Interior Ministry’s ad: right content by the wrong forum

Excuse us, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, your ministry’s prime job is to look after internal security issues of the country, and not to issue fatwas on sensitive issues like, such as Khatam-i-Nabuwat or the seal of the prophethood. 

No doubt, every Muslim is very much sensitive about the respect of the last prophet of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him), but the ministry has nothing to do with people’s beliefs. The ministry should concentrate on providing a viable atmosphere where religious liberty is provided to all the citizens; preaching religious beliefs is not the job of the ministry.

The Interior Ministry got published a quarter page advertisement in almost all national dailies on October 20, reaffirming the fact that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) being the last prophet of Allah is the eternal belief of every Muslim. 

True. Very much true. 

But my point is that the Interior Ministry should not indulge in the preaching of religious beliefs. The advertisement was, in fact, an explanation of a fiasco stemming from a drafting error in the Election Bill of 2017 about voters’ oath on Khatam-i-Nabuwat. Consequently, an amended bill was present in Parliament and approved in no time unanimously. That should have concluded the matter. 

But we see that the Interior Ministry took up the cause in the ad after the issue had been settled.  

The step negates the earlier stance by the very minister, who on October 6 told a press conference that no one has a franchise to judge other people’s faith, adding that no one has right to raise questions over the faith of legislators who have signed on the declaration of Khatam-i-Nabuwat on their oath. The minister is also very well informed that most of the terror incidents are also linked with religious beliefs as he referred to the recent suicide terror attack which mercilessly killed 21 people at Jhal Magsi shrine. He also advocated State’s right to declare armed jihad and that the state has the monopoly over the use of force in an Islamic republic, and no citizen has the right to call for the killing of any citizen.

It seems then the minister was only playing to the international community, whereas the advertisement is meant for the local gallery. 

Earlier, PML-N MNA retired Captain Safdar took to the floor, unleashing a salvo of hatred against Ahmadis. Such provocative remarks only fan hatred and religious bigotry in the country. The MNA, whose only achievement in his life is uttering wrong words at wrong times on several occasions, emerged unscathed this time as no one in his party or Parliament questioned him about his hate speech in the National Assembly. 

Similarly, no one is likely to tell Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal that issuing the advertisement on public exchequer to remind the people about religious belief is not his ministry job. He will not be reminded of his ministry’s job to secure people’s religious freedom.        

The advertisement appears on the day when the festivities of Diwali festival are upon us. 

We hardly saw any ceremony or the statement by any the ruling party people to share the happiness of the Hindus living in Pakistan.

Ensuring respect and equal space for every religious and ethnic minority is the responsibility of the State and such advertisements hardly serve the purpose.  

#MeToo: a monumental moment against sexual harassment

#MeToo. 

The hashtag speaks volume about the unsaid stories of sexual harassment. 

Millions of the women have spoken out on the Internet with this hashtag, rolling out a debate on harassment they have ever faced with. The number of the women coming up with #MeToo is scandalously and shamelessly shocking, which the Harvey Weinstein saga unfolded in Hollywood. More than 50 women, including top Hollywood starlets, who are considered very influential all over the world, have shared their sexual harassment ordeals at the hand of the infamous director. Soon, women from all over the world joined the Twitter trend. 

But that is the tip of the iceberg as this is what the women with an access to the Internet have spoken out; those having no presence on the Internet remain unheard, and it is an educated guess that every one of them has faced sexual harassment at some point in their life.

Civilization earned with the work of centuries seemingly has failed to challenge misogyny stemming from the patriarchal structure of society. 

Every tale of sexual harassment has its own dimension. Factors like abuse of power, weaker laws to apprehend harassers, the notion that sexual harassment is not as such a crime and so on have been breeding the Weinsteins in every corner of the world. It is time to say them loud shut up and send them to a court of law. The social media campaign is just a starter, but it should not be confined to the virtual world. The real world predators should be confronted in the real world. It may not deter the Weisnteins of our part from going ahead with their designs, they should at least know that a sexual harassment complaint will be taken seriously.     

Recently MNA Ayesha Gulalai hit the headlines. 

She accuses her own party boss of pestering her with indecent messages.

Shame. Shame.Shame.  

Instead of getting a compassionate and kind and thoughtful hearing from the media and party and assembly colleagues, she got a snub. Her complaint was rejected even by a majority of her own women colleagues. Shame. Pakistan is one such country where predatory instinct runs high in every sector from the film industry to campuses, hospitals, media and technological houses and services, political and social forums and on streets and farms and in bazaars …

Shame.

When this piece is being written, the TV screen is flashing the news of a sexual harassment complaint by a sportswoman against her coach. 

