President inspires all concerned
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RESIDENT’S address to the joint session of Parliament is gener ally considered to be a routine one to mark beginning of the new Parliamentary year and the head of the state utilizes the opportunity to highlight achievements of the Government and the way forward. However, speech of Mamnoon Hussain to the joint session on Monday was markedly different in many respects and would be remembered and mentioned for a long time to come. In the first instance, one must give credit to the President for becoming first head of state to have addressed the Parliament in Urdu, which speaks volumes his deep commitment to the national language and the need to promote it. Secondly, contrary to the apprehensions being expressed by some circles that the address, as has been practice for the last many years, would be marked by loud protests by the Opposition, parts of which are flexing muscles on streets and roads but the speech was delivered in a serene, sober and dignified environment that should be there in the Parliament on such occasions. More important than all, the President, in the presence of almost all stakeholders and people representing different walks of life, spoke his mind candidly on vital issues facing the country and the need to address them through collective will and efforts. His emphasis that all institutions should perform their duties strictly within the limits prescribed by the Constitution and advice to all parties including Opposition to demonstrate tolerance for the sake of democracy, would hopefully go well with listeners. There are no two opinions that the President is symbol of the Federation and it is his responsibility to work for unity, harmony and solidarity of the nation and that is why he also laid special emphasis on harmony among institutions and between Federation and the Federating units. We hope that the political parties would give serious thought to the advice of the President to follow rules of the game for their own interest and that of the system and the country. It is also expected that the Parliamentarians, during their debate on the address of the President, would analyse dispassionately what he said and carry forward his thinking in a practical manner.
Opposition senators boycott President’s address E
VERYTHING went well during address of the President sans deci sion of the Opposition in the Senate to boycott the joint sitting. They, however, made it clear that they were doing so to lodge protest against non-attendance of the Senate sessions by the Prime Minister and have nothing against the person of the President. The grievance of the Opposition in the Upper House is legitimate and they registered their protest as per Parliamentary traditions and practices. Earlier too, Senators have been urging the Prime Minister to attend sittings of the House at least once a week but their pleas have so far fell on deaf ears. There is no doubt that the present Senate is dominated by the Opposition and the ruling PML-N often faces tough situation during legislation and other business in the House and at times the attitude of the Chair also becomes agitating. However, all this does not justify the absence of the chief executive from the House, which is duly elected and part of the Parliament. All political leaders including the Prime Minister never get tired of speaking about supremacy of the Parliament but regrettably they themselves are not according due respect, importance and priority to the Parliament. Under these circumstances, how can they expect from others to do so. Though there are also complaints that the Prime Minister rarely attended sessions of the National Assembly as well but strangely enough he did not bother to grace the Senate with his presence even once during 365 days. It is understood that the Prime Minister has many other important and crucial issues to concentrate on including the economy but even then he must find some time to attend sessions of the two Houses. His mere presence can help create congenial atmosphere and remove grievances of Opposition as well as his own party men. There is no point in creating unnecessary bad blood by ignoring the upper House and therefore, at the beginning of the new Parliamentary year the Prime Minister should also make a new beginning in this regard.
Half of Pakistan lives below poverty line T
HE Federal Budget for 2014-15 has been unfolded giving a road map for revival of economy in earnest and to address other areas of concern including energy, inflation and infrastructure development. The minus and pluses of the budget will be analysed by the experts in the coming days and in fact the process has already begun but it is a stark reality that more than 60% of Pakistani population lives under poverty line and nothing concrete appears to be in the budget to bring this down. The Economic Survey for the outgoing financial year released on Monday revealed that if the poverty line is $2 per day in line with international standards for middle-income countries, then 60.19 percent of the population falls below poverty line in Pakistan. However, if income per adult in Pakistan is taken as $ 1.25 per day, then 21.04 percent of the population falls below poverty line. Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Though poor people are being extended financial assistance through Benazir Income Support Programme, Zakat and Baitul Mall but that is not enough and there are reports in the media almost on daily basis about families committing suicides as they cannot feed their children or have resources to meet the urgent medical needs. It is rather a slur and reflection of ground realities. How come that a vast majority is living below poverty line in Pakistan which was established as an Islamic Welfare State and is a nuclear power with all the resources; but who cares for the poor. The responsibility of this state of affairs lies on the successive governments who failed to lay the foundation for economic development and they only paid attention to prolong their rule and fill their coffers. But one can hope that the business friendly government is setting its direction right, has the will and capacity to achieve significant breakthrough and bring improvement in the lives of the vast majority of the poor folk by creating job opportunities, extending health and education facilities and keeping the inflation under control.
