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frontier Now
eyeing the minerals firstperson The
dollar and the yuan development People
versus the environment services Cyclone
Phet: the aftermath
Frozen in time Pakhtuns' manipulation by the state has left a chaotic region along the Pak-Afghan border By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar In early 1948, the Pakistani state, not yet equipped
with a fully functioning army, incited Waziristani tribesmen to occupy
Kashmir, thus triggering the first Indo-Pakistan war. From the outset
then, the Pakistani state made clear that it viewed the tribes as a
political tool that was to be used when the need arose. And just like the
British before them, Pakistani administrators did not feel the need to
reward these tribes with welfare and development schemes in Fata. The first meaningful public investment in Fata took place in the 1970s under the populist government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Among other initiatives, roads were constructed, abandoned cantonments were once again inhabited, old forts such as Datta Khel Ladha and Tiarza were renovated and made functional, and extensive power and electrification schemes were begun. Not all of these schemes necessarily benefited local communities. Forts, for example, became the exclusive preserve of the Political Agent (PA) and his retainers. In any case, it was not till almost three decades after the departure of the British that the state recognised the need to dedicate resources to the uplift of Fata's people. Even today, Fata's development indices are shamefully poor. There are, for instance, only 33 hospitals in Fata and the road density in Fata is 0.17 km per square km of area against a national average of 0.26. By and large, Pakistan has continued with colonial practices for governing the region. The political-economic structure still revolves around the political agent, the maliki system, and the khassadars. Perhaps, most damningly Fata is subject to an explicitly colonial legal regime by the name of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The FCR empowers the PA to fine, blockade and detain individuals or even entire tribes. PAs are further entitled to confiscate or demolish property under the guise of maintaining the public peace. While Fata has been accorded representation in the Pakistani parliament, adult franchise was not granted until 1996. For the most part, the maliks continued to be viewed as 'representatives' of Fata's people. Between 1947 to 1954, Fata was represented in Pakistan's first constituent assembly by only one member. In 1973, for a total of 37,000 maliks, eight seats were reserved in the National Assembly. Even after the granting of adult franchise, political parties remain prohibited by law to operate in Fata. In recent times, there has been much hyperbole about the need to repeal the FCR, allowing political parties to function in Fata and integrating the tribes into the social mainstream. For the time being, however, there is little evidence to suggest that any substantive steps will be taken in this regard. If the 1970s marked the first attempt of the Pakistani state to invest (nominally) in social infrastructure in the tribal areas then it was also in this period that a revised strategic policy was initiated. In retrospect, it may be argued that the engagement of the state with the tribes prior to the 1970s did not give rise to dislocation and upheaval which was to characterize the new strategic dispensation. Following the secession of the East Pakistan in 1971, the truncated and insecure Pakistani state was traumatised by the calls of Afghanistan's King Daud for Pakhtuns to unite and (re)establish their historic homeland. In response to this perceived threat to the state's territorial integrity, the military establishment began to patronize Islamists such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Burhanuddin Rabbani. Meanwhile, the state started investing in religious seminaries in settled and tribal Pakhtun areas. In Pakistan's calculation, the appeal of secular Pakhtun nationalism could only be countered by the propagation of Islamic ideology which was, as will be discussed presently, an important component part of the Pakhtun worldview. It is important to bear in mind that there is a long history of Pakhtun militancy in which "jihad" has been invoked against outside aggressors. However, for the most part, jihad in the past did not represent any challenge to either cultural structures built around the Pakhtun code of honour called Pakhtunwali or to the political structures that were developed by the British in which the tribal elite and maliks were dominant. The new strategic policy, however, shook both cultural and political structures. The "political mullah" became increasingly powerful, patronised by the PA whilst also becoming a symbol of a new economic regime in which guns and drugs flowed freely throughout the Pak-Afghan border region. The 'traditional' elite was conveniently sidelined; maliks either accepted the new dispensation and sought a place within it or faced a complete loss of power and prestige. Even after the end of the Afghan jihad, there was to be no reversion to the old political, economic and cultural structures. This is not to suggest that the state's basic perception of the tribal areas and the people that inhabited had become less functional, but only to point out that the tremendous upheavals associated with the Afghan jihad had resulted in an immutable transformation of society. It is now well-documented that Afghanistan was subject to the whims of warlords throughout the period preceding the emergence of the Taliban regime. Thus, when the Taliban managed to secure a majority of the country's territory and establish a nominal peace, the Afghan people acceded to the new government because they had not known even the semblance of peace for the best part of two decades. However, this 'peace' was based on a perpetual war economy featuring smuggling of weapons, contraband, and all sorts of consumer goods, even while the majority of Afghans were not able to meet their basic needs. Pakhtun war contractors on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border created linkages between legal and illegal economic activities. For example, city transport services in the metropolitan centre of Karachi are controlled by Pakhtuns, and these transporters are heavily implicated in much of the illicit business that takes place in the permanent war economy. After the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, this permanent war economy has actually been further consolidated. Not only has heroin production and trade expanded, it is now increasingly well-documented that large sums of 'development aid' are ending up in the hands of war contractors, a perverse fact which is not unknown to American administrators. In Fata, the Pakistani state claims to be fighting an epic war with the extremists just like the Western forces claim to be doing within Afghanistan. In truth, however, ordinary people remain at the whims of cynical protagonists in a war which many contractors would prefer to prolong rather than end. Meanwhile, Pakistan's military establishment has clearly not made a complete break with its jihadi protégés, preferring to selectively conduct military operations under the guise of fighting terror rather than reorienting foreign and strategic policy decisively. Most recently, a high-profile military operation took place in the South Waziristan tribal agency. There is no conclusive evidence, aside from what the corporate media reports, that these operations serve any genuine welfare function. In fact, the state's engagement with the Pakhtun people remains a function of strategic objectives. In the final analysis, little has changed in terms of the state's perception of the Pakhtun tribes in the 150 years since the British established their hegemony in India. It is important to note here that the western powers and the United States in particular have viewed Pakistan as a 'garrison state' much like the British conceived of the 'frontier' as a 'buffer zone'. Through the cold war this confluence of international and the Pakistani establishment's interests was depicted in heroic terms by the media and experts alike. However, in the post-2001 period, the major fallouts of the historic engagement of the state (and international powers) with Pakhtuns in the Pak-Afghan border area have become painfully clear.