Shame. 

It is very easy to predict the fate of the complaint and the complainant. Her career will soon be over, and she will spend her life as a social outcast.

The moments of Ayesha Gulali and the sportswoman should be taken a watershed to initiate a debate on sexual harassment. Women should be encouraged to speak up, instead of looking the other way. 

If you are a working woman, you have the office of the ombudsperson to redress your complaint. 

If you are facing catcalling or harassment on the street or at home, press a smartphone App regarding women’s protection and police will readily be there to help you out. 

The more complaints are there, the more pressure will be up on the legal system to deliver quick justice to the survivor. Soon, social and cultural norms will provide space to women. But it all will happen when women take a collective decision to snub the predators. 

Take the step! 

Hostility in hospitals

Aloofness and coolness run high in the public hospitals of Punjab where the ruling party’s prime focus has been on building carpeted roads and dedicated routes of mass transit in Lahore and some other big cities for years. The ruling family – the House of Sharif – runs a commercial medical complex but they prefer foreign medical centers for their own treatment. Taking a cue from their indifference towards public hospitals, doctors and paramedics become hostile towards the patients. 

No doubt, public hospitals are crowded with patients and their worried attendants where overworked doctors and nurses try to cope with painful situations with their occasional smiles and frequent frowns. 

A brazen display of inhospitality was, however, at display in the Raiwind Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where the staff refused to admit a woman, resident of the area, who was writhing in severe labor pains. Her husband was told that the gynecologist was not present. Unavailability of the bed would have been another valid excuse. Her husband, a petty brick kiln laborer, had no much bucks in his small pocket to take her to a nearby private maternity home. As the time was up, the husband with the help of passersby women did the labor work on a pavement on the hospital premises and a newborn baby gave his shriek in the world, ruled by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. 

The baby might know once he is grown up that it had all happened at a place, hardly few kilometers from the palatial residential and the commercial medical complexes of the Sharifs.  

The case of the Raiwind woman is among the very few incidents capturing the attention of the media; earlier, a Kasur woman who had died unattended outside the Jinnah Hospital was a big story. The health beat of media houses is most of the time focused on lucrative health authorities, and not the healthcare issues. 

Regardless of the media poor coverage of health care issues, it is an open secret that public hospitals suffer from several issues. Lack of space in hospitals and lack of professionalism among doctors and paramedics are amongst the top issues of the ailing sector. 

The sector has no much room for negligence as it involves human lives.

The government, over the years, has tried to improve the health care system with cosmetics measures. Recently, a motorcycle ambulance fleet was introduced without any piloting. Its fate is not difficult to predict. In 2012, the same chief minister had launched a fleet of mobile health units in south Punjab districts, and within four years, the whole fleet has come to a halt, rusting in yards. The project was also launched without any proper piloting studies. But who cares about the public exchequer which is wasted on the projects arising from the whims of the chief minister? Besides these two projects, the things on the credit of the chief minister are surprise visits to public hospitals, and every visit ends up with the suspension of a few top doctors from the job. After a few months, those doctors are back to the office, and the life goes on.  

The Punjab government, which has done lots of work on roads infrastructure and landscape, should turn to public hospitals. The government has the ability and resources to make hospitals a welcome place where sufficient space and professional staff are available to patients. 

Use the Raiwind road birth an opportunity to bring about one million changes to public hospitals, starting from the very Raiwind hospital. 

How we treat violence?

Violence in Pakistan should be dealt as a reality and efforts to eradicate militancy should go on ceaselessly. Contrary to that, we have been seeing an ugly pattern: whenever there is a powerful blast or a suicide attack in a Pakistan’s urban area, a crackdown ensues and statements clothed in emotion evoking phrases are issued by those who matter. When the smokes clear in a day or two, the government and the public move on, leaving behind the causalities. In case, the place of the bloodbath is an off-the-capital, ceremonious statements or crackdown are not issued. True, that we do not and cannot mourn deaths forever. True, the life is about taking care of the alive and well lots. Equally true, however, is that callousness prevails in a society where tragedies are taken a matter of hours or days.

We have an ugly history of forgetting tragedies. A twin blast struck a welcome reception for Benazir Bhutto at Karsaz in Karachi in 2007 where several political workers had died only to be forgotten in the coming months as none of the perpetrators of the blast was ever arrested and punished. After 10 years, the menace of terrorism struck a bus carrying police official in Quetta, leaving seven killed and 22 injured in the Sariab Mill area of Quetta. More causalities are feared in the coming days as the people bled and suffered life-threatening injuries. Like the Karsaz attack, this Quetta attack will also unfold not a different story. Balochistan and federal authorities have condemned the attack and vowed to continue to fight against the militancy till their last drop of blood.

