Speakers for Empowering HEC to Close Illegal Varsities
Dawn Islamabad
November 30, 2004
by Our Staff Reporter

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) should be empowered to a level at which it is in a position to close down illegal universities. This was the consensus reached at a seminar on "Quality of Higher Education, Accountability Questioned", organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Isa Daudpota of Comstech Centre for Frontier Technologies, said the HEC had failed to implement the provisions of its ordinance on checking universities offering PhD degrees without fulfilling the prerequisites. Dr Daudpota, who had been highlighting cases of fake PhD degrees at various forums, said under its ordinance, the HEC had been empowered to monitor and subsequently take action against institutions involved in 'selling' PhD degrees. "Due to political considerations, the commission has also deliberately ignored a number of cases of legislators, who have obtained fake degrees to get into the parliament."

Over the last decade, a surge in establishment of degree- awarding institutions has been witnessed in the private sector with majority of these coming no where near the HEC's laid down standards, he added. As a result, the Comstech official said, students were being robbed of their precious time and money, while the HEC was reluctant to take its responsibility in this connection. However, recently the HEC has launched a media campaign titled "Parents Alert" to inform the people about the recognized universities in the private sector, he added.

Suggesting stricter measures, Dr Daudpota said it was high time to talk about this issue seriously and take all quarters concerned on board in the fight against this problem, which could further deteriorate the educational standards. Prof (Dr) Mohammad Pervez of the National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, also criticized the federal and provincial governments for, what he said, generously awarding charters both in private and public sectors.

"This is ridiculous and a joke with the higher education sector and the country. "The government just to create new posts of vice-chancellors and eventually adjust their cronies against these vacancies is playing with the quality of education," he added. At present, Prof Pervez said, getting charter for a university meant securing a licence to mint money, adding that during the last one decade, setting up of a university had more to do with business than promoting higher education.

"Of course, political considerations had been a dominant factor in granting a charter to set up a university in the private sector," he said. HEC Quality Assurance Programme Development Officer Zia Batool, in her presentation, talked about various measures the commission was taking for assuring quality in the higher education sector. She informed the gathering that the HEC was developing a ranking system for universities and subsequently their funding would be linked with their performance. On January 1, 2005, the commission will issue a list of public-sector universities showing their ranking for the information of masses, she said. Initially, she added, some of the universities expressed their reluctance in getting into this ranking system, knowing the fact that their funding would be linked with their performance, however, the HEC stuck to its initiative.

Call for Appointing Vice-chancellors through Commission
Business Recorder Islamabad
November 30, 2004
by Peer Muhammad

Speakers at a seminar asked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to appoint universities vice-chancellors through a national commission comprising individuals having outstanding record in the field of education. Addressing a seminar organized by the Sustainable Development and Policy Institute (SDPI) on "Quality of Higher Education and Accountable Questioned" here on Monday, they said that standard of higher education should not be compromised at any cost and added that transparency in imparting higher education must be ensured.

Dr Isa Daudpota, an imminent educationist, expressed his concern over hiring of faculty with fake degrees, thus making these institutions dubious and the quality of education provided highly questionable.

He pointed out that the HEC could do much better if it implemented its own ordinance in spirit. He further said that the HEC should evaluate the performance of institutes, prescribe conditions under which all institutions may be opened or operated, carry out accreditation of institutions and give them rating, advising federal and provincial governments on proposals for awarding degrees.

Dr Mohammad Pervez, professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University, said that many institutions did not have qualified faculties, who were given the charter and the green signal to go ahead.

Dr A. H. Nayyar from SDPI said the process of giving charter needed to be made transparent and added that unless a legal mechanism was qualified, no institution should be given a charter.

Ms. Zia Batool from the HEC talked about mechanism for quality assurance in higher education system. She highlighted goals of the quality enhancement program of the HEC, which were to assist universities in enhancing quality of education through development of criterion for self-assessment and establishment of quality enhancement cells.

Quality of Higher Education Discussed
Pakistan Observer Islamabad
November 30, 2004

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organized a
seminar on "Quality of Higher Education, Accountability Questioned" here Monday. The speakers from various higher educational institutions discussed the mechanisms, accountability and quality assurance by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Dr Isa Daudpota who has been just fired from his job for writing critical articles on the plight of higher education, brought to the attention of the audience the crisis of higher education in Pakistan in his presentation entitled "When Fake becomes Real". He shared his concern about hiring of faculty with fake degrees thus making institutions dubious in character and the quality of education highly questionable.

Daudpota argued that HEC is not playing an effective role as it gives charter to private universities without ensuring quality. He believes HEC can do much better if it implements its own ordinance in letter and spirit, evaluate performance of institutions, prescribe conditions under which institutions may be opened or operated, carry out accreditation of institutions and give them rating, advise federal and provincial governments on proposals for awarding degrees, and determine equivalence and recognition of degrees and diplomas awarded by institutions in Pakistan and abroad. He
also said that he has written 19 articles on this subject since May 2003 and has been kept Dr Atta-ur-Rahman and HEC high-ups informed but they did not take note of the points raised. Only when his recent article pointed to gross violations and named names then did the HEC wake up.

Ms Zia Batool from the Higher Education Commission talked of the mechanisms for quality assurance in higher education systems. She highlighted the goals of the quality enhancement programme of HEC, which are to assist universities in enhancing the quality of education through development of criteria for self-assessment and establishment of quality enhancement cell.

Dr Mohammad Pervez, Professor from Quaid-i-Azam University brought to the notice of the audience that political and vested pressures paved way for private universities to mushroom. He alleged that institutes that did not have qualified faculty were given charters and green signal to go ahead with awarding degrees.

Dr A H Nayyar from SDPI pointed out that the process of giving charter needs to be made transparent. Charter-giving guidelines need to be laid down. There should be a law that no charter would be given unless approved by HEC and legal mechanism was not fulfilled, no institution should be given a charter. There has to be effective monitoring mechanism. Mr Wajahat Latif, ex-IG Police said strict accountability is required in the education sector.

During the discussion, the audience pointed out legal issues, which are being neglected. If fake and substandard degrees are being dished out, then why legal action is not being taken against those who have obtained them.

HSC Urged to Implement its Ordinance in Letter and Spirit
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
November 30, 2004

The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organised a seminar on 'Quality of Higher Education, Accountability Questioned' here on Monday. Speakers from various higher education institutions discussed the mechanisms, accountability and quality assurance by the' Higher Education Commission (HEC), Says a press release.

Dr. Isa Daudpota, who has been just fired from his job for writing critical articles on the plight of higher education, brought to the attention of the audience the crisis of higher education in Pakistan in his presentation titled 'When Fake Becomes Real.' He shared his concern about hiring of faculty with fake degrees thus making these institutions dubious in character and the quality of education provided, highly questionable.

Daudpota argued that the HEC is not playing an effective role by giving charter to private universities without ensuring quality. He believes that the HEC can do much better if it implements its own ordinance in letter and spirit; evaluate the performance of institutes, prescribe conditions under which' all institutions may be opened or operated, carry out accreditation of institutions and give them rating, advise federal and provincial governments, on proposals for awarding degrees and determine: equivalence and recognition of degrees and diplomas awarded by institutions in Pakistan and abroad. He said that he has written 19 articles on this subject since May, 2003 and has kept Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman and other HEC high-ups in formed but they did not take notice of it. Only when his recent article pointed to gross violations and named names did the HEC wake up.

Ms. Zia Batool from the Higher Education Commission talked of the mechanisms for quality assurance in higher education systems. She highlighted the goals of the quality enhancement programme of HEC, which are to assist universities in enhancing the quality of education through development of criteria for self-assessment and establishment of quality enhancement cell.

Dr. Mohammad Pervez, professor from Quaid-i-Azam University, said that even institutes that did not have qualified faculty were given the charters and the green signal to go ahead.

Dr. A H Nayyar from SDPI pointed out that the process of giving charter needs to be made transparent. Charter-giving guidelines need to be laid down. There should a law that no charter can be given unless approved by the HEC. Unless a legal mechanism is not fulfilled, no institution should be given a charter. There has to be effective monitoring mechanism.

Wajahat Latif, former inspector general of police, said that strict accountability is required in the education sector.

During the discussion, the audience pointed out legal issues, which are being neglected. If fake and substandard degrees are being dished out, then why legal action is not being taken against those who have obtained them.

There was also a strong opinion that vice-chancellors should not be chosen by governors as political appointees rather they should be chosen by a national commission comprising outstanding individuals. There should be transparency in HSC. There was lots of criticism of HEC's "quantity over quality" approach. By emphasising to dish out thousands of Ph.Ds, HEC is compromising on quality. An assembly line production approach is ill-suited for higher education, they added. A civil servant pointed out that Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman promised connecting 97% of people with the internet without looking at the literacy levels in the country. The same thing is happening to HEC. Instead of concentrating on numbers, HEC should work on making the higher education system conducive for thinking independently.

HEC Compromising on Quality Education: Experts
Nation Islamabad
November 30, 2004
by Lamia Zia

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is not playing an effective role in the promotion of education and instead of focusing on improving the standard of higher education, it has given recognition to private universities without ensuring quality.
These were the views shared by participants of a seminar on “Quality of Higher Education, Accountability Questioned”, organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), here on Monday.

The speakers from various higher education institutions discussed the mechanisms, accountability and quality assurance by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and maintained that HEC is compromising on quality.

Sharing the experiences, Dr Isa Daudpota, who has been just fired from his job for writing critical articles on the plight of higher education, brought to the attention of the audience the crisis of higher education in Pakistan in his presentation entitled “When Fake Becomes Real”.
He shared his concern about hiring of faculty with fake degrees thus making these institutions dubious in character and the quality of education provided, highly questionable.
Daudpota believes that HEC can do better if it implements its own Ordinance in spirit, evaluate the performance of institutes, prescribe conditions under which all institutions may be opened or operated, carry out accreditation of institutions and give them rating, advise federal and provincial governments on proposals for awarding degrees, and determine equivalence and recognition of degrees and diplomas awarded by institutions in Pakistan and abroad. He also said that he has written 19 articles on this subject since May 2003 and has kept Dr Attaur Rahman and HEC high-ups informed but they did not take note of it. Only when his recent article pointed to gross violations and named names did the HEC wake up, he said.

Zia Batool from the Higher Education Commission talked of the mechanisms for quality assurance in higher education systems. She highlighted the goals of quality enhancement programme of HEC, which are to assist universities in enhancing the quality of education through development of criteria for self-assessment and establishment of quality enhancement cell.

Dr Muhammad Pervez, Professor from Quaid-i-Azam University, brought to the notice of the audience that a professor from political and legal pressures that paved way for private universities to mushroom. So even institutes that did not have qualified faculty were given the charters and the green signal to go ahead.

Dr A. H. Nayyar from SDPI pointed out that the process of giving charter needs to be made transparent. There should a law that no charter can be given unless approved by HEC. Unless a legal mechanism is not fulfilled, no institution should be given a charter, he said.
Mr Wajahat Latif, ex-IG Police ,said that strict accountability is required in the education sector.
During the discussion, the audience pointed out legal issues, which are being neglected. If fake and substandard degrees are being dished out, then why legal action is not being taken against those who have obtained them?

There was also a strong opinion that Governors should not choose vice-chancellors as political appointees rather they should be chosen by a national commission comprising of outstanding individuals. There was lots of criticism of HEC’s “quantity over quality” approach. By emphasising to dish out thousands of Ph.D., HEC is compromising on quality. An assembly line production approach is ill suited for higher education, they added.

One civil servant pointed out that Dr Attaur Rahman promised to connect 97 per cent of the people with Internet without looking at the literacy levels. The same thing is happening to HEC. Instead of concentrating on numbers, HEC should work on making the higher education system conducive for thinking independently.

China Poses Strong Economic Threat to US: Expert
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad,
November 09, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

It is unlikely that there would be challenge to the US power in the next decade though China is posing a strong economic threat, said Lieutenant General (r) Talat Masud. He was answering questions at a panel discussion on 'Re-election of Bush: impact on foreign policy' organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday.

Ta1at Masud said that China is a factory of the world though it so far had essentially middle quality level technologies. He said that Beijing is coming up fast but it is still two generations behind the West. He said that China is focusing on peace and stability in the region that suits its ascendance to economic progress. He noted that despite being an economic power, Europe relied on the US for military protection. He said that because of economic designs, the US might Want to control oilfields, stabilise unfriendly and back the friendly powers. He said that when in power, the US would like to shape the events in the world.

He said that in Iraq, it faced Catch 22 situation. If it goes to Fallujah, it would expose its weaknesses and if it doesn't, there will be enormous fallout to the US foreign policy. He said that there might be some change in the foreign policy in the second term of George W. Bush when every president in the second term liked to leave a legacy to carve a place in history. He said that the world is disappointed from President Bush and the main reason is Washington's continued support to Israeli that is antagonising the Muslims. He said that Europe would not like to become an instrument of the US foreign policy for its exit from Iraq or its engagements in South Asia and Middle East.

He said that in recent elections, international issues did not become determinant factors. Gay marriages, abortion, stem cell research and firearms were on top of the agenda due to the conservative nature of the American nation. He said that Bush is more conservative than John Kerry. This forced a journalist to quip that if MMA had been in the US, its members must have voted for George W. Bush as his policy coincides with outdated agenda of the religious alliance.

Masud said that there is nothing wrong with fundamentalism, as the real wrong is the transformation of a fundamentalist into an extremist. He said that neo-conservatives are very sharp and they exploited conservative character of the United States and focused on it. He did not expect much review of the US foreign policy. Neo-conservative agenda, he said, was a priority for this and it will remain there. He did not see major changes in the foreign policy of the US. The policy, he said, would be a combination of unilateralism and multilateralism. He said that the US would do whatever suited its interests.

He did not think chances of nuclear proliferation as long as our nuclear security regimes remain effective. Don't under-estimate Pakistan, he said. He said that stability of Pakistan would determine stability of South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East. He said that the West supports Musharraf so that our nuclear weapons do not go into the hands of irresponsible actors.

Dr. Noman Sathar from Area Study Centre, QAU, said that the US was never seen as a warmonger before 9/11 in the world history and the war is still continuing. Coming on-the speech of Talat, he said that the Americans are down to earth and hold very simplistic view of the world. Social and economic issues concern them more. He said that this time they had very different issues like rights of homosexuals, abortion etc. He said that they do not know why do they hate us, he said.

Dr. Najam Rafique from the Institute of Strategic Studies said that Bush himself is like a Taliban. He said that in this world, the strong do whatever they want and the weak suffer, as they had no options. He said that we are not bearing all this with fortitude but we are not able to make choices. We have to bear the US colonialism for the time to come, he said. He said that the Americans have no sense of geography and do not know where Pakistan is situated: He said that the Americans despite their level of education wanted Christians to do supreme, hence, they
voted for Bush.

Dr. A H Nayyar, said that Pakistan is not facing difficulty in the re-election of Bush. He said that fourth nuclear proliferator apart from Iran, North Korea and Libya, had not been identified so far and if the motives behind it come out different from the profit making by A Q Khan, the US would take lead in imposing strong restrictions and embargoes. He said that India is democratic and had a sound system of decision-making. He said that Pakistan had instability in the past and had uncertainty about future.

Bush’s 2nd Term to Affect Foreign Policy
The Nation, Islamabad
November 09, 2004

Speakers at a seminar on Monday optimistically projected the impact of re-election of US President Bush on United States foreign policy. All speakers at the seminar on Re-election of Bush: Impact on Foreign Policy," organised by sustainable Development Policy institute (SDPI), were generally to optimistic that re-election of Bush will have an impact on country's foreign policy, said a Press release issued by the SDPI.

The speakers cited the general perception that existed around the world on the re-election of Bush as negative, and observed that President Bush will not deviate to a large extent from his existing policies and will continue with more or less the same policies.

