PAKISTAN

Non-starter of a national security  policy

Abbas Nasir Published January 16, 2022 -

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The writer is a former editor of Dawn.


HAVING raced through the document that was released on Friday with considerable fanfare and self-congratulatory messages, it was a sad conclusion to reach that it is a no more than a plethora of platitudes and will be a non-starter of a national security policy (NSP).

It is not clear whether most of the mainstream media fell prey to the PR skills of the National Security Division or was also blinded by the presence of the glitterati at the NSP launch — what was evident was no critical appraisal anywhere.

A document filled with worthy objectives and not a single concrete step on how to attain any of them is surprising, to say the least. And if the current state of play is any guide, even more surprising.

Read: National Security Policy can be tabled before parliament, says Moeed Yusuf

Addressing the launch, Prime Minister Imran Kh­an said the National Security Policy 2022-2026 centres on the government’s vision, which believes that the security of Pakistan rests in the security of its citizens.

Bizarrely, this ‘citizen-centric’ document was not presented in parliament, a forum representing the people’s collective will.

“Any national security approach must prioritise national cohesion and the prosperity of people, while guaranteeing fundamental rights and social justice without discrimination,” The News quoted him as saying. “To achieve the vast potential of our citizens, it is necessary to promote delivery-based good governance.”

Some of the key words/concepts in the prime minister’s address were ‘national cohesion; prosperity of (the) people; guaranteeing fundamental rights and social justice without discrimination; and delivery-based good governance’.

It has taken seven years for the document to be written (it only covers the next four years from 2022-2026); it also mentions ‘reconcilable and irreconcilable’ elements presumably among the Baloch nationalists. Let’s see how long it takes to identify and reach out to those it deems reconcilable and draw them into the mainstream so the cause of national cohesion can be furthered.

The ‘South Balochistan package’ it mentions will promote nothing until political alienation ends. A start would be an immediate end to enforced disappearances that may be fewer than in the past but continue nonetheless.

Neither will the ‘financial package’ for the merged KP districts remove the grievances of the people who have suffered more than anyone at the hands of the TTP terror and often found themselves sandwiched between the terrorists and the security forces.

The document puts the economy at the centre of the policy and suggests that ‘traditional security’ (a euphemism for the military) can’t alone serve the cause of protecting the country. There can be no truer statement.

A more honest acknowledgement would have been that the post-Cold War and ‘war on terror’ generous western funds pipeline has now run bone dry and unless the size of the economy and its rate of growth (alongside trade) increases considerably, the dema­nds of ‘traditional security’ would be impossible to meet.

Guaranteeing fundamental rights is said to be another cornerstone of the ‘citizen-centric’ policy so the people’s ‘dignity and prosperity’ is ensured. Predictably, however, the document is silent on the state of basic rights.

Thus, when even elected parliamentarians are kept incarcerated on spurious charges, individual liberty and free speech remain elusive ideals amid both domestic and international concerns.

Moreover, one very definitely can’t restore even a modicum of dignity and prosperity to the shirtless through the ‘Ehsaas, Panagah’ programmes (which the NSP mentions by name), for they do no more than enable the poorest to partially fend off hunger.

To be honest, though high-profile and noticeable because they are mostly urban-based, the Panagah shelters impact a miniscule, statistically insignificant number of people and hence are no more than window dressing.

Of course, cash subsidies do make a difference as shown by studies on the Benazir Income Support Programme. The BISP was renamed/expanded as Ehsaas. Even then, while this delivers some respite, poverty persists and issues of dignity remain unaddressed as well.

The NSP informs us that two million Pakistanis are being added to the workforce every year and mentions the country’s ‘youth bulge’ with more than half its population being under 30 (and 29 per cent between 15 and 29, as per the UNDP).

It warns that global changes mean that fewer and fewer people will be doing their current jobs over the coming years and decades, and the workforce will need to be retrained to remain employable.

While the document mentions advances such as development of artificial intelligence, it does not address the question many eminent educators are asking: how does the rollout of the Single National Curriculum with its emphasis on faith, and other such initiatives, prepare the youth for stepping into the 21st century global village?

That the prime minister uses the term ‘delivery-based good governance’ but the document does not ass­ess where delivery and the state of governance stand today, is a glaring omission. But I guess the aut­h­ors did not wish to be rude or unkind to their bosses.

Bizarrely, this ‘citizen-centric’ document was not presented in parliament, a forum that, theoretically at least, represents the collective will of the people or citizens of Pakistan. The big brass could have sat in their gallery seats in parliament if that was the interpretation of its ‘unity in diversity’ slogan.

Journalists are often slammed for nitpicking and not offering a solution themselves. So, here in a couple of sentences is my national security policy. A clean break from the past through a truth and national reconciliation process.

A pledge to uphold the Constitution, rule of law, and democratic dispensation and norms. This is imperative as citizen buy-in can only be achieved thr­o­ugh a policy that is representative of their collective will.

Only such a system can deliver social, political and economic justice to the shirtless majority and cement us into one Pakistan that would be more secure than a nuclear bunker.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2022

PAKISTAN
Drip, drip

Amber Rahim Shamsi

Published January 16, 2022

The writer is a political and social commentator.

