The government has, several times, extended them offers for talks, but in vain. They will (or should) come to the dialogue table as the confrontation or guerilla warfare will not land them victory against an organized, disciplined Pakistan Army.

South Punjab or Seraiki wasaib?

When PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari concluded his speech at his party’s rally in Multan on December 15 that ‘Ghinsoon, ghinsoon, sooba ghinsoon’ (we’ll grab the province, come what may), the crowd went frenzy. 

But not some Seraiki nationalists.

Pakistan Seraiki Party president Dr Nukhbah Langah said it was just an election stunt and a Seraiki vote securing strategy.

“The PPP did not change the name of their party unit of Seraiki wasaib,” she said referring to the PPP South Punjab chapter.  

She said Asif Zardari promised a Seraiki bank during his presidentship and that was not established.
https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=17_12_2017_002_008

On the national language bill in the Senate, the PPP did not include Seraiki in it.

“Three cheers for the PPP for speaking for us but why the party has shied away from calling it a Seraiki sooba,” questioned Zahoor Dhareeja, the president of Saraikistan Qaumi Council Pakistan. He said speakers after speakers at the massive rally kept calling our wasaib as south Punjab, which was factually incorrect. “We lay our claim from Bahawalpur to Khushab districts, and Khushab, Mianwali, and Dera Ismail Khan, all Seraiki speaking districts, do not fall in south part of Punjab,” he explained. He sees Seraiki as his identity and wonders when the PPP gave identity to Pashtuns by renaming their province as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, why not the similar approach for the Seraiki belt.

Seraiki nationalists had pinned great hopes from the PPP rally and had done spadework to convince the party to raise the slogan of the province for the Seraiki belt.

When he landed in Multan, huge billboards and banners inscribed with a separate province demands welcomed Mr Bhutto-Zardari. Such columns of banner had popped up in every nook and cranny of the Multan city days ahead of the rally. Local newspapers published front-page ads and special supplements on behalf of Saraikistan Democratic Party General Secretary Asif Khan.

But all the publicity material missed the word ‘Seraiki’.

Asif Khan acknowledged there were some concerns in the PPP over raising the slogan of the Seraiki province.

He, however, called it a milestone for the nationalists that the PPP chairperson wore a Seraiki ajrak, called Seraiki the language of four provinces and promised to raise a new province for the area.

“Let us not make the name a big issue at this stage,” he says.

Rana Ibrar Khalid, a journalist with a deep interest in Seraiki issues, offers an explanation. He says when a commission for a separate province was formed by the Zardari government in 2011 under Senator Farhatullah Babar, then the powerful circles had warned the PPP not to use the word ‘Seraiki’ in the province issue. He said though it was undesirable, the PPP be forgiven for the reason that it had made the province issue a national issue, which was earlier confined to drawing room and seminar discussions.

“When the PPP presented a bill for the Seraiki area province in the Senate, Nawaz Sharif would instigate the people of Bahawalpur to demand the revival of their defunct state, not a province,” he said, adding that Baloch, Sindhi, and Pashtun nationalists supported the Seraiki province whereas some elements in Punjab had an issue with ‘Seraiki’ province. 

Ijazur Rehman, Pakistan Seraiki Party activist, says the PPP needs to understand public’s sentiments. “The crowd went mad when Javed Siddiqui anchored the rally proceeding in Seraiki, when Yousuf Gilani and Asif Zardari spoke in Seraiki and when Javed Multani sang a song in Seraiki,” he said.

Rana Fraz Noon, the Sarakistan Democratic Party head, says PPP’s promise would force other parties to make the province their part of the manifesto. 

Along the rocky road of CPEC

The corridor called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), often dubbed as a game changer for Pakistan, seems to be fraught with troubling tracks zigzagging along rocky, difficult paths. 

The project needs to be run in the most transparent manners so that the people of China and Pakistan know about terms of the projects. Contrary to this, the Pakistani government has been moving ahead on the project in the most suspicious manners clouding the public perceptions towards the project. 