Talat Masood said, while we may criticize the US re-election of Bush but as a nation we must appreciate the electoral process. Stating the factors that determined the victory of the Republicans, Talat mentioned these factors as war on terror, action in Iraq and predominantly the social factors including, gay marriages, stem cell research and the abortion issues.

All these factors played a key role in determining the re-election of Bush, Talat added. Regarding US policy towards Pakistan, he said, "It. will be in continuity of the previous policy" and military, economic, and social assistance will continue for Pakistan and Pakistan India relations will continue to be promoted.

Dr Noman' Sattar, senior Research Officer, Area Study Center Quaid-i-Azam University said, 9/11 was the deciding factor in the re-election of Bush for his second term. Terrorism and security was the heartland of the American nation, which was well targeted in the election campaign, he said. Regarding foreign policy challenges, Dr Sattar said, the Bush regime will have to put in extra efforts towards. unification of not only the US nation but also international community, especially the European nations on the Iraq issue. Thus he not only has to reach out to democrats but also to the entire world, Sattar observed.

Najam Rafique, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Strategic Studies said, Bush administration, on the domestic side will have to do a lot of cleaning up like the 9/11 commission report.

Audiences agreed with the speakers but shared their apprehensions regarding the future of US Foreign Policy towards Pakistan. On one of the issues regarding the fate of American unilateraIism, speakers shared that the future US foreign policy will be a combination of unilateralism as well as multilateralism depending on the situation.

Bush’s Win Boon for Establishment, say Experts
Dawn, Islamabad
November 10, 2004
by Our Staff Reporter

The reelection of George W. Bush as US president is a boon for the establishment in Pakistan, as the latter had already' fit in with his policies and effectively taking care of the US interest in this part of the world. This was the gist of the comments made by experts at a seminar on "Re-election of Bush: Impact on Foreign Policy" organized by the Sustainable Development- Policy Institute (SDPl) here on Monday.

The speakers were of the view that President General Musharraf had cultivated a good working relationship with President Bush during his first term and Pakistan would be more than happy with his re-election. There was also a unanimity of views that as long as Pakistan took care of American interest in this region, it had nothing to worry about who was elected in the US. .

They were also of the considered opinion that traditionally, the Republican governments had been more friendly towards Pakistan than the Democrats. However, they shared their apprehensions about whether there would be any positive change in the US policies towards the Muslim world in general and Palestine-Israel conflict in particular.

As the entire world is expressing resentment at the re- election of President Bush, Americans have voted for the continuation of their supreme commander-in-chief, Talat Masood, a political analyst, said. Despite the fact that the US has got caught in a strategic, quagmire in Iraq" the US nationals have given more weightage to their national security issues, he said. He also rejected the impression' created by certain quarters that the US was in a Vietnam war-like situation. "No comparison can be made between the number of casualties the US suffered during Vietnam crisis and the ongoing war in Iraq," he argued.

With reference to the effect on India-Pakistan relations after President Bush's re-election, Mr. Talat said: "It would like to have peace between the two nuclear powers. About Kashmir issue, the US will like India to take All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on board." Dr Noman Sathar, senior research fellow, Area Study Centre, Quaid-i-Azam University, supported Mr. Talat's point of view that Americans had voted Mr. Bush to power out of their national security concerns. Najam Rafique, research fellow, Institute of Strategic Studies, opined that the US was the sole super power of the world and would do everything, bad or good, to its favour.

Karokari bill passage ‘positive beginning’
The Nation Islamabad
November 02, 2004
by Lamia Zia

Barrister Zafarullah Khan, a government representative, on Monday said that the original law on honour killing, which he drafted, was totally different to the one passed by the National Assembly.

Speaking at a seminar on honour killing on behalf of Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women Development Nilofar Bakhtair, he said that despite the fact that the bill is not perfect, it should be considered as a positive beginning.

The seminar was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Citizens' Action Group against Honor Killing (CAGAHK) titled "Bill against honour killing: Concerns addressed, unaddressed". Barrister Zafarullah Khan said that the government changed his drafted bill subsequently. "Though the approved bill is not perfect to overcome the issue of honor killing but we should welcome the initiative as a beginning," he said.

Pointing out the various positive changes he said, honour killing incidents used to occur within the families and existing laws do not allows testimonies among close family members. Whenever any effort is made for legislation in this regard, there would be room for the murderers to go free easily, he said.

While replying to a question regarding Qisas provision in the bill, he argued: "We cannot outrageously quit the provision of Qisas from the bill, because Sharaiat Court could react or object and may term the law redundant under the clause of the Constitution of Pakistan by the argument that this law is not according to the principles of Islam."

Dr Saba Gul Khattak, Executive Director of SDP1, who also chaired the seminar, was of the view that honor killing crime is a worst form of violence against women and it is institutionalized at all levels. "There is a need to change the behaviour of policy and decision makers," she said.

Senator Sana Baloch of Pakistan Oppressed Nation's Movement (PONM), observed that the state should be held accused if any honour killing incident occurs in the country as articles 37, 38 and 28 of the Constitution binds government to safeguard the rights of Women, children and men. He was of the view that: "State has never addressed the basic problems in society, which are flourishing and encouraging this kind of outdated custom of honour killing." "Upper Sindh, Baluchistan and Southern Punjab are the most affected areas because of this cruel custom which have been ignored by the decision makers," he said adding that awareness must be created to educate the masses according to their culture and language they speak. Only by hitting at the root causes we would be able to stop incidents of honour killing from the country, he said.

MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of PPP-P said, honour killing is a stigma and black spot on the face of our society that has been misused against innocent people. He said that his party was first to submit a bill regarding violence against women including honour killing but government did not allow it to present the bill and finally the draft was replaced with another controversial legislation.

Societal values can help check ‘honour’ killings
Dawn Islamabad
November 02, 2004
by Our Staff Reporter

Laws are mere tools and only a society with strong values makes them effective for thwarting crimes like honour killings that are unfortunately, prevalent in our society. This was the gist of speeches at a seminar on "Bill against honour killings. Concerns addressed/unaddressed," organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan of c the Jurisconsults, who originally drafted the bill on honour killings passed by the National Assembly last week, termed the draft law an encouraging beginning for a society where honour crimes were committed with pride. “Even if you come up with more stricter laws, the situation on the ground will remain the same, because we as a whole constitute a very week society in terms of collective as well as individual responsibilities," he maintained. People know what is honour killing and which class of society constitutes the major chunk of its perpetrators, he added. Moreover, he said, to award punishment to an accused, witnesses were required and in case of a typical honour killing, it was impossible to produce. Therefore, honour killings need to be taken in their broader perspectives after considering their social, political and economical repercussions.

He made a presentation and explained various clauses of the newly-passed bill vis-a-vis provisions of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for such crimes."We cannot outrightly reject the concept of Qisas and Diyat which is very much part of the Islamic jurisprudence; however, it has been misused. The Shariat Court has the power to strike down any law repugnant to the Islamic tenets," he said.

PPP MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf criticized the government for bulldozing the bill through the National Assembly without holding thorough discussion. Originally, he claimed, the bill was moved by PPP's Sherry Rehman; however, when the bill was sent to the standing committee, Ms Rehman was not even invited for discussion. In the end, the government passed" the bill which, he said, was a half-hearted attempt to fight the well-entrenched custom of honour killings. “My party has always upheld the concept of gender equality in the country and will keep on supporting initiatives aimed to promote women's rights," he said.

Senator Sanaullah Baloch argued that the phenomenon of honour killings was not sex and region-specific. He said men equally shared the burden of the menace and it was unjustified to suggest that only women were the victims of honour killings. He described poverty, unequal distribution of wealth and apathy of governments as the basic factors for the prevalence of honour killings. Dr Saba Gul Khattak, Executive Director SDPI, mediated the seminar.

Opposition to Fight Uniform Issue in Courts and Streets
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
October 26, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

Opposition MNAs have threatened to fight the case of uniform of Gen Musharraf, not only in courts of law but also through street power.

The MPs were speaking at a seminar on 'Retaining Two Offices under Sustainable Democracy' organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday. MNAs, Maimoona Hashmi (PML), Abdul Rauf Mengal (PONM) and Mohammad Laeeq Khan (Muttehidda Majlis-e-Amal) spoke from the opposition, but none was invited from the ruling coalition.

The opposition legislators claimed the President was defaming Pakistan in the eyes of international community by passing a controversial bill for retaining two offices. They said the law and order situation in the country was getting worst and that even worshippers were not safe in holy places. Broad daylight target killing of religious figures and men of prominence has further exposed the claims of the government that it was maintaining law and order in the country. They said that the government was ignoring real issues like poverty unemployment and security and trying to put forward the agenda that Musharaf's staying in uniform would solve all their problems.

Abdul Rauf Mengal said presenting and passing the bill on uniform with a simple majority was a shameful act and a darkest blot on the face of Parliament He said the MMA had played a vital role by supporting Gen. Musharraf in the passage of 17th Amendment that legitimized his rule.

He said with the passage of that bill an individual was made an all time powerful President and Parliament lost its utility. On the other hand, he said, people have been forced to hang themselves or commit suicides in other ways due to price hike, hunger, poverty and unemployment. He said "we are against all kind of terrorism, but killing innocent people are being in the military operation." Maimoona Hashmi was of the view that to fulfill the wish of Pervez Musharraf, Parliament is being used for unconstitutional and illegal acts.

She said the country's political history makes it clear that holding of two offices has already disintegrated Pakistan. She said she would never give-up or compromise on the uniform issue.

Mohammad Laeeq Khan said by not honouring the agreement with MMA, President Musharraf has made Pakistan' a joke around the world. He blamed the President for defaming Pakistan by his stubborn policy on this issue. He said “we have no other way left except going to the court of the people.

In the question hour, the participants questioned the role of judiciary in the past and asked the opposition to go and challenge the legitimacy given by Parliament to the Chief of Armed Forces to hold the office of President in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Judiciary Not Independent, says Maimoona
Dawn Islamabad
October 26, 2004
by Staff Reporter

Members of treasury benches did not come to defend the bill on uniform at a seminar, leaving the field open for the opposition members who opposed the legislation and crticized military's interference in politics.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus and Pakistan Muslim League (PML) MNA Riaz Hussain Pirzada were to represent the government at a seminar on "Retaining Two Offices Under Sustainable Democracy" arranged by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute on Monday. However, when they did not show up, the organizers had to start the proceedings without them after a delay of one hour.

PML-N MNA Maimoona Hashmi, Balochistan National Party MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal and MNA Mohammad Laeeque Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) represented the opposition parties.

One of the organizers announced that despite confirming their participation' even five minutes before the start of the seminar, both the treasury MNAs could not come. He said both the MNAs told him on telephone that they were late because of a quorum problem in the National Assembly, but they would definitely come. However, despite the fact the assembly session was over soon after 3pm, they did not come to the seminar that ended at 4:10pm.

Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Rauf Mengal said no dictator in the past ever tried to present such a bill in the parliament, despite the fact they also did various legislations to prolong their rule. He said the opposition parties were not given " sufficient time to speak on the bill.

Mr. Mengal also criticized the MMA for extending its support to the government during passage of the 17th Amendment bill. He said it was after the 17th Amendment that the National Security Council was set up.

He said the bill on uniform, passed by the National Assembly, was very damaging not only for the democracy, but also for the country. He said law and order situation had become worse and the security agencies were busy only in providing protection to the president and the prime minister, and had no concern for the safety of the people.

He said the opposition wanted that the military should perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution. The National Accountability Bureau, he said, had become a tool in the hands of the government to victimize its opponents. He also condemned conviction of ARD President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and former NA speaker Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani. He said Mr. Hashmi was being punished because of his role in the struggle against dictatorship.

Mr. Mengal said treason cases were being registered against the people of Balochistan only because they were opposing establishment of cantonments in the province. He said the government had allocated Rs80 billion for setting up of cantonments in different parts of the province. He asked the government to spend this amount on setting up educational institutions, hospitals and drinking water schemes in the province. He said out of 26 divisions in Balochistan, there was electricity in only eight.

He said if opposing cantonments was tantamount to treason then they were ready to be called rebels.

PML-N MNA Maimoona Hashmi alleged that Gen Musharraf was "disgracing" the whole army by using his uniform only to prolong his rule. She said the country had to suffer a lot in the past due to military rules. The country lost several wars due to non- availability of full time army chief, she said.

The PML-N leader said the number of those living below poverty line had constantly been increasing during the past five years and it had touched the mark of 60 million. She' said the military rulers did not trust any one. Even the person who used to call Gen Musharraf his boss was removed from the office of the prime minister. She said a military general could not become a representative of people.

She said the judiciary was not functioning independently in the country as judges had taken oath under the PCO. She said when Shahbaz Sharif came to Pakistan, the whole Punjab police were deployed in Lahore, leaving the other people at the mercy of the criminals.

She said her father Makhdoom Javed Hashmi had been convicted for 23 years, only for raising voice for the people's rights and democracy. Such punishments were not even given by the British in the sub-continent, she added.

She regretted that Gen Musharraf himself had become the president, the army chief, the chief executive and the NSC chairman. She said the words uttered by Gen Musharraf became a law. She said when the president met foreign dignitaries he did not wear his uniform. "Why did he meet, Don McKinnon in civil dress," she asked. She said no one in the past could retain his uniform for long.

MMA leader Mohammad Laeeque Khan said the uniform had become a joke not only in the country, but it had also become an international issue. He also criticized the US, European countries and the Commonwealth for supporting dictatorship in Pakistan.

The MNA also criticized the legal advisers of Gen Musharraf for suggesting him legislations like bill on uniform. He said every military dictator used people like Sharifuddin Pirzada to prolong the rule. He said how could a person who travelled in three convoys defend the country or its people.

He said once again there were rumours that the prime minister was about to be changed. He said, the Constitution clearly stated that armyman could not take part in politics.

He defended the MMA's stand on the 17th Amendment and said the religious parties, alliance would not give more time to the general to stay in power, and expressed the hope that this would be the last military rule in the country.

WTO regime: job losses in textile sector feared
Dawn Islamabad
October 20, 2004
by a Reporter

The World Trade Organization (WTO) regime will have a potential impact on the economy with definite job losses in textile and clothing sectors.

Government officials, representatives of trade unions and labour-related development sector organizations at a workshop here on Tuesday discussed this concern and demanded that policy- makers, legislatures and industrialists place barriers on possible post-quota threats.

The workshop, titled "Textile and clothing sector workers in the post-quota era", was jointly organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and Fredrich Ebert Stiftung, says a statement.

Trade unions and NGOs' representatives committed to forming a task force on Agreement on Trade and Clothing (ATC) and build networks with similar organizations in and outside Pakistan.

They urged the government to implement the existing labour laws and bring them in conformity with the ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. They further demanded that coherent industrial policy be developed with the participation of all stakeholders, including small and medium enterprises.

The participants said workers be provided facilities, both to families as well as to female and male bachelors, get duty free access to Pakistani garments to markets of the developed countries in bilateral trade agreements and organize a tripartite labour conference focusing ATC issues.

Employers were asked to ensure implementation of existing labour laws, including legal working time for all employed workers and contract labourers, respecting their freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Azam Mohammad from the ministry of commerce said there would be definite job losses after the post-quota era and this concern must be addressed immediately. He said the government was empowered to raise the tariffs under the WTO regime if they feared threats to any industry.

Textile Commissioner Idrees Ahmed admitted that without inclusion of representatives of labour unions and other civil society organizations, the recommendations would be baseless. "There is an immediate need to amend and rationalise labour laws to facilitate labours and industry owners," he added.

Joint Secretary ministry of labour Ata Mohammad Raja said after implementing the WTO laws, labourers in the ready-made garment sector would suffer the most. "Notwithstanding a long established and confident textile industry in Pakistan, we can not and should not rule out the possibility of uncompetitive units being closed down which may result in job losses for workers, including female workers," he observed.