The discovery of mineral deposits in Afghanistan is of immense political importance By Raza Khan While the US and Afghanistan focus on the new peace initiatives with the Taliban, a development of immense politico-economic significance has taken place in Afghanistan. It is the discovery of huge untapped mineral deposits in the war-ravaged country. The discovery by the US is approximately $1 trillion of worth and is said to be far beyond any previously known reserves. The discovered mineral deposits include iron, copper,
cobalt, gold, and industrial metals like lithium. The deposits are said to
be so huge and include so many minerals that experts are foreseeing the
tapping of the deposits would transform Afghanistan into one of the most
important mining centres in the world. So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper. Their estimated quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer of both. Large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan have been discovered. Ground surveys by American geologists and Pentagon officials reveal that at one location in Ghazni province the potential for lithium deposits is as large as that of Bolivia, which now has the world's largest known lithium reserves. The newly discovered mineral resources would fundamentally alter the policies of different countries towards Afghanistan, in particular the policies of leading powers in global politics and economy as well as regional players that have had stakes in Afghanistan. "The discovery of minerals and their subsequent use is going to change the entire geo-political and geo-strategic importance of Afghanistan besides the interests of different traditional stakeholders, particularly Pakistan. Hitherto, Afghanistan had to offer a negative attraction (that is merely strategic) for the international community. After the said discovery now the World would have a positive interest in Afghanistan," says Dr. Ijaz Khan, Chairman Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar, and an expert on Afghanistan while talking to TNS. "The pressure would now be on the US, UK, Pakistan, Iran, and India besides other stakeholders in Afghanistan to bring peace to the country. Now peace would be in everyone's interest in Afghanistan which has never been the case previously," he adds. "Pakistan can gain a lot out of the discovery of minerals in Afghanistan while at the same time it could lose a lot if it does not act rationally now. However, if Pakistan continues with its traditional policy of attempts to control Afghanistan and to deny other countries' stakes in Afghanistan that is no longer to be tolerated by the international community," says Dr Ijaz, who is authored the book titled, Pakistan Strategic Culture and Foreign Policy Making: A Case Study of Pakistan's Post 9/11 Afghan Policy Change. The tapping of mineral deposits is going to make Afghanistan richer thus changing the country's traditional mindset and policy towards Pakistan. It would also reduce the burden of Afghan population on Pakistan. In the long run, this is definitely going to have good effects on both the countries irrespective of the official policies as interaction of people has their own dynamics. Iran, another regional stakeholder in Afghanistan, wanted Afghanistan to support all its policies, still considering it as part of the centuries-old Persian Empire of which Afghanistan was once a part. India has also tried to court Afghanistan so that it could not make an alliance with its Muslim neighbour, Pakistan, and pose a critical threat to the Indian security. Since the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, the emergence of CARs, India tried to capture CARs' markets, hoping to use Afghanistan's territory for the purpose. CARs have also seen Afghanistan as territory to sell their natural resources to the world. The policies of all international and regional players regarding Afghanistan have largely been influenced by geopolitics for the important geographical location of Afghanistan. The political vacuum that existed in Afghanistan lingered on and got so profound that a moment arrived when it lost its very statehood. Afghan monarchs and regimes are themselves to be blamed for inviting global and regional players' policies of using its territory to pursue their interests directly in conflict with Afghan state interests. One of the mistakes Afghan rulers made was that they did not try to develop Afghanistan's economy so that the state could become self-sufficient and politically independent. The present volume of a mere $12 billion Afghan economy speaks volumes of the inefficiency of Afghan rulers. It is important to note that this figure includes the drug economy. In this backdrop, the discovery of mineral deposits in Afghanistan is of immense political importance. For the first time the world would take economic interest in Afghanistan. However, to get economic benefits from the discovery of mineral deposits the global and regional actors have to shun military-specific policies in Afghanistan and invest in the development of Afghanistan instead of destroying it. The writer is a political analyst, writing his doctoral thesis titled, Extremism-Terrorism in Pakistan: Causes and Counter Strategy
Looking back After the end of the Cold War in 1990, the US and Russia looked at Afghanistan in strategic terms and say it as a transit territory for international trade for pumping out the huge oil and gas resources of Central Asia through the sea shores. On their part, the regional actors also played games to use Afghanistan for their strategic and ideological interests. Indubitably, the biggest regional stakeholders in Afghanistan' since 1947 has been Pakistan. Since the 1980s, Pakistan tried to use Afghan territory as its 'strategic depth' in the context of its rivalry with India. In the same period, certain Pakistani governments futilely attempted to use Afghanistan as a trading route to reach Central Asian Republics (CARs). Earlier, since the birth of Pakistan to the early 1970s, due to Afghanistan's irredentist claims on Pashtoon and Baloch parts of Pakistan, the latter kept a cautious distance from Afghanistan. With the coming of Afghan nationalists to power in Afghanistan, after overthrowing Zahir Shah, under Sardar Daud Khan, Pakistan was compelled to change its Afghan policy. The policy of cultivating Afghan clerics on the Pakistani soil to make them as counterweights to anti-Pakistani Afghan nationalists started and continues to this day. firstperson "Left will take some time to be effective" Since the early 1990s the Left has suffered a decline which helped in the emergence of extremist groups By Salman Ali "The News on Sunday: How will you define Left politics? Aslam Awan: The basic pillar of Left politics is class theory as propounded by Karl Marx and Frederic Engles. Without empathising with the class and its socio economic dimensions no Left politics or political party can be formed. Class theory has always been the cornerstone of Left politics and I still adhere to this theory. Whatever the claims, no political party that preaches class collaboration and class harmony can be termed as a Left party. TNS: When did you become a member of the Communist
