SHIREEN M MAZARI

The terrorist attack in Lahore targeting a Special Investigative Unit has once again highlighted all the things wrong with our government and the state structures, especially when it comes to dealing with the terrorist problem. The plethora of statements, coming from various segments of the state in the immediate aftermath of the blast, shows the confusion that still prevails when it comes to the terrorist threats. There seems to be no proactive policy at the macro level to tackle the issue pre-emptively with good human intelligence and isolation of the militants and their supporters amongst the populace. After all, without local informants and local support, non-state actors cannot get shelter. In military terms, for the militants, a local sympathetic population forms their rear and it is here that they blend in to carry out their lethal activities.

So the first job of the intelligence set-ups and the government should be to ensure that the local population not only does not support the militants but also gives information about suspicious activities in their neighbourhoods. It does not seem possible that strangers simply drove into Model Town, found the target and carried out their terrorism. In urban residential areas, especially, it is easy for terrorists to blend in and watch their targets once they have been correctly identified. At the very least the government needs to encourage local watch groups so that suspicious people or strangers are identified and checked. These are abnormal times and require measures on an emergency footing. Television can aid in educating the public on how to arrange for local watch patrols and so on.

Equally important, it is absolutely necessary for the government to move interrogation and other high profile targets out of residential areas where innocent citizens lives can be placed in jeopardy. Locating such centres in the midst of schools and homes is showing scant regard for the lives of the citizens. Ironically, this was not the first time that an intelligence office located in Model Town was targeted; yet the government made no attempt to remove this interrogation set-up from this residential area. It stands to reason that militants would want to get rid of detained people who may reveal sensitive information. So all such interrogation centres are high value targets for them.

At a more general level, the state needs to be clear who are the groups they are fighting in terms of the terrorist threat. We seem to be particularly weak on this count. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the latest Lahore attack but Rehman Malik and Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah have identified the hand of RAW and India in this attack. First, this raises the question of what linkage is there between India and the Pakistan Taliban? Second, since there now seems to be a fair amount of evidence of India aiding and abetting terrorism in Pakistan, why are we not taking up this issue, not only with India but also with the international community – especially India’s strategic partners like the US? What is stopping us from revealing the information we have on India’s covert terrorist activities in Pakistan?
Linked to this is the whole question of the presence of thousands of Americans across Pak-istan, mostly non-diplomats and linked to private security companies, who are carrying out all manner of clandestine activities in Pakistan which are harmful for this country.

Not only do they present a security threat to the neighbourhood in which they live, they also undermine the country’s security by conducting covert operations often without the knowledge of the Government of Pakistan. It is believed that the Model Town SIA building was also accessed by the Americans for interrogation purposes. If this is correct, then the government needs to answer to the people as to why this was being allowed in an urban residential area given the target they presented. But the issue is much more extensive. The government needs to collate how many American non-diplomat citizens are presently in Pakistan, where they are located, what they are up to and whether any of them have dual nationality of Israel. Their movements need to be kept under watch as well as limited to non-sensitive locations and areas – which would exclude the cantonment areas of the urban centres. It would appear the government is not clear on these numbers, nor on what different groups of Americans and US NGOs are up to. Yet without clear and precise information, no headway can be made in combating the terrorist threat effectively.

Linked to the criticality of information through good human intelligence, we also need to understand the multiple nature of the terrorist threat in Pakistan – ranging from the religious extremists to political separatists. Since the targets of these different groups are different and their methodology is also distinctive in each case, by understanding these characteristics better security arrangements can be made and pre-emptive action taken. Within this framework, it is also of crucial importance to be able to identify the funding sources of these groups including foreign state actors like India, and the US specifically in the case of Jundullah.

The mindsets of the terrorists need to be studied but not in a simplistic manner that seems to define the present approach where everyone is lumped together in one general category and simple explanations surround the whys of terrorist behaviour.

Patterns of behaviour if they are properly identified can predict possible future targets so that proper security measures can be taken instead of the present vague security barricades which have at best very limited utility.
Finally, the political one-upmanship that one saw in Lahore between the governor and the PML-N’s law minister shows the callous approach of the ruling elite to the plight of the ordinary people suffering the terrorism fallout. It is surely time for the rulers to get over their internecine political bickering and confront the task of dealing with terrorism at multiple levels and with a seriousness that is still not visible. Mere statements after the incident ring increasingly hollow as nothing seems to have changed by the time the next act of terror happens. The loot sales taking place in state institutions need to be replaced with serious governance and a focus on law and order that goes beyond crude police brutality and torture. And the shift in direction of governance has to be visible to restore a modicum of the people’s faith in their government.

