The prime minister on Balochistan
October 13th, 2011
It is hard to know how seriously to take Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s speech on Balochistan which he delivered on October 11. Speaking at the induction ceremony of 5,000 recruits from the province into the army, the prime minister declared that he would ensure that the injustices against the Baloch would not be tolerated. The sentiment is certainly a worthy one but is no different to those offered by Gilani and his government on many previous occasions, and moreover, it exists mostly, for now, on paper. The truth is that only the military can dampen separatist ardour in the province because it was the high-handedness of the military that created the insurgency in the first place. As long as the paramilitary is stationed in the province, there will always be a sense of alienation because many Baloch see it as more of an occupying force. Two years ago, the government announced a much-hyped 61-point reforms package. The Balochistan package was unanimously passed by parliament but its implementation has proved to be such a struggle that Raza Rabbani, the Senate committee chairman in charge of doing so, gave up in frustration. From electricity generation projects to allowing exiled Baloch leaders to return, the government has stalled on just about every reform measure. Even relatively simple tasks like building hospitals have been delayed.
Without a doubt, government apathy has added to the popularity of the separatist movement. It may take a long time but efforts have to be made to win over those who are alienated and sympathetic to the cause of the separatists. A start can be made by the state in all earnestness to at least address the issue of the missing persons. Even now, almost every other day, or even more frequently, bodies of Baloch nationalist activists are turning up all over the province. Responding to allegations, the military has said that it is not behind these disappearances — so at the very least, it should help in an investigation into who is actually behind them, so that they can he held accountable. This should be accompanied by fully implementing the Eighteenth Amendment, and allowing the province full financial benefits as those accruing from its vast mineral resources. These are two, but much-needed, initial steps on what will have to be a long journey towards reconciliation.
Endless suffering
October 13th, 2011
One would think that Aasia Bibi, the young Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in a Nankana Sahib village in late 2010, had suffered quite enough. For over a year, she has been kept in a ‘special’ cell at the Sheikhupura jail — separated from her husband and young children who remain in hiding. Her family has denied she committed any wrong, and alleges the charges against her stem from her using a cup to drink water also used by fellow Muslim labourer. Her husband lives in fear of death by extremists and there has been concern that Aasia herself will be murdered in prison — as others accused of blasphemy before her, have also met the same fate.
As if all this was not enough, we now hear Aasia has been subjected to ‘torture’ within jail, by a female warden who claims she found ‘illicit’ items in her cell. Few details are available on this matter, but it seems other staffers did little to stop the violation of jail rules that occurred. The abuse or manhandling of a detainee is, of course, prohibited. The guilty warden has since been suspended — but even this action seems to have come rather late in the day, and perhaps many people will support what the warden did (just like how many support what Mumtaz Qadri has done). Torture, of course, is endemic in our jails; no one should suffer it — but the string of miseries imposed on Aasia Bibi seem never to end. There is a possibility that she is being victimised for being a ‘blasphemy accused’ individual. This, too, has happened before.
We appear to be moving steadily, further and further away from the course of justice. We must ask ourselves in all earnestness what this says about the nature of our society. There is a real need to rediscover the compassion and the humanity we have lost. Until we do so, we cannot claim to count ourselves among the civilised nations of the world. Doing more to end the suffering of Aasia Bibi would, at least, help us look in the right direction and perhaps reach out towards the goal we have lost sight of.
Change at the PCB
October 13th, 2011
For all the controversies surrounding his time as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the performance of the national cricket team under Ijaz Butt was not as bad as what many followers of the game would have perceived it to be. Pakistan’s performance on the field during Butt’s tenure included away Test wins against Australia and England; reaching the semi-finals of the 2009 Champions Trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20 championship and the 2011 World Cup; and winning the 2009 World Twenty20 trophy. However, it was the off-the-field antics and Butt’s reaction to events that brought Pakistan cricket to its knees. The 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore; the chairman blasting his hosts and labelling friends-in-need, the English board and its players, match-fixers without an iota of evidence; the bans on some players — and their subsequent overturning — in the aftermath of the disastrous Australian tour; and the infamous spat with Shahid Afridi.
His successor, Zaka Ashraf, is a former president of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, and as news came of his appointment, a joke began doing the rounds, that fans hoped that he would, like in the case of the price of sugar, also raise the performance level of the national cricket team. Right now, it would be fair to say that Pakistan cricket is currently in the doldrums. No foreign teams want to visit us, and they can hardly be blamed for that, and the ongoing spot-fixing trial in London is a reminder of just how tainted the sport has become. However, the change does allow for some hope, in that perhaps these issues will be addressed by the new PCB chief. A dearth of international cricket in Pakistan has hit the game hard. While foreign teams may not be coming any time soon, the new chief can — and should — focus on improving the country’s domestic structure, resolving dressing-room issues, and the pending appointment of a new coach. Addressing these is important if the team is to do well on a consistent basis.