AUDIO leaks clearly runneth into the new year, a splash here and there, so that the spillage becomes harder to clean up.

The latest audio leak from PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz is a conversation between her and former information minister Pervaiz Rashid about which commentator on Geo TV’s analyst-based shows is biased against the party and what to do about it. An add-on to the leak is Ms Nawaz instructing someone on which journalists to send a basket of gifts to, although the contents are unclear.

Mr Rashid’s condemnable descriptors for commentators who use a certain kind of tone and language about his party aside, the leaks are a rich study in terms of content, timing and political context. They are also an indictment of political and investigative journalism in Pakistan.

All political parties, in power or otherwise, seek some measure of control over narratives in the media through the classic carrot-and-stick approach. Carrots include financial inc­e­n­tives (such as government ads), under the table money (bribes), free foreign trips, gifts of various value, placement on channels and access to powerful people and information.

Not all journalists drink the access Rooh Afza.

More telling is how often the stick is used. Call it aggressive or punitive, it can range from withdrawal of government ads, instructions to ad agencies, ‘managing’ distribution and circulation, or making phone calls to censor. At the coercive end of the spectrum are threats, and physical violence. Ultimately, the stick is what tends to lead to a more pliant, self-censoring media unable to challenge the powerful. Tellingly, political parties tend to use the carrot more than the stick.

The three leaks featuring Ms Nawaz are all related to her media management, ostensibly proving the popular Islamabad axiom that if the PML-N were to come back to power, she would control the media even more fiercely than while her father was prime minister. But consider the context in which these audio clips became public: press freedoms have been severely eroded during the Imran Khan or hybrid regime — journalists have been disappeared or attacked, dissenting anchors taken off air, stories and interviews killed through phone calls, etc.

The leaks then offer a kind of choice: which leader would be a bigger media predator? The question then is: who benefits from these leaks and why are they just about the media? Further, who or what entity is their source?

Moreover, the haste with which these leaks were broadcast on certain news channels illustrates how WhatsApp journalism and access journalism continue to trump thoughtful and investigative journalism in Pakistan. An audio leak without forensic analysis, always broadcast first on specific news channels, without the affected party’s response, or without legal advice, is nothing more than an allegation.

These allegations are one form of access journalism. Without any added journalistic value, they serve the agenda of the party leaking them. There is no pressure on the media platform to confirm or disprove the allegations because it’s cheaper, easier, and therefore a hard habit to break.

Plus, the leaks come with the promise of more ‘exclusives’. Ease, impact and the bait of more keep the flow going. In the absence of effective application of the right to information, for instance, journalists benefit from the bait of more exclusives.

In his memoir Reporter, American journalist Seymour Hersh described an invitation for a chat at the CIA headquarters. Then president Bill Clinton was believed to be ready to pardon an Israeli spy, on whom Mr Hersh had done an investigative piece. The intelligence community was against the pardon, and showed Mr Hersh material that would’ve built a ‘narrative’ against it. Getting exclusives is hard, and being handed one made Mr Hersh queasy. “I was very ambivalent about being in the unfamiliar position of carrying water for the American intelligence community,” he wrote in his memoir. Well known for big investigations against the intelligence community after 9/11, his work demonstrates the cardinal rule of journalism — uncover stories that the powerful do not want known.

Incidentally, the debate on which journalist receives what gifts from which political party — a lifafa (cash) or a tokri (kind) — has been more gotcha than nuanced. The social practice of sending cakes or fruit baskets is quite widespread. Ideal? No. A crime? Also no. What’s more important is the value of the gift — which rises with the degree of attempted control.

News audiences tend to simplify journalistic bias as a direct result of these tokris or lifafas. In reality, partialities are more often driven by a complex combination of the carrot and stick. Accusing journalists of taking lifafas has also become a lazy way to discredit or disagree. It’s worth remembering, however, that not all journalists drink the access Rooh Afza. Indeed, audiences that accuse journalists of taking lifafas also tend to reward access journalism over investigative journalism because it confirms their own biases.

The writer is a political and social commentator.

Twitter: @AmberRShamsi

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2022

SMOKERS’ CORNER: COSMIC WARRIORS
Nadeem F. Paracha

Published January 16, 2022 -

Illustration by Abro


In 1969, a book authored by Carlos Marighella became hugely popular among young leftist activists. The book, Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, was written after a series of attempts to trigger revolutions had failed in South America and Africa.

The successful 1959 revolution in Cuba was supposed to inspire similar uprisings in ‘Third World’ countries. But when one of the architects of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara, tried to employ his Cuban guerrilla tactics in Congo and Bolivia, they crashed. His insurgencies failed to gain enough support from the locals.

Gaining the support of locals, especially in the rural areas, was a vital ingredient in Guevara’s scheme of things. It was mainly because of the debacle that Guevara’s tactics suffered in Bolivia, that Marighella wrote his book. Arguing that revolutionary activity should shift its focus from rural to urban areas, Marighella put forth various ways to cause disruption through violence, specifically against state and government institutions. He theorised that the escalation of violence would force the state to become even more repressive. Eventually, the masses would join the revolutionaries in reaction to the repression.