The recent days have seen a surge in drone strikes and Taliban attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan amid the talks of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group in Muscat. Earlier on Tuesday, a drone strike killed five people along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near Kurram Agency. That has been a fourth drone attack since Monday in Afghanistan and Pakistan border areas. Since the rescue of an American-Canadian family inside Pakistan, the Taliban seems to have taken an aggressive warpath against Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sensing a renewal in terrorism, the Pakistan army must be prepared to retaliate and even ambush the militants. Coordinated drone attacks can supplement the efforts to ambush and neutralise terror attacks. The drone attacks that violate the sovereignty of a country are not acceptable. But Pakistan and the US authorities should coordinate in drone attacks and other intelligence-based operations. Pakistan should take drone attacks as a tool in the war on terrorists, not an enemy. Similarly, the US should share the intelligence gathered from man-less warfare with their Pakistani counterparts.  

From the Karsaz tragedy to the recent Quetta blast, we have a long trial of a bloodbath, which offers a streak of lessons:

Terrorism is a mission beyond statements and for-the-time being crackdown on known and unknown criminals and militants.

Every terror incident should be investigated, using scientific methods, till their logical conclusion. Police with the coordination of intelligence agencies should track the attackers. All terror cases should be reviewed periodically at the highest level.

Post-blast crackdown and customary statements create confusion among the masses, so they should be avoided.

A narrative against terrorism should be strengthened where drone attacks are not frowned upon if they are putting down the militants. This is a reality that drones have killed scored of terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.    

Talking with Taliban means talking about nothing

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group is meeting in Muscat for the sixth time; holding high hopes from the dialogue will be naive. The history of the group meetings tells that every time the group meets, makes commitments and leaves the venue leaving out commitments behind. This time, a mix of low level and high-level officials are participating in the talks as Pakistan is being represented by the foreign secretary whereas Afghanistan will be represented by its junior foreign minister, which speaks volume. 

The Taliban have chosen not to participate in the event. In the quadrilateral round table, Pakistan may come under huge pressure from Afghanistan and the US to help revive peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban for Pakistan has long been accused of having links with Afghan militants. Even US President Donald Trump and the defence secretary have said that Pakistan has safe havens of the Taliban in Peshawar and Quetta, which Pakistan denies.

The Pakistani delegation has no representative from the army. This point should be noted. In the last five meetings, there has been no major breakthrough and even this time, Afghanistan and the US may not be hopeful of any positive result emerging from the meeting. Pakistan may see China and Russia as its renewed partners in Afghanistan peace after the US comments on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor where the US tried to make it controversial by saying that it passes through a disputed territory. As India and the US want to scuttle China’s influence in the region, China may see an opportunity in the Quad­rilateral Coordination Group meeting to push back the US directly and India indirectly.

The Taliban, who are not part of the Quad­rilateral Coordination Group, may reject whatever the group is up to, especially after the rescue operation of the Canadian-American couple and their children in Pakistan. The incident reflects the reality that Pakistan holds no soft corner for the Taliban, whereas the militant group has also shown no sympathy for Pakistan in their post-rescue statements. Though the rescue operation by the Pakistan army won Americans’ overwhelming praise, Afghanistan is still a point where both sides have divergent views. The US encourages Indian role in Afghanistan, while Pakistan sees India a spoiler in Afghan peace process.

Why is the Quadrilateral Coordination Group interested in talking to the Taliban? Why has long been Pakistan stressing dialogue with the Taliban militants? It is astonishing to see that at a time when the world is turning to boycott or no talk option whenever the other side is non-state actors, why have the Taliban gained much importance in the Afghan peace context? Why are the US and its allied army helpless to defeat the leaderless and on-the-run group of militants? The talks offer increases Taliban’s bargain chip. And the group has a bad track record of honouring its commitments.

The best strategy to buy peace in Afghanistan is to fight out militancy till the proverbial last militant is alive and kicking. They must be chased, arrested and brought to justice. The group meeting in Muscat must discuss the strategy to put down the elements of militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as that is the only viable and durable solution.  

Pakistan’s hungry people, angry people

October 16 is observed as the World Food Day across the world. The day was chosen to realise the world about the importance of food; on this day in 1945, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (UN FAO) was founded. According to the UN-FAO, “The day seeks to promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all”.