In front of Chinese delegates, who are the smartest dealmakers on the earth, transparency would have helped the representatives of our side to be aware of pros and cons of deals. At least, in this world, nobody knows everything of all the things. We may know everything about something and something about everything. 

The first meaningful detail of CPEC emerged when the Senate learned that China would get 91 percent of the revenues to be earned from the Gwadar port and the remaining income – nine percent – would go to the Gwadar Port Authority. This arrangement would remain in place for 40 years. This dropped a bombshell on senators and the public at large, who felt just being robbed even before the start of the project. One senator pointed out India had struck a similar deal with China on easy terms. 

CPEC involves mega projects, which need months-long, if not years-long, planning, feasibility works and piloting, and all these well-established norms are being violated in the planning and execution of CPEC projects. Consider the project of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project where the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) experts renegotiated with the Chines sides and succeeded in getting slashed Rs50 billion from the total project cost. Otherwise, the project had been signed and was at the execution stage when Nespak officials stepped in and got away with saving precious Rs50 billion. 

Now, we hear that Pakistan was pressed hard to surrender more concessions to the Chinese investors in certain projects at the 7th joint cooperation committee (JCC) meeting of CPEC. Of them, one is Diamer-Bhasha Dam, followed by Karachi-to-Peshawar railway line upgrade project, energy projects and industrial parks in different cities.   

A well-worded note for the anxious press crops should have been issued at the end of the JCC meeting. Now, through leaked minutes of the meeting, the press reported that Chines had come up with some hard terms, which Pakistan was reluctant to accept. Both sides also differed on the terms related to the Karachi-Peshawar railway line project, or the Main Line 1 project, besides the Karachi circular railway. The JCC meeting ended without signing the project documents. That is not bad. Striking a bad deal is worse than having no deal at all. 

CPEC is to remain in place for the years to come and it is prudent for both sides to inch towards the terms of reference carefully. An all win-win situation for China will also hurt the project. The corridor should have a win-win bargain for either side and for that it is necessary for the Chinese side to be considerate towards the taker – Pakistan. 

FATA awaits reforms

FATA.

What comes to your mind your hear this custom-laden word?

Turbaned people. Wrapped in shuttlecock burqa women. Gun-touting young men. 

FATA is much more. It has vibrant people. It has women who see dreams. It has lots of children who are as curious as those living in other parts of the world.

They have long been living in isolation. 

Not anymore.  

The only thing this tribal land wants is connectivity with the world. 

By delaying the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) reforms bill, the Pakistan Muslim League-N government is wasting a historic opportunity to mainstream this tribal land and bring its people and infrastructure on a par with those of other parts of the country. 

The much-needed bill is agreed upon by almost all political parties, except for the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party,  and lawmakers from tribal areas are also campaigning for the early approval of the bill. Like the previous Asif Zardari-led initiative on then Northern Areas and now Gilgit-Baltistan, which helped the scenic areas mainstreamed and flourished, the incumbent government has a golden chance to introduce reforms in the tribal areas and make a big political moves to uplift the party, facing hard times in the wake of the disqualification of its founder Nawaz Sharif in the Panama case.

The party had started work on the bill years ago when Nawaz Sharif was himself, prime minister. The party’s hard work under a committee, led by Sartaj Aziz, has several important points. The bill brings the people and areas, under the ambit of the Peshawar High Court and the Supreme Court, freeing them from the harsh, strict laws of the Frontier Constabulary Regulations, which carry sweeping penalties.

Earlier, the Pakhtunkhwa government and the federal government had differed on the reforms as the provincial government wanted the control of the tribal areas for five years to mainstream them before holding elections there in 2023. The federal government, however, proposed election for provincial assembly seats in 2018 and then local bodies elections. The Rewaj Act, which has the active support of the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has first proposed party-based local body elections before the general elections. The differences, however, were later overcome through dialogues.