MIRZA JAWAD BAIG

If, therefore, we sincerely desire to establish our local governments in accordance with the norms of a free democratic society, we shall have to have a united structure and move away from the present dichotomy. Functions such as those relating to the police, revenue and land administration, health, education, agriculture, administration of justice and all other local functions shall have to be handed over to the local governments as is usually practiced in free and democratic countries everywhere.

When the district level governments have been organised, the stage would be set for going a step further and strengthening the union councils in the rural areas. Similarly, in large and compact areas and metropolitan centres, zonal municipalities should be organised to ensure maximum participation of the people in the management of their affairs.
Apart from the federal government, the other two tiers, namely provincial and local administration, should have the corresponding functional role as under:
Level of Government
1.1 Provincial Government 1.1 Regional planning.
1.2 Coordination between local governments.
1.3 Execution and maintenance of region-wide projects mainly through sectoral authorities.
Functional Role
2.1 Local Government 2.1 Police
2.2 Revenue and general administration.
2.3 Special services i.e. health, education etc.
2.4 All other functions at present performed by provincial government other than listed at
1.1 to 1.3 above.
2.5 All present local government functions, other than those to be delegated to rural and urban councils.

The above distribution of functions is universally adopted by democratic societies all over the world and is based on ‘system approach’ by making an attempt to identify system needs at the two levels and then allocate responsibilities to them.

Some people in our country, being conservative in their approach, may be afraid of any change in the present system, others being gradualist may believe that the system should be reformed slowly by an evolutionary process. However, they fail to appreciate that so long as the key functions of the police, revenue and land management remain with the provincial government, gradualism would never work. On the other hand, people now enjoying absolute power and authority at the provincial level, may prefer the colonial state of affairs to continue. So, as long as such views are expressed by bureaucrats, one can understand their desire to retain supremacy albeit a diluted and perhaps an illusory one – but it is surprising to note that most of the present political leaders also oppose any fundamental change in the centralised arrangement, inherited by us from the British colonial power; because in such arrangement they can easily hide their misdeeds, as it is difficult to fix responsibility on any one group – the politicians, bureaucrats and the public – all blaming each other for the visible decline in efficiency, erosion of moral values and enormous increase in corruption and lawlessness. In a small dispensation of local administration on the other hand, the unfit and undesirable ones would eventually be weeded out and electors would learn the art of careful and judicious use of their voting rights. This learning process is irreversible and it is the acquisition of this, more than anything else which differentiate the established democracies of the west from the unstable, nascent, pseudo-democracies of the east, where public opinion is so volatile that it is easily manipulated by charismatic leaders. In a smaller milieu, however, such as that of a district, there is no room for corrupt or dinosaur politicians, side by side, it would also be possible to hold the bureaucrats responsible for efficient implementation of policies. No one group would, therefore, be able to deceive the other for a long time and get away with it.

It should clearly be understood that the process of decentralisation should be in the form of ‘Devolution’. If the local administration is regarded as the delegatee of the provincial government, the system would not work at all, and the forces of centralisation would come into play again, producing a condition worse than we find today. For effective devolution, therefore, it is necessary that except for the upper tier of officers, the entire staff should belong to the local cadre, not transferable from one district to another. They may, however, resign and join the service of another local administration or their services may be loaned to another district for a fixed period of time, through mutual consultation. The top level officers should belong to the federal cadre as at present and should be on secondment. There should be no provincial cadre of generalists, since the function of planning and coordination as well as management of region-wide services through sectoral authorities can easily be undertaken by specialists, who may either be recruited directly or obtained on secondment from the federal or district levels.

As for financial arrangements, the local government administration should eventually become a self-reliant unit in the same way as are the well established and deep-rooted democracies in the world today. Out of the federal divisible pool, after providing for such essential and minimum subsidies to the sectoral authorities as are unavoidable and for carrying out the functions of planning and coordination, the balance should be distributed to the local government in accordance with the existing formula for provinces.

