Flawed foreign policy
Sir,
Foreign relations between nations must be based on economic interests and mutual benefits and not solely on bonds of faith, nor reactive or ill-perceived concepts of strategic depth. It is time Pakistan’s foreign policy should be in hands of qualified professionals with undivided loyalty to Pakistan. The security establishment as a major stakeholder must have their input, but not sole authority to shape foreign policy. Military attaches in our foreign embassies can look after national security requirements.
Elected civil governments must appoint the best qualified individuals with broad national and international perspective as foreign minister, rather than party loyalists. It is criminal neglect of the Nawaz government not to appoint a full time foreign minister. The appointment of ambassadors to key international capitals should be dictated solely by collective long term national interests and not serve short term objectives of those in power. We have seen the damage done to Pakistan by the appointment of men like Haqqani and Mahmud Durrani as our ambassadors in Washington.
Other than during the tenure of ZAB, our foreign policy has been slave to ill-conceived perceptions of individuals and their selfish interests with the sole objective of prolonging their political tenures, rather than national and economic interests of Pakistan. Today we are isolated in our own neighborhood and other than China, with whom we share mutual interests, there is hardly any other country in the region with whom our borders are secure.
For over 11 years under Zia, Pakistan’s foreign policy was dictated solely by US objectives in Afghanistan. The military junta in order to gain legitimacy plunged this country into a needless war. As soon as the US objectives were achieved, Pakistan was left in the lurch to face the backlash of giving sanctuary to foreign mercenaries. The civil governments that succeeded failed to put our foreign policy back on track. This was followed by another eight years under Musharraf, when Pakistan again was forced to get involved in pursuing US objectives in Afghanistan. Our misconceived notion of seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan has only brought misery and the curse of terrorism within our borders, with disastrous consequences to our national economy and security of lives and property of citizens, which is major constitutional obligation of a government. The securitization of our foreign policy has led to isolation of this country.
Ali Malik,
Lahore.
Disturbing indifference
Sir,
An astounding aspect of the assassination of UK MP Jo Cox is a complete lack of interest on part of the UK and US media in the man who has committed the murder —I have been reading one news item after another in
both the UK and the US . In one piece the assassin is not even named; one has to read and read again to finally fish out that the assassin is a white man named Tommy Mair who was heard shouting “Britain first” as he carried out the murder.
Now just imagine for a second if the name of the assassin was not Tommy Mair but “Mohammad Moustafa”, and he had not been a white man, had been a person of colour, he had not screamed “Britain First” but had instead said “Allah o Akbar”. By now the entire BBC apparatus and the New York Times and CNN would have been on red alert, “terrorist experts” would be on their way to their studios, everyone from President
Obama and Prime Minister Cameron to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would have called press conferences and debated the term “Islamic extremism”, and Benjamin Netanyahu would have been on his way to London as a sign of solidarity, declaring how Israelis are also victims of “terrorism”, and the Internet would be abuzz with “Je Suis Jo Cox”. May Jo Cox rest in peace, from all I have read she was a remarkable public servant and a decent human being, but she has left behind a ghastly racist world in which the UK and US media and politicians have come together so that the very dictionary definition of the word “terrorism” has been exclusively coded to mean “Muslim”.
Hamid Dabashi,
New York.
All alone
Sir,
Are we really heading towards isolation? Our foreign policy failure shows that we are heading towards nowhere. The world is asking us again and again to “walk with the comity of nations” but we are ignoring all such calls. Our misplaced priorities in every field are leading us nowhere. Like our foreign policy, our budget priorities are also misplaced. In the recent budget of 2016-2017, which dominated the debate of failures of the targets achieved, it was revealed that the government was lacking direction. Our PM is resting in England and his cronies are blaming all misgivings on previous governments. Its tradition of Pakistani governments to blame on failures on previous governments. No one knows who is running the country? Who is at the helm of affairs? The recent budget showed that we are heading towards a failed state. I don’t know how and when we will be declared a failed state, but when a country has misplaced priorities in each and every sector, then the dictum of a failed state will hang on.
I think this is the right time for the government to initiate land reforms. Conduct a study on the failure of agriculture reforms given by Ayub Khan and the Bhutto regime. Now the era of big landlords is naturally dying because of their interest in other businesses like industries. Agriculture is now solely dependent on the interests of peasants and small holders/owners of land. If the government supports them and gives land to landless peasants all around the country, agriculture will automatically grow, otherwise Pakistan may face a hunger crisis in the years ahead. The hunger crisis will lead to social unrest in the country, which is not affordable for a country with insecure borders all around.
Aijaz Ali Khuwaja,
Karachi.
This is an emergency
Sir,
The son of the Sindh chief justice was kidnapped at 2:30pm on June 20, 2016. The sad and unfortunate incident took place in broad daylight at an upscale and busy shopping area of Clifton. It was witnessed by dozens of shoppers, drivers and armed guards. No one came forward to help or report the matter on any emergency number to any law enforcement agency. The Sindh police got to know of this incident at 9:10pm. Six hours and forty minutes are long enough to relocate a person 300-400km away from the scene of the accident. The elapsed time adds mountains of complexity to any investigation.
It is unbelievable that a modern nuclear state has such dysfunctional social and governance systems. Clearly the state has no interest in providing support or services to its ordinary citizens. There are at least two important concerns relating to this incident that merit serious introspection and reform.
Why did the witnesses refuse to inform the police and why did it take the police six hours and forty minutes to learn about such a major event? The citizens are simply too scared to have any interaction with police. There is a strong perception that a person reporting a crime would himself undergo a laborious and unfriendly process of police interrogation.