The fresh cord of discord stems from the faltering on the presentation of the bill in the National Assembly earlier this week after the ruling party stepped back despite putting the bill on the agenda of the session. Now, we hear that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi plans to consult the political parties at a breakfast meeting this week when he is back from Turkey where is attending the session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. This is a welcome step, and the prime minister should discuss the bottlenecks and irritants in the bill with political leaders, who think that the bill is being withdrawn or held back only to appease Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

The tribal areas have long been ignored by successive governments leaving them to local lords until Taliban militants held the areas hostage. The army took years to flush them out. Still, there are pockets in tribal areas where Taliban militants have their networks but the army will soon tackle them. As the army is doing its part, the political government also needs to chip in its share. The reforms bill heralds a news ear for the tribesmen and it should be implemented without any delay.

   

The return of Baghi, Daghi whatsoever you call him!

Baghi is gone. 

No, Daghi is gone where he belonged to. 

Javed Hashmi is in the news again. 

This party hopper politician met former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who he addressed 'my leader' when he himself was a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA, in Islamabad last week. Nothing concrete came out of the meeting, except for Maryam Nawaz’s excited comment: ‘Welcome back to your own home’. 

Will the PML-N be his home again? 

Will he feel at home in his old party after a gap of five or six years when ditched it for the PTI? 

Will the PML-N feel at home with the outspoken leader? 

Will the local leadership of Multan, who feel outshined and cornered in his presence, will be comfortable with his presence in the party?

Several questions, but to get as many answers one will have to wait until the dust settles down.

Prior to his meeting with Nawaz Sharif, Javed Hashmi had desperately been trying to remain in news through his marathon press conferences during the Panama case storm. 

Every evening, he would call a press conference where he would often take anti-judiciary, anti-establishment, anti-Imran Khan and anti-political victimisation stances. 

One could easily read between the lines that the elder politician was supporting the beleaguered Sharif family. The Raiwind palace, however, never showed enthusiasm on the persistence support by one of their former old guards until Nawaz Sharif was disqualified and put on trial in several NAB cases.

Despite cold shoulders by the PML-N, why Javed Hashmi is looking toward his old party?

Some analysts believe that since the days of Gen Musharraf when Javed Hashmi led the party on anti-establishment lines from 2000 to 2007, he became a staunch crusader of democracy and anti-establishment stances. They believe that for these reasons, first, he fell out with the PML-N in 2011 when the party was in full contacts with Gen Kiani and Gen Pasha.

He left the PTI when he saw the party had become a B team of the establishment during its sit-in stunt in 2014 and now he sees Nawaz Sharif the only politician with anti-establishment voice, so he sees PML-N his own voice.

There could be some other reasons too behind the reunion of Javed Hashmi and the Sharif family. Javed Hashmi was a misfit in the PTI and he is also misfit in the PML-N. But it is the bloody constituency-based politics which has driven both Javed Hashmi and the PML-N to embrace each other. Javed Hashmi is looking for a safe constituency for the 2018 elections whereas the PML-N is looking for a reasonable candidate for NA-149 where from Javed Hashmi has returned a couple of times. In the absence of Javed Hashmi, the PML-N has weak choices to face PTI’s formidable candidate called Amir Dogar.

But Javed Hashmi has reached the age of superannuation and he should call it a day from politics. In fact, he should have said goodbye to politics in 2012-2013. But there is no concept of retiring from politics in Pakistan.

The better choice for the elder Hashmi is to spare no effort to launch a movement for the Seraiki province.

In the face of sits-in by spiritual leaders

The influence of pirs or spiritual leaders is visible on our social and political spheres. 

The footprints of institutions, such as shrine, manat, and bayat can be traced in millions of the families in urban and rural localities of Pakistan. Their influence is so strong that even politicians, government quarters, social scientists and economists also invoke their blessings for the success of their programmes. 

The institutions of shrines used to inspire the public at large for peace, harmony and cultural diversity until the government started holding their control through the Auqaf Department. The governmental control on shrines only impacted a portion of the income of their caretakers but failed to lessen their influence on the public mind. After the inception of Auqaf, these pirs started playing active politics.

Consider the example of the Bahauddin Zakariya and Shah Rukn-i-Alam shrines, located at Qilla Kuhna Qasim Bagh in Multan. 