Party and how? AA: In 1948, National Workers Railway Union announced a public strike and gave a notice to officials. Their demand was to pay attention to the report of Pay Commission but the government would not. They, instead, arrested the president of this union, Mirza Mohammad Ibrahim, and later Lal Khan, Comrade Ghulam Mohammad, Ibrahim Chota, Laeeq Ahmad, Nisar Ahmad, Lala Asghar and myself. We were banned from performing our duties in Railways. At that time, with my banned friends in 1948, I joined the Communist Party as a member and worked for the working class in Railways. After that, in 1949, I was banned for one year from entering Railways' boundary. TNS: When Communist Party was banned in 1954 what was your next step and which party did you join? AA: When the Communist Party was banned, me and my friends joined Azad Pakistan Party and worked there but when National Awami Party (NAP) emerged from throughout the country, we joined it and I had a leading role in it. In 1957, with C.R. Aslam, we went to the first convention of this party in Dhaka as a delegate but, unfortunately, when NAP was divided into two parts we went with C.R. Aslam and joined the Socialist Party and worked for several years. I firstly became the office secretary of the party and then became the member of federal and national working committees. From there, I started to publish a magazine, Awami Jamhooriat, which I think, was the best part of my life. TNS: Politics based on an ideology here in Pakistan has vanished as parties of the Right and Left are mostly working as allies and have identical programmes. The politics of the Left seems to have become irrelevant over the years as most of those now involved in politics have rightist inclinations. Do you agree with this assertion? AA: There is no denying that politics of the Left worldwide suffered a severe setback during the late 1980s and 90s. Dissolution of the Soviet Union and even before that the steps taken by the then Soviet leadership have created a lot of confusion. A massive propaganda was launched from the West saying socialism remained no longer a system to be reckoned with, that the philosophy behind socialism had failed and that the only system to prevail was free market economy, with its liberal and non-liberal political structures. These arguments prevailed even amongst some left-wing political activists. Historically also, the Left in Pakistan was handicapped. To begin with, the Left movement was weak even before partition. With the creation of Pakistan, the religious issue was used not only by the mullahs but also by the so-called mainstream politics as well as the establishment. TNS: What do you think about the political parties of Pakistan? AA: Even after 63 years of independence we are unable to find ways of establishing even basic democratic institutions. Most of the time the so-called mainstream politicians and the establishment have been fighting with each other only to find ways of accommodating each other in the prevalent system. Both are committed to maintaining the social and economic status quo which has been detrimental to our people and the progress of society. All the political parties in Pakistan are dishonest; their leaders are doing nothing for the betterment of this country. Most of the feudal lords are occupying seats in the National Assembly and Senate. Only representatives from ordinary class can end this unjust system. The problems of an ordinary man can only be understood by an ordinary man and only the representation of ordinary class could ensure the solution of their problems. TNS: What do you think about the present condition of politics of the Left? AA: I am a little depressed and disappointed due to fragmentation of the Left. At the same time, I am encouraged to see that Left's ideas are spreading in different social tiers of our society. People are organising themselves at local levels for the defense of their rights and demands. I hope with the passage of time a countrywide Left political party or alliance will definitely emerge and will take forward the Left's ideology in Pakistan. The Left has played a critical role in the struggle for democracy and rights of workers in Pakistan. But since the early 1990s the Left has suffered a decline which helped in the emergence of extremist groups. TNS: What's the future of the Left's politics in Pakistan? AA: In Pakistan, the Left's politics will take time to reach out to the people because even conventional democratic politics is not yet clearly established. There are some so-called Left parties but I think they do not even know the proper meaning of the term. They just hold discussions and do not work in field. So, they can't be called Leftists. Today's NGOs have also damaged the work of the Left. For the betterment of people, we don't need to take donations from other countries but I think we should work with our income whatever that is. The prevalent capitalist system has no solution to the problems of the people in Pakistan. I think the Left will take some time to be effective. TNS: What role did the Left play in Ziaul Haq's regime? AA: From the very outset of Zia's martial law, the Left in general and our party that is Pakistan Socialist Party (PSP) in particular, strongly opposed the imposition of martial law. The PSP formed a united front along with the so-called Awami Jamhoori Ittehad (People's Democratic Alliance) to confront the retrogressive politics of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) -- the pro-Zia religious nationalist parties. A lot many workers of the Left were arrested and imprisoned for opposing the military regime. In Sindh, Nazeer Abbasi and in Balochistan Hamid Baloch, associated with Left groupings, were killed by the dictatorial regime of Ziaul Haq. TNS: Where does your party stand in the entire struggle of the Left because your party is nowhere to be seen? AA: As far as our party is concerned, it was created with three Leftwing groups in 1999 when Pakistan Socialist Party (PSP) led by C.R. Aslam, a section of the Pakistan National Party (PNP) of late Ghous Bakhsh Bizengo, and the Awami Jamhoori Party (AJP) of Abid Hasan Minto, joined hands to form National Workers Party. We firmly believe that it was not the end of the progress. In 2010, again, two parties met and agreed on one manifesto and one mass movement and then they merged and became one as Workers Party Pakistan. I think it is the duty of real Leftists to come out and struggle for establishing real democracy as opposed to an arbitrary establishment. We have to move forward with higher political aims, establishing an equitable economic system, abolishing the feudal structures, and setting up a true federation. TNS: What do you demand from the Pakistan government? AA: Our foremost demand is to immediately halt the ongoing operation in Balochistan and give the people of Balochistan their democratic rights. Unless land reforms are implemented, Pakistan cannot develop economically and politically. Democracy and industrial development are inseparable entities. And industrialisation cannot be achieved without land holdings. The government should work to create a tolerant society based on equality, social justice, and religious harmony as enunciated by the Quaid in his speech to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11th 1947. TNS: Why do people call you Aslam Radio? AA: (Smiles). You see, at the time of creation of Pakistan there was no media as we find it today. There were few newspapers and the most effective medium of information was Radio Pakistan. I being a young member of the party used to go around the city which was not so big as it is today and collected information about political happenings and report to the party headquarter at 114-Mcleod Road. That is why I was nicknamed as Radio which almost became part of my name. TNS: Who is your favourite Leftist? AA: There are many with whom I have worked. All the Leftists who worked for the betterment of people and behaved like a pure leader such as C.R Aslam are my favourite. Among intellectuals Abid Hassan Minto is my favourite.