However, a five percent amount out of the total of each region’s share may be set aside for meeting any deficit in the retarded districts of the region, for the first 10 years and the position be reviewed thereafter. The local administration may be allowed to raise their own taxes locally in such a way that the burden is not transferred to persons residing outside their own territorial jurisdiction. In order to further help rapid development of retarded districts, adequate grant-in-aid from the federal government for specific projects be provided to them in such a way so as to remove the inadequacies of basic infrastructure. However, under no circumstances any grant be allowed on a perpetual basis to inflate the size of bureaucracy or create a condition of permanent dependency.

Our people have, unfortunately been led astray by chauvinistic leaders and have started depending on other peoples resources, which they try to appropriate on various pretexts. There is no doubt that happiness is best enjoyed when shared by all, but in the process of redistribution of resources one has to draw a line where redistribution should not be allowed to degenerate into outright extortion, which is one of the torments of the colonial system of concentration of powers at provincial levels, that we have today.

Regarding the administrative organisation of the local government, one may say at a casual look that it would result in massive expansion of bureaucracy. This is, however, not true because presently a full complement of staff of different departments already exists in our districts and secondly, the volume of work in each district would be much less than it is in the existing provincial secretariat. In a local government one secretary would easily look after a number of departments, while the staff would consist of the existing district employees. It may be remembered that at the time of partition the entire Balochistan secretariat had only one secretary and two under-secretaries till 1954. On the other hand, the present strength of the provincial secretariats is so large that even after dispersing the officers and staff to various local governments, there would still be a residue left for the provincial set up at a much reduced scale. It would, thus be possible to man the secretariats, both at the local and provincial levels from existing strength of provincial governments. Even if there is a marginal increase in expenditure, it would be worth having, as against the immense advantages occurring therefrom. Some of them are:
? Manifold increase in the people’s participation in the affairs of their government.
? Removal of fear of domination and insecurity among all the people.
? Reduction of area of conflict by limiting the tensions and conflicts to the confine of small units.
? Easy and effective maintenance of law and order.
? Removal of ethnic, sectarian and cultural prejudices.
? Removal of physical and psychological barriers of distance, with substantial savings in terms of time, energy and money.
? Acceleration of economic development in all directions, thereby promoting demand for goods and services and creating job opportunities throughout the country.

? Rapid development of retarded areas of the country, thereby eliminating regional economical disparities and checking influx of people from the under-developed interior.
? Development of a healthy spirit of competition, resulting in better quality of goods and higher production.
? Interdependence and fruitful co-existence among local governments, finally loading to national integration.
? Greater self-reliance, financial prosperity and discipline among political leaders.
? Plentiful opportunities for political training and for development of national leadership.
? Greater accountability of the elected representatives.
? Close and effective checking of bureaucracy.
? And above all, immense benefit in terms of efficiency and satisfaction of the common man.

If we look around, it would be noticed that all things in nature have a ‘particulate’ configuration. The small elements of a system not only make it more stable internally but they also enable it to withstand much higher pressures externally. For example, the sand in a bag is able to absorb shocks much better than a big rock, how hard it may be. Similarly, the stem of a palm tree, made up of thin and tiny fibres in millions, withstands the hardest lashes of storm which even the toughest of trunks of other trees would not bear. Hence, by creating a situation of interdependence and public satisfaction, the ‘particulate’ structure of the local government would give tremendous strength and stability to our national system as a whole, while contributing immensely towards the goal of national integration.

Indeed, therefore, the real and genuine cause of our failure, as a free democratic nation, hitherto hidden and unnoticed, lies in the inherent evil of our present colonial system of government, having highly concentrated provincial super-structures, inherited from the British masters, which is causing instability in the overall framework of our federation, thereby obstructing our progress towards democracy and retarding the process of national integration.

In a society such as we have, people associate the government with its coercive powers and its ability to enforce its will. Moreover, land is the most important source of wealth and status, and people have great regard and respect for an authority which enjoys control over it. As these attributes are still found almost exclusively in our provincial governments, it is not surprising that whenever people talk of their rights, they invariably look towards the province as their goal; notwithstanding the fact that in free and democratic societies everywhere in the world, a province or state does not enjoy any powers concerning the daily lives of common man and his day to day affairs, which are left exclusively in the hands of autonomous local governments.

The writer is a freelance columnist.