The Auqaf Department has placed its money collection boxes there but followers after paying visit to the shrines, go to their caretaker of the shrines - Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi - and pay him the homage and the money to seek his blessing for spiritual ecstasy. Qureshi’s followers run in million, mostly in Sindh and Punjab districts. Mr Qureshi’s support can influence the results of several constituencies.

Like Qureshi, there are scores of pirs who have their pockets of followers across Pakistan. If we start from Multan, the city of saints or Madinatul Aulia, we can see several pirs running their political careers. Along Mr Qureshi stands former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is the caretaker of the shrine of Musa Pak Shaheed. Makhdoom Moni Shah is the caretaker of Darbar Sher Shah. Javed Hashmi, who started his career as a student leader, took refuge in the pir sector, and now he states himself to be the claimant of Makhdoom Rasheed shrine caretaker. He likes to be called Makhdoom. During the Nawaz Sharif rule in 1997-1999, he tried to take the control of shrines of Bahauddin Zakariya and Shah Rukn-i-Alam with the support of the Auqaf Department but the followers only accepted the Qureshi family as their spiritual guides.

In neighbouring districts of Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Rajanpur, Jhang, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Okara, pirs have their pockets of followers.

In Muzaffargarh, Bukhari brothers are the descendant of the Darbar Khaand Shrif; in Dera Ghazi Khan, the khwajagan of Taunsa Sharif are heavy weight political players;, in Ranjapur the Koreejas of Khwaja Ghulam Farid shrine, in Layyah the caretakers of Pir Jaggi Sharif and Pir Sehwag Sharif, in Jhang the Sahibzadas of Sultan Bahu darbar and Faisal Saleh Hayat of Shah Jewena, in Faisalabad the followers of Sahibzada Fazal Karim, in Bahawalpur the Awaisi political family, in Sahiwal the pir Khagga family, in Okara Samsam Bukhari who is the caretaker of Pir Karmanwala, and so on are political figures. Their support is vital for the ruling party to sustain their rule.

The PML-N government recently faced a huge blowback from the Brelvi sect over the wording of the electoral bill. 

To make up the loss, in the ongoing month of Rabiul Awal, the Sharif family leaked to the media that mehfils of Milad would be held on the residences of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. The proceedings of these sessions were broadcast live on PTV.

But the clergy is not impressed.

Now, we hear that five lawmakers have resigned on the orders of (or in solidarity with) Pir Sialvi of Sargodha after the government refused to oust Rana Sanaullah from the ministry office over his statement on Qadiyanis. 

It seems that after the debacle of Faizabad Chow sit-in, where the government completely surrendered to the clerics, the PML-N government has decided to resist these pirs.

If this is the case, it is likely the PML-N is likely to lose 30-40 seats in Punjab.

Given the level of exploitation of the pirs, it seems the PML-N has planned to take them head on. 

This is a good cause. 

Orange Line along the red lines

The Supreme Court’s much-awaited verdict in the Lahore Orange Line Project has been released. The verdict carries 31 commandments - 19 more than Moses! - allowing the Punjab government to go ahead with the controversial project, which is deemed harmful to the heritage sites by archaeologists and Unesco experts. As the verdict was announced on Friday, there were scenes of jubilation in the beleaguered government quarters while heritage lovers were left aghast. In the civil society quarters, it was being predicted much before the verdict that the court may give a green-light the government on the project, on the pretext that billions have already been spent on the project, so scraping it would mean wasting the investment. First, the Lahore High Court delayed issuing a stay order against the construction work despite petitioners –civil society activists – pleas again and again in 2015. At last a stay order was issued on August 19, 2016 and by then the damage was already done with ugly pillars stare down the heritage sites. The Punjab government moved the Supreme Court against the stay order and the honourable judges sat on the case till Dec 8, 2017.    

Heritage lovers and civil society activists have been left with very few options to save the site or minimize the harm stemming from the verdict.

The construction experts can see at what speed the train should run while passing by the sites so the vibration impact is minimum. These sites are Shalamar Gardens, Gulabi Bagh Gateway, Buddu’s Tomb, Chauburji, Zaibunnisa’s Tomb, Lakshmi Building, General Post Office (GPO), Aiwan-i-Auqaf (Shah Chiragh) Building, Supreme Court, Lahore registry building, Saint Andrew’s Church and Mauj Darya Shrine.