China has faced criticism from its trading partners, notably the US, for its "grossly undervalued" exchange rate By Hussain H. Zaidi The good news for the US as well as other trading partners is that China has announced to make its exchange rate regime more flexible. The bad news for them is that at the same time Chinese central bank has ruled out any major change in the exchange value of its currency -- the yuan. Over the years China, has maintained a fixed exchange rate with the yuan pegged to the dollar, which it is widely maintained has resulted into an under-valued yuan thus making Chinese exports more price competitive than they would be in the event of a floating exchange rate. In 2005, China allowed the yuan to appreciate but
reverted to the pegged exchange rate in March 2009 in the face of the
global economic slump and slowdown in exports. China has faced severe
criticism from its trading partners, notably the USA for its "grossly
undervalued" exchange rate. The issue was also discussed during the
recently held G-20 summit in Canada. Beijing however resisted attempts to
make any commitment to reform its exchange rate regime in the joint
declaration issued at the conclusion of the summit. The USA, the world's largest economy and the biggest trading nation, is facing huge fiscal and trade deficits -- the twin deficits as they are called. With the country's exports and imports standing at $1.05 trillion and $1.60 trillion respectively, the US trade deficit in 2009 stood at $547 billion. The principal source of the US trade deficit is cheap exports from China. The US trade deficit with China exceeded $226 billion in 2009, while in the first four months of 2010, the trade deficit was registered at $71 billion. Conversely in 2009, China's global exports and imports were $1.20 trillion and $1 trillion respectively giving the country trade surplus of $196 billion. China has also overtaken Germany as the world's largest exporting country. The USA attributes its increasing trade deficit with China in the main to the undervalued yuan. Ideally, Washington would want Beijing to adopt a flexible exchange rate. But realising that the Chinese banking sector is not prepared for that move, Americans are at present only calling upon China to re-value the yuan. The US has on several occasions threatened that in case China does not revalue its currency vis-a-vis the dollar, it may face punitive action including additional tariff on all Chinese exports to the US. Economic theory tells us that no country can maintain huge trade surplus for long. This is simple. The value of a country's currency depends on the demand for its goods and services in international market. When, therefore, a country has a large trade surplus -- showing increasing demand for its goods and services -- the demand for its currency goes up and as a result it appreciates. Currency appreciation makes the country's exports more expensive thus lowering its trade surplus. However, this mechanism works only when market forces are allowed to operate. If the exchange rate is fixed by the government, then increase in trade surplus will not push up the value of the currency. This is what is happening in China, whose growing trade surplus has not pushed up its currency value proportionately. Since China's economic growth is largely dependent on its export performance, the Chinese government is reluctant to let the yuan appreciate freely. The effect of an undervalued yuan is the same as that of a subsidy to exporters. Both make export price artificially lower than it would be if left to market forces and thus push up demand for exports. Interestingly, though there are clear-cut World Trade Organization (WTO) rules regarding subsidies -- subsidies on industrial products are not allowed if they have the effect of distorting production or price and the importing country can impose additional duties on subsidised exports to offset the effect of subsidies -- the global trade regime lacks rules regarding an undervalued exchange rate. However, a country faced with balance of payment problem -- just as the US is facing -- can levy additional import duties. In case China revalues its currency, Chinese exports to the US will become less competitive, which will bring down demand for them. Thus as US sees it, a re-valued yuan will help correct US balance of trade with China. The US assessment is, however, only partly correct. No doubt, yuan is undervalued with respect to the dollar, but this is only one possible cause of US trade deficit with China. What makes Chinese exports competitive in the US market is low input costs particularly labour cost in China, economies of scale and China's highly subsidized state-controlled economy. In 2006, China became the first country to have foreign exchange reserves of $1 trillion. As of March 1, 2010, Chinese foreign exchange reserves stood at $2.44 trillion, the largest holding of foreign exchange reserves by any country. The huge accumulation of foreign exchange reserves can mainly be attributed to China's emergence as a major player on the global export scene and its trade surplus of $196 billion. Trade balance is a major item on the current account balance. A country's current account deficit is financed by inflow of capital from its trading partners having current account surplus. The US current account deficit is in large measures financed by China by investing in long-term US treasury bonds and other government securities. It is estimated that China has invested $700 billion in US long-term bonds. In case China decides to disinvest its holding of US bonds, the US dollar will come down with a thud increasing inflation in the US and destabilizing the global economy. But such a move would also lower the real value of China's own foreign exchange reserves. While the possibility of an American punitive action on the Chinese exports is always there, several factors militate against such a move. In the first place, US-based multinational corporations (MNCs) have invested heavily -- to the tune of $25 billion -- in China to take advantage of a huge market and economies of scale. A great deal of what China exports to the world, including the US, is produced by these MNCs. Hence, clamping punitive duties on Chinese exports will also penalise the US businesses, which are lobbying against such a move. Secondly, additional duties on the Chinese exports would harm American consumers, who are getting inexpensive goods. Thirdly, an undervalued yuan means cheap exports to the US of consumer goods, which is necessary to keep the inflation in check. As mentioned above, in China, the US gets a credible source of funding for its current account deficit. Imposition of duties may force China to disinvest part of its holdings of the US government securities thus pushing the dollar down and causing great inflationary pressures on the US economy. China being the leading nation among the developing countries and the US being the leading nation among the developed countries hold the key to the successful implementation of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), which will determine the future of multilateralism in trade represented by the WTO. Probably more than any other country, these two can help bridge the differences among developed and developing nations. In case the US takes punitive action against Chinese imports in an attempt to correct its trade imbalance, it will not only strain their bilateral relations but is also likely to sharpen differences between the developed and the developing countries and further stalk the DDA. Besides, trade restrictions may impinge negatively on China's headway towards market economy. e-mail: hussainhzaidi@gmail.com