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After the rout! emphatic in tone and so promising in tenor that he looks like settling in at least for a deKuldip Nayar cade. The delivery on Email:kuldipnayar09@gmail.com progress and jobs may make the return of the Congress still more difficult in the foreseeHIS is not the first time that able future. the Congress has been deci Modi is intelligent enough to remated, getting only 44 seats alize that the Hindutva card is not necin the 543-member Lok Sabha. The essary to play when the BJP-RSS party met more or less a similar fate combine has made inroads in the in the 1977 election held after the southern states as well. If the middle emergency. Mrs Indira Gandhi, the class had not been influenced by soft architect of the emergency and her Hindutva, such a sweep would not extra-constitutional son, Sanjay have been possible. That is the reaGandhi, too lost in the polls. Yet the son why Modi is underlining develCongress retained the three south- opment. He wants to show that the ern states—Andhra Pradesh, BJP is capable of pulling people out Karnataka and Kerala. Even the of poverty in which at least one third overall tally was around 150. It was, in the country are hopelessly stuck. indeed, a defeat but not a rout as it True, the outgoing Prime Minister has been the case now. People were Manmohan Singh was an open book. then angry over the excesses com- But there was very little written in mitted during the emergency. They terms of performance. The ever-infelt relieved after punishing the Con- creasing prices and the arrogance of gress for all that it did. They brought power botched even the average back the party after they found the growth rate of nearly 8 percent. The Janata Party, successor, floundering. Congress problem was never Theirs was anger, not alienation. Manmohan Singh who, in any case, This time it is a vote against is a yesterday story. How does the non-governance and the scams party disentangle itself from the dywhich tumbled one after another nasty and stand on its own is the isfrom the party’s cupboard. The dis- sue it is facing today. illusionment is deeper than ever beParty president Sonia Gandhi fore, the belief that the party cannot and her son, Rahul Gandhi, ran the give a clean and efficient govern- government and the party. Now that ment. If Narendra Modi and his both have failed who do the people Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) manage turn to? Both have offered to resign to deliver on the agenda of devel- but the working committee has reopment and employment—they fused to accept their resignations. have secured 282 seats—then the After all, they are the ones who conreturn of the Congress will be diffi- stitute the leadership. They have not cult even in the next election in allowed anyone else to grow or 2019. Much will depend on Modi. emerge. The Congress has nowhere The speech he has delivered before to go except the dynasty which has the elected MPs of his party is so run the party since independence. It
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was said about Jawaharlal Nehru that he was like a banyan tree which did not let anything beneath to grow. The Congress was dependent on him. Consequently, none in the party emerged to be its natural choice when he died. Mrs Indira Gandhi, his daughter, whom he had groomed, was not acceptable to the party at that time. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the natural choice because he was the consensus candidate, although Morarji Desai threw his hat in the ring knowing that he had the support of most state chief ministers. But the then Congress president, K. Kamaraj, found him too rigid and preferred Indira Gandhi. The party of today is entirely different because Kamaraj and Mrs Indira Gandhi are rolled into one person: Sonia Gandhi. The party does not have to introspect. She has to do so. Is she willing to give up control over the party, state leaders and others? Is she ready to accept the criterion of work at the grassroots rather than being sycophants to her? The suggestion that the party’s officebearers should be elected carries weight. But something similar was tried and found to be a mere exercise because bogus voters proliferated. Maybe, the office of party president and that of the Prime Minister should be combined. Mrs Indira Gandhi did so. She, as Prime Minister, found the Congress president in the way. This may be very much a presidential form of governance. But that is how Narendra Modi is going to function. His election campaign showed that. The presidential form is, no doubt, democratic but it gives room for authoritarianism. He has already announced that he would also head the National Democratic
Alliance. The history is replete with such examples. The Soviet Union was run like that. After several decades, it got disintegrated because of concentration of power at Moscow. Even now Russian President Vladimir Putin rules in the same style and this can be seen in Moscow’s attitude towards Ukraine. America has escaped dictatorship even though it has the presidential system because of the checks and balances. The Congress, the US parliament, is strong. The Congress Party in India can bounce back because it is the only alternative available. In the minds of the people there are only two parties, Congress and the BJP. When they do not find one delivering, they return the other which they had rejected previously. They are stuck with the two. The Aam Admi Party (AAP), a movement against corruption which converted itself into a political party, can be an alternative provided it expands its base. The AAP has secured less than three percent of votes in the election. Moreover, the anti-corruption stand it has taken is laudable. But there has to be an ideology or vision if it wants to attract voters. It messed up a great opportunity it got in Delhi. Even if the party has admitted its mistakes, though belatedly, it will take time for that blemish to go. The party has to work in the field. It cannot depend on slogans alone. Power that has got concentrated at the top, more specifically its leader Arvind Kejriwal, must spread. There is no other way. This holds good for Modi as well. —The writer is a veteran Indian journalist, syndicated columnist, human rights activist and author.