WTO regime likely to hit textile sector workers
The Nation Islamabad
October 20, 2004
by Lamia Zia

Government of­ficials and representatives of trade unions and labour-related development sector organisa­tions Tuesday expressed concern over the possible job losses in tex­tiles and clothing sector after the potential impact of WTO regime.

They have demanded of the policymakers, legislators and in­dustrialists to stop possible post quota threats.

This was the crux of a consul­tation workshop on "Textile and Clothing Sector Workers in the Post Quota Era," jointly organ­ised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and' Fredrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

The participants debated on the various threats and concerns after the possible,WTO regime implications and drafted an ac­tion plan to minimise the nega­tive impacts of the post quota era.

They demanded implementa­tion of these recommendations that require active participation of all the stakeholders. Karin Astrad Seigman, a for­eign expert facilitated the session regarding drafting the action plan. The participants from trade unions and NGOs committed to form a union task force on the Agreement on Trade and Cloth-' ing (A TC) and build networks with similar organisations in and outside Pakistan.

They urged the government to implement the existing labour laws, and bring them in conform­ity with ratified ILO Conven­tions; develop a coherent indus­trial policy with the participation of all the stakeholders including the-special concern of small and medium enterprises; provide la­bour colonies with facilities to workers, both to families, as well as to female and male bachelors; get duty free access to Pakistani garments to markets of devel­oped countries in bilateral trade agreements; and organise a tri­partite labour conference focus­ing ATC issues as soon as possi­ble.

Azam Muhammad from Com­merce Ministry said that there would definite be job losses af­ter the post quota era and those concerns must be addressed im­mediately. He was of the view that government is empowered to raise the tariffs under WTO regime if they observe a threat to any industry.

Textile Commissioner Idrees Ahmed admitted that the with­out. including representatives from labour unions and other civil society organisations, rec­ommendations would be use­less. "There is immediate need to amend and rationalise labour laws to facilitate labourers and industry owners," He added.

Joint Secretary, Ministry of La­bour Atta Muhammad Raja said that after implementing WTO laws, readymade garment sector labour would be the sufferer.

"Notwithstanding a long es­tablished and confident textile industry in Pakistan we cannot and should not rule out the pos­sibility of non-competitive units being closed down which may result in job losses for workers including the female workers in Pakistan." He observed.

People concerned at possible job cuts
The Frontier Post Peshawar
October 20, 2004

The gov­ernment officials, representa­tives of trade unions and labour-related development sector organizations have concerned over the definite job losses in Textiles and Clothing sector of Pakistan after the potential impact of WTO regime.

They have demanded from the policy makers, legislatures and industrialists to place barri­ers in front of possible post quota threats.

These recommendations were made during a consulta­tion workshop jointly orga­nized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Fredrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) on the topic of "Textile and Clothing Sector Workers in the Post Quota Era" here.

Participants from numerous Trade Unions of national and provincial levels, representa­tives from Ministries of Labour, Textile, Commerce and development sector organiza­tions debated the various threats and concerns, due to possible WTO regime implica­tions and drafted an action plan to minimize the negative impacts of the post quota era.

They demanded that the implementation of these rec­ommendations requires and strengthens the active partici­pation of all stakeholders in the economy and overall society of country.

Karin Astrad Seigman facili­tated the session regarding drafting action plan. Participants from trade unions and NGOs committed to form a' union task force on the Agreement on Trade and Clothing (ATC) and build net­works with similar organiza­tions in and outside Pakistan.

They urged the government to implement existing labor laws and sanction their viola­tion and bring them in confor­mity with ratified ILO conven­tions, develop a coherent industrial policy with the par­ticipation of all stakeholders, including the special concern of small and medium enterpris­es, provide labor colonies with facilities to workers, both to families, as well as to female and male bachelors, get duty free access to Pakistani gar­ments to markets of developed countries in bilateral trade agreements and organize a tri­partite labor conference focus­ing ATC issues as soon as pos­sible.

Draft Action Plan also urged employers to ensure implementation of existing labor laws, including legal working time for all employed workers and contract labor and respect their freedom of association and col­lective bargaining, involve workers organizations actively in the formation of the com­panies strategy to cope with the restructuring of the global envi­ronment for trade, provide on the job training and re-training, to their workers, focusing on units harmed by the expiry of the ATC and provide them free transport facility, particularly for female workers to encour­age female workers participa­tion in the industry.

Concern voiced over job losses under WTO regime
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
October 20, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

Government officials, trade unions and development sector organisations have expressed concern over job losses in textile and clothing sector due to implementation of the WTO regime in the country.

The concern was voiced at a workshop on 'Textile and clothing sector workers in the post quota era" jointly organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) here on Monday. Representatives from trade unions, development sector organisations and ministries of labour and commerce attended the workshop. Karin Astrad Seigman of SDPI conducted the proceedings. The participants urged the policymakers, legislators and industrialists to place barriers in front of possible post quota threats.

The workshop discussed various threats and concerns due to the WTO regime implications and, drafted an action plan to minimise the negative impacts of the post-quota era. The participants observed that implementation of recommendations needs active participation of the society and all stakeholders in the economy.

Representatives, of trade, unions and NGOs agreed to formation of a task force on the Agreement on Trade and Clothing (ATC) and build networks' with similar organisations in and outside Pakistan. They urged the government to implement existing labour laws and punish violators to bring domestic legislation in conformity with the ILO conventions that Pakistan has already ratified.

They urged development of a coherent industrial policy with the help of all stakeholders, including the special concern of small and medium enterprises, provide labour colonies with fa­cilities to workers, both to fami­lies as well as to female and male bachelors get duty-free access to Pakistani garments to markets of the developed countries in bilat­eral trade agreements and organise a tripartite labour conference focusing on ATC issues as soon as possible.

The draft action plan urged employers to ensure implementation of existing labour laws, in­cluding legal working time for all employed workers and contract labour, and respect their freedom of association and collective bar­gaining, involve workers' organi­sations actively in the formula­tion of the companies' strategy to cope with the restructuring of the global environment for trade, provide on-job training and re-training to their workers, focus on units harmed by the expiry of the ATC and provide them free transport facility, par­ticularly for female workers to encourage their participation in the industry.

Azam Mohammad from the Ministry of Commerce said there would be definite unemployment after the post-quota era and these fears must be addressed immediately. He said the government is' empowered to raise the tariffs under the WTO regime if threat to any industry is observed.

Textile Commissioner Idrees Ahmed admitted that without in­volving representatives from labour unions and' other civil society organisations, any recommendation would be useless;' "There is immediate need to amend and rationalise labour laws to facilitate labourers and industry owners," he added.

Joint Secretary Labour Atta Mohammad Raja in his talk said that after implementing the WTO laws, labour engaged in the readymade garment sector would suffer the most. "Notwithstanding; a long established and confident textile industry in Pakistan, we cannot and should not rule out possibility of uncompetitive units being closed down which may re­sult in job losses for workers, in­cluding females," he observed.

Mobile Firms Concerned over WLL Operation
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
October 14, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

The mobile cellular operators have expressed concern over the low cost of Wifeless Local Loop (WLL) mobility, maintaining that it would adversely affect their consumer base in cellular services.

The apprehension was expressed at a meeting of stakeholders at the 51st meeting of SDPI's Study Group on information Technology and Telecommunications here on Wednesday. The participants included government officials, policy makers, regulators, academicians, cellular and Internet service providers, WLL licensees and other stakeholders. Dr. ljaz Shafi Gilani, chief of Gallup Survey of Pakistan, chaired the session.

The participants of the meeting were of the view that following the current trend, Pakistan recently adopted emerging technology of WLL services, which is technically similar to mobile telephones. PTA successfully completed the first phase of deregulation of this service by auctioning frequency spectrum in all the 14 telecom regions of the country for WLL services.

Code division multiple access (CDMA) which supports WLL is a cellular technology and as the licensees prepare to provide the subscribers loop (last mile) connectivity through WLL-CDMA system, they would offer a limited mobility to the subscribers which means, the subscribers will enjoy mobility in their respective geographic areas.

The technology will facilitate the increase of telephone density in Pakistan, they said. Participants were concerned that the operational stability of the WLL services would involve the identification of cell boundaries and the extent of mutual interference. To overcome the problem, a great deal of cooperation, especially between the adjacent WLL operators will be needed.

Overlapping zones will have to be identified and adjusted for interference free services. The operators will have to team up to resolve mutual problems with minimum role of the PTA, they said. The WLL operators will have to comply with the licensing conditions as laid down by the PTA. The conditions include adhering to the number plan; customers cannot avail mobility outside their specified service area; and no roaming would be possible unless authorised through an agreement and payment.

Brigadier (r) Mohammad Yasin of SDPI, Mukhtar Ahmed from Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), Major (r) Kamil Khan of Interactive Communications and representatives from Ufone; Telenore, National Telecommunication Corporations, Ministry of Information Technology and other departments attended the meeting and expressed their point of views to promote and regulate telecommunication services in Pakistan. Engineer Usman of the Saif Group, Abdul Samad of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
(PTA) also spoke on the occasion.

Women demand effective laws against honour killing
The Nation Islamabad
October 09, 2004
by Lamia Zia

The human rights activists held a demonstration against the "honour killings" here on Friday.
The protest rally started from China Chowk and ended at Parliament House. Hundreds of protesters including women and children participated in the rally in a peaceful manner to protest honour killings.

The protesters were holding placards and raising slogans against the honour killings. They demanded of the government to introduce effective laws to bring an end to honour killing what they called an un-Islamic, inhuman and unlawful practice.

The placards were carrying slogans as, "Stop honour killings", "honour killing a part of feudal system," "honour killing an act of cowardice," "victims of honour killings are martyrs," etc.

The protesters were wearing black arm and head bands to show solidarity with the women killed in the name of honour across the country.

The women protestors held mock funerals of those women who were killed in the name of honour in various parts of the country. They were also holding placards carrying name and murder date of 357 women victims of honour killings.

The women rights activist Asma Jahangir was also present on this occasion. She demanded of the government to legislate against the honour killings to effectively protect the rights of Pakistani women. She urged the government to introduce appropriate amendments in the recently approved honour killings bill by the National Assembly Committee, within six months. She warned that another rally would be staged in Islamabad with a better participation of people from all walks of life, if the bill was not amended suitably.

She further said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf has failed to effectively protect the women rights during the past four years.

The central leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (Parliamentarian) Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, MNA, stressed the need for a societal change in the society's attitude towards women.

He said the laws on women rights should be implemented in letter and spirit, adding only the mere legislation is not solution to the problem, but its effective enforcement was need of the hour.

Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) MNA Mehnaz Rafi, Supreme Court Bar Association President Tariq Mehmood, Dr Mubashir Hassan, Farha Deeba and Afrasiab khattak were amongst the speakers of the rally.

The protestors dispersed peacefully at the conclusion of the rally. Heavy contingents of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police and women police were deployed on this occasion. The rally also observed one-minute silence in the memory of honour killing victims in front of National Assembly building.

Regulators' Responsibilities
Daily Dawn
October 9, 2004

The conduct of regulatory bodies in Pakistan understandably came in for some criticism during a seminar in Islamabad the other day. To play a more effective role in protecting the rights of consumers, it was said that they needed greater independence, increased powers, the government respecting their autonomy and these being held accountable to parliament.

Unfortunately, in practice, most regulatory bodies have failed to perform their due role of safeguarding the public interest. Take the case of the Pakistan Telecom Authority, which is supposed to ensure reliable and affordable service for telephone and Internet users.

While prices have come down, mainly because of increased competition, quality of service continues to be poor. In a bid to grab customers, companies have not bothered to increase the capacity of their networks to cope with the expanded customer base. As a result, connectivity (for both mobile phone and Internet users) has suffered.

As for PEMRA, it has the misconception that its role is not to ensure quality of service or safeguard the rights of cable TV subscribers but to become a guardian of public morality and shut down channels on a vague notion of vulgarity.

NEPRA and OGRA, the power and gas regulator, respectively, have often seemed powerless to do anything in the interest of consumers. The power and gas companies are supposed to obtain from either permission to raise tariffs.

In some cases, their requests have been turned down initially, but can be obtained with the intercession of the government. Even the Monopoly Control Authority has been toothless in persuading the cement manufacturers' cartel to lower prices (despite a cut in central excise duty in the 2004-05 budget).

The fact of the matter is that making the regulatory bodies accountable to parliament will not necessarily improve their working. They have sufficient powers as it is to safeguard the public interest and the key lies in exercising them judiciously and courageously, in the public interest, and to not be too beholden to the government.

Rally demands proper legislation against honour killing
HR activists threaten countrywide movement if demand not met
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
October 09, 2004

Thousands of activists of dozens Human Rights organisations staged a rally against 'honour killing' on Friday before the parliament building.

They warned the government that the Human Right Organisation would launch a countrywide movement if the government failed to legislate an acceptable law against the honour killing within six months.

Prominent leaders of Human Rights across the country, including Aitzaz Ahsan (MNA), Asima Jahangir, Senator Iqbal Haider, Mehnaz Raft (MNA), Naeem Mirza, Barrister Mujeeb Pirzada, Dr Farzana Bari, Dr. Mubashar, Mukhtaran Bibi and Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood (President Supreme Court Bar Council} participated in the protesting rally.

Groups of human rights activists started from various points in Islamabad and gathered at China Chowk at about 10.30 am and marched towards the Parliament House.

A heavy contingent of police tried to stop the angry protestors at different spots on their way to the Parliament Building but they stormed towards their destination and finally reached there.

"Stop killing of women in name of honour," "Violence against women unacceptable," 'Hounor killing is a part of feudal system of Pakistan' read some of the banners. Some protestors held placards inscribed with names of victims of hounor killing and the name of places where they lived. They also carried mock coffin of the victims of honour killing.

The protesters lashed out at President Musharraf, saying on one hand he amended the constitution to consolidate his power with a stoke of pen and made repeated pledges with his western allies, especially Washington to protect Pakistani women from discrimination, unjust and un-Islamic legislation but nothing has been done so far, Asma Jahangir said.

President General Pervez Musharraf himself had declared 'honour killing' as a plain murder but hardly done anything significant to draft law on it since October 1999 when he assumed power.

She vowed to continue struggle for the repeal of all discriminatory laws against the women.

We have to fight against mullahs who want to keep women oppressed by advocating Chadar aur chardewari, a women right activist Farzana Bari said in her address.

PPPP's Iqbal Haider lashed out at speakers National and Sindh assemblies for brooking debate on honour killing and Karo Kari 'Not only the speakers who blocked the debate in the assemblies but those judges who have given judgments in favour of Karo Kari must be removed from the offices,' Haider demanded.

Various countrywide statistics said more than 4,000 people, mostly women have been murdered across Pakistan since 1998 and most of these cases had been settled in the name of 'raazinama or muafmama'.

Also, panchayat or jirga-sanctioned gang rapes, severing body organs and grievous physical injuries are common occurrence in such cases. I:

Authorities say more than 60 cases of honour killing have been reported this year to the police in the Punjab province.

Since 2001, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said only 100 accused have been arrested in at least 318 cases in southern Punjab whereas only one person has been sentenced.

HRCP and the opposition parties have been blaming "soft punishment and poor prosecution" for the increasing number of honour killings. The criminal laws treat honour killing as murder, but a provision that allows family of the victim to compromise with the killer has rendered them ineffective.

"The existing laws need to be changed to bring an end to this social evil," Sherry Rehman, a woman PPPP's parliamentarian told The News. She had tabled a draft bill on honour killing last year, which she thinks would never get through.

"Instead, the government is preparing to introduce its own piece of legislature which proposes only cosmetic changes and will fail to achieve the desired results," she added.

The rally passed a resolution demanding of parliament to enact urgently a 'strong and effective' law minus ambiguity or loopholes to eliminate murders in the name of honour. However, they rejected any bill from the treasury bench on this.