Across the 1970s, leftist urban guerrilla groups in South America and Europe tried to do just that. The ‘masses’, however, were repulsed by the violence. Most people actually began to support the state’s retaliatory actions. Marighella’s tactics clearly failed but, ironically, they were adopted by far-right white supremacist groups in the US.

In 1978, a novel called The Turner Diaries appeared. Written by William L. Pierce, the plot revolves around one Earl Turner, and the discovery of his diaries, years after his demise. In a future US, where the white race had defeated the state, the entries in Turner’s diaries lay out how this was achieved: Acts of terrorism were designed to instigate intense state crackdowns on basic freedoms, thus turning the tide in favour of Turner’s group. It began to gain converts from the (white) masses. The novel describes in detail how the group drew the state into a series of battles, until the Caucasian population comes together to ‘save the white race.’

White and Hindu supremacists and militant Islamists are only fighting for earthly territory and power, much as they would wish to cast their fight as a spiritual one of good versus evil

The novel was not taken seriously. However, years later, it jumped into prominence when, in 1995, a white supremacist Timothy McVeigh, planted a powerful bomb in a government building in Oklahoma. The bomb killed 168 people. Pages from the novel were found in McVeigh’s car. He said he was influenced by the book and believed that his actions would trigger a civil war in the US. He was expecting sympathy from the masses but he was executed.

The American journalist AC Thompson’s recent investigations, of the activities of white supremacist groups in the US, posit that almost all of them still believe that, if they escalate their violent tactics, they will attract more repression from the federal government. It would gain them sympathy from white Americans, thus triggering a civil war in the US, and a (white) revolution.

This mindset is also present in various Islamist terror groups. The literature which is believed to be instrumental in influencing their actions include writings of men such as Hassan Al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Abul Ala Maududi, and Bilal Philips.

Most of these authors suggest a gradualist approach towards enacting an Islamic state. Al-Banna, Qutb and Maududi emphasise the building of an ‘Islamic society’ through propaganda, infiltration and social work. Once such a society is ready, it will become conscious of the evilness of the rulers, removing them and paving the way for an Islamic state.


But to men such as Osama bin Laden, Muslim societies had already reached this point of readiness. To gain their sympathy, Islamist groups began launching vicious terror attacks. The attacks soon spiralled out of control. Frustrated by being unable to attract the kind of widespread support they expected, they began to target civilians. This not only led to more effective retaliation measures by military and police, but the terror groups largely ended up repulsing a large majority of the people they were attempting to get on their side.

White supremacists and militant Islamists took more than a page from Marighella’s ideas of using violence to make the state more repressive, and thus push the masses into the laps of the insurgents. But one element separates Marighella from the first two. Marighella’s ideas were firmly grounded in an entirely materialistic understanding of social, political and economic conditions.

Militant Islamists and white supremacists too, view the conditions in a similar manner, but they package them as a war between good and evil. This approach is rooted in what is known as ‘Manicheism’, a 3rd century Persian system of doctrines which was later adopted by various religions.

It constitutes a ‘dualist cosmology’, based on the idea of a primordial conflict between light and darkness, good and evil. Class, ethnicity, nationality or material economic conditions do not play a role in this conflict. Race and faith do. It is also called a ‘cosmic war.’

When white (or for that matter, Hindu) supremacists talk of battling enemies, they explain the resultant conflict as one which has been going on for centuries outside the material realm, and within a spiritual one that the Bible and/or Hinduism’s sacred texts speak of. Same is the case with Islamists. States and governments that try to use similar symbology and imagery to neutralise the supremacists or Islamists, actually fall into a trap.

Presidents and prime ministers often quote verses and words from sacred scriptures to prove that they were the good, and the supremacists and Islamists were the bad, or misguided. But all this does is it convinces the cosmic warriors that, indeed, they are fighting a cosmic war in which evil is now trying to usurp and mutate the sacred texts.

The cosmic imagery that the supremacists and Islamists use, actually needs to be demystified and disenchanted. They need to be displayed as men and women who are fighting for territory and power, and for very earthly and materialistic purposes. There is nothing ‘cosmic’ about them.

Published in Dawn, EOS, January 16th, 2022

Khorana is ours too
Unless Pakistanis learn to value the works of non-Muslims, science in Pakistan shall remain dead

Pervez Hoodbhoy 

 Published January 15, 2022 -

The writer is an Islamabad-based physicist and writer.


A DAWN article on Har Gobind Khorana (1922-2011) threw me back 50 years when I, along with 600 other students had packed 26-100 (MIT’s largest lecture hall) to hear him speak. Being clueless of the basics of molecular biology, I understood little and left halfway through. Curiosity had driven me there because this famous MIT professor had won the 1968 Nobel Prize and started a brand new field — protein synthesis via nucleotides. More interestingly, he was a Lahori with bachelor and master’s degrees from Punjab University.

Alas! Lahore, to its misfortune, does not know — nor cares to know — who this man was. The same holds true for another of its sons, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995), who became a Nobel Laureate in recognition of his definitive work on the death of stars. Today a Nasa satellite named Chandra scours the skies for neutron stars, black holes and other unusual astronomical objects.