Some fabulously rich Pakistanis keep their wealth abroad. The masses condemn it as a horrific disloyalty to the motherland. The condemnation exposes the masses’ utter ignorance of the reality. The masses must know that the Pakistanis who keep their wealth abroad have a very cogent reason. The reason is that robberies and dacoities are rampant in the country. Anyone could be robbed of his wealth any moment. The Pakistani robbers have developed a stronger sniffing sense than the sniffer dogs have. Under such circumstances if a Pakistani keeps his wealth in the country he only tempts the robbers to deprive him of his wealth. If robbery is an offence then tempting the robbers to rob is a greater offence.

There is another reason why some Pakistanis keep their wealth in the West. The social life in Pakistan is a horrible drudgery. The wealthy Pakistanis have a passion for enjoying their wealth by living a princely life. But there are no opportunities available in the country for such a living. Obviously, they can enjoy their wealth only in the West. The West offers them a fabulously wide variety of revelries. There are dancing clubs there were the wealthy Pakistanis, even if too aged can dance with young girls. The dancing would electrify their wobbling bodies. There are drinking clubs there. There are gambling clubs where the Pakistanis can burn their wealth and enjoy the conflagration.

When the westerners watch the Pakistanis enjoying a fabulously luxurious life, they get jealous. The Pakistanis enjoy the jealousy.
One must be curious to know how the fabulously rich Pakistanis get their wealth. Of course, some of them get it by fair means. But most of them get it by extremely mysterious means. They keep magically sucking the country’s wealth. The country feels the distress but is unable to do anything about it. When it is almost completely sucked, its very existence is endangered. In order to escape extinction, it borrows money from abroad. The money-suckers get jubilant. They start sucking the borrowed money. When the money is completely sucked, the country is again in agony about its very survival. It again borrows money from abroad. Again the sucking is in full swing. It has been going on and on like this almost throughout the country’s history.

Pakistan is cursed wit two brands of robbery. There are robbers who rob the citizens and there are robbers who rob the country. The masses are in agony. They are lamenting: “Oh God! When would we be rid of robberies?”
Most of the Pakistanis are eternally underfed. Because of their underfeeding they develop fatal diseases. The diseases despatch them underground where they are freed from underfeeding forever. What a liberation from underfeeding!

Let’s have another look at the fabulously rich Pakistanis. With just a little bit of their wealth they can easily relieve the underfed Pakistanis of their underfeeding. But they don’t help the underfed. They have a moral reason. They believe that the underfed Pakistanis are sent into the world by Destiny for dying underfed. Feeding the underfed would be a rebellion against Destiny. And they can’t afford to offend Destiny. If offended, Destiny might avenge the insult by stripping them of their wealth.

Economically, Pakistan is a land of two ethnic groups: the masses and the non-masses. The masses are poverty incarnate. The non-masses are affluence incarnate. The lifestyle of the masses is the lifestyle of the worms. The lifestyle of the non-masses is the lifestyle of the sybarites.
The masses spend every single moment of their life in Pakistan. The non-masses love to spend as much of their time abroad as possible. Consequently, they keep regularly flying between Pakistan and the West.
The masses can’t afford to educate their children. The non-masses educate their children in the West. When the non-masses fall sick, they fly straight to foreign clinics. If accidentally they die there the dead bodies are flown to Pakistan in accordance with their will. They love to enjoy life in the West. But they hate to be buried there. When the masses fall sick, they fly straight to the graveyards. The graveyards are their only clinics.

The writer is an academic.

The Lahore that was

Chauburji

It was a glorious spring day in 1960 that I accompanied my father to the Radio Pakistan Lahore for an audition. This was a time when the radio station was housed in a sprawling old bungalow near the Simla Pahari gate of the Governors House. The studios were located in the main building, while a ‘U’ shaped annex across the rear courtyard made up the offices of the producers and administrative paraphernalia. As one entered the gate, one passed along a drive and into a porch that connected another small building to the main structure.

This was the accounts office from where one got paid for the programmes one did. The radio station was surrounded by trees and there was a fairly well maintained lawn in front fringed by Jaman trees.
Life at Radio Pakistan Lahore was an unforgettable experience. Everyone from celebrity to the chaprassi acted as part of one big family. The young were respectful towards their older peers and the latter responded with great affection and dignity.

There was the great Ayub Romani, who was in charge of musical programmes. He was a popular figure, always surrounded by great names in music and one found the canteen hard to keep up with the demands for ‘a set or half set’ of tea from his office. The inimitable Sultan Sahib or Nizam Din to listeners was heard before he was seen. He was full of life and as child artistes we looked on him with awe.