They also demanded a law that lays down minimum mandatory punishments for honour killings.

The state must not only assume full responsibility for the registration, investigation and prosecution of such crimes but also assume a role of wali, the resolution.

Rally against honour killing
The Nation Islamabad
October 08, 2004

Citizen' Action Group Against Honour killings (CAGAHK) is holding a peaceful rally and march to highlight the issue of legislation on honour killing and violence against women in front of Parliament today.

The march will start from China Chowk and proceed towards Parliament Chowk, where prominent women's rights activists will speak on the subject, and memorandums of demands will be presented to parliamentarians.

Hisba Act a mere political move, says US professor
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
October 06, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

Dr Anita Weiss, a professor at Oregon University, US, has said that introducing Hisba Act is a mere political act of MMA government in NWFP than doing any real service to Islam.

Dr Weiss was discussing results of her research during a seminar on "Straddling CEDAW and the MMA: conflicting visions of women's rights in Pakistan" or­ganised by Sustainable Develop­ment Policy Institute here on Mon­day.

Anita Weiss said it was an un­realistic effort of the MMA aimed at satisfying its vote hank by claiming that the religious outfit had "done a lot for implementing Islamic laws."

She said by signing the Convention on Elimination of Discrim­ination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1996, Pakistan pledged to re­view its existing laws, social insti­tutions and cultural stereotypes and creating conducive conditions to eliminate discrimination against women.

She said the western parame­ters of socio-economic standardis­ation could not be a panacea for most of the ills of developing countries, particularly those re­lated to women issues. But, she maintained, it definitely required consensus of vision by the Muslim religious clergy to present it as a unified code of action in the days to come.

She examined the enactment of draft laws by the MMA's govern­ment in NWFP to ascertain the role of women in the polity in line with Islamic injunctions as they in­terpret it. She was critical of di­verging visions and viewpoints of different religious-political parties who are enthusiastic to implement the Hisba Act without taking into account the contextual realities. That is more a political act than any real service to Islam, she ob­served.

She said this sort of legislation would be an infringement of con­current list that favours the Fed­eral Government to legislate on these issues. She referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology, which did not support the Hisba Act. She also objected to the approach of MMA to defend Hisba Act by saying that the creation of an Islamic context will automatically resolve the prevailing social and legal problems. .

The participants shared the comments of the speaker. A questioner wanted to know what would be the role of Mohtasib under the Hisba Act when the Provincial Om­budsman is also working there. Similarly, it was questioned who would implement the acts of Hisba? The dubious role of exist­ing police force was also hotly de­bate.

Dr Saba Gul Khattak, Executive Director SDPI, thanked the guest speaker and the participants in the end.

Seminar calls for steps to end gender bias
Business Recorder Islamabad
October 05, 2004
by Recorder Reporter

Dr Anita Wais, Professor of International Studies at University of Oregon USA, said that Government of Pakistan under the commitment of CIDA W con­vention should review it's existing laws, social institutions and cultur­al stereotypes, and must create enabling conditions to eliminate discrimination against women.

She was addressing a seminar on "Straddling CIDA Wand the MMA: Conflicting Visions of Women Rights in Pakistan" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Anita Wais said that her study examines the enactment of draft laws by the MMA government in NWFP to ascertain the role of women in the polity in line with Islamic injunction.

Dr Anita has written many books and edited a famous book "Power and Society in Pakistan".

She criticised the divergent viewpoints of different religio­political parties vying to imple­ment the "Hisba Act" without considering the ground realities.

Anita said that the Council of Islamic Ideology has condemned the "Hisba Act" and added that faulty mechanism of the provin­cial government would be an infringement of concurrent list that favours federal government to legislate.

Anita criticised the current MMA rule in NWFP as segrega­tion has made women rights limit­ed. Girls are to study in separate schools from boys and only female doctors can provide treat­ment to female patients and even in severe emergency cases women are not provided medical aid to safe their life, she asserted.

The US professor said that there is no political pressure to pass leg­islation on karo-kari and to repeal Hadood Ordinance. Traditions and customs of rural and back­ward areas of NWFP and Balochistan must be changed for empowerment of women.

MMA using religion for political gains
Dawn Islamabad
October 05, 2004
by Amir Wasim

Former president Gen Ziaul Haq's Islamization programme was pur­sued in a complicated ideological framework and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) is following the same policy of 'manipulating' religion for political purposes, Prof Dr Anita Weiss of Oregon University of the US said here on Monday.

Dr Weiss was presenting her research study at a seminar on 'Straddling CEDAW and the MMA: Conflicting visions of women's rights in Pakistan', organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

She said the MMA people secured votes by promising that they would implement Islamic system. She said several federal laws on women were there but the MMA govern­ment in the NWFP was developing their own set of laws.

"A number of new and proposed laws and policies of the MMA directly contest those of the federal government's," she said.

She said by introducing Hisba Act, the MMA was more interested in gaining polit­ical credit than doing real service for Islam.

She also objected to the approach of the MMA in defending Hisba Act by saying that the creation of an Islamic context would automatically resolve the prevailing social and legal problems.

In fact, she said, the MMA made ail unre­alistic effort to satisfy their votebank by stat­ing that they had done much for the imple­mentation of Islamic laws.

She also highlighted 'gender segregation policy' of the MMA under which girls could only study in separate schools and only female physicians could treat female patients. The notion is that women's rights will be secured by such things, she said.

Similarly, Dr Weiss said, the MMA was less innovative in its stance on women's legal rights within the family.

The visiting US scholar said as per CEDAW Convention, to whom Pakistan became signa­tory in 1996, the government of Pakistan pledged to review its existing laws, social institutions and cultural stereotypes and cre­ate enabling conditions to eliminate discrim­ination against women.

She said Pakistan had done a 'fairly good job' in reforming laws so as to provide equal rights to women. She said laws were there but they needed implementation.

About Hudood Laws, she said no legal dis­tinction was made between consensual adul­tery and rape. She called for open debates in the country on such issues.

Executive Director of the SDPI Saba Gul Khattak conducted the seminar which was attended by representatives of NGOs, human rights organizations and media.

Hasba Act political tactic, says Dr Weiss
The Nation Islamabad
October 05, 2004
By Lamia Zia

Introducing of Hisba Act is a mere political tactic of the MMA for winning credit and increasing their vote bank instead of service to the people.

This was stated by Dr Anita 'Weiss, a professor at Oregon University, USA, while present­ing her research study at a semi­nar on "Straddling CEDA Wand the MMA: Conflicting Visions of Women's Rights in Pakistan" or­ganized by Sustainable Develop­ment Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Dr Anita Weiss, highlighted the role of religious parties with special focus on the Muthida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in NWFP, under the commitment to conditions Eliminate discrimination against women (CEDAW), a convention Pakistan became signatory to in 1996.

According to the convention, the Government of Pakistan pledged to review its existing laws, social institutions and cultural stereotypes and create ena­bling conditions to eliminate discrimination against women.

She said that Western parame­ters of socio-economic standard­ization cannot be the panacea for most of the ills of developing countries particularly those relat­ed to women issues, but it defi­nitely requires consensus of vi­sion by the Muslim religious cler­gy to present it as a unified code of action in the days to come.

She examined the enactment of draft laws by the MMAs govern­ment of NWFP to ascertain the role of women in the polity in line with Islamic injunctions as they interpret it.

She was critical of diverging visions and viewpoints of differ­ent religio-political parties that are enthusiastic to implement the Hasba Act without taking the contextual realities in front of them. That is more a political credit winning than the real serv­ice doing for Islam, she said.

Juristically talking, she shared the faulty mechanism of the pro­vincial government, as this sort of legislation would be an in­fringement of concurrent list that favours the federal government to legislate on these issues.

She informed the participants about the verdict by the Council of Islamic Ideology that con­demned the Hasba Act.

She objected to the layman ap­proach of MMA by defending Hasba Act as saying that the cre­ation of an Islamic context will automatically resolve the pre­vailing social and legal problems. In fact, she stressed, it's an unre­alistic effort by the MMA politi­cians to satisfy their vote bank that they have done much for the implementation of Islamic laws.

The participants shared valua­ble comments to clarify the mat­ter under discussion by high­lighting the avenues like what will be the role of Mohtasib un­der Hasba Act when the Provincial Ombudsman is also working there.

Similarly, who will implement the acts of Hasba?

Worst form of bonded labour exists in mining sector: researcher
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
September 29, 2004
by Rasheed Khalid

Ahmad Saleem, a researcher at SDPI, has said that the worst form of bonded labour exists in mining sector throughout the country.

He was briefing the audience at a seminar on 'Bonded labour in mining sector of Pakistan' organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday.

Ahmad Saleem said that inhuman child and bonded labour violations take place in the mining sector of Pakistan. He said that mine owners which included legislators are violating labour laws in the area, which needs to be addressed immediately. He said that workers usually belong to the districts of Shangla and Swat.

He said that a middleman usually belonging to the area is responsible for hiring the workers. Being a local, whenever he comes to the village, he carries a large amount of money and distributes it to potential workers. The total amount ranges from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000. About the working environment, he said that absence of safety networks and guidelines was making the lives difficult for mineworkers.

Ahmad Saleem said that the situation was much worse in unregistered mines as compared to the registered ones. In case of any disaster, mine owners usually offer compensation of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000 and ask the worker to go back home and take rest or send someone else in his place. He said that in case of death, owners are bound to pay Rs. 300,000 to the mineworker but in most reported cases, owners try to hide the incident and bury the worker without informing his relatives. He informed the participants that late Omar Asghar Khan recommended steps for the amelioration of mineworkers out those were not implemented due to his untimely death.

Ramzan Khokhar, a registered mineworker and union leader of Khewra salt mines, said that the Khewra mines had 1,850 workers, who were doing all work themselves. The British introduced the chamber system of mining which is for better than the prevailing one. In fact, they were well-wishers of the mineworkers than the present government, which is levying all kinds of taxes, abolishing gratuities and number of allowances, which were being paid to the mine worker. He said that there are only 650 registered mineworkers at Khewra mines. He said that the government has decreased the rate of salt by Rs. l00 per ton and privatisation and leasing of the mines is the other menace that created more difficulties for the workers. The private owners are not only wasting the salt but also causing salinity to the soil as they do not dispose rough salt properly and throw it away into Jhelum River, which then irrigates land in downstream.

Saifullah from International Labour Organisation, appreciating the study, said that another study found that due to high illiteracy and the belief of the people that mining is a well-paid sector, most of the mineworkers are from Shangla and Swat districts only. He also informed that there is no school and formal education for work safety and occupational health, which could be imparted to the workers in this sector.

Workers living in inhuman conditions Jhelum River polluted with mine salts
By Our Correspondent
Frontier Post
September 28, 2004

ISLAMABAD: “Inhuman child and bonded labor violations exist in the mining sector of Pakistan. Mine owners including legislators are violating labor laws in the area, which needs to be addressed immediately.” These was revealed by findings of a research study and opined by the speakers at a seminar organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) entitled “Bonded labor in mining sector of Pakistan”, held here on Monday.

Experts indicated that the private mine owners are not only wasting the salt rather also causing salinity to the soil as they do not dispose rough salt properly and throw it away in to Jhelum River, which then irrigates the lands in the district.

Ahmad Saleem of SDPI presented his research findings and told the gathering that worst form of Bonded Labor is prevailing in the Mining sector through out the country and the workers are usually belongs to the districts of Shangla and Swat.

He said that a middleman, who usually belongs to the area, is responsible for hiring the workers. Being a local, whenever he came to the village, he comes with huge money and distributes to the potential workers. The total amount ranges from 15000-25000. Informing about the working environment in the mines, he said that non-existence of any safety networks and guidelines, making the lives difficult for the mineworkers. Situation is much worst in the unregistered mines as compared to the registered mines. In case of any disaster, mine owners usually offer compensation of rupees 5000 to 10,000 and ask the worker to go back home and take rest or send someone else in his place.

He revealed that in case of any death, owners are bound to pay rupees 300,000 to the mineworker but in most of the reported cases, owners try to hide the incident and bury the worker without informing his relatives. He informed the participants that the late Omar Asghar Khan recommended some step but those were not implemented due to his untimely death. “A few legislators who are also mine owners and so are the perpetrators of this inhumanity in the mining sector.” He replied on a question.

Ramzan Khokhar, a registered mineworker and union leader of Khewra salt mines said that the Khewra salt mines had 1850 workers, who were doing all the work themselves. The British introduced the Chamber system of mining which is far better than the prevailing one, In fact, they were well wisher of the mine workers than the present government which is levying all kind of taxes, abolishing gratuities and number of allowances, were being paid to the mine worker. He told that there are only 650 registered mineworkers at Khewra mines. He said government has decreased the rate of salt by Rs. 100/ton and privatization and leasing of the mines is the other menace, which has created more difficulties for the workers.

Ch. Saifullah from International Labor Organization (ILO) appreciated the efforts of Ahmad Saleem and his team who carried out an interesting study on Bonded Labor in the Mining sector. He said that another study have found that due to high illiteracy and the belief of the people that mining is a well paid sector, most of the mineworkers are from Shangla and Swat districts only. He also informed that there is no school and formal education for work safety and occupational health, which could be imparted to the workers in this sector.

Responding to a question on concrete interventions, he said that a project has been developed to address problems of mine work seekers from Chakwal and Shangla to identify employment alternatives within theses areas. ILO also working intensively with district governments to utilize the funds resourcefully and opening literacy and safety centers close to mines, for children. “A Bonded labour law is also in place and such laws need to be implemented accordingly.” he added.

Worst form of bonded labour exists in mining sector
By Our Staff Reporter
The Nation, Islamabad
September 27, 2004

Inhuman child and bonded labour exists in the mining sector of Pakistan. Mine owners including legislators are violating labour laws in the area, which needs to be addressed immediately.

This was crux of the seminar on “Bonded labour in mining sector of Pakistan” organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Ahmad Saleem of SDPI presented his research findings and told the gathering that worst form of bonded labour is prevailing in the mining sector throughout the country and the workers usually belong to the districts of Shangla and Swat.

He said that a middleman, who usually belongs to the area, is responsible for hiring the workers. Being a local, whenever he come to the village, he comes with huge money and distributes it to potential workers. The total amount ranges from Rs 15000 25000.

Informing about the working environment in the mines, he said that non-existence of any safety networks and guidelines, making the lives difficult for the mine workers. Situation is much worst in the unregistered mines as compare to the registered mines.

In case of any disaster, mine owners usually offer compensation of Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 and ask the worker to go back home and take rest or send someone else in his place.
He reveled that in case of any death, owners are bound to pay Rs 300,000 to the mine worker but in most of the reported cases, owners try to hide the incident and burry the worker without informing his relatives.

He informed the participants that late Omar Asghar Khan recommended some step but those were not implemented due to his untimely death.

“A few legislators who are also mine owners and so are the perpetrators of this inhumanity in the mining sector,” he replied to a question.

Ramzan Khokhar, a registered mine worker and labour union leader of Khewra Salt Mines, said that the Khewra Salt Mines have 1850 workers, who were doing all the work themselves.

The British introduced the chamber system of mining which is for better than the prevailing one, In fact, they were well wisher of the mine workers than the present government which is levying all kind of taxes, abolishing gratuities and number of allowances being paid to the mine worker,” he said and added that there are only 650 registered mine workers at Khewra mines.

He said, government has decreased the rate of salt by Rs 100/ton and privatization and leasing of the mines is another menace, which has created more difficulties for the workers.

The private owners are not only wasting the salt but also causing salinity to the soil as they do not dispose rough salt properly and throw it away in to Jhelum River, which then irrigates the lands in the district.

Ch. Saifullah from International Labor Organization (ILO), appreciated the efforts of Ahmad Saleem and his team who carried out an interesting study on bonded labour in the mining sector.

He said that another study have found that due to high illiteracy and the belief of the people that mining is a well paid sector, most of the mine workers are from Shangla and Swat districts only.