The story of Abdus Salam (1926-1996) is too well known to repeat here. Winner of the 1979 physics Nobel, he studied at Government College (GC) Lahore and later taught at Punjab University. However, no road or landmark in Lahore bears Salam’s name — or that of Khorana and Chandrasekhar. While a GC affiliated institution called the Abdus Salam School for Mathematical Studies nominally exists, to display his name on its signboard could be dangerous in a city often gripped by religious fervour.

Less well known is the story of Chowla and Chawla. At GC there have been two mathematicians in number theory. One was Sarvadaman Chowla, an accomplished mathematician who headed the mathematics department from 1937 to 1947. Being Hindu, he left Lahore after the rioting began and went to Princeton University, then the University of Colorado at Boulder, and eventually became professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He died in 1995 and was celebrated as a famous number theorist by the American Mathematical Society with several important theorems to his name.

Unless Pakistanis learn to value the works of non-Muslims, science in Pakistan shall remain dead.

The other was Lal Muhammad Chawla who graduated from Oxford in 1955 and then taught at GC for many years. With rather modest professional achievements, he had only one well cited paper. As a Google search of his publications reveals, Chawla was more interested in writing religious books than advancing mathematics. However, the GC math society is named after Lal Muhammad Chawla and not the more famous and much more accomplished Sarvadaman Chowla. No Hindu scientist is celebrated in Pakistan.

Rejecting non-Muslims of high professional merit has come at devastating cost to Pakistan. For one, it lost those who could have helped the newborn country establish a scientific base. For another, it became difficult to create institutional meritocracies. After Partition, many clever ones played the religious or ethnic card and undeservedly rose to positions of high authority. In time they became institutional gatekeepers with catastrophic consequences.

The weakness of science education in Pakistan is too evident to belabour here. Unsurprisingly, our best and brightest young people usually go for soft stuff like medicine, law, and business. Unlike in China or India, hardly any opt for tough, demanding, scientifically oriented careers. So, how can we persuade our children towards them? What stories to tell them about science and scientists? Most importantly, who should be their role models?

This brings up a civilisational problem. Over the last 300 years — which is how old modern science is — there are no Muslim subcontinental names associated with first tier (Nobel calibre) scientific accomplishments (after 1974 Salam must be excluded). Notwithstanding the valiant efforts of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), Indian Muslims shunned science and the English language. Thus, even at the distant second or third tier level, one finds barely a dozen names.

Since one cannot find Muslim science heroes who belong to the soil, books for Pakistani children inevitably valorise Arabs from the Golden Age such as Al-Battani, Ibn-e-Shatir, Ibn-e-Haytham, etc. While these luminaries of Muslim science were genuine path-breakers, they do not serve well as role models. For one, persons from centuries ago cannot inspire today’s children. For another, excitement is inspired by those ‘of your own kind’. Arabs, however, are visibly different from people around here.

Ancient Hindu scientists could have found some place in Pakistani books. However, they are excluded on ideological grounds because ‘woh hum main say nahin hain’ (they are not us). Instead, many Pakistanis anxiously seek ancestral roots in Arabia, Afghanistan and Central Asia. But modern laboratory tools are ripping apart dearly held myths of racial origins. Now several genetic marker studies are suggesting that the subcontinent’s Muslims have descended primarily from local Hindu converts with only a few per cent admixture of Arab or Central Asian genes. Excluding Hindu scientists from our books is absurd.

Ideology and science are like oil and water — they refuse to mix. Science cares only about facts and logic, not personal likes and dislikes. History is replete with examples of failed attempts to fuse science with cherished beliefs. When Stalin sought to impose his Marxist views upon Soviet biology through his chosen tout, Trofim Lysenko, he nearly destroyed agriculture and forestry.

Soviet Russia’s good fortune was that it had a scientific community robust enough to counter Lysenko’s meddling. Pakistan has not been so lucky. It has an abundance of charlatans pretending to be scientists but just a few who deserve to be called such. While there is a science ministry, several scientific bodies, and hundreds of institutions that purport to teach or do research in science, no community of genuine scientists exists. High-sounding scientific bodies — such as the Pakistan Academy of Sciences — are a joke. They command no respect internationally and should be dissolved.

Every kind of intellectual endeavour, science included, needs an enabling cultural and social environment to flourish. Science suffocates when scientists are judged by their religion, race, ethnicity or any criterion other than scientific achievement. Before Pakistan can produce any science worth the name, it will need to overcome its deeply held prejudices. It must learn to value all who share the common heritage of humankind. The day we count Khorana, Salam, and Chandrasekhar as our very own, Pakistan will have begun breaking the shackles of scientific under-development.

The writer is an Islamabad-based physicist and writer.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2022

ENVIRONMENT: THE GREAT CLIMATE COP-OUT

Nasir Mansoor
Published January 16, 2022 -
The writer is General Secretary of the National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan

100,000 protesters marched in Glasgow to mark the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice to speak truth to power, while the COP26 was underway | Photos by the writer

The capitalistic way to economic growth has not only given birth to poverty, deprivation and wars, but has also dealt a deadly blow to the global climate, endangering not only humanity but all life on this planet we inhabit.