More broken promises The G20 has offered no solid solutions to address vulnerable economies By Irfan Mufti The 3rd summit of group of 20 rich nations held from June 26-27, 2010 in Toronto Canada was attended by the head of states from member countries. The group, formed in November 2008, aimed to bringing together 20 most developed countries to deal with financial and banking crises and share responsibility for improving global financial architecture. G20 is officially not recognised as the formal decision-making platform and its mandate is still limited to few economic and financial spheres. While the group does not have the same political and
economic clout as exercised by G8, it is fast becoming a parallel platform
for discussion on key subjects including framework balanced growth,
financial sector reform including international financial institutions and
development, fighting protectionism and promoting trade and investment
among others. The platform brings together newly emerging Asian giants
like China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Saudi Arab and other
developing economies like South Africa, Brazil and Australia alongwith the
G8 countries, including USA, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and
Canada. The recent additions in the global elites' club have changed the
discourse and sense of responsibility among global leaders. G20 leaders have, in recent years, begun a positive evolution regarding their thinking and approach to development challenges. In the wake of the global economic recession, their commitment to narrowing the development gap and reducing poverty are integral to achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth and ensuring a more robust and resilient global economy for all. The final declaration of two-day summit fell short of the expectations people of the under-developed world had from the new world leadership. The summit however, did make some positive progress and resolved to deal with the development shortfall and financial crises. The summit expanded its role into development sector. It however disappointed many for its inaction and indifference on a major demand for Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) that could go some way to filling the gap in funding the under-developed countries. The summit also created a Working Group on Development and left it action plans for the next Summit in Seoul in November 2010. Several civil society leaders called on the G20 to broaden their impact as a forum. They believed that global progress depends on the G20 leaders working to support the MDGs. It is hoped that emerging donors such as South Korea and Saudi Arabia as having an important role to play while India and China must do better at home and in their international commitments. Several lobby groups, regional groups (including Asians and Africans), interest groups for Child health, education, poverty reduction, climate justice, sustainable development, feminist groups showed mixed responses on the declaration of the Summit. Some expressed their opinion that G-20 isn't moving quickly enough to offer the kind of global economic leadership that ensures balanced growth and stability by improving the resilience of the world's poor. It is also said that the G20 has drawn a blank on poverty. The 20 leaders of the world also missed a golden opportunity to tackle poverty when it could only agree to disagree over how to make the banks repay the cost of the economic crisis. According to this group, the G20 ought to have placed a tax on the financial sector to offer a significant hand up to the 64 million people forced into poverty by the economic crisis. Another group warned that sustainable economic recovery need more than brief platitudes from the G20 on green recovery than what it delivered in Toronto. They said that the world leaders were still painting the economy in black and white but it must include green. Instead of being a summit of real action, it recycled and reused earlier commitments on fossil fuels. Some though welcomed India's announcement earlier in the week to phase out fossil fuel subsidies on petrol and review the subsidies on diesel and other fuels. Some organizations say G20 was bankrupt as the leaders lacked ideas and any willingness to compromise. They opined that the declaration would be forgotten before the day was over. Their disappointment came as the G20 has offered no solid solutions to address still vulnerable economies. Such indecisiveness of key global matters worries several that a fading capacity among developed countries to collaborate will mean the poor suffer the most. The decision of the summit to cancel Haiti's IFI debt and the creation of G20 Working Group on development was greatly applauded and welcomed. This agreement of Haiti's debt is indeed a 'breath of fresh air' but G20 must now write off the debts of all impoverished countries. Many civil society leaders and NGOs said the G20 was a missed opportunity to show leadership on climate justice and to set a path to get back on track for a global deal post 2012. They demanded for at least $200 billion per year of new and additional public finance by 2020 but saw little progress on agreeing new sources such as an FTT and levies on aviation and shipping fuel emissions. They also welcomed G20's support of the United Nations Convention against Corruption but were disappointed that there was no review mechanism built in the proposal. Greenpeace, a lobby group on climate justice, appreciated the summit's decision for ending fossil fuels. The group sees that G20 had taken uneven steps on the Pittsburgh summit's commitment to implement country specific strategies on fossil fuel phase out. They think the Toronto G20 suffered a complete lack of vision on climate financing stating that the funds saved from fuels subsidies could have been diverted to help the climate. Group of organizations raising voice for ending poverty expressed concern that the G20 dealing with budget deficits through cutting back on government services will end up hurting the poor. These organizations felt that government's reliance on austerity measures alone to tackle deficits risked increasing unemployment and poverty in the developed world as well as the developing world. Trade union groups including the International Trade Union Confederation-ITUC said the G20 was failing to meet to the jobs challenge and was contradicting itself by speaking of cutting deficits but welcoming recommendations from their Labour Ministers that say jobs should be a priority. It was the wrong communiqué at the wrong time according to these unions. The unions were also critical of that