HEN the Supreme Court of India asked Sunil Gavaskar to take over the reins of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) temporarily to conduct the seventh edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) smoothly, the former Indian captain wanted the lucrative Twenty20 league to be the most talked about. The former Test opener has succeeded in his efforts to hold the tournament, which started with its first leg of 20 matches in the UAE due to general elections in India, in an effective way. Though many of the previous IPL tournaments were marred by match-fixing and spotfixing allegations, Gavaskar ensured that the seventh edition was controversy-free and a smoothlyconducted one. A superb half-century from Manish Pandey ensured that the Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, clinch their second IPL title after edging past the consistent Kings XI Punjab by three wickets in the final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday night. Punjab, who topped the table with some magnificent victories in the eightteam tournament, had hopes for their maiden title when Wriddhiman Saha scored a fine century in the final, but Pandey’s 50-ball 94 upset the calculations of the Priety Zinta-owned team. However, the clear winners are Gavaskar and his team, who led IPL7 in a transparent and professional way to ensure success for all its stakeholders. According to Gavaskar, the highlight of IPL-7 was the smooth organisation of the UAE leg. After the UAE hosted IPL successfully, there have been indications that the country might be the venue for the Champions League and the Twenty20 world championship jointly owned by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa. Besides, the UAE, which hosts a majority of Pakistan’s home series at Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi stadiums, is likely to be venue for Indo-Pak series next year. Should this come about, it would be an ideal opportunity for both India and Pakistan to revive their cricket ties after a long period. — Khaleej Times
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US right in negotiating with Taliban
Peaceful neighbourhood: A pipedream T Iqbal Khan Email:wonderous101@gmail.com
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EACTION to Prime Minis ter Nawaz Sharif’s visit to In dia is mixed one. Model of “peaceful neighbourhood” is too theoretical and divorced from realities—especially in the context of India. In bilateral affairs, it always takes two to tango. Gap between Prime Minister’s wish and reality is dangerously high. While operating in such a void, Pakistan can only end up in appeasing India. People are disappointed that Prime Minister preferred to meet Indian artists and ignored the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leadership. Pakistan’s foreign policy outreach will continue to be influenced by the developments in the country’s internal security environment, prospects for economic recovery and improved governance. Progress on all challenges facing the country would be essential drivers for our future engagement in the region—especially India. Pakistan needs to watch developments within India with a new govt in place. As of now India, enjoys a position of strength. Robust 7 percent economic growth for over a decade and favourable international image has infused a sense of misplaced super power hubris in India. Symbolics like Hindu extremists’ demand to ban the call for Morning Prayer (Azan-e-Fajr) are as relevant to evolving environment as fact that Indian defence spending is more than five times that of Pakistan’s. India is undertaking a massive force modernization and upgradation programme costing US$ 120b, spread over a decade. It is intoxicated by dangerous doctrinal concepts. India is in no mood to cede space to Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif’s romanticization with erstwhile Lahore Declaration is unrealistic. India is not even ready to restore Composite Dialogue in its original format which is the foundation rock of Lahore Declaration. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Mr Abdul Basit was been summoned to Islamabad to evaluate the impact of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent visit to India. Mr Basit had spent a lot of effort in preparing a favourable environment for the summit. However, wishes are not the horses on which statecraft could ride through. Pro-active approach warranted that impact should have been anticipated before the visit. Modi held talks with Sharif on a well thought out agenda. He raised issues like cross-border terrorism, Mumbai terror attacks trial and recent attack on the Indian consulate in the Afghan city of Heart. Reportedly, Modi told Sharif that terror attacks must stop; he delivered a blunt warning to Nawaz on his first day as PM. Dispelling the impression that Modi had given a tough time to Nawaz, Prime Minister’s Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Mr Sartaj Aziz stated that: “There was clear recognition of each other’s concerns and the need for mechanisms to address them.” Aziz added: terrorism came up for discussion and Sharif told Modi it was a mutual concern and Pakistan had suffered enormously from this menace. “The people and government of Pakistan are serious and committed to fighting terrorism in their own national interest,” he said. Nawaz advised Modi to let law take its course on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. No assurances were asked for in this regard and none were given. Slow progress in Samjhauta Express bombing case was also taken up during meeting. Although Sharif left no stone unturned to retain mantra of trade,