Working with Mohini Ham-eed and Aqeel Ahmed was an experience that I cherish to this day. Mohini or Apa Shamim to thousands of boys and girls across the country anchored the Children’s Programme on Sundays. This wonderful person with the velvety voice also read out the daily evening story for the young. She had a great fan following as she often played lead female roles in radio plays. Aqeel Sahib had the gift of a perfect Urdu pronunciation and a voice to match it. I remember him as a man with wavy hair combed straight back, always ready to help faltering youngsters with their lines.

Begum Khurshid Shahid was a lady who was respected by ever-yone. She carried herself with great dignity and delivered her lines impeccably with great voice control in the style practiced by the old drama school. She was a great source of learning and it was a privilege to work with her.

Azizur Rehman was the doyen of radio announcers and the day was never complete unless one heard his resonant voice saying; “Yeh Radio Pakistan Lahore Hai.” He was a diminutive and gentle figure with a voice that could ‘calm a raving beast’. His two other equally famous colleagues were Mustafa Ali Hamdani and Akhlaq Ahmed. It was Hamdani Sahib, who had the proud privilege of making the first announcement as ‘Radio Pakistan’ at midnight on August 14, 1947.

In those days most programmes went live and one had to be careful of what one said on the side or how one delivered the lines in the script. One went on air with just a few rehearsals and there were times when a slip had to be covered with an impromptu dialogue. In such situations, the other members of the group always came to the rescue with a follow up question or a line and these slips generally went undetected by listeners.

The remuneration for amateur child artistes was only 10 rupees for each programme, a cheque for which was issued immediately after the event was aired or recorded. This was like largesse for a boy in those days as one could buy loads of goodies from Yasin Khan Bakers with the amount.

I had the opportunity to return to the familiar surroundings of the Radio Station in 1964 before it shifted to Empress Road. This time it was to record English language educational programmes for the British Council. I received my first sur-prise when the old chowkidar at the gate recognised me. I then came across individual after individual, who welcomed me as a long lost family member. I looked at the two goras accompanying me and just managed to say ‘I’m home’.

The writer is a freelance columnist.

The other day, when asked to give a talk at the American University in Washington, DC on the issues surrounding Western-Muslim tensions, what was expected to be a 90-minute session got extended to three hours, largely because of the dimensions of the discussion and the lively participation of on-campus students. It offered some revealing glimpses.

The discussion centred on the motives behind militancy, existing policy failures, and the search for viable remedies to reduce polarisation.
During the concluding phase of the discussion, convergence was reached on key points. The students posited that the much-touted notion of the clash of civilisations was faulty in that it presupposed a perpetual conflict which, while suiting vested interests, was at variance with historic precedent, wherein Muslim culture traditionally had shown its capacity for pluralism and inter-religious coexistence.

It was also brought forth that Judaism, Christianity, along with Islam stemmed from the same region and the first two were by no means European products. Accordingly, the term ‘Judeo-Christian civilisation’ was itself misleading and loaded in that it excluded Islam.

Also, the students felt that the media was prone to sensationalist coverage and, hence, stories depicting Muslims in an inflammatory light needed to be critically weighed instead of being swallowed “hook, line, and sinker.” There was also a sense that, since the youth had to bear the brunt of fighting and dying for the policies of their leaders, the onus was on them to strive for vigorous connections with Muslims and to acquire more knowledge about Muslim heritage and values.

Others participating in the discussion tried to identify features which hindered progress in the field of Western-Muslim relations. Mutual ignorance showed up as a salient factor. The lack of outreach and crude attempts to impose one’s own cultural standards on others were cited as additional obstacles.

Among the US students was a sprinkling of American Muslim students who expressed dissatisfaction with the state of Muslims in America, bemoaning the paucity of performers and the surfeit of informers. They felt that the American Muslim community spent too much time talking among themselves and did not branch out enough to the mainstream community, thereby restricting its range and influence. They also ruminated on the lack of role models and a weak reading culture among young Muslims including insufficient browsing of newspapers.

Throughout the discussion, what emerged loud and clear was the vital relevance of the Muslim world to the future of American youth who see their prospects intertwined with distant conflicts in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Based upon the foregoing observations, the environment seems rich for a robust discourse, particularly on campuses, on issues which divide, and yet mutually connect, Muslims and Westerners.