the G20 chose to 'rub shoulders' with the B20 business group at the Summit. The most critical response came from Africa group that showed their dismay on the lack of commitments and actions from G20 to meet the Africa development needs and write-off its illegitimate debts. The group argued that Africa represents 900 million potential producers and consumers and so can contribute to the global economic recovery through trade and investment. However, the African group warned that the G20 must formally accommodate the voices of the countries and people it fails to represent if it is to build a new partnership with Africa. The group also said the G20 needs to include Africa as a regular member in future summits as it same status to European Union. It is indeed ironic that the G20 summit showed an unfortunate lack of political will to fight poverty by delaying key actions such as the Robin Hood Tax and investing in clean energy and ending fossil fuel subsidies. By delaying key actions until the Seoul Summit in November 2010, the G20 has shown an unfortunate lack of political will to fight poverty and inequality. The lack of will on key issues will gradually delegitimise this platform that was otherwise expected to provide true global leadership and responsibility. We were hoping the G20 would step in to make a difference, but it did not. Perhaps one reason by the G20 is performing so poorly is that there are not more women at the table. The G20 includes only three women, the heads of Argentina, Australia and Germany. They need to give more space to women leadership as they can truly feel the suffering of the most deprived. It is important that road to SEOUL must include concrete actions, honoring commitments and broadening the platform to include other voices and marginalized will increase legitimacy of G20 and will give it much needed boost. Finally, the G20 has an important role to play in forging the creation of more representative and responsive international financial institutions that better meet the needs of the poorest countries. Following the Pittsburgh summit, the G20 needs to use the Seoul summit to agree to changes to the voting structure of the World Bank and IMF. The writer is Deputy Chief of South Asia Partnership Pakistan and a global campaigner irfanmufti@gmail.com
Pressure for agricultural land accounts for 60 to 80 percent of world's deforestation By Mohammad Niaz The human population index, reaching to five billion on 11th of July 1987, prompted the establishment of World Population Day by the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. This year, the theme is, "Everyone Counts…the importance of data for development". That means everyone is important in the process of development as demographic data is critical for planning, evolving strategies, implementation, and management protocols. Numbers are extremely important to indicate the trend
and status of various parameters. Rapid increase in human population over
the course of the 20th century has raised concerns about over-utilisation
of natural resources and multiple threats appearing in different
manifestations. That the world population grows geometrically, great biotic pressure is being placed on arable land, water, energy, and biodiversity to provide adequate supply of food while maintaining the integrity of ecosystem. As a matter of fact, capacity of earth is affected by the size of human population, consumption of resources, and the level of pollution and environmental degradation. Given the current human population of the world -- 6.81 billion -- the earth resources are depleting fast due to the human factor as they decline significantly because they are divided among more and more people. Over one-third of Pakistanis are living in poverty. The impact of population growth and poverty on environment is obvious. The meager resources in our country are swarmed by a multitude of human factor which leads to environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources. Another alarming factor is the urbanisation in Pakistan (32 percent) which is highest among the SAARC countries. One of the major contributing factors that affect earth resources is the human population. While comparing the world population in 1991 (5.4 billion) and 2009 (6.67 billion) with projections for the year 2025 (7.8 billion), the less developed countries will constitute the bulk of that total having low per capita income and poverty. The high human population index results in an economic upheaval while at the same time contributes as a prime cause of environmental degradation. The activities of over six and a half billion humans, with many more to come, foretell dire consequences in future. Already, there has been a significant increase in greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide associated with fossil fuel burning. Given the increased number of human beings and resource utilisation scenario, it is safe to assume that everyone is registering a negative impact of its own kind. Human-intensive activities such as unsustainable resource extraction and exploitation exert stress on the fragile ecosystems. As such, with increase in anthropogenic activities ecological footprints are also increasing. Increased human population has also multiplied pressure on natural resources beyond capacity, rendering poor countries more vulnerable to the impact of environmental damage as total population converges on limited resources. Plentiful of resources can become exhausted or depleted and those that had to get a better part of it are also deprived, as proper planning is lacking. The poor having high birth rates exert intense environmental pressure due to poverty and lack of basic amenities that crop up multifaceted socio-economic and ecological challenges. Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, pollution, unsustainable and over-utilisation of resources, increased consumerism, and lack of basic amenities are some of the challenges linked with rising population pressure and escalating demands that pose serious threats to development. In developing countries, large cities are experiencing increased human population at a rate that is very difficult to sustain better economic growth. This could lead to various social problems such as an increase in hunger and crime. Economic, social, and political conditions force many people to move from rural areas to large cities in search for jobs and better opportunities. If appropriate management strategies are not outlined to cope with people's movement to urban areas it will undermine the ability of a large city to provide resources in a sustainable manner. There is an inverse relationship between the available earth resources and the earth-carrying capacity. Envisaging such a population, they would largely need food, water, heating, and housing with a major impact on natural resources. This will exert huge pressure on the available meagre resources of the world where agricultural lands are being converted and forests are felled to let in urbanisation and commercialisation. In this quest of expansion, shrinking habitat and fragmentation have been experienced as the price of socio-economic and technological development. The pressure for agricultural land accounts for 60 to 80 percent of the world's deforestation. Competition for water resources among individuals, regions, and countries and associated human activities is already occurring with the current world population. We have no option but to ensure conservation and careful management of natural resources and maintain a balance in demands and resources that will perpetuate the limited resources on a sustainable basis in the face of modern-day dynamic requirements. This will not only cater for providing an enabling and conducive environment for themselves but also for millions of other living creatures on the surface of the earth. Every individual and nation needs to be prudent in its decisions and actions as to reinforce environmental improvement. The writer is Deputy Conservator Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department