The verdict binds government departments - the National Engineering Services Pakistan, the Punjab Mass Transit Authority and the Lahore Development Authority - to come up with the measures to protect monuments during project execution. Alas, none of the department has expertise in preservation an conservation of monuments. In fact, the whole case built against these departments’ anti-heritage project. Civil society can keep the flame alive by approaching these departments time to time to hire the right experts for the job.  

One of the commandment states that vibration levels be monitored through modern devices during the construction and initial 10 weeks of the train’s commercial operations. In case, the vibration is damaging the sites, train operations have to be suspended until remedial measures were taken. Sirs, what remedial measures, by the way, you are suggesting when the project will be been functional? It is not the ugly vibration alone, which is defacing the beautiful sites, the blockade of the view of the sites by the high rise has already made the sites ugly scenes.

Another order that “where excavation was necessary, it would be carried out in a way that it would not affect any structure or foundation of the antiquities or special premises” is also like ‘crying over the split milk’.

Other orders include the establishment of a dedicated hotline so that the members of the public can report any blowback to the sites and all complaints will be investigated in seven days.

The verdict also speaks about the need to protect, preserve, renovate, reconstruct and repair the heritage assets.

The 31-point verdict hardly meets these words.  

Trump’s capital blunder

US President Donald Trump thinks small and acts big, without much realising the consequences of his actions. His actions have earned him a four-year White House term, a big fortune and of course, notoriety. Before becoming the US president, his actions would impact his wealth, family, friends and empire’s employees. 

Now, when he is the world’s superpower president, Donald Trump's two-line tweets jolt the whole world and this pie-head politician either ignores them or enjoys them. 

December 6, 2017, will be remembered as just another day when Donald Trump just added a gaffe to his career when he announced recognising the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and starting the shifting of his country’s embassy there from Tel Aviv.

When he had started his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had vowed to ‘make America great again’. Since his inception as the president, he, however, has proved time and again that he is hell-bent on making this great country small and an unreliable partner in world peace. Look at the reaction from across the globe and one comes to the conclusion that except for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all world leaders have criticised the move. 

America is bound to lose standing not only in the Arab region but in Europe, Asia, Africas and South America as well, where the countries having diplomatic ties with Israel see the move potentially catastrophic.

The blowback of impotent Arabs is a case to study for linguists, diplomats and international relations expert. Arab allies of the US, who had greeted Donald Trump as a great leader in a recent summit in Saudi Arabia, are struggling for words to comment on the situation. 

King Salman of Saudi Arabia said, “The decision would hurt talks and increase regional tensions.” By the time, his reaction was being broadcasted, other TV channels reported that Sanaa residents remained indoors the whole night of December 6 to escape the escalated bombing of Saudi jets. That speaks volumes about the priorities of the ‘Custodian of Two Holy Mosques’. 

The beleaguered Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, sees “dangerous consequences” to the two-state solution efforts, which has long been ditched by the incumbent Israeli prime minister. Jordan King Abdullah II found the softest words to express his “caution” against the move, saying that Jerusalem remained the key to achieving peace and stability in the region and the world. Jerusalem, in reality, has been Israeli functional capital since 1948 with all its government installation in the western part of the city. 

Turkish firebrand leader Tayyip Erdogan threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Israel. His words have yet to see actions. A soft blowback was trickled in from Egypt, Middle East, the Arab League and Pakistan.

What will be the sequences of Donald Trump’s announcement? 

The world at large may not move their embassies to the disputed city, sacred to three religions, but the big American move will weaken moderate elements in the Muslim world and will fan radicalism, extremism, and terrorism.

Any upside of the decision? 

Yes, Donald Trump is set to win popularity in certain pockets of America and in the American establishment, which is heavily tilted to Israeli interests. The controversial move will renew efforts by the world leaders to find a two-state solution, which Donald Trump-Benjamin Netanyahu will try their best to frustrate. 

May these two enemies of peace rot in the hell.