business, shared legacies and a profitable future, he almost sidestepped historical predicaments. Rejecting the impression that Nawaz was “chargesheeted” during his visit to India, Pakistan described the tour as reflective of “dignified diplomacy”, which “went “well beyond the expectations”. Nawaz Sharif looked obsessed to drive an agenda of trade and economics. He told The Hindustan Times that: “I am regarded as a friend of businessmen and we are regarded as a business friendly government. Modi too is perceived as a business-friendly person. He has a model of development…“We can easily work with each other...I will be happy to have Indians invest in Pakistan. We have an acute shortage of energy. If Indians come, they will find Pakistani markets very attractive, with returns as high as 30 per cent.” Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh summed up the talks from the Indian perspective: “We want peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan. However, for such relations to proceed, it is important that terror and violence is brought to an end…Prime Minister underlined our concerns related to terrorism… It was conveyed that Pakistan must abide by its commitments to prevent territory under its control for being used for terrorism against India”. Singh said Modi had told Sharif that the two countries could move towards normalization of trade on basis of the September 2012 roadmap on political and economic relations. India presented its point of view on Jammu and Kashmir. Modi stuck to a hawkish script instead of a more peaceable one. Though Sharif’s visit has set the ground for an improvement in relations, expectations of any substantive breakthroughs in immediate timeframe are unrealistic. A calibrated measure of optimism is in order for modest progress, but there is
need to be cagey of likely challenges as well. It does not mean that long standing issues such as Kashmir and the Pakistan-India rivalry in Afghanistan are about to disappear. Both sides should take into account historical ups and downs in the bilateral ties before formulating a fresh way forward. Both sides should focus on formulating policy that can withstand the echoes and shockwaves of history and the routine stresses of complex relationship. Modi approached the talks with a clear understanding that he would not get into a discussion on the specifics of Pakistan’s demand on issues such as Kashmir or Siachen. Indian officials have also expressed satisfaction over the fact that Sharif did not meet the Hurriyat Conference leaders. In his talks with Modi, Sharif also didn’t directly take up the Kashmir issue. He told Modi that his government was willing to address all issues with India in the spirit of cooperation and sincerity. The resulting impression is that: Modi has clearly informed Pakistan of what he expects and Pakistan didn’t ask for anything. Be it Kashmir or issues concerning water, Pakistan was mute. There was absolutely no justification to mention Mumbai incident on this occasion keeping in view the generous attitude demonstrated by Nawaz Sharif by taking the bold step of embarking on the Indian visit. Pakistan’s India policy needs a reality check and bold course correction. At least in short term timeframe, Pakistan hardly stands a chance to gain anything, beyond trivialities, out of bilateral dialogue with India. In its eagerness to bend backward for wishful outcome, Pakistan may, in the process, lose whatever leverage it has for quid pro quo. —The writer is consultant Policy and Strategic Response to IPRI.
HE Barack Obama admin istration did well to achieve the release of an American army sergeant from being held prisoner in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The Republicans have attacked the move as negotiating with terrorists, but US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has dismissed this accusation by saying that such an exchange of prisoners of war is an accepted part of any combat situation. Hagel went on to point out that such negotiations might lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the militants and so help the process of rebuilding a normal society in Afghanistan. The Taliban are part of the solution in Afghanistan, even if they have been the enemy for more than 10 years. They are still a significant part of Afghan society that cannot simply be expunged. Rather than try to kill and defeat the Taliban, the challenge is to get them to recognise that they also have to accept that the new Afghanistan is a democracy and there can be no return to the obscurantist days of primitive Taliban rule when Afghanistan plunged into a nightmare of chaos and misery. The political challenge facing new Afghan president (who on current polls may be Abdullah Abdullah) is to bring the majority of Taliban leaders and their followers into this inclusive process. The Americans and whole of NatoISAF has a duty to support this and exchange of prisoners will allow some modest goodwill to flow between two sides. — Gulf News
A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. Alexander Pope —British poet