Much of the interaction between the Christian West and the Muslim East is heavily elitist with negligible grassroots impact. But there is a silver lining.
Anxieties generated amongst American youth about ongoing conflicts in distant Muslim lands are fostering a peace constituency. It provides, therefore, a leadership opportunity for responsible Muslims to press the US to reset policies which are at the root of America’s global difficulties.
The writer is a barrister and senior political analyst.

PHILIP BOWRING

It must count as one of the more bizarre bits of diplomacy in recent times. Last week, on the eve of a visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia threatened to take Japan to the International Court of Justice if it did not stop whaling in the Southern Ocean, the part of the Indian Ocean south of Australia.

One may dismiss this as a politician’s gesture aimed at a domestic audience that has taken to emotional “save the whales” campaigns. Though whale oil and bone had once been Australia’s biggest export, the nation had no tradition of eating whale meat, and a shortage of whales caused the closure of its last whaling station in 1978. But such outbursts in favour of one member of the mammal kingdom by a major exporter of red meat is likely to do more damage to Australia’s image than to Japan’s. Most of Australia’s Asian neighbours may not care much one way or the other about whaling. But the tone of moral superiority adopted by Australia – its apparent belief that it is the guardian of the Southern Ocean from Asian depredation – grates on many Asians who also resent environment lessons from a top carbon polluter.

From an Australian perspective it may seem reasonable that the largest, most advanced country in the Southern Ocean should assume some responsibility for it. But such assumptions of its rights and duties in international waters can easily keep alive lingering Asian resentments of Western colonialism – European expansionism that gave a small new nation with a population only a little bigger than Shanghai control over a vast, mineral rich landmass. Does Australia want to control the ocean too, some ask?

There may be scientific arguments about whether Japan’s harvesting of several hundred whales per year is endangering the stock in the Southern Ocean. But Australia’s “crusade” seems more couched in emotional than scientific terms. We see this also in the heroic status accorded the Australian and New Zealand campaigners who have harassed Japan’s whaling vessels.

Japan may be pushing the limits of the “scientific research” allowed by the International Whaling Commission in the “whale sanctuary” it declared in the Southern Ocean. But at least Japan still belongs to that body. Norway always refused to accept IWC restrictions. Iceland walked out of the IWC in 1992.
Meanwhile, other countries with whaling traditions turn a blind eye to the organisation.

In short, though the world needs properly regulated management of the oceans, Rudd’s antics discourage whaling countries from cooperating with the IWC and make others reluctant to accept controls on fishing in international waters to stabilise rapidly depleting fish stocks. Harpooning whales may be cruel and does excite emotions even among those who regularly eat red meat. But Australia is in scant position to complain when it shoots upward of three million wild kangaroos a year to protect crops and grazing for sheep and cattle.

The kangaroo and camel culls may be justified. But local emotions are confused. Shooting kangaroos by licensed hunters has long been common in Australia’s outback. But a plan for a culling of the national symbol near the national capital raised a storm of protest to “save Skippy” (the pet kangaroo in a famous children’s TV programme).
There is of course nothing unusual in battles between the heart and the head when it comes to attitudes to animals. For example, there is emotion, not reason, behind those in the West who are horrified with the consumption of dog in the East. In fact, there is no reason to treat whales differently from horses, which are still a table meat in some European countries. Australia’s elevation of its selective emotion into a diplomatic feud with its major Asian ally is nothing short of ridiculous.

KHALID BUTT

It was on February 4 that the Punjab Assembly had passed a bill to amend the Local Government Ordinance, but it still awaits the governor’s signature to become law. The amendment is designed to empower the provincial government to appoint administrators to replace district, tehsil and town nazims whose terms have already expired, and that, in fact, called for the bill’s quick passage into law. Under Article 116, any bill passed by the assembly has to be forwarded to the governor for endorsement. And under Article 116 (2), he is bound to formally endorse it within 30 days. In case of any objection to the bill or any part thereof, he can return it to the assembly for a revision. Similarly, it is explicitly stated in Article 116 (3) that in case the governor returns the bill to the assembly, it is obliged to review it, and then re-submit it with or without any revision, after it has been duly approved by majority.
It should be understood that the local government system is a provincial subject and each province is duly entitled to make laws, bring changes or amendments in the existing laws, suiting its requirements or circumstances. As an adverse impact of dictatorial rule that ended only two years back, a single individual had, on his own, drawn up a new system, delegated powers, and jurisdiction as he thought fit.