Pakistan is one such a country which is full of hungry people and angry people. Here operates a world full of disparities: for one stratum, food is not a problem as for them, food is and will be there; for the other strata, food is a big issue and most of their livelihood issue is to get a two-time staple meal. The strata blessed with having access to food is now concerned with good food and innovative cuisine, regardless of its cost. As Pope Francis says that “throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry”, the haves need to ponder the fact that the proper use of food can feed those who struggle with it on a daily basis.

On Lahore’s Guru Managat Road alone, 20 charities serve meals to the poor one. Each charity office sees a long queue of people for who a one-time meal is unaffordable. The World Food Day reminds the policymakers that food is the important indicator of progress. The 2017 Global Hunger Index, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute is enough to open the eyes of intentional policymakers. The agriculture economy has progressed technologically but it fails to meet world’s food requirements. The index tells 52 countries, of 119, fall in ‘serious’ to ‘extremely alarming’ range and the food shortage is alarming in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

It is depressing for an agrarian country like Pakistan that it not doing better in the food security field. In Asia, Pakistan stood only ahead of Afghanistan with a GHI score of 32.6. Our children are malnourished and are stunted for being underfed. Poverty is a big issue in lack of access to food while poor agriculture policies, lack of irrigation water and tragedies like floods and climate change are other factors contributing to hunger. The households with quite enough food also face food-related problems because of the lack education, awareness on the properly balanced food.

Before they go to the bed tonight, policymakers, government functionaries, politician, and overall haves should ask themselves: who is responsible for the people who will go the bed without a proper meal tonight?

We may get a variety of answers: first, those going to the bed unfed are themselves responsible for their hunger. Their large families or lack of education and resource may be contributing factors. Before these answers get our nod, we need to read the The World Food Day facts: The right to food is a basic human right; There can be no quality of life without ending hunger and without having sustainable and resilient, climate-compatible agriculture and food systems that deliver for the people and the planet; and The world produces enough food to feed everyone, yet, about 800 million people suffer from hunger. That is one in nine people. Sixty percent of them are women.

Any food for thought for us?

Donald Trump, Iran pact, and Pakistan

It is a spectator to see: Donald Trump’s America stands alone on the Iran nuclear deal in the world, whereas before America with the European Union, China and Russia entered into a landmark deal with Iran two years ago, restricting its ability to enrich nuclear centrifuges, Iran would stand alone in the region as well as the world. Donald Trump, who adds not-so-unpredictable naiveties to his presidency regularly, has harmed his country’s credibility to that extent by not verifying the Iran deal that the comity of nations would think twice before entering into any diplomatic deal with the superpower. 

Since his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had been talking against the Iran pact but then no one took his onslaught so seriously. No one had ever thought of such a scenario when the deal was being negotiated in 2015 to clip Iran’s nuclear pursuits. Then-Secretary of State John Kerry was so hopeful of the footings of the deal that he had hope that “any future president would honor the agreement as long as Iran and the other five nations involved continued to support it”.

But he could not foresee an America under a president who acts to his whims. When not a single official in military, diplomacy and intelligence agencies found any violation on part of Iran regarding the deal terms, Donald Trump found a silly excuse that Iran was violating the spirit of the deal and announced he would not certify it. The same president has certified the deal twice earlier. Now, he sees the deal not in his country’s interests, though a majority of the sane voices disagree with him, and that Iran is not abiding by the deal, though all international partners agree that Iran does comply the terms.

After Donald Trump has refused to certify the deal, the Iran pact will be referred to Congress to sleep over it and decide its fate in two months. Three possible scenarios emerge: it might scrape it, do nothing or come up with some balancing act. But like Donald Trump, most of the Congress members have also a no better idea to replace the terms to prevent Iran from pursuing its idle nuclear pursuits and satisfy the other players of the deal. None of Iran, the EU, China and Russia has shown interest to revisit the deal. In a snub, the EU has said that if America pulls out of the deal, it will take measure to protect its interests. Besides them, who else is watching the proceedings so keenly? Of course, it is North Korea, which was being signaled by Donald Trump to strike a deal to sign off its nuclear programme against economic incentives. Other would-be nuclear powers would also never rely on America. In short, diplomacy would never work in the future if the Iran deal is scrapped and sanctions are slapped again on Iran.  

The scenario under which Iran is slapped sanctions would trigger panic in Pakistan too. The gas-starved country of ours needs gas supplies from its western neighbour. Of Iran and America, Pakistan has to make hard a choice, and without offending Iran, it often chooses America, which the Iranians accept with a grim face. This time, however, if a wounded and deceived Iran returns to stockpiling enriched uranium and takes other measures to resume its nuclear dreams, a war may ensue. If Donald Trump is allowed to play free, an international crisis is going to set in. And we must prepare for it.