The governments of capitalist economies have virtually become servants to the system and, instead of safeguarding the lives of people and the survival of the planet, they are working as shields to protect corporate profits. Critics underscore the environmental crimes perpetrated by transnational corporations, which capitalistic rulers try to hide for the sake of profit-making.

The recent global moot on climate, the 26th international Party of Conference (COP26) gave evidence of how governments fail to exhibit sincerity of commitment to stop climate change and their seriousness towards environmental issues seemed limited to the whims of capitalism and corporate interests.

Held in Glasgow, Scotland, it was the largest conference in history to have been convened to address the climate crisis, attended by 120 heads of state. Environmental activists deemed it a debacle, as COP26 failed to offer a solid strategy to contain the immediate and prevalent environmental threats facing our planet.

Meanwhile, on November 5 and November 6, some 100,000 protesters marched in Glasgow to mark the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice, to speak truth to power, giving momentum to the struggle for environmental justice and denouncing the capitalist system.

A Pakistani trade unionist who took part in the recently held global climate change conference in Scotland shares his takeaways from COP-26

No more Blah, blah, blah!

Environmental activists termed the flowery speeches of the official COP26 delegates as jargon; “Blah, blah, blah” was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s retort to the ineffectual, high-profile climate summit. The young climate activist was prominent among the thousands of young people who staged the climate march on the streets of Glasgow. Representatives belonging to different countries and various political, social, environmental and labour organisations walked in the rain and freezing winds to denounce the capitalist stance of governments regarding the environment.

Trade unions participating in the conference, especially IndustriALL Global Union (IGU), stressed the need for meeting the demands of social justice to cope with climate change. It was an honour for me to be part of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLS) delegation which participated in COP26. The RLS is a transnational alternative policy lobby group affiliated with the German Left party, Die Linke. Its delegation at COP26 comprised international members, especially women, who organised sessions on the economic, political and social effects of environmental changes on women.

100,000 protesters marched in Glasgow to mark the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice to speak truth to power, while the COP26 was underway | Photos by the writer

Also participating was a delegation of Indian Punjabi farmers protesting against corporate-friendly and anti-farmer policies of the Modi government. Citizens of Sudan protested against the military dictatorship in their country. The Palestinian flag remained prominent during the whole march. There were representatives of indigenous rights demanding to save the jungles of the Amazon; deforestation and ‘controlled burning’ in order to make space for farmland there has turned south-eastern Amazonia into a net producer of greenhouse gases.

Some marchers also sought justice for the murder of Sindh’s Nazim Jokhio, who was killed while protesting against the hunting of migratory birds. The presence of a 100-year-old man to an old man in a wheelchair to a woman carrying a one-month-old baby, all were proof that the concerned inhabitants of planet earth seek more justice from those in charge.

What was not talked about

Recent data shows that global emissions were two percent, or 60 million tonnes, higher in December 2020 than they were in the same month a year earlier. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s Statement on the State of the Global Climate, “the average global temperature has increased by 1.1°C since the pre-industrial period and by 0.2°C compared to 2011-2015.”

Sadly, Glasgow COP26 seemed to retract from previous commitments and two essential issues were left unresolved: renewing the targets for 2030 that will limit global warming to 1.5 °C, and an agreement on accelerating the phasing out of coal.

Previously, it was agreed by the signatories of the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) that carbon emissions would be reduced to zero. Zero carbon means the zero usage of fossil carbon for energy purposes, while the new jargon of “net zero” refers to achieving an overall balance between the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced and the greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere.

This is a dangerous and tricky terminology, aimed at fooling the masses, and nothing else. Simply put, net zero means environmental crimes can continue surreptitiously.

AT COP26, only 15 countries made some voluntary promises, but those too without any deadlines in place. A number of countries supported the draft about reduction in coal usage and ending subsidies on other fossil fuels but, due to last-minute objections from India and China, the draft was changed at the eleventh hour; the phrase ‘phase out’ of coal was replaced by ‘phase down’, which means that the avenues of coal usage and resultant carbon emissions would be left wide open.

The hundreds of thousands of marchers demanded the heads of state at COP26 bring about a change by using alternative energy sources, repairing the broken atmosphere balance and giving an immediate aid of 100 billion dollars a year to the countries affected most by climate change. However, instead, the summit announced that this aid would be given in the year 2025. Furthermore, the international aid in other sectors would also be considered included in the 100 billion dollars.

The non-provision of the promised 100 billion dollars per year for the betterment of the environment on an immediate basis is a cruel joke on humanity and the earth’s environment. These same states feel no shame spending 2,000 billion dollars annually on weapons and military expenses. These same states are involved in a criminal act of spreading environmental terrorism by giving a subsidy of 6,000 billion dollars annually to the fossil fuel sector.

They have waged an environmental war on people with the help of tax money collected from them. The rulers of countries such as Pakistan are ready to accept the terms of this aid just to keep a big portion of it in their own pockets. We have seen how the 1.5 billion dollars of international aid for Covid-19 was used.

Climate crisis in Pakistan

The Pakistani delegation at the Glasgow Conference seemed non-serious, focusing more on entertainment than the environmental crisis. The Pakistani pavilion was a showcase for the apathy of the bureaucracy, and the internal conflicts between the Minister of State for Environment and the environment secretary further damaged the reputation of Pakistan.