He introduced a new LB system uprooting the old one. In no way was the new system capable of fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the public at large. It was also full of contradictions and loopholes, which forced its author to subsequently bring about changes in it.
The introduction of the new system was also followed by a propaganda blitz that described it as genuine transfer of power to the grassroots, like district, tehsil and union councils. However, it was nothing but an illusion. In actual fact, the real power stood concentrated in one individual, in the President House. The provinces were not authorised to make even a minor change, while elections for the low-level union councillor could only be made by the chief election commissioner.

In Punjab, the PML-N, long before assuming power, had declared its firm resolve to scrap this useless system to replace it with a new system that would be in consonance with public aspirations and needs. And soon after assuming power in the province, it started consultations with the three other provinces and finally convinced them to do away with the LB system the dictator had put in place. However, the 17th Amendment that the dictator had brought about in the constitution and Schedule 6 tied the hands of Punjab and, for that matter, other provinces.

They were unable to change anything without the advance approval of the president. The government, therefore, had to wait till December 30, 2009, when the constitutional coverage provided to the old system lapsed and the whole authority for handling the local government institution reverted to the provinces, where it had always rightly belonged.

The CM had set up a Cabinet Committee to review the local government system and its institutional structure. The committee decided upon the amendments that should bring the system into harmony with the needs of the people. It made certain recommendations and decided in principle to produce a framework of a new system incorporating those recommendations.

The idea was to replace the nazims with administrators, and the bill was placed before the Cabinet for approval and after going through the process of clearance by the concerned standing committee sent to the assembly for approval. However, it appears strange that on a matter of such vital and urgent public importance, on which there has been such a welcome consensus at all levels the bill is gathering dust at the Governor House, like the recent case of appointment of judges.
The bill had gone through the entire process at all levels with a commendable support from the PPP. The foot-dragging by the governor, therefore, defies logic, to say the least, especially when one compares it to the position of Sindh, where the governor signed it within 48 hours. Punjab, which had taken the lead in this issue to create a national consensus, is now lagging behind. On the other hand, Sindh that took a cue from it is forging ahead to implement the new system.

The writer is a freelance columnist.

RENÉE LOTH
US Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana is the latest casualty of a deeply troubled political system that isolates moderates and frustrates pragmatists – the very types of leaders average Americans say they want.
Bayh, who announced his retirement this week after 11 years in Washington, cited a dysfunctional Congress sundered by strident rhetoric and demands for party purity. “There is too much partisanship and not enough progress; too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving,” he said.
Bayh joins 10 other senators who announced their retirements this election cycle. At least four were considered moderates, holding views at times divergent from their party orthodoxy. Last year Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties rather than submit to continued browbeating from Republican leaders – or from primary voters, who tend to skew more to the political extremes.
Before the Senate, Bayh had been Indiana’s governor, an executive post largely concerned with delivering services and balancing budgets. By contrast, Washington increasingly is less about finding solutions than scoring political points. It has become a boiling stew of vitriol with little room for diversity in either party.
No doubt the Republicans lit the fire, with their lock-step opposition to anything President Obama might propose and their venomous, personal attacks amplified by new-media proselytizers. Republicans are being driven further to the edge by the crazy-quilt of activists rallying to the Tea Party movement, who see any sign of compromise as a betrayal or even treason. Obama warned Republicans of this danger at a cross-party summit this month. But Bayh also had problems with liberals, who have been irritated with him at least since 2002, when he voted for the Iraq war. Liberal blogs and commentary pages are rippling with pungent variations of “good riddance.”
Yet Bayh’s actual voting record was quite progressive for someone from a traditionally red state. In 2006 he received a 95 percent rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action, 100 percent from the union AFSCME, and zero from the social conservatives at the Family Research Council. Apparently, that isn’t pure enough in the current environment.