He also informed that there is no school and formal education for workers safety and occupational health, which could be imparted to the workers in this sector.

Responding to a question on concrete interventions, he said that a project has been developed to address problems of mine work seekers from Chakwal and Shangla to identify employment alternatives within theses areas.

ILO is also working intensively with district governments to utilise the funds resourcefully and opening literacy and safety centres close to mines, for children.

“A Bonded labour law is also in place and such laws need to be implemented accordingly.” he added.

Victimization of mine workers continues, say speakers
By Jamal Shahid
Dawn, Islamabad
Sept 27, 2004

Dangerous working environment and occupational health hazards pose threat to the lives of mine workers who are still facing victimization.

This was the gist of deliberations at a seminar on 'Bonded labour in mining sector of Pakistan', organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday.

Speakers at the seminar included Khewra Salt Mines Trade Union activist Ramzan Khokhar, ILO National Programme Manager Mohammad Saifullah and Research Assistant/Director Urdu Publications Ahmad Salim.

Mr Khokhar said health and safety concerns of the mine workers was top priority during the British rule. He said the electric trolleys used in the past were safe and environment friendly. The tractor trolleys used in mines today produce dangerous smoke and the dust rising from the tires makes breathing difficult, he added.

"In five to seven years, a miner contracts TB or other diseases." Mr Khokhar said there were 685 registered miners working in Khewra Salt Mines on just Rs1,000 a month. This amount is not even fixed and withholding tax is deducted from it, he added.

Furthermore, he said, a miner was supposed to come out with a specified amount of salt or else he was not paid the promised sum. To top it all, miners have to purchase safety gear and other supplies themselves, he added.

"So you can imagine the actual amount of money a single miner takes home. All facilities and allowances such as gratuity funds or old age benefits have also been withdrawn," the activist said.

In 1983, the then Punjab finance minister Nawaz Sharif had permitted private owners to mine for salt in Khewra wherever possible. He said the mine owners used to take away usable salt and dump the rest in front of the mines.

Rain water carried the discarded salt to agricultural fields which destroyed the crops. Today fields are barren and even the ground water is hard, the activist added. He said there were some 25 private salt mines in Khewra, while one each was owned by Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) and Punjab Mineral Development Corporation.

Talking about his ILO-supported research on the state of miners, Ahmad Salim said inhuman child and bonded labour was rampant in the mining sector. The situation is worst in unregistered mines, he added.

He said in case of a disaster, mine owners offered compensation ranging between Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 to the victim. Similarly, in death cases, owners are bound to pay Rs300,000 to mine worker's family, but mostly such cases go unreported and miners are buried without informing their kin, he added.

He said most of the miners belonged to Dir, Shangla and other regions of Swat. Private mine owners send a middleman who uses various tactics to trap people of these regions, especially Shangla.

Many people live below poverty line and easily get trapped by accepting loans ranging between Rs20,000 and Rs50,000, which they can never repay and so they end up working in mines. Miners have died under debt, he added.

Talking about child labour in the sector, Mr Salim said mining was tough work and children involved in mining were aged 14 and above. They are either employed at kitchens or involved in loading, he added.

Mr Salim said the most important concern regarding children was child abuse. "Their rates are fixed between Rs150 and Rs200," he added. There were no laws for safety of mine workers, he said adding that "it is because many legislators own mines and allow human rights violations at their mines."

The mining laws from 1923 are decaying in books but not implemented. Laws on bonded labour also needed implementation, the research assistant said. The ILO representative, Mr Saifullah, said poverty, illiteracy and awareness were main reason for exploitation and victimization.

Education in Pakistan
by B. Muralidhar Reddy
The Hindu
September 22, 2004

SECTIONS OF Pakistani society engaged in a vociferous campaign for drastic reforms in education are crestfallen over the nomination of Javed Ashraf Qazi, former Inter-Services Intelligence chief, as Education Minister by the new Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz. The circumstances under which Lt. Gen. (retd.) Qazi was given charge of education triggered alarm bells. He replaced Zubaida Jalal (incidentally a favourite of Washington), a politician from Balochistan, who incurred the wrath of right-wingers by endorsing education reforms. The change came when pro-reformers were beginning to make an impact.

At another level, ostensibly under pressure from the West (read the United States), the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, himself was spearheading a campaign for reforms in the 13,000-odd deen madaris (seminaries) catering to an estimated one million poor children in the country. Lt. Gen. Qazi at the Education Ministry signals an end to such grand plans of reform. It is not that he is associated with the hardliners opposed to education reforms. It is just that his primary task is to allay the fears of the religious Right, the traditional partners of the Pakistan military.

Distortion of history and culture in the official textbooks of Pakistan is a serious issue. Actually it is "murder of history," to borrow a phrase from the title of a book by the Pakistani educationist, K.K. Aziz. A group of independent and respected Pakistani scholars from the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), a non-governmental organisation, after a detailed analysis of the school textbooks in 2002-03 have come up with startling revelations on the historical distortions young Pakistanis are brought up on.

In an incisive study titled The subtle subversion: the state of curricula and textbooks in Pakistan, compiled by A.H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim, a forceful case has been made for a complete rewriting of the textbooks. The study covers elementary and middle school textbooks of Urdu, social studies and civics. The authors highlight inaccuracies and omissions that distort perceptions of events in the history of Pakistan.

Tragically, the authors were targeted for systematic vilification by the fundamentalist lobby. They were accused of trying to please the U.S. and its Western allies, which are accused of trying to change Pakistan's Islamic character in the wake of 9/11.

Given the serious contradictions in Pakistan, it is not an easy task for the establishment, teachers and parents to agree on the identity and image of the nation they would like young minds to form. Take for instance the two-nation theory, the basis of Pakistan. The theory went for a six when Pakistan lost more than half the people and territory in 1971 with the birth of Bangladesh. What explanation could Pakistani textbooks give for the existence of Bangladesh as a separate nation? The military has emerged as the largest organised political force in the country. It has ruled directly for more years than civilian set-ups. How are these distortions to be explained to young minds?

The easiest thing for the establishment is to falsify history and point fingers at the enemy outside, real or created. British rulers and the neighbour not reconciled to Pakistan come in handy . Wars with India are mentioned in patriotic, not historical, terms. In 1965 "Pakistan occupied several areas of India, and when India was on the point of being defeated she requested the United Nations to arrange a cease-fire." The 1971 war that led to the dismemberment of Pakistan and birth of Bangladesh has been dealt with in a similar manner.

"After the 1965 war, India, with the help of Hindus living in East Pakistan instigated the people living there against the people of West Pakistan and at last, in December 1971, herself invaded East Pakistan. The conspiracy resulted in the separation of East Pakistan from us. All of us should receive military training and be prepared to fight the enemy," says one of the textbooks in the Punjab province.

In his first policy statement, the new Education Minister praised the `present education policy' as best suited to the needs of the country. He dismissed the textbooks controversy as `political propaganda'. He shocked civil society with his declaration that he would ask the GHQ (Pakistan Army Headquarters) to engage well-educated personnel of the Pakistan Army in the cantonments to educate school children in the area. He praised seminaries for their contribution to society, ignoring earlier declarations of Gen. Musharraf that madrassa reforms were key to tackling fundamentalism.

The moot question is why should Gen. Musharraf take one step forward and two back on such a vital issue particularly when he is trying to sell the "liberal and enlightened" face of Pakistan to the international community in the post 9/11 era? Is there something more than meets the eye?

Knowledge economy needs more steps
by Lamia Zia
The Nation Islamabad
September 21, 2004

The present governance system is in disarray and current initiatives in this sector are not sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the knowledge economy.

This was commented by Dr S.T.K Naim at a seminar organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) entitled “New Initiatives in Science and Technology - Their Impact Towards Building a Knowledge Economy,” held here on Monday.

Dr S.T.K. Naim, the women scientist, who is a consultant with Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, gave a presentation on the topic.

Dr Naim stated that the present governance system is in disarray and currentinitiatives in this sector were not sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the knowledge economy. Lengthy procedures of the bureaucracy were resulting in lapses of the funding for the proposed projects.

Regarding, human capital, Pakistan is only producing between 40 to 50 PhD' per year and should focus on increasing our capacity to produce at least 300 PhDs annually, she said.

The majority of these graduates are from the HEJ Institute. Higher Education Commission (HEC) is presently inviting PhD candidates from abroad. “Pakistan should focus on utilising their own human capital to instigate demand,” she added.

Dr Naim stated that a knowledge economy requires knowledgeable workers to boost production.

In this regard, it is necessary that international agreements should be signed only after research has been undertaken on the merit of the agreement.

Bureaucratic hurdles cause lapse of funds
By Our Reporter
Dawn Islamabad
September 21, 2004

The lengthy bureaucratic procedures are resulting in lapses of the funds allocated for development projects in the country.

Dr S.T.K Naim, a woman scientist and consultant with Organization of Islamic Conference’s Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, at a seminar, stated this.

The seminar on “New Initiatives in Science and Technology their Impact Towards Building a Knowledge Economy,” was organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday.

Dr Naim said Pakistan was producing only 40 to 50 PhDs every year, and the country should focus on increasing its capacity to produce at least 300 PhDs annually.

The majority of these graduates were from the HEJ Institute. The Higher Education Commission was presently inviting PhD candidates from abroad. “Pakistan should focus on utilizing its own human capital to instigate demand," she said.

The scientist said knowledgeable workers were required to boost production. In this regard, it was necessary that international agreements should be signed only after research had been undertaken on the merit of the agreement.

She stressed on upgrading research and development capabilities within the country. She also highlighted the need to have more internationally accredited laboratories, which had gained importance under the WTO regime.

As a prime example to follow, the speaker repeatedly mentioned South Korea, which invested early on in infrastructure development, and also stressed on technology transfer. Pakistan, she said, did not make progress in this regard.

Absence of community participation root cause of wrong planning
by Rasheed Khalid
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
September 20, 2004

Legislators, technical experts, government officials and participants of a seminar were of the opinion that Master Drainage Plan (MDP) will lead to another controversy among provinces after dams as the plan lacks consultation among concerned local communities and similar plans in the past wreaked havoc to local communities.

This was the opinion of participants of a seminar on 'Implications of Master Drainage Plan'" jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute and Action Aid Pakistan.

Sohail Mirza, Naib Nazim of district Badin, said "we would never let execute and operate MDP in Badin, even at the cost of our lives." He said he witnessed the destruction caused by the inherent defects in Left Out Bank Out Fall Drainage (LBOD), when in 2001 slightly above average rains caused utter destruction and loss of life and property in his Badin. He said that the planning ignored the consequences the people .of the area would have to suffer and only concentrated on the technical side.

Referring to the structural problems, he said the drains were directed towards villages not giving heed to the fact that in the event of rain, flooding would cause immense damage in the ill-equipped, poor areas that do not possess the resources to deal with the crisis that the plan would cause. He said that the plan has been responsible for the loss of living standards in the area. The livelihood of the inhabitants was destroyed and they protested fervently against this plan but their voices fell on deaf ears.

Mohammad Khan Memon, Member Sindh, Indus River System Authority (IRSA), said without addressing the technical faults of previous drainage plans and voices of concerned communities, MDP would lead to another havoc and might intensively harm lower parts of Sindh, which are almost at the verge of destruction. He said lack of community participation in the decision-making process and disturbing natural drainage ways) while planning new projects caused enormous damage to the economy, environment and sociology of the area. “Community participation is a very serious concern and must not be ignored by the relevant agencies,” he pleaded.

Mustafa Talpur from Action Aid suggested that the root problem was the "narrow-minded technical approach" adopted by the concerned agencies instead of a more holistic approach that considers the social and environmental problems as well. He said the plan caused sea intrusion, destruction of wetlands, susceptibility to greater damage from floods and the loss of livelihood for thousands. Planners sitting in Islamabad are making incorrect and even harmful decisions because they are unwilling to look at the whole picture and devise a plan that protects the environment and ensure that no harm is done to the people of the region.

Referring to the expenditures of $500 million dollars on this plan, irrigation expert Khadim Hussain said, they are driven by financial incentives. The foreign agencies have total control over what's going on because local departments, which are responsible for looking out for the welfare of the people like WAPDA, are too lazy to play their role.

He argued that if a project is to be undertaken at such huge costs, it should at least be ensured that it is sustainable. He said that MDP proved to be unsustainable even to its creators. He suggested that instead of wasting resources on one big, faulty plan, several small plans should be put into place that treat he water at different locations. He said critics might say that small plans would be a huge financial undertaking, but the MDP would be no less costly. He also emphasised the need for local engineers to take part in the construction of these plans instead of a foreign team that does not understand the characteristics of the land.

Mushtaq Gadi of People's rights Movement (PRM) criticised the role and power of IFIs in the structuring of this plan. He cited the role of World Bank in Indus basin Treaty and stressed the need of not making the same mistakes again. “This plan has the potential of becoming a biggest controversy among provinces after Dams. This plan is structured to make that IFIs gain, and Pakistan loses.” He also stressed the people's opposition to this plan. The World Bank's record shows that both Sindh and Balochistan rejected the MDP.

In the question hour, the participants observed that drainage is an old problem for Pakistan and the solutions suggested to solve it caused even more problems as the MDP is based on an unsuccessful model and its design does not take social and environmental factors into consideration.

Projects sans community’s role have negative fallout
by Rauf Arif
The Nation Islamabad
September 18, 2004

Lack of community participation in the decision making process and disturbing natural drainage ways while planning the projects have witnessed enormous damage to the economy, environment and sociology of the country.

This was the crux of a seminar jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Action Aid Pakistan entitled “Implications of Master Drainage plan (MDP),” held here on Friday.

The seminar that was attended by the elected representatives, technical experts, government officials and audiences viewed that the community participation is a very serious concern and must not be ignored by the relevant agencies.

The participants complained that the local communities were never consulted when the plan was being formulated and recent events have shown that they are the ones who have suffered immensely at the hands of the National Drainage Programme (NDP).

The list of harms caused by this plan included sea intrusion, destruction of wetlands, susceptibility to greater damage from floods and the loss of livelihood for thousands.

The seminar also criticized the lack of attention to the demands of the local community, who have been opposed to this plan from its very inception.

“Planners sitting in Islamabad are making incorrect even harmful decisions because they are unwilling to look at the whole picture and devise a plan that includes the effects on the environment and the people of the region," said a participant of the seminar.

Another opinion was that the Master Drainage Plan (MDP) will lead to another controversy among provinces after dams' and the plan is lacking consultation of the concerned local communities.

Speaking on the occasion Badin Naib Nazim Sohail Mirza, said that he has witnessed the destruction caused by the inherent defects in drainage plan Left Out Bank Out Fall Drainage (LBOD), when in 2001 slightly above average rains caused utter destruction and loss of life and property in the Badin area.

He also blamed the plan of being inattentive to the consequences the people of the area would have to suffer and only concentrating on the technical side.

Pointing out the structural problems of the plan, Sohail said that the drains were directed towards villages not giving heed to the fact that in the event of rain, flooding would, cause immense damage in those ill-equipped poor areas that do not possess the resources to deal with the crisis that the plan was sending their way.
I
The plan has been responsible for the loss of living standards in the area.

Their livelihoods have been destroyed and they have protested fervently against this plan but their voices have fallen on deaf ears. “We would never let execute and operate MDP in Badin even at the cost of our lives,” he said.

Member Sindh, Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Mohammad Khan Memon said that without addressing technical faults of previous drainage plans and voices of concerned communities MDP could result into another havoc and might intensively harm lower part of Sindh, which is almost on the verge of devastation.

Mustafa Talpur from Action Aid, suggested that the basic problem was, the narrow minded technical approach adopted by the concerned agencies instead of a more holistic approach which considers the social and environmental problems.

Irrigation expert Khadim Hussain criticized the role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and said that they are playing with this project.