Neglected, still Paramedics are exposed to dangerous diseases while working in hazardous conditions By Tahir Ali Paramedics play an important role in therapeutic, preventive, and rehabilitative fields in medical care in the country but they have been neglected by successive governments. They are still waiting for a uniform service structure that has been given to doctors and nurses but denied to them. Sharafatullah Yousafzai, Senior Vice President of All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation (APPSF) says, "While there is Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for doctors, Pakistan Nursing Council for Nurses, and Pakistan Tib Council for hakims, etc, there should be one for paramedics. The draft for paramedics' council was proposed and discussed initially in 1988 but it has not been presented to the parliament as yet." Yousafzai points out that "after a long delay, the
government now wants to establish allied health professional council, and
not paramedics' council, so that doctors and nursing staff could be
accommodated on administrative/decision-making posts, which is a great
injustice to us." For lack of uniformed pay structure, paramedics work in different pay scales in different parts of the country. "For example, sanitary inspectors are working in BPS-6, BPS-12, and BPS-16 in different hospitals having the same qualification. "Paramedics are being unjustly treated. For example, in the 1960s paramedics and nurses were recruited in BS-5. Nurses are working in BS-16 and can go up to BPS-20. But paramedics still work in BPS-9 with the same or even higher qualification. While a separate directorate, council and board have been established for nurses, we have been denied all these. We are not against their benefits but wish that we are also treated at par with them," adds Yousafzai. "Paramedics appointed as dispensers, radiographers, operation theatre technicians, lab-technicians, dental technicians and paramedical tutors used to retire in the same pay scale till the recent past. Their service structures have been approved in the four provinces except in federal institutions, but these have not been implemented fully. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has implemented the service structure but only partially. We demand that the structure is implemented in its entirety so as to provide opportunities of promotion to paramedics upto the scale of 20," he says. "The female medical technicians and LHVs and male dispensers/technicians are practically running the government dispensaries in dangerous and far away rural settings," says Yousafzai. "There are at present around 110,000 class three paramedics in the country. The strength is insufficient and it should be tripled." Shahid Jan Khatak, General Secretary APPSF, says the absence of council has led to a mushroom growth of substandard private paramedical institutes, irregularity in duration of courses, and absence of standardisation in curricula and examinations. "Today, when a democratic government is there, it is hoped that the council would be established by the government sooner rather than later," hopes Khatak. Paramedics at the federal level, however, still wait for the approval of their service structure. "The national commission for service structure of health professionals at the federal level was constituted in 2005. While its recommendations were implemented in case of doctors and nurses, those about paramedics still await implementation," complains Khatak. Sirajuddin Burki, Central President APPSF, says the
importance of paramedical staff has tremendously increased and it is
essential for them now to acquire modern education, "The paramedical
staff should be provided opportunities of higher education, leading to
PhD, in and outside the country so that they could improve on their
performance," says Burki. "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is leading in that it has four colleges for all categories, though their standard is also on the decline for some time now. In other provinces, however, there is no such structure. The training colleges, both in public and private sector in federal area and provinces, have no uniform syllabus and have different duration of training, while those in the private sector are mostly without hospital attachment, proper teaching staff, and registration," Burki adds. According to him, paramedics have been neglected in the projects and training meant for capacity building of health professionals while doctors and nurses benefited. "A few years ago, around $300m were provided by the Japanese government for providing training to health professionals. At that time too, paramedics were simply ignored. The money lapsed without having been utilised," says Burki. Paramedics are exposed to Hepatitis B and C, cancer, tuberculosis, jaundice and other dangerous viral and infectious diseases while working in hazardous conditions in X-ray laboratories, operation theatre, emergency and wards, etc. "Doctors sign the reports prepared by the paramedics. But paramedics have been denied allowances though these are available to the nursing staff," he adds. Akbar Ali Khoso, General Secretary APPSF Sindh, and Abdus Samad Raisani, President APPSF Balochistan, say they would continue their peaceful struggle for paramedics' council, risk allowance, and higher education for paramedics. The spokesman of the health ministry, Qazi Abdus Saboor, says a lot of work has been done on the issue of paramedics' council and the service structure for federal government's health institutions. "A summary has been prepared for it and it may be approved any time soon. All the important demands of the paramedics have been incorporated in it," he claims. On the issue of demanding higher education for paramedics, he says there are many such institutes working in the country that are providing education to them. But he adds that "the number is insufficient and there should be at least one paramedical institute and nursing school in each district of the country." Saboor says risk allowance is only given to those working in emergencies and was not meant for all. "With the introduction of danger-free machines and standardised operating procedures, health hazards to health technicians have decreased considerably."