Unlike the rest of the world, Karachi has numerous emergency phone numbers. 15 for Police, 1101 for Rangers, 1102 for CPLC, 1915 for Rahnuma, 16 for fire and at least three phone numbers for major private ambulance services. A classic case of designing confusion and failure in a system. Most countries of the world have a single phone number for all types of emergencies. The US and Canada use the same number, 911 for crime, fire and ambulance. Almost all countries of Europe use 112 for all emergency situations. Is it too much to ask for a single emergency phone number that is common to all types of emergencies and all parts of Pakistan? A number that is trusted by citizens and where one is treated with respect and civility. An effective emergency system could have had a sea change impact on handling of investigation into the recent unfortunate incident.
Naeem Sadiq,
Karachi.
Feudal lords’ brutalities
Sir,
According to media reports, a labourer was tied to a tree and brutally beaten for stopping a feudal lord from teasing a young girl in Layyah on Thursday. Police officials arrived at the scene to rescue the man after the feudal lord ordered children to beat him with shoes and sticks.
This is just one example of the cruelty of feudal lords. The poor peasants and farmers of rural Sindh, Baluchistan and Southern Punjab have been facing brutalities at the hands of feudal lords since many decades. Large landowners have dominated Pakistan’s politics since the country’s inception. Throughout the ‘50s and the ‘60s, feudal families retained control over national affairs through the bureaucracy and military. Later on in 1971, they assumed direct power and retained it until the military regained power.
All major political parties of Pakistan, including the ruling PML-N have been called “feudal-oriented”, as more than two-thirds of the National Assembly and most of the key executive posts in provinces are held by feudals. This is very amazing that our religious political parties are also silent on this issue and did not have a clear policy as to how to tackle feudalism.
There is a dire need of land reforms and redistribution in the country. In the past, ZA Bhutto had tried to redistribute land to peasants and the landless. Unfortunately, those efforts were struck down as un-Islamic by Pakistani courts in a number of decisions from 1979 to 1989. I request Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take serious steps for equal distribution of lands through a comprehensive package of land reforms.
Mansoor Ahmed,
Faisalabad.
State obligation for welfare
Sir,
It is the foremost obligation of a state to provide for welfare and other basic necessities of life for those valiant citizens who have either laid down their lives or are permanently disabled during the course of their duties while defending the security of its geographical boundaries. This obligation also extends to welfare for the most deprived sections of our society, making it mandatory to provide subsidized education, health, security and justice for all. This was the gist of the Quaid’s ideology of Pakistan being a modern, democratic welfare state, where the will of the people is supreme and rule of law prevails.
For a state with limited financial resources and one of the lowest Tax-to-GDP ratios in the world, there is no room for abuse under the guise of welfare for select sections of paid servants of state, be they civil or khaki officers. What is unacceptable is the eligibility of former paid servants of the state, who have pledged an oath of loyalty to another country and have taken an oath, “I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen. I will bear arms on behalf of the US when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the US when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law,” etc. Similar oaths of loyalty are pledged by all former Pakistani citizens who have taken citizenship of Canada, UK etc.
It is unacceptable that such former civil of khaki personnel who have renounced on oath their loyalty to Pakistan be eligible to allotment of subsidized plots and entry into high security zones. All such privileges should be cancelled and given to next of kin of those valiant soldiers who have died in Zarb-e-Azb and other more deserving citizens of Pakistan who have chosen to live and die in this country. It is time Pakistan and its limited resources be channeled solely for the welfare of its citizens alone and funds raised through the auction of prime real estate property for the socioeconomic welfare of our citizens.
Aneela Chandio,
Sukkur.
The greatest of all time
Sir,
Muhammed Ali was not born a Muslim, but once he converted, he led his life like a true member of the Islamic faith, with humility, honor, dignity, and always standing up for principles he believed in. He was a loyal American, but had no hesitation to stand up and challenge the establishment. Just two years after winning the WBA Champion title, he stood up in 1966, refusing to be conscripted into the US Army, citing his religious beliefs. He was willing to be arrested, lose his title and millions that he could have earned during the four years that he was stripped of his title and fought all the way to the US Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971. His conscientious objection to the Vietnam War made him an icon. He regained his title in 1974 and after retiring in 1981, he devoted his life to religion and charity. In 1984 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Syndrome, and like a champion, he dealt with this ailment with dignity until his death on June 3, 2016.
He chose to stand by his beliefs and was a true ambassador of his faith, at a time when Islamphobia and misdeeds of Muslim leaders distorted the Islamic faith. It is sad that very few Islamic leaders in power and wealthy businessmen, blinded by greed and corruption, lack character and faith to lead their lives in accordance with Islamic values. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Tariq Ali,
Lahore.
Society unravelling
Sir,
In this part of the world, even women have become prime ministers, both in Pakistan and Bangladesh, but that could not restore respect for women in society. The increasing trend of live burying and burning, defacing by acid, and shooting for eloping of women, all in the name of honor, has cast a dark shadow in Pakistan. In higher echelons, the same indignity is meted out to educated and elected assembly representatives. This made Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani exclaim, “We’re entering an era of cannibalism and the growing trend of killings in the name of honors and forced conversion of non-Muslims to Islam is intolerable.” Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and Senator Hafiz Hamidullah’s vulgar outbursts against women is a mere reflection of the status we accord to women.
In public work places and bus stands, people of all ages are being heard spewing filthy and frivolous offensive language. This offensive habit is hardly paused briefly in the holy month of Ramadan. Most often this misbehaving venom is directed towards people of lower classes and females. The notion of being polite is not a barometer of ethics or morality, rather it’s a whole way of life.
I fondly remember the former test cricketer Aqib Jawad back in my college days; he was invited as a guest at a convocation. He said then “do not blame the leaders because they come from the same society in which we live”.
Abdul Ali,
Gilgit.