Referring to the huge expenditures on this plan, nearly $500 million dollars, he suggested that they are driven by financial incentives.

He argued that if a project is to be undertaken at such huge costs, it should at least be ensured that it is sustainable.

He suggested that instead of wasting resources on one big, faulty plan, several small plans should be put into place that treat the water at different locations.

Some argue that such small plans would be a huge financial undertaking, but the MDP would be no less. He also emphasised the need for local engineers to take part in the construction of this plan instead of a foreign team that does not understand the characteristics of the land. !
Mushtaq Gadi of People's Rights Movement (PRM) criticised the role and the power of IFIs in structuring this plan.

The World Bank's record shows that both Sindh and Balochistan rejected the NDP.

The undeniable relationship between lending and irrigation in Pakistan alluded to the incentives of the donor's of this project (World Bank and ADB).

He said that in this situation, power was at play. Nothing justifies this project, not its technical merits, not the benefits it will bring to the community and least of all the environmental damage it will cause.

Speakers term master drainage plan flawed
by Our Reporter
Dawn Islamabad
September 18, 2004

Participants at a seminar on Friday termed Master Drainage Plan (MDP) flawed, saying it was based on an unsuccessful model and its design did not take social and environmental factors into consideration.

These views expressed by elected representatives, technical experts and government officials at a seminar, titled “Implications of. MDP”. The event had been jointly organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Action Aid Pakistan.

The speakers said drainage was an old problem faced by Pakistan and the solutions suggested to solve this had caused more problems. They said MDP would lead to another controversy among provinces after dams, and that the plan had been prepared without consulting local communities.

Naib Nazim of Badin district Sohail Mirza said he had witnessed the loss of life and destruction of property in the area caused by inherent defects in drainage plan, Left Out Bank Out Fall Drainage, due to slightly above average rains in 2001.

He said the plan did not take into account the consequences to be faced by the people of the area and only concentrated on the technical side. The drains were directed toward villages, irrespective of the fact that in the event of rain, flooding would cause immense damage.

“We would never allow execution of MDP in Badin, even at the cost of our lives,” he said.

Member Sindh, Indus River System Authority, Mohammad Khan Memon said without addressing technical faults of previous drainage plans and concerns of local communities, MDP could cause immense damage in lower part of Sindh.

He was 'of the view that lack of community participation in the decision-making process and disturbing natural drainage ways while planning of drainage projects had caused enormous damage to the economy, environment and sociology of the area.

Mustafa Talpur from Action Aid suggested that the main problem was the narrow-minded technical approach adopted by the agencies concerned.

Planning machinery lacks independence
by Afzal Bajwa
The Nation Islamabad
September 07, 2004

Participants of a seminar at Sustainable Development Policy Institution (SDPI) have pointed out the country's planning machinery as lacking independence besides emphasising the need far increasing research and formulation time far plans.

Dr Faisal Bari, Executive Director of the Mehboob-ul-Haq-Institute of Development Studies and the Chief Economist of Planning Commission Dr Pervaiz Tahir, mainly addressed the seminar titled "Human Development and Five-Year Plan".

In the first place, Dr Pervez Tahir admitted the fact that the upcoming five-year plan is not the 10th five-year plan following the ninth one, rather it is ‘a five year plan,’ the Planning Commission was formulating. He avoided response to the further questions by opting to say "it would be clear once it is finalized.

Dr. Bari objected that the time given for comments on Plan under way with the Planning Commission is only one month, which is obviously insufficient for one to comment on the Five-Year Plan.

Talking about Human Development Dr Bari observed that historically governments in Pakistan have been ignoring the factor of investing in the human capital. "Now with the empirical evidences available that investment in humans could give out maximum possible return, we must prioritize the human resource development," he added

According to Dr Bari, Human Development must be taken as an end while the development focusing education and health should be taken as means to the end of HD. He was of the view that the education and health are two basic factors required as prerequisites to the development of a human as capital.

Dr Pervaiz Tahir while addressing the seminar said that previous Five-Year plans in Pakistan were deficient as those were lacking arrangements for implementation of plan. A longer-term plan like the Five-Year Plan must contain an action plan-a brief document only containing prescribed actions.

According to Dr Tahir, Human Development is not a goal achievable in a couple of years time or even in five to ten years, rather this goal must be considered in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the international financial institutions. However, he tried to defend the position of the government that the objectives of the upcoming five-year plan were not taking lead from the MDGs.

Dr Nawaz Hakro from the Economics Department of Quaid-iAzam University pointed to Pakistan's poor ranking in the human development index. He was of the view that except for one five-year plan (1960s) the rest of the eight plans have fallen short m of targets.

Highlighting external and internal factors causing the failure of a policy or plan, he said, in addition to the economic factors, social as well as political process also matter in success or failure of a project.

Makers of five-year plans not learning their lessons
by Rasheed Khalid
The News Islamabad
September 07, 2004

In a seminar on 'Human Development and Five Year Plan,' the participants regretted that makers of five-year plans did not learn from their past mistakes and kept on repeating their follies time and again.

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organized the seminar here on Monday. Chief Economist Planning Division Dr. Pervaiz Tahir said the new plan would only talk about' action' meaning who will do what. He also informed the audience that once the approach is decided for the upcoming plan, teams from Planning Commission would go to different places to identify issues that need attention in order to formulate a better policy.

Dr. Tahir said human development takes a long time and it should not be perceived as a goal that can be achieved in just five or ten years. He admitted that targets had a bad history but emphasized that it does not mean we should stop setting up targets for future. He referred to huge allocation to higher education in this year's budget, which universities do not have capacity to utilise efficiently in the short span of given time. He said the increase is not sustainable and aims at compensating for the neglect higher education faced in the 1990s.

It forced participants to question the efficacy of the planners who could not make right decisions at right time and do not give proper time to universities to implement these plans. Giving just one or two weeks to prepare PC Is for projects running into tens of millions of resources is problematic and may result in wastage of resources.

Dr. Faisal Bari, Executive Director, Mehbub-ul-Haq Institute of Development Studies, briefly discussed the two approaches of human development: the ends approach, and development as a means. Referring to the unrealistic and unmet targets of the last nine five-year plans in the history of Pakistan, he suggested devising more efficient mechanisms with sufficient time allocated for designing planning. He stressed the need for more research before formulating policies and said that a plan should be less about targets and more about addressing the problems and mechanisms that work for them.

Dr. Nawaz Hakro of Economics Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, lamented Pakistan's poor ranking in the human development index of the world and said that it is lagging behind even its South Asian neighbors. He also pointed to the previous five-year plans and said that except for just one plan of 1960s, all other plans have fallen short of targets. He talked about the internal and external constraints and factors that contribute to the failure of a policy. He said it is not just an economic process but has social and political dimensions as well, which do play a significant role in the process of implementation or non-implementation of the plan.

The audience was of the view that these plans did not produce desire results. They asked decision makers to incorporate findings and policy recommendations of NGOs while formulating policies

Govt given six months to enact law on honour killings
Dawn Islamabad
October 09, 2004
by Our Staff Reporter

Women activists, parliamentarians the civil society members on Friday staged a protest demonstration in the federal capital against honour killings' and condemned the military rulers, feudal lords and religious elements for obstructing enactment of a law in this regard.

They gave a six-month dead line to the government to approve the bill on honour killings pending in the parliament.

Hundreds of women rights activists from across the country gathered in front of the parliament House and criticized the government and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) for not approving a bill against honour killings and protecting, what they called, the culprits brutalizing women in the name of honour.

Citizens Action Group Against honour Killings (CAGAHK) organized the protest rally that started from China Chowk and culminated in front of the parliament House participated in the rally.

The action group is the representative organization of scores of civil society organizations working throughout the country, mainly for the emancipation of women.

Led by Asma Jahangir, an eminent women rights activist and UN rapporteur, parliamentarians from both the ruling and opposition parties also joined the march and pledged their support for the passing of the bill.

The protesters were holding placards carrying the name of the women who had been killed in the name of honour, Karo-kari and other such inhuman traditions elsewhere in the country.

Throughout the march, which lasted for around two and-a-half hour, they kept on condemning the military junta, landlords, mullahs and all those sections of the society which favoured honour killings.

Asma Jahangir termed the rally the start of an historical movement for women rights, which will continue till they were given their basic rights.

Criticizing President Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister ( Shaukat Aziz for supporting the religious parties and the feudal lords on honour killings, she said: "We will 'not allow this muk muka culture in the country."

"The military rulers and their tactics are not new to us, and we are ready to offer sacrifices as we have done in the past. We will keep on uncovering their real faces behind which they exploit the innocent people of this country," she added.

In the end of the march, they set a deadline of six months for the government to approve the bill.

The rally also issued a memorandum demanding the parliament to enact a strong and effective law to eliminate killings in the name of so-called honour.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Syed Iqbal Haider of PPPP, Mehnaz Rafi of PML, Naeem Mirza of Aurat Foundation, Farzana Bari a woman activist.

More powers, autonomy, for regulatory bodies sought
Dawn Islamabad
October 08, 2004
by a Reporter

Regulatory bodies must be made accountable to the parliament rather than the government, and given more independence with increased powers and less government interference.

This was the consensus reached among the officials from various regulatory bodies, representatives from civil society and consumer organizations, and legal experts, at a day-long seminar on "The Role of Regulatory Authorities".

The event was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Thursday. The seminar brought together civil society organizations and regulators in an attempt to bridge the gap between the two stakeholders.

Participants agreed that consumers were supposed to be the ultimate beneficiaries of regulatory activities. However, they were the ones least represented in the decision-making process of regulatory authorities.

Several participants were of the view that the complaint system set up in regulatory bodies had been unsuccessful in solving their problems. Barrister Sarwar Khan of Asian Development Bank emphasized the need for competition, autonomy, sufficient powers, transparency, consumer welfare and accountability in regulatory authorities to make them more effective.

He said the key element of competition was missing from the privatization-deregulation process, thereby hampering progress. He said in the absence of healthy competition, public monopolies would retain their powers and earn extraordinary profits while providing poor quality goods and services.

"If such monopolies are allowed to carry on in their current form, as they did in the electricity supply market, consumers would be stripped off any benefits they might derive from privatization/deregulation."

Making the case for regulatory authorities, M.H. Asif of Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority said regulators were often misunderstood by other stake holders. They were being constantly pulled in different directions by various demands of consumers, the corporate sector and the government, whose interests conflicted.

While advocating consumers' rights, Mukhtar Ahmed of the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan said the complaint redressal system of regulatory bodies needed to be improved.

Consumers were not aware of the fact that they had the right to directly lodge a complaint with the regulators upon poor service delivery of the service providers. Ameena Sohail of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority called for cooperation between consumers, government and corporate sector to ensure the success of regulatory authorities.

She said the main problem faced by regulatory authorities was insufficient financial powers. They were provided independence by the government, but not enough financial support to carry out their functions effectively.

Mohammad Arshad Pervaiz of the Monopoly Control Authority gave several reasons to explain as to why the authority was ineffective. The most important of these was the limited jurisdiction of the regulatory authority.

Presiding over the second session, Ali Qadir of the Network emphasized that in view of globalization, more stress should be laid on privatization and regulation. Khaliquz Zaman, a legal expert, said the primary role of regulatory authorities was to ensure that different stakeholders interacted smoothly, and that the consumers' rights were protected.

5-Year plans formulation:Experts call for research-based approach
Dawn, Islamabad
September 07, 2004

Experts at a one-day seminar called for more research-based policies and programmes while formulating five-year plans for the country.

These views were expressed by experts and participants during a seminar, titled "Human Development and five years plan", organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute, here on Monday.

The speakers called for problem-solving approach rather than only target-oriented policies.

Executive Director, Mehboobul Haq Institute of Development Studies, Dr Faisal Bari, briefly discussed the two approaches of human development - the ends approach, and development as a means.

He discussed the role and significance of human development and emphasized why human resource investment was important.

Referring to the unmet targets of the last nine five-year plans, he suggested devising more efficient mechanisms with sufficient time allocated for designing the plan.

Dr Bari called for more research before formulating policies, and stressed that a plan should be less about targets and more about addressing problems.

Planning Division Chief Economist Dr Penraiz Tahir, while talking about the new (10th) five-year plan, said once the approach was decided for the plan, the Planning Commission teams would go to different places to identify issues that needed attention to formulate a better policy.

He said human development took a long time and it should not be perceived as a goal that could be achieved in just five or 10 years.

Dr Nawaz Hakro from the Economics Department of Quaid-i- Azam University talked about Pakistan's poor ranking on the human development index.

Talking about the previous five-year plans, he said except for one 1960s plan, all other plans failed to achieve targets.

He also highlighted the internal and external constraints and factors that caused failure of a policy.

He said besides economic factors, political dimensions also played a significant role during the implementation or non-Implementation of the plan.

The participants were of the view that five-year plans did not give desired results. They urged the decision-makers to incorporate findings and policy recommendations of non-government organizations while formulating policies.

Wana action comes under scrutiny at workshop
by Shamim-ur-Rahman
Dawn, Karachi
September 05, 2004

The government's military operation in the tribal areas came under scrutiny in the fifth international workshop on "Human Security: Global and Regional Perspectives", organized by Department of International Relations, University of Karachi.

The moot concluded here on Saturday after deliberating on militancy and terrorism, possibility of water becoming the source of conflict, sectarianism, and increasing threat to the media.

Ms Huma Naz discussed the ideological tug-of-war on ways of organizing the Pakistani polity that had adversely impacted on human security.

The state, she said, had become more interventionist and established its primacy over civil society both under military dictatorship and civilian highhandedness.

In the context of national versus human security, Saleem Shah of the SDPI, Islamabad, deliberated upon the impact of a separate legal system for Fata that empowered the authorities to detain innocent members of any suspected tribe, or lay siege to an entire village.

Under this law, the government had the sole right to demolish houses, arrest, detain and imprison people without any rhyme or reason.

He also discussed the March 16 deployment of more than 30,000 Pakistani military and paramilitary personnel in South Waziristan, to capture, kill or flush out Al Qaida and Taliban remnants from the area.

At present, "close to 70,000 regular and paramilitary personnel have been mobilized by Islamabad along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border". This strength was four times the number of invading US troops in the bordering Afghanistan. His contention was that hundreds of civilians had been killed since then and hundreds of houses demolished or raised to ground during aerial bombardments.

Consequently more than 30,000 residents of Wana and Shakai areas had been displaced and a large number of people were missing.
In addition, the entire area "remains under crippling economic blockade" imposed by the state on its own citizen since June 12, he said.

His contention was that the already fragile human security situation in the tribal belt had been further weakened and marginalized to secure national security and achieve foreign policy's objective.

Zehra Afaq Siddiqui deliberated on the negative impact of feudalism on human security, and development and evolution of democratic dispensation. In this context, she also referred to the various land reforms in the country.

She was of the view that rights to life, liberty, and security of person have remained vulnerable in Pakistan, at the hands of both the state and non-state parties despite constitutional guarantees.

The curse of sectarianism was the subject of Dr Mahtab Ali Shah's paper in which he argued that it was a phenomenon that was closely connected with parochialism, extremism and militarism.

Its emergence and proliferation "poses deadly threats to the safety and security of the individual(s) within a state and destabilizes it."

Nizamuddin Siddiqui deliberated on the problems faced by the media and presented details of trends in violence against Pakistani journalists.

He also discussed the treatment given to various news items by Pakistan's leading newspapers, especially those concerning crime and terrorism.

The insecurity caused by ethnicity in the country's provinces was the subject matter of Munizeh Zuberi's paper in which the frequent outbreak of federal, provincial and inter-provincial crises such as the one-unit act, the Pakhtun-Baloch struggle for maximum autonomy and the Urdu controversy in Sindh "continue to disturb the federal equilibrium."

She observed that in Pakistan, where the dominant ethnic group controlled the highly centralized garrison state structure, the rise of provincial power centres was not allowed at all. Nor was the dominant ethnic group prepared for any meaningful power-sharing arrangement with the regional majorities.