It is appalling that such irresponsible attitude was shown at an international forum by one of the most climate-affected countries of the world. The glaciers in northern Pakistan are melting fast and old waterways are being closed or changed due to huge landsliding. The weather patterns are changing rapidly and unexpectedly. Untimely rains and droughts are badly affecting crops and making the population vulnerable to food security.

Deforestation of jungles is also resulting in landslides. In the coastal areas of Pakistan, the mangrove forests are being hacked which are a natural protective wall against sea-storms. Due to the non-release of water into the sea, the Indus river delta is deteriorating fast and three million acres of land have already been eroded by the sea. Resultantly, hundreds of thousands of people have been deprived of their livelihood, many villages have been left deserted and a large number of families forced to migrate to other areas.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, a self-proclaimed champion of environmental problems, has vowed to convert new coal-based power plants into hydro-electric plants and to not set up new coal-based plants. He has announced that, by the year 2030, 60 percent of Pakistan’s energy will be produced from renewable sources, and 30 percent of vehicles will be electric vehicles.

But how will Pakistan arrange such a huge sum of money to do all this in time? There is no answer to this question. How can a poor country that has already pawned the nation to the International Monetary Fund for a loan of six billion dollars, fulfil such a big promise?

Rulers, whether they rule developed or developing countries, often make such tall claims, but ultimately they meekly safeguard the interests of capitalist greed. This was the blatant take-away from COP26. Adding insult to injury, in the month following the failed summit, a resolution by the Security Council of the United Nations to declare climate change a threat to world peace was vetoed by Russia, while India cast a vote against the resolution and China remained absent.

Climate change demands a change of system. Voracious and unchecked capitalism is directly involved in climate degradation; hence, it is necessary to get rid of it to tackle the climate crisis. An organised and well-aware struggle of the vast majority of human beings can do this. Without this, fighting climate change will remain a hollow and meaningless slogan.

The writer is General Secretary of the National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan

Published in Dawn, EOS, January 16th, 2022

PAKISTAN HUMAN RIGHTS

Grim picture

Editorial

Published January 16, 2022 

THE World Report 2022, compiled by Human Rights Watch, paints a disturbingly grim picture of civil rights abuses in Pakistan and increasing persecution of religious minorities and marginalised groups next door in India. In its chapter on Pakistan, the US-based group noted with concern that Pakistani authorities “expanded their use of draconian sedition and counter-terrorism laws to stifle dissent and strictly regulated civil society groups critical of government action or policies”.

The report went on to say that in 2021, the Pakistani government intensified efforts to control the media, harassed and at times detained independent-minded journalists and vocal civil society activists. Media houses were pressured to lay off journalists critical of the government while those refusing to toe the line were squeezed financially and through other means. These tactics amounted a disturbing contraction in the space for civil and democratic debate in the country last year.

Editorial: It is the govt's responsibility to protect journalists, hold the perpetrators to account and ensure that justice is served

Several national and international media watchdog bodies and civil rights organisations have been frequently highlighting the deteriorating state of affairs. Unfortunately, the government has always ducked criticism of its repressive policies and instead shifted the blame back onto media and civil rights activists, repeatedly labelling them anti-state. Not only that, a few months ago, the government attempted to bring out legislation to regulate the media by assuming draconian powers to erase dissent. Only after stiff resistance from media bodies did it relent and back off.

The report also touched upon increasing incidents of violence against women and girls and religious minorities. Incidents of forced conversion of religious minorities and attacks on their places of worship also continued with the government failing to take appropriate legislative measures to protect them. Moreover, as the report very rightly pointed out, Pakistan has failed to enact legislation to criminalise torture, despite its obligation to do so as a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture.

Clearly, there is much the government can do to create an environment free of repression and coercion so that democracy is strengthened. Meanwhile, the situation across the border with reference to religious minorities, Dalits and tribal populations is also dire, as noted in the HRW report. Impunity for the security forces has resulted in a slew of extra-judicial killings and huge swathes of the population remain in fear of rampaging Hindu supremacist mobs. Sadly, autocratic tendencies in the corridors of power continue to bring misery to the citizens of both countries.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2022

Taliban fighters pepper spray women protesters calling for rights

AFP

Published January 16, 2022 - 

Taliban forces on Sunday fired pepper spray at a group of women protesters in Afghanistan's capital demanding rights to work and education, three demonstrators told AFP.

Since seizing control of the country by force in August, the Taliban authorities have imposed creeping restrictions on Afghans, especially on women.

Around 20 women gathered in front of Kabul University, chanting “equality and justice” and carrying banners that read “Women's rights, human rights”, an AFP correspondent reported.

The protest however was later dispersed by the Taliban fighters who arrived at the scene in several vehicles, three women protesters told AFP.

“When we were near Kabul University, three Taliban vehicles came, and fighters from one of the vehicles used pepper spray on us,” said a protester, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

“My right eye started to burn. I told one of them 'shame on you,' and then he pointed his gun at me.”

Two other protesters said that one of the women had to be taken to hospital after the spray caused an allergic reaction to her eyes and face.