It wasn’t always thus. In the 1970s, Republicans were often strong champions of abortion rights and pay equity for women. Democrats were often hawks on Vietnam. President Nixon started the Environmental Protection Agency. Camaraderie off the clock between Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan, or between Ted Kennedy and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, was something to champion, not avoid. It got things done.
Now, not just politicians but many voters are gravitating to the fringes, egged on by an Internet culture that reinforces their existing biases. Most ordinary voters are simply disgusted. In a survey released last week the Pew Research Centre found the lowest ratings for Congress in 16 years. Asked which party better offered solutions to the country’s problems, 60 percent said Republicans were doing a poor job and 52 percent said the same of the Democrats. It’s “a pox on both their houses,’’ said Pew’s president, Andrew Kohut.
There is a difference, however. Democrats at least wring their hands over the low tone of the public debate. Republicans seem to revel in it. For a party that is fundamentally anti-government, stoking antipathy toward Washington is part of the skill set. If cynicism depresses voter turnout, so much the better. Beyond health care reform or stimulus plans, Obama promised Americans a new kind of politics. Republicans are determined to block that, too.
Republicans may believe they have no reason to invest in bipartisan civility, but the fervent anti-government sentiment they think they can ride to capture new majorities in the fall elections is an incendiary force. Playing with fire, it’s easy to get burned.

Boston Globe.

CHAUBURJI
There are two illustrious names from the British colonial era that no student of history is apt to overlook with reference to Punjab and specifically Lahore. These two great men were the Lawrence Brothers – Henry and John.
In 1862, a top expert from Kew Gardens in London was brought to Lahore for laying out a vast park spread over 112 acres. The park was named after John Lawrence and came to be known as the Lawrence Gardens. Although this name was changed to Bagh-e-Jinnah after independence, the old name continues to be used by Lahoris at large.
There was a time when the lush green environs of these gardens were the pride of Lahore. Families could stroll on roads overhung with trees; climb the two hills or picnic on the beautifully maintained turf, without fear of being harassed by hooligans. Theatre lovers could enjoy a wide repertoire of plays in the hilltop Open Air Theatre, secure in the knowledge that what they were watching would be descent entertainment and not the obscene trash being doled out today.
The profusion of trees and shrubs and the habitat they provided presented ample opportunities for nature lovers and bird watchers. There was the kathal or ‘Jack Fruit’ tree near the entrance to the plant nursery, with large spiny fruit sticking out from its trunk. A little further down the road towards Lawrence Hall stood the gnarled old ‘Camphor’ tree with flying foxes festooned in its upper branches. Its leaves gave out a strong but pleasant camphor odour when crushed. The ‘Buddha’ tree was another oddity with large thorns protruding from its trunk and branches.
The entire 112 acres covered by these gardens was maintained by an efficient army of malis, who drew their inspiration from a gentleman called Ghulam Nabi. Mr Nabi was the garden supervisor and ruled the roost from the vast plant nursery situated on the road that led to the zoo. With drooping ‘Fu Manchu’ type moustaches, the ‘pugareed’ figure of this individual could be spotted, puffing on his king sized hookah, under the canopy of the trees lining the mini canal that ran through the nursery.

Anand Sagar
If the rising waves of social and political unrest are any measure of the gathering turmoil in Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that the island nation will regain its serendipity soon, and the snap parliamentary poll scheduled for April 8 may only make matters worse by exposing the deep fissures of frustration as it expands.
And for this rather disturbing state of affairs, the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse may soon realise that he has no one else to blame but himself. Having won a protracted but major war against the formidable Tamil Tigers last year, he has now unnecessarily got embroiled in a petty political battle with his former comrade in arms against the dreaded rebels.
The pettiness of it all is all the more obvious considering that Rajapakse despite defeating Sarath Fonseka has now chosen to detain the retired four-star general. The country’s Defence Ministry has said that Fonseka will face a court martial on “unspecified” charges of conspiring against the government. Why the charges remain “unspecified” is not clear, unless the intention is merely to implicate and discredit the former general and the many supporters in his ranks.
Incidentally, Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapakse has alleged that Fonseka had clearly been plotting a military coup. If so, it is a serious accusation that will have to be answered seriously – for it involves somebody who not so long ago was being hailed as a national hero for his role in finally crushing the Tamil Tigers.
Not surprisingly, the opposition has stepped up its campaign for Fonseka’s immediate release and there have already been violent clashes in the capital Colombo and in other parts of Sri Lanka between Fonseka loyalists and ruling party activists.
The president, who clearly does not view the situation as being in any sense politically precarious, is confident and counting on silencing his critics by once again routing the opposition forces in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. In the presidential polls, he had secured a solid 58 percent of the votes cast. But even a second successive victory against his rivals may now not be enough to protect him in power against a battalion of critics.