Miran Gichki discussed federalism and why there was a need for a federal system of governance in a state like Pakistan.

Pakistan and India urged to promote peace
by Jamal Shahid
Dawn, Islamabad
August 30, 2004

Pakistan and India must protect their peoples by cutting down defence expenditures and diverting resources to strengthening economies, social development and public welfare.

This was the consensus that emerged at a public meeting addressed by interfaith delegation of Indian parliamentarians and peace activists of India and Pakistan here on Sunday.

The panel of speakers included Member of Parliament and deputy leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Mohammad Saleem, Congress Party parliamentarian Karvinthan and Gen (retired) Moti Dhar.

Senator Akram Zaki and Chaudhry Manzoor, MNA represented the Pakistani side.

Addressing civil society representatives and people from different segments of society, the meeting emphasized peace between the two countries for the strengthening of infrastructures and welfare of peoples.

The meeting observed that both the countries as neighbors faced similar problems and should make best endeavors to eradicate illiteracy, hunger, diseases and other menaces.

The delegation encouraged people-to-people interaction and exchange of delegations to clear misunderstandings and for bettering the prospects of peace in the region.

"The two countries must end fighting like monkeys. The tax- payers' money is being spent on weapons for their destruction. Resources must be utilized for social development, quality education and better health services besides combating other complications that prevail in both the states," said Gen Dhar.

"People on both sides are suffering. Kashmir remains one of the world's longest running feuds and the problem can only be solved through talks. There are also issues of diseases and hunger that must be addressed first by Pakistan as well as India," he said.

Being nuclear state is a very serious threat. According to research, only a medium-sized bomb dropped on Mumbai will kill 350,000 people immediately. Another 350,000 will die after awhile and another 200,000 even more gradually, he said.

He said the perception inherited from the British that domination was determined by military might was wrong. The West gave up this thinking after World War-II. But generals in India and Pakistan still insist on this destructive approach, he said.

Stressing on regional co-operation, Mohammad Saleem said South Asians had met on several occasions and talks had not gone from theory to practice. He said there were no practical steps and no progress and the two sides were only inching towards peace. Vested interests on both the sides are creating hindrances and some people even do not want to see the two nations to come closer, he said.

Media is equally responsible for creating differences between the two by making a mountain out of a molehill and highlighting negative news to create unnecessary sensation rather than focusing more on positive aspects, he said. Ban on Indian and Pakistani channels is futile. People on both sides want to watch these channels and want cultural interaction, he added.

Chaudhry Manzoor stressed on relaxing visa restrictions by both Pakistan and India. The ruling classes take one step forward and two steps backward when it comes to ending mutual confrontation, he said.

Differences between Pakistan and India are the people's problem. People of both the nations need to wear team jackets and must come forward to end the hatred, he maintained.

Senator Akram Zaki believed that relations between the two countries could only improve once the Kashmir dispute was resolved.

Debating regional responses
by Ammara Durrani
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
August 30, 2004

The unveiling and subsequent clinching of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) July Package deal last month, has generated a fierce debate within concerned circles about the resultant gains and losses incurred by the developing countries, after months of post-Cancun trade negotiations in the multilateral forum. Opinions remain mixed, and have been expressed in these pages following the developments in Geneva. It, therefore, was timely to bring together a bunch of important South Asians who could discuss the situation from a regional perspective on the new framework for trade negotiations.

Members from governments, NGOs, academia, civil societies and media of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal gathered in Islamabad last week to attend a three-day meet on 'WTO Post-Cancun Developments: Options for South Asia' held from August 17th-19th. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan; Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), India; Oxfam GB Pakistan Program; and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal jointly organized the conference. It took place under the South Asian Civil Society Network on International Trade Issues (SACSNITI) project being implemented by CUTS.

Pakistan's Minister for Privatization, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, inaugurated the event, with introductory remarks delivered by India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, S S Menon. Oxfam GB's Abid Qaiyum Suleri welcomed the delegates and Pradeep S Mehta of CUTS outlined the objectives of the meeting.

The event was divided into seven sessions spread over three days. They respectively focused on Multilateral Trading System: Post-Cancun Scenario and the Future; Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and South Asia: Options before the Region; Agriculture: South Asia's Negotiating Positions in the Present Scenario; Trade in Services: Issues for South Asia; Textiles & Clothing: Gearing up for Post-MFA Scenarios; The Future of Singapore Issues; Implementation Issues and Special & Differential Treatments (S&DTs).

Some of the notable speakers of these sessions included Pakistan's Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Qasim Niaz; India's Former Ambassador to the WTO, S Naraynan; Basil Ilangakoon of Sri Lanka's Marga Institute; Dr Ramesh Chand of Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi; Saman Kelegama of Sri Lanka's Institute of Policy Studies; Rashid Kaukab of South Centre, Geneva; India's Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce, H A C Prasad; Nagesh Kumar of Research & Information System for Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries, India; Ratnakar Adhikari of SAWTEE, Nepal; Pakistan's Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Akhtar Mehmood; Manoj Pant of Jawharlal Nehru University, India; and Sajid Kazmi of SDPI, Pakistan.

The speakers addressed various technical details of the critical issues faced by developing countries of South Asia in the international trading system. They presented major concerns and viewpoints of their respective countries.

With regards to the future of the post-Cancun scenario, it was noted that the failure of Seattle and Cancun was not a major concern, and WTO would remain important but not the only forum for international trade. In fact, RTAs would play an equally important role in conducting trade; even though RTAs and WTO are not inversely related as post-Doha there has been a sharp rise in their number. A predominant view was that developing countries, particularly those in South Asia, have not lost anything in the July Package. Some of the major concerns revolved around the undemocratic process of negotiations in WTO and the disappointing role of G-20 countries as leaders of the developing countries. While observing that the organization was most likely to continue with the present system in future, it could become tilted towards some of the large developing countries only. In this respect, formulation of a common negotiating position for the post-July talks was identified as the main agenda for future.

On the subject of RTAs, it was observed that Safta was necessary to address the threat from China, yet it was not progressing as well as other RTAs. Furthermore, RTAs in South Asia could result in relocation of industries in the region, but it required complementarities, which were absent at this point. On the issue of agriculture, it was observed that the July Package did take care of the livelihood concerns of South Asian countries, but only to an extent. Furthermore, the developed countries may come out with a long list of sensitive products and try to dilute the package's mandate. As a future agenda point, it was noted that South Asian countries had similar concerns on this issue and they should identify special products for themselves.

Several major concerns and future agenda points were also identified for other areas, including trade in services, textiles & clothing, Singapore Issues and S&DTs. The meet concluded with a final session on the future agenda for research, advocacy and networking of SACSNITI. Pakistan's Commerce Minister, Hamayun Akhtar Khan delivered the closing remarks and also launched the SACSNITI database.

On the sidelines, it was surprising to note that despite the immediate significance of the issue at hand, participation from Pakistan-in terms of panel speakers and audience--was far less than expected. There is all the more reason for this concern, because the general impression here is that little awareness exists within the concerned circles and society on the whole, as far as WTO issues are concerned. When queried, organizers of the event assured that an invitation had been sent out to all the concerned government departments and civil society organizations; yet their response had been poor. In stark contrast, the strength and level of participation of the Indian delegation was impressive, as a result of which most of the session time was dominated by and devoted to issues specific to India.

Another interesting observation made was the near absence of any discussion of the existing regional political and security situation-particularly with respect to India and Pakistan--and how it could impact the issue of regional economic integration.

Education: Caught Between a Rock and Hard Place
By Asha Amirali & Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
South Asia Tribune

ISLAMABAD: It has now been some time since the uproar erupted over proposed educational reform in the country. It was a report released by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) – a foreign-funded research center in Islamabad – outlining the urgent need for education curriculum reform that supplied our reactionary religious parties yet more wood for their fire.

Indeed it was an opportunity for the Right to continue with its sensationalist politics, and a much needed one at that given how tamely the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has backed off from its apparent hardline stance on the army and empire after the approval of the 17th amendment.

It was easy enough for the Right to decry the report as anti-state and anti-Islam and its writers as foreign funded agents implementing the US agenda. These wild accusations found credence with the general public because of the overwhelming extent of US intervention in Pakistan. Nonetheless it was, and still is, important that the barrage of invective emanating from the Right be countered by a sensible, historically accurate response, with an aim towards generating meaningful political support for much needed textbook reform.

One need not necessarily even study the SDPI report to be convinced of the need for curriculum reform in this country. There are far too many examples of obviously deliberate fabrications in our textbooks to claim that our education system is not consummately parochial.

Based on assertions such as “All good Pakistanis are Muslims” and images that demean other religious beliefs, our curriculum inculcates bigotry and hatred, and very much conforms to the imperatives of the theocratic state that the establishment has tried so hard to create and consolidate. While this very conscious ideological construction has evolved over time since partition, there is a need to contextualize the current controversy in more recent political history.

It was in the glorious decade of the 1980s that Islamization became an active state policy. Needless to say, changes in educational curricula and the proliferation of parochial religious education were at the heart of this policy. The effort was explicitly backed by the US because its geostrategic interests at that time mandated the promotion of hard-line Islamic education given the Soviet presence in Afghanistan.

However, US interests now mandate quite the opposite, i.e. it is in the US interest to remove the same hate-creating material they introduced two decades ago. The implications this has for the fate of progressive action such as badly-needed curriculum reform are grave.

This is important to emphasize because curriculum reform, an explicitly political issue, must be endorsed by popular opinion for it to be politically legitimate and successful. However, the unfortunate coincidence between progressive thought and US interest on this particular issue creates a situation very difficult to maneuver.

One of the major twists on the issue came after comments attributed to US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice during her deposition to the special tribunal on the September 11th attacks. Pakistan's Urdu press reported Rice as having said that the US is explicitly supporting education reform in the Muslim world as part of its larger strategy of democracy promotion. As expected, this gave the right all the ammunition it needed to start screaming that the SDPI report and its recommendations were all part of a US (and Indo-Israeli) conspiracy to derail Islam.

It is easy for the Right to pull such stunts for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there is no meaningful popular political force that can counter such propaganda. Secondly, as mentioned above, such issues are wholly political and there can be no question that foreign-funded institutions such as SDPI are severely limited in their ability to genuinely take on political battles such as this one.

Thirdly, there is a case to be made for the fact that the US exercises its foreign policy goals through aid to numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – this has been made explicit through official US government documents on its democracy promotion agenda. The manner in which a multitude of NGOs supported the army's devolution program– which is now more and more commonly acknowledged to have been a sham - is testament to this grim reality. It is therefore clear that there is some truth to the assertion that the US does exercise foreign policy goals through NGOs and the like.

However, that hardly means that an important issue such as this one should be buried because NGOs (along with numerous other non-state groups and individuals) are co-opted by the lure of foreign monies. In fact, it is essential that this propaganda be nipped in the bud, not only because our religious right has consistently been the biggest beneficiary of foreign monies over the past two and a half decades, but more importantly, because it denies indigenously generated political will its organic character and delegitimizes genuine commitment to reform.

It is instructive to note that after the news that Condoleezza Rice had made such a statement had spread like wildfire, it was discovered that the story itself had been concocted to feed the flames. By this point however, the press had already splashed the story and given the Right all the justification it needed to level accusations against the authors of the report, who were dubbed foreign agents acting on behalf of the US government.

However, what is important to see in this instance is that public perception has already been conditioned by the political history of the past 57 years, a history rich with US intervention and the unabashed surrender of sovereignty by our elite, so that such a story is far more believable than the truth. The absence of any genuine progressive political counter-current has further contributed to the ease with which the religious right has been able to enforce the perception that this report has been written at the behest of foreign interests. Had this report been backed up by some form of mobilized public opinion or supported by indigenous political groups, it could never have been so easily pounced upon and manipulated.

There are a number of important points that emerge as one considers this entire fracas. First, the present government remains caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, Musharraf and his government are under immense pressure from the US to clamp down upon the Right, and madrassahs are the most obvious symbols being targeted.

On the other, the institutionalization of the religious factor in Pakistani politics over the past two and a half decades means that in addition to being cornered by the populism of the Right, the government finds no “liberal” allies to come to its rescue when situations of this nature arise.

A second and related issue is that, in spite of the point mentioned above, the Right and the establishment remain close, even though the relationship is not linear, just as the State is not a monolithic entity. This historically proven relationship has been consolidated by the MMA signing on to the 17th amendment.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, there is still a frightening tendency amongst significant parts of the urban, liberal intelligentsia to ally themselves with imperialism to combat the religious Right. This tendency was exposed during the recent Waziristan operation when many a liberal was heard suggesting that it did not matter who got rid of the mullahs, even if it was the Americans. This is an extremely short-sighted opinion given the history of US intervention in the area since the late 1970s.

On the whole, there is a need to recognize that the politicking of the religious Right has been greatly aided by the absence of organic politics in this country.

Progressive elements might exist in society today, but they are scattered and the liberal leaning have adopted ‘pragmatic' approaches that make it impossible for them to build public support on an issue as important as this.

Most Pakistanis would probably agree with the need to undertake textbook reform, including those who feel the need to have a significant dose of religious idiom in our curriculum. The question is, as with so many other crucial issues in Pakistan at the present time, who will take on this enormous challenge in the midst of such a regressive and reactionary political environment?

Lessons in Intolerance
By Massoud Ansari
Monthly Newsline

The textbooks that form part of the present public school curriculum are lessons in bigotry, hate and a gross misrepresentation of history.

"Baba, what is kari?" a young girl asks her father. He ponders over how best he can explain this barbaric ritual that involves killing women in the name of 'honour' to his young daughter, and wonders where she has heard the term. He presumes she has read of it in newspapers, where such incidents are regularly reported. Before he can muster an appropriate explanation, his daughter asks if Marvi - a romantic heroine of Sindhi folklore - was a kari. She gleaned this information from one of her textbooks in school, she says.

Various references to karo-kari are found to crop up in textbooks in current use in local schools, particularly in lessons pertaining to local folklore. Many of the references are, however, completely erroneous. Apparently the concerned authorities believe that karo-kari is now a part of the country's culture and thus deserving of mention in the curriculum. Ironically, according to some reports, the Federal Curriculum Wing (FCW) - an authority that regulates textbooks in the country - rejected the proposal to include late journalist, Najma Babar's article 'Madam Chairman, Sir,' in a Class 10 English textbook. The article is about a married woman who goes out to work, while her husband, who is unemployed, takes care of the children and the home. The fact that male unemployment has become almost endemic particularly in Pakistan's lower and lower middle classes and economic compulsions have pushed many women into the workplace - in essence resulted in a role reversal of traditional male-female positions - apparently does not register with the authorities who rejected Babar's article on the grounds that "it goes against Pakistani culture and society."

Meanwhile, a poem by Kahlil Jibran, a world-renowned philosopher and writer and a Maronite Christian, was rejected by the FCW on the grounds that he was a Jew. Similarly a lesson containing a letter by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's daughter, Dina Wadia, about her father in a textbook was rejected, because the concerned authorities decreed that since the Quaid had disowned her and Wadia is not a Muslim, she is not eligible to feature in local academic curricula.

Welcome to Pakistani public schools, which are laying the foundations of future generations, where children are introduced to bigotry and intolerance from the primary level, and the conditioning continues throughout school. The lessons of tolerance included in the country's curriculum in the first two decades of the country's existence are being systematically replaced with lessons emphasising militancy, jihad and an ideology of hate. A case in point: recently a book was returned to its authors by the Federal Curriculum Wing for not carrying enough material on jihad.

The amount of influence school textbooks wield on students' impressionable minds is indicated by a survey of schoolchildren published recently. Almost half of those surveyed do not support equal rights for minorities. A third of them support jihadi groups. Two-thirds of them want the Shariah to be implemented in letter and spirit. Nearly a third said Kashmir should be liberated by force, and nearly 80 per cent of them support Pakistan's nuclear status.