An AFP correspondent saw a fighter confiscate a mobile phone of a man who was filming the demonstration.

The hardline Taliban have banned unsanctioned protests and frequently intervened to forcefully break up rallies demanding rights for women.

The Taliban authorities have blocked women public-sector employees from returning to work, many secondary schools have still not reopened for girls, and public universities are shut.

Long-distance trips for women who are not accompanied by a close male relative have been banned. The authorities have also issued guidelines that prevent television channels from broadcasting serials featuring women actors.

Meanwhile, many women are living in hiding, fearful of a regime notorious for human rights abuses during their first stint in power between 1996-2001, before being ousted by a US-led invasion.

Pakistan calls on world to hold India accountable for harassment, arrests of journalists in occupied Kashmir

Naveed Siddiqui 

Published January 16, 2022 -

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In this file photo, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad addresses

 a press conference in Islamabad. — Photo courtesy Radio Pakistan/File

Pakistan on Sunday condemned increasing harassment, illegal arrests and registration of "fake criminal cases" against journalists and civil society activists in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK) and called upon the international community to hold New Delhi accountable for its actions.

The Foreign Office, in a statement, called out the reported attack on the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) on Saturday, saying it "manifestly reflects India's entrenched use of brute force and coercion to forcibly silence those raising voices against its horrendous crimes and egregious human rights violations in IIOJK".

According to a report in The Print, "unfamiliar" activities were seen at the KPC on Saturday when a few journalists accompanied by policemen reached there and claimed to be the club's “new management”.

The policemen claimed to be personal security officers of one of the journalists who released a statement to the media stating that “some journalist forums” had chosen them to be the new office-bearers.

Also read: Indian police clamp curbs on media coverage of gun battles in occupied Kashmir

The claims of the interim body were disputed soon by a statement issued by around nine journalist bodies in IOK who denounced the forcible takeover of the KPC office with “open support from the administration” and termed it “a wrong and dangerous precedent”.

In its statement, the FO said the increasing use of draconian and inhumane laws including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act with impunity in IOK reflected India's "colonial mindset".

"India’s state-sponsored terrorism can never weaken the resolve of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination," it added.

It called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and international human rights and humanitarian bodies, to hold India accountable for its "unabated harassment and illegal arrests" of journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society activists in IOK.

Journalists in occupied Kashmir have increasingly voiced concerns about harassment and threats by the police that have effectively restricted reporting after India revoked the region's semi-autonomy and divided it into two federally governed territories in 2019.

Many journalists have been arrested, beaten, harassed and sometimes investigated under anti-terrorism laws.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had last week asked Indian authorities to immediately release a journalist in IOK, days after police arrested him for uploading a video clip of a protest against Indian occupation.

The media watchdog said it was deeply disturbed by the arrest of Sajad Gul, an independent journalist and media student.

Global media watchdog asks India to release Kashmiri journalist

APPublished January 8, 2022

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A photo of Sajad Gul, a journalist based in Indian-occupied Kashmir. — Photo courtesy Article 14

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists asked authorities to immediately release a journalist in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), days after police arrested him for uploading a video clip of a protest against Indian rule.

The media watchdog on Saturday said it was “deeply disturbed” by the arrest of Sajad Gul, an independent journalist and media student. It wrote on Twitter it was asking Indian authorities to “drop their investigation related to his journalistic work”.

Indian soldiers picked up Gul from his home in northeastern Shahgund village on Wednesday night and later handed him over to the police, his family said. He had posted a video of family members and relatives protesting the killing of a freedom fighter on Monday.

Initially, police said he would be released but on Friday, his family was told that a formal case was opened against Gul on charges of criminal conspiracy and working against national integration. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Journalists have increasingly voiced concerns about harassment and threats by the police that have effectively restricted reporting after India revoked IoK’s semi-autonomy and divided the region into two federally governed territories in 2019.

Many journalists have been arrested, beaten, harassed and sometimes investigated under anti-terrorism laws.

The Kashmir Press Club, an elected body of journalists in the region, has repeatedly urged the Indian government to allow them to report freely, saying security agencies were using physical attacks, threats and summons to muzzle the press.

India’s decision to strip the region of its special powers in August 2019 brought journalism to a near halt in IoK for months. India began implementing a policy in 2020 that gives the government more power to censure independent reporting.

Fearing reprisals from government agencies, most of the local press has wilted under pressure. Journalists have also come under scrutiny through anonymous online threats the government says are linked to rebels fighting against Indian rule.

Since 1989, a full-blown armed freedom movement has raged in IoK seeking a united Kashmir — either under Pakistani rule or independent of both countries. The region is one of the most heavily militarised in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, freedom fighters and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

US rejects invite for face-to-face talks on UK steel dispute

There are hopes in the UK trade department that a virtual meeting will be held instead.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo | Jeff Kowalski/AFP via Getty Images

BY EMILIO CASALICCHIO
January 13, 2022 2:08 pm

LONDON — The U.K. was dealt a blow after Washington rejected an invitation to discuss a major trade dispute in person this month.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will not come to London in the coming fortnight to negotiate an easement for Britain of punishing steel and aluminum tariffs.