Cyclone Phet: the aftermath The relief and development of coastal areas should be the first priority of the government By Javaid Iqbal Cyclone Phet, which emerged in the Arabian Sea in the
beginning of June, ended near Shahbander and Gharo creek leaving its
devastating effects on the shores of Oman and Pakistan. There are a number
of lessons for those working in disaster preparedness in Pakistan and
South Asia. Disaster preparedness of disaster management agencies for
cyclones must be looked into. Each disaster is somewhat different from the previous one. The cyclone of the 1999 was disastrous for Thatta and Badin. It caused havoc for the local people and it is still alive not just in the memories; its effects are still visible in the lives of the people. Indeed, there was no recovery phase for affected people of that cyclone. The people of Tehsil Jaati, the main affected area, did not receive enough fresh water from the Indus River even in 2005 and their lands were not irrigated properly. Their people and livestock could not get drinking water and was dependent on the saline water. Sindh and Balochistan were hit in July 2007 by Cyclone Yemyin, which killed at least 250 people. This time the cyclone remained under the watchful eye of the media from the very first day. The government agencies also prepared at their respective levels. But there are evidences that had it not slowed down near Shahbander and had it struck at some other place, as it was a probability, the level of preparedness of our disaster management agencies would have been exposed. In Badin and Thatta, where the cyclone hit directly, 8,000 houses were damaged. In Gawadar, 3,000 houses have been damaged; half of those houses are fully damaged. But no assessment exercise has been carried out yet of the losses. The UN and the international agencies could not and did not enter the affected areas. Gwadar city, having a population of 95,000 people is severely affected as the result of the cyclone which hit the Makran coast on the 5th of June, 2010. Some 370mm rain was recorded from June 3 to June 5 in Gawadar while Jewani received 208mm of rain. According to the people of Gwadar, there is no precedence of what they experienced in the recent past. It is a disaster which has affected almost all the districts, particularly five union councils - at least 50 villages and the same number of small hamlets scattered in the area. People are not receiving compensation for the reconstruction of their houses. About 5,000 houses were destroyed partially and fully. It is a huge number and it will be very difficult to ignore them. But there is a history of the provincial and federal governments, denying people compensation and help, particularly those living in the far-flung areas. This time, the people of Gwadar are once again in need of assistance. People in Thatta were evacuated from Keti Bander, Kharo Chan, and Jaati. People in district Badin refused to be evacuated by the government agencies. NGOs and urban business communities came out to help in evacuation. Even then very few people were shifted to the camps. Why? Because of the mistrust between the people and government agencies, which has grown over time, and the past experiences of the mismanagement in camps. This time, Left Bank Outfall Drain was full of the sea water and the main drain of the project was already badly damaged. So it was unable to resist the cyclone water. It was an alarming situation. This is due to non-participatory planning of disaster preparedness at the district level. One can easily blame prevalence of illiteracy and insensitive behaviour of local populations, but this cannot be acceptable to a student of participatory development who has mobilised people. It is here the 'urge' of participatory planning and disaster preparedness is exposed. It is here we all got miserably knocked out. We could not effectively ensure participation of the local communities in the district disaster management plans. What else is the disaster preparedness plan? If people do not cooperate at the last moment, what options do we have? It proved to be a bad episode of evacuation in Badin. It should be taken as an eye-opener for the people in the government who have developed district plans and want to start development work in the area. Thatta and Badin are prone to a number of disasters like cyclones, brackish ground water, sea intrusion and drought conditions as they are the tail enders. The myth of disaster preparedness and operational capabilities of the disaster management high-ups can be easily checked and challenged in these districts at any point in time throughout the year. Though coordination was apparently good among various government and non-government agencies as NGOs were given a free hand to work with local communities, very few of the agencies could actually move on the ground to reach out to the affected communities. Very few people could reach out to the people of Gwadar. The Coastal Highway was cut off and the few vehicles sent for the relief goods got stuck in the way. When the C130 landed at the Gwadar airport, it was the second day of rains. Why we could not prove ourselves as effective disaster managers even at this point in time when the DMAs are operational? The second question is why the disaster management ordinance has not yet been passed from the Assembly and why it has not been adopted by the concerned quarters in the provinces? The country has suffered enough from natural disasters since the establishment of the disaster management authorities. There is need to be more efficient and effective. There is a lot more to be done in Gwadar and Thatta for recovery and development. Badin and Thatta are still cut off from mainstream development. They need basic amenities of life like water. Lakes of Badin also need fresh water intake for the people to earn their livelihoods. Those affected in Thatta are in a very bad condition. Some 100 villages have been affected. Similarly, the fishermen of Gwadar also await development. They have lost their boats (though very few own any boat) and need to be treated at par with the other beneficiary groups of Gwadar development. The question is, if the authorities could not mobilise people for evacuation in case of cyclone which was away by 72 hours, how would they be able to evacuate them in 18-30 minutes? Lack of trust needs to be removed and worked out properly. Otherwise, the NDMA will cease to exist over a period of time. There is need to minutely assess the damage to life and property in Gwadar, Badin, and Thatta. People are in dire need to receive assistance for recovery and reconstruction. Those who lost a fishing season in the aftermath of the cyclone should receive financial assistance. An institution or a group of institutions is required to maintain funds for the recovery and development of the coastal areas of Pakistan. The performance of DMAs (NDMA, PDMAs and DDMAs) should be evaluated and action taken accordingly so that there is no such failure in future. Cyclone contingency plans should be separately developed for coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Three cyclones in a decade in the same area means we need to develop specialised structures (institutions) for the study of cyclones and develop mechanisms and strategies to deal with them. The relief and development of coastal areas should be the first priority of the government.
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