Once a platform from which healthy, informed minds emerged, Pakistan's public school system today is a cesspool of ignorance, obscurantism and corruption. A graphic example: when a high school teacher at one of Karachi's public schools asked her class students to write an essay on any subject of their choice, one of the boys came up with a detailed and rather chilling 'Autobiography of a pistol.' The student summed up his essay with the statement, "I fall into the hands of a burglar who points me at a child, and demands ransom money from his parents in exchange for my life."

The percentage of the gross domestic product allocated to Pakistan's education budget is puny. According to a UNESCO estimate, it is smaller than that of most Muslim countries, smaller even than that of most sub-Saharan nations. Small wonder then that the country is lagging behind her South Asian neighbours in assorted respects: Pakistan has the distinction of having the lowest literacy rate among this group, the lowest female participation in education, the highest female primary school dropout rate, and the lowest enrolment in the area of tertiary education. It is also the only country in the region where the expenditure on education as a proportion of the Gross National Product (GNP) has gone down since 1990 from 2.6 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 1.7 per cent in the last few years.

Officially Pakistan's literacy rate is 45 per cent, although most education specialists maintain that the actual figure is less than 30 per cent. A World Bank report states that more than a third of the nation's 10-year-olds have never attended class.

According to experts, it is not just the fact that Pakistan's education budget in relation to the Gross Domestic Product is insignificant; corruption, mismanagement and criminal negligence by the bureaucracy, policy-makers and feudal politicians have contributed substantially to the declining standards of the country's public education system. Combined, these factors have resulted in a low investment in education, ghost schools, ghost teachers, open-air schools devoid of even the most basic facilities, etc. Add to that the curricula of these public institutions and the output can only too easily be assessed.

A recent study, 'The Subtle Subversion: The state of curricula and textbooks in Pakistan 2003', carried out by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), exposing the nature of the curricula taught to schoolchildren puts to lie claims emanating from the helm of the promotion of tolerance and moderation in the country. The report illustrates the myriad complex means used to disseminate ideologies of hate through the state's educational system.

The 140-page SDPI report contains a detailed analysis of currently used textbooks and the general curriculum in government schools which demonstrates how the education system is contributing towards the creation of a culture of sectarianism, religious intolerance and violence. It notes how historical facts have been twisted and mutilated at length by certain vested interests to promote their respective agendas.

Ironically, instead of debating the issues raised in this report, some of the country's policy-makers and right-wing elements have started questioning 'the agenda' of the organisation responsible for the report, and the credibility of its authors. And when the government set up a committee to review the findings of this report and indicated it may consider making some changes in the academic curricula, the situation turned ugly.

In Karachi, school and college students held a protest march against any proposed changes. The Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba (IJT), the youth wing of the Jamaat Islami, organised the event. The protesters carried banners and placards inscribed with demands that Quranic verses be included in the syllabi, the federal education minister be dismissed and US intervention in Pakistan's affairs be halted. The protestors also condemned the findings of the SDPI report and issued threats of dire consequencies, if the government attempted to "secularise" the curriculum.

Members of the six-party alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), also voiced their protest: They walked out of a National Assembly session on the grounds that a certain reference to jihad as well as some Quranic verses had been excluded from the new edition of a state-prescribed biology textbook. Liaqat Baloch of the MMA alleged, "Under the conditionalities of the US Agency for International Development, all verses containing any references to jihad or exposing the anti-Muslim prejudices of Jews and Christians are being omitted from the syllabi." And Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, warned that his party would move a privilege motion against government censorship in the syllabi.

Federal Education Minister Zubeida Jalal responded to these charges by stating in the National Assembly that no chapter or verses relating to jihad or shahadat (martyrdom) had been deleted from local textbooks. She clarified that the particular verse referring to jihad which the MMA was up in arms over had been 'shifted' from the biology textbook for intermediate students (Classes XI and XII) to the matriculation level courses (Class X), not omitted. The minister was visibly on the defensive when she said that the government had rejected the SDPI report because the committee she had set up to look into the report had rejected it as representing an "extremist" view.

One of the co-authors of this report, Dr. A.H. Nayyar, however, accused the education minister of not sharing the findings of the committee with members of the National Assembly. He contended that before submitting the report to the education ministry, nine members of the 15-member government review committee endorsed the report, while six expressed dissenting views on some findings. Nayyar wrote in a recently published article, "I don't know what prompted the education minister to remark on the floor of the National Assembly that the committee rejected the report."

This is not the first time that Pakistani educationists have researched the curricula set for local schools. In 1994 another educationist, Dr Rubina Saigol wrote a detailed paper, called 'The boundaries of consciousness: interface between the curriculum, gender and nationalism,' in a book called Locating the Self.

In this paper she demonstrated with several examples how our textbooks depict Hindus in a negative light enemies and how they incite permanent enmity, hatred and alienation with India. The author's contention was that local textbooks promote militarism and violence and indirectly justify heavy defence expenditure.

Likewise, some other scholars, such as Dr Mubarak Ali and Professor K.K. Aziz have also published reports on this issue. KK Aziz has pointed out in detail the major inaccuracies, distortions, exaggerations and slants found in each officially prepared and prescribed textbook and in a representative selection of private commercial publications which are in wide use as textbooks. Khurshid Hasnain, Pervez Hoodbhoy and Tariq Rahman have also examined the distortions in history and social studies textbooks.

According to some reports, in 1999, the National Committee on Education, which was constituted under the chairmanship of the federal education secretary at the prompting of some eminent educationists, prepared a report 'National Curriculum 2000: A Conceptual Framework,' calling for a paradigm shift in the curriculum in order to produce "involved, caring and responsible citizens." This report was filed somewhere in the ministry, and no action has been taken on it to date.

Experts on the subject disclose how different things were. They maintain textbooks prepared in the early years of Pakistan did not contain any kind of hatred or animosity towards Hindus despite the fact that the wounds from Partition were still raw. "The early textbooks in Pakistan written after Partition were free of the pathological hate that we see in textbooks today," says an expert. According to him the early history books contained chapters not only on old civilisations like Moenjodaro, Harappa, Taxila, etc., but also on the Hindu mythology contained in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and extensively covered, often with admiration, the great Hindu Kingdoms of the Mauryas and Guptas. While these books admittedly indicated some bias when referring to more recent history, particularly the politics of independence, one found school textbooks featuring and praising Mohandas Gandhi. And the creation of Pakistan was attributed to the intransigence of the All India Congress and its leadership in respect of accommodating the Muslim League rather than to 'Hindu machinations.'

Some books also clearly mentioned that the most prominent Islamic religious leaders were all bitterly opposed to the creation of Pakistan. "Such was the enlightened teaching of history for the first 25 years of Pakistan even though two wars were fought against India in this period. The print and electronic media often indulged in anti-Hindu propaganda, but educational material was by and large free of hate against Hindus," reads the SDPI report.

The rot set in with the advent of General Zia-ul-Haq. Zia's 'Islamisation' of the country - widely recognised as a political tool to legitimise his rule - saw him cosying up to the Jamaat-e-Islami, a fundamentalist political party, and his government openly started transforming the education system. What resulted was a brand of education that officially fostered intolerance, bigotry and violence.

Experts in the field contend that the concept of jihad was widely incorporated into the Pakistani curriculum after the start of the Afghan war. According to Dr. Nayyar, at that point it suited Washington, and its most allied of allies, Pakistan, to encourage and glorify the mujahideen or 'holy warriors,' in the war against the Soviets - and an American institution of higher education was asked to formulate textbooks for Pakistani schools in keeping with his agenda. Says Nayyar, "The institution - the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which has a centre for Afghan studies - was tasked by the CIA in the early eighties to rewrite textbooks for Afghan refugee children. The new books included hate material even in arithmetic. For example, if a man has five bullets and two go into the heads of Russian soldiers, how many are left… that kind of stuff. This was exposed in a research thesis from the New School, New York in about 2002."

The right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami that was given the task to make changes in the Pakistani school curriculum at that time, introduced as the cardinal principle of education the philosophy of its spiritual mentor and political guide Syed Abul Aala Maududi, who believed that in an Islamic society all that is taught should be in the context of religious knowledge. Every subject thus became Islamiat. A new breed of textbook historians came into existence and lessons emphasising militancy, jihad and hate became a predominant part of learning. Since actual history - researched, narrated and compiled by serious professional historians - did not conform to their agenda, they created a new history of Pakistan which began with the arrival of Muslims in the subcontinent. "They have rewritten history in a manner which has impoverished it and taken away from students material that could enrich their perspective," Nayyar contended.

In the revised textbooks the ancient history of the region, the glories of Moenjodaro and Harappa, the Hindu kingdoms, the advent of Buddhism, the incursion of the Greeks and Bactrians, and so much more that has made our region the cradle of one of the richest civilisations in the world, have all been eliminated. A sample of what we have instead from a textbook currently in use: "As a matter of fact, Pakistan came to be established for the first time when the Arabs under Muhammad bin Qasim occupied Sindh and Multan in the early years of the eighth century, and established Muslim rule in this part of the South-Asian subcontinent. Pakistan under the Arabs comprised the Lower Indus Valley. During the 12th century the Ghaznavids lost Afghanistan, and their rule came to be confined to Pakistan. By the 13th century, Pakistan had spread to include the whole of Northern India and Bengal. Under the Khiljis, Pakistan moved further southward to include a greater part of Central India and the Deccan. During the 16th century, 'Hindustan' disappeared and was completely absorbed in Pakistan."

Gradually subjects such as Indo-Pakistan history and geography which earlier formed part of the local educational curriculum were replaced by Pakistan Studies. In the new books Pakistan was defined as an Islamic state and the history of Pakistan became synonymous with the history of Muslims in the subcontinent. The pre-Islamic history of the region meanwhile ceased to exist as subject matter. The new curriculum started with the Arab conquest of Sindh and swiftly jumped to the Muslim conquerors from Central Asia. Alongside, the seventies saw the so-called 'ideology of Pakistan' increasingly entering study courses. This involved the creation of an ideological straitjacket whereby the history of Pakistan, especially that of the Pakistan Movement was rewritten with an utter disregard for the truth. Pakistan, it was now said, was created with an aim to establish a purely Islamic state in accordance with the tenets of the Quran and Sunnah. Suddenly, the ulema who had bitterly opposed the creation of Pakistan were cited as the heroes of the Pakistan movement, Muhammed Ali Jinnah (whom the religious clergy used to refer to as 'Kafir-e-Azam' and was labelled an infidel by them because of his distinctly liberal lifestyle) was portrayed as a pious, practicing Muslim, and Hindus began to be reviled as the permanent enemy.

According to the SDPI report, the instructions laid out for the revised curriculum in fact, stressed on portraying Hindus not just as the enemies of Islam, but as altogether unsavoury. The textbooks read by our students today elaborate on the alleged 'social evils' of Hindus, including their disrespect for women, their practice of child marriage, suttee, the caste system, etc. Even our collective memories were no longer to be trusted. For example, in describing the tragedy of East Pakistan, the new textbooks squarely lay the blame on the general elections of 1970 and on the Hindus living in East Pakistan.

According to the SDPI report, some of the major problems in the current curriculum and textbooks are the "distortion of facts and omissions that serve to substantially alter the nature and significance of actual events in our history; insensitivity to the existing religious diversity of the nation; incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of jihad and shahadat, perspectives that encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow citizens, especially women and religious minorities, and other nations, a glorification of war and the use of force." The study points out that the syllabus omits events that could encourage critical self-awareness among students, and includes outdated and incoherent pedagogical practices that "hinder the development of interest and insight among students."

The report further states that the educational material attempts to teach Islamiat to all the students, irrespective of their faith, through the compulsory subjects of Social/Pakistan Studies, Urdu and English. Although non-Muslims are not required to take the fourth compulsory subject of Islamiat, there is an extraordinary incentive for them in the form of 25 per cent additional marks for learning and taking examinations in Islamiat.

According to the report, the post-1979 curricula and textbooks openly eulogise jihad and shahadat and urge students to become mujahids and martyrs. The report dilates on the instructions laid out for students: "Learning outcome: recognise the importance of jihad in every sphere of life; learning outcome: Must be aware of the blessings of jihad; must create a yearning for jihad in his heart; Concept: jihad; Affective objective: Aspiration for jihad; Love and aspiration for jihad, Tableegh (Prosyletisation), jihad, shahadat (martyrdom), sacrifice, ghazi (the victor in holy wars), shaheed (martyr); simple stories to urge for jihad; activity 4: To make speeches on jihad and shahadat; to make speeches on jihad; Evaluation: to judge their spirits while making speeches on jihad, Muslim history and culture, Concepts: jihad, Amar bil Maroof and Nahi Anil Munkar."

The textbooks require every Pakistani, irrespective of his (her) faith, to love, respect, be proud of and practice Islamic principles, traditions, customs, rituals, etc. What the report says is even more disturbing is the fact that non-Muslim students are expected to read the Quran, not in the course study of Islamiat, which they are not required to learn, but in the compulsory subject of Urdu.

Urdu textbooks from Class I to III, which are compulsory for students of all faiths, contain lessons on the Quran. These progress from a lesson titled 'Iqra' in Class I, where Arabic alphabets are introduced, to the lesson entitled 'E'rab' on punctuation in the Class II Urdu book, to the lesson titled 'Quran Parhna' in the Class III Urdu book. In fact, the latter has seven lessons (out of a total of 51) on learning to read the Quran. It is mandatory for non-Muslim students to take these courses and take examinations in them - a clear violation of the rights of religious minorities. The report also states that the National Curriculum of March 2002 lays down the first objective of teaching English: "To make the Quranic principles and Islamic practices an integral part of curricula so that the message of the Holy Quran could be disseminated in the process of education as well as training. To educate and train the future generations of Pakistan as a true practicing Muslim…"

The religious (Islamic) content of the most recently published Urdu textbooks in the Punjab and the Federal Area is worth noting: it features in four out of 25 Islamic lessons in Class one, eight out of 33 lessons in Class-II, 22 out of 44 lessons in Class-III, 10 out of 45 lessons in Class-IV, seven out of 34 lessons in Class-V, 14 out of 46 lessons in Class-VI, six out of 53 lessons in Class-VII, 15 out of 46 lessons in Class-VIII, and 10 out of 68 lessons in Classes IX and X.

The new textbooks are also replete with gender bias. A 1985 study found that girls were shown most often in passive roles, enforcing traditional stereotypes. Experts say matters have not improved over the years, and a "gender-biased division of roles is woven into almost all the exercises and stories in these books, thus we have constant references to men performing active or heroic roles and women engaged in passive, often frippery activities."

The mindset of the policy-makers not only disfigures history at the school level, it also dissuades those at the employment level from questioning or differing from the official line as laid out in the texts. For example, candidates appearing in the Muslim history papers in the Federal Public Services Commission have strictly been advised to condemn Mughul emperor Akbar - known as 'Akbar the Great' for his 50-year-long secular rule over the Indian subcontinent - and eulogise Emperor Aurangzeb, a fundamentalist Muslim who shunned music and most arts as unIslamic.

Similarly, there are unwritten guidelines to condemn Hindus, criticise India, support the Kashmir cause, and refrain from expressing independent or divergent views. All candidates appearing in the country's competitive exams are, in fact, asked to read only the books written by certain authors, and to desist from reading books that do not make it to the prescribed list since these could "confuse" them, leading to their failure in the exams.

Given this backdrop, it would be a fallacy to believe it is only the madrassahs which are indoctrinating children in the politics of hate and bigotry. The country's public schools are equally responsible for the rise of militancy and regressive thought. In the words of Dr. A.H. Nayyar, "The full impact of what happened under General Zia is now being felt in rising religious militancy, sectarianism and violence in our society and our politics, and another generation of young Pakistanis is now going through the same education."