British International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan offered the invitation last month during a trip to Washington aimed at resolving the issue.

There are hopes in the U.K. trade department that a virtual meeting will be held instead — which could take place as soon as next week. But the U.S. has yet to confirm the plan.

“The administration is looking to take this up when the time is right,” a U.S. commerce spokesperson said. “While Secretary Raimondo appreciates the kind invitation, she’s not in a position to travel to London in-person at this time.”

The U.K. opposition Labour Party seized on the rejection of in-person talks in the coming weeks. “This is bitterly disappointing news for the U.K.’s steel and aluminum manufacturers and for the many jobs, livelihoods, and businesses who rely on this industry,” said Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds.

“Labour has been calling for the prime minister to personally intervene with the U.S. president and show the leadership this issue requires … This government needs to treat this issue with the seriousness our communities deserve, and to lean on the special relationship with the U.S.”

A U.K. trade department official put the move down to the COVID pandemic: "Given the current uncertainty around the Omicron variant, it is understandable that foreign ministers are not able to commit to international travel for in-person meetings."

The official said the invitation to discuss steel tariffs included the option of "virtual means," and added: "We maintain the urgent need to make progress on this issue to lift the prospect of further retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods."

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson added: "We look forward to virtual discussions with the U.S."

In remarks on Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai tried to assure her counterparts in London that the talks will indeed take place — just not yet.

She told reporters the reason the U.S. did a deal with the EU and not the U.K. was “a matter of pragmatism” and that “the U.K. is very much on our minds, and I am confident that we will take this up when the time is right.”

Some in London believe the U.S. is stalling on the issue until a Brexit dispute between the U.K. and EU is resolved. The dispute is thought in Washington to be putting peace in Northern Ireland at risk.

Esther Webber contributed reporting.

Economist Confronts Sean Hannity on Energy Production Claims: 'You're All Over the Map'

BY FATMA KHALED ON 1/15/22 

A prominent economist confronted Sean Hannity on Friday over the Fox News host's claims about U.S. energy production under the Biden versus Trump administrations.

On his show Friday, Hannity attacked President Joe Biden's energy policies. His guest, Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor and former economic advisor for the Obama administration, denied one allegation after another in a heated exchange.

"He inherited energy independence, and we were a net exporter of energy, and now he's begging OPEC," Hannity said.

Goolsbee pushed back, saying Biden "inherited an economic downturn bordering on catastrophe, and in times like that, the price of oil tends to go way down."

Hannity insisted that Biden is responsible for a decline in energy production, saying he "reduced America's energy output by 40 percent" and noting the U.S. was a net exporter of energy under former President Donald Trump.

"No, he did not cut energy production by 40 percent," Goolsbee responded. "Energy production fell because we were in an economic catastrophic downturn."

The U.S. was producing 11,473 barrels of crude oil in October 2021, according to the latest data by the Energy Information Administration, compared to 10,413 barrels in October 2020, and 12,771 barrels in 2019 before the pandemic hit.

"Biden did not reduce oil production by 40%," Goolsbee told Newsweek on Saturday. "Oil production in the U.S. in 2021 was barely down from the peak years under Trump and was higher than all but 2 years in U.S. history."

Hannity countered that Biden fired Keystone XL pipeline workers, to which Goolsbee replied, "The Keystone pipeline wasn't built yet, Sean. That had no effect on energy production."

Hannity then asked the economist why Biden is "begging OPEC," adding, "Donald Trump didn't beg OPEC."

"He's not begging OPEC," Goolsbee replied. "He convinced OPEC, and OPEC is increasing their production."

Hannity insisted that OPEC keeps "rejecting" Biden.

"They didn't reject him," Goolsbee replied. "They said they're increasing production in the month of January. Why are you complaining about that, Sean? You're all over the map here. You were saying you didn't like to pay high gas prices. I told you gas prices went down and Biden convinced OPEC to increase production, and then you said, 'Why is he asking them to increase production?'"

On the matter of gas prices, Goolsbee told Newsweek that "Oil is a world commodity. Gasoline prices are up everywhere because world oil prices are up everywhere, not just in the U.S."

Despite the heated argument between Hannity and Goolsbee, the former economic advisor told Newsweek that they were "just having fun."

"Sean and I are old friends and we have been arguing together for years. As I say, we bicker like two old guys in the nursing home, but it's just our thing," Goolsbee said. "I always enjoy debating with him and I have a lot of respect for his skills. He always keeps me on my toes and I hope he would say the same for me."

Economist Dean Goolsbee confronted Fox News' Sean Hannity on Friday over the latter's claims about U.S. energy production under the Biden versus Trump admins. Above, Hannity interviews former president Donald Trump before a campaign rally on September 20, 2018 in Las Vegas.PHOTO BY ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES

Hannity has long criticized Biden and his policies. In an interview with Newsweek in October, Hannity called the president "weak, frail and a cognitive mess."

"We now see the consequences, but the media has put him into a protection program," he said of Biden.

According to Reuters, U.S. energy firms added the most oil and gas rigs in the week of January 14 since April 2020.

The story was updated to include Goolsbee's comments and data from the Energy Information Administration.