Palestine afire
THERE were genuine concerns that Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government, that took power in December 2022, would make life very difficult for the Palestinian people. These concerns have turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the state of Israel, now with xenophobic pro-settler ministers in charge, sits by as extremist Jews unleash havoc upon the Arabs. A particularly appalling incident occurred on Feb 26, when a mob of settlers ransacked the Palestinian village of Huwwara in the occupied West Bank. The raid — reminiscent of the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba — came about after two settler brothers were shot dead by suspected Arab gunmen in the same village. What followed was nothing short of collective punishment, as hundreds of Jewish settlers ransacked the town. What is equally appalling is the response of some Israeli ministers to this outrage. Finance Minister Bezazel Smotrich, one of the most virulently anti-Arab characters in the Netanyahu set-up, called for Huwwara to be “wiped out”, while adding that Israel should attack Palestinian cities “mercilessly”. Predictably, violence has surged with Israeli troops killing a number of Palestinians, including children, while Arab gunmen have also retaliated.
It is easy to see where the situation is headed: towards a third intifada. The Palestinian people apparently have no other option but to resist, as Israel butchers them regularly, while those running Tel Aviv openly talk of genocidal violence against the Arabs. The tragedy is that the inept Palestinian leadership, and the hypocritical self-declared defenders of the international ‘rules-based order’ have all failed the ordinary people in the occupied territories. The silence from the slumbering Muslim world is particularly deafening. Whether it is vicious forays into Gaza, frequent provocations at Al Aqsa by extremist Jews or murderous rampages in the West Bank, Israel’s message is clear: the peace process is dead and buried. What remains for the Palestinians in the holy land is repression and brutal violence.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023
Rise in remittances
THE slight increase in remittances sent home by Pakistani migrants during February is a healthy development for a country battling a full-blown economic crisis characterised by decades-high inflation, dwindling reserves and industrial closures. The market is expecting a further spike in remittances around Ramazan and Eid. The State Bank’s February data shows that remittances — a lifeline for a country struggling to stave off the risk of default as foreign financing dries up thanks to the delay in the IMF deal — have surged by 5pc after hitting a 32-month low in January. Nonetheless, remittances in the first eight months of this fiscal year dropped by nearly 11pc to $17.99bn year-over-year. Market players blame the situation on the large black market for foreign currency, the outcome of an unannounced cap on the exchange rate and import restrictions imposed by the government and the central bank to decelerate dollar outflows. The cap is believed to have made it more profitable for migrant workers to send money through illegal channels, due to the massive difference between the official and black market dollar rates. The removal of controls on the exchange rate last month under IMF pressure is helping boost remittances through legal channels.
The exchange rate cap is undoubtedly the main reason for the decrease in remittances. But record inflation in most developed countries, including the US, UK and EU countries, meant that Pakistanis living there were forced to spend more, owing to the steep rise in the cost of living and had less cash to send back home. SBP data shows that inflows from almost all important destinations, barring the US, have dropped during the present fiscal. Inflows from Saudi Arabia and the UAE have plunged by over 15pc, and nearly 6pc and 8.6pc from the UK and EU. The question is whether the government can preserve this ‘seasonal’ growth in remittances and boost it going forward. For that, our policymakers will have to quit their habit of tinkering with the market-driven exchange rate mechanism and also clamp down on importers under-invoicing their foreign purchases to save taxes. Such traders, including owners of large retail chains, are major buyers of dollars from the black market. Unless under-declaration of import values is curbed, a number of poor migrant workers will continue to use illegal channels to send money to their families for a higher rate.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023
Impartial arbiter?
THE toxicity in the political arena is not only playing on a loop; every incident widens the trust deficit and ramps up the vitriol still further. Matters have come to a point where each side’s version is almost violently at odds with that of the other and arriving at some compromise or consensus appears increasingly unlikely.
The press conference on Saturday by Punjab’s caretaker chief minister and IG on the death of PTI worker Ali Bilal has further underscored this divide. Both officials maintained he was killed in a road accident, “unfortunately misinterpreted”, and that — contrary to the PTI leaders’ claims — custodial torture was not to blame.
Bilal was one of the party activists picked up by police on Wednesday when the caretaker set-up decided to use force against those defying Section 144 imposed in Lahore to participate in a rally to launch PTI’s campaign for the provincial elections.
The optics of PTI workers facing batons, water cannons and tear gas were bad enough, even before images of Bilal’s battered body emerged later on social media. Party head Imran Khan alleged that the activist had been tortured to death in custody, a claim reinforced by the post-mortem report which recorded at least 26 injuries and stated that the deceased had been subjected to “massive blunt trauma”.
The Punjab Police has a well-documented reputation of being a ruthless and unaccountable force for whom custodial torture is routine practice. Its conduct in this episode would hardly have changed public perceptions.
At first, the cops claimed the video of Bilal being taken away in the police van was an old one. When that contention was exposed as a lie, they changed their story and said they had released Bilal much before his body was dropped off at a hospital later that day. Then they claimed to have arrested two men who said that Bilal had been seriously injured in an accident with their vehicle.
What is the version of those who were with the victim at the time of the purported accident? What do those activists who were arrested along with him have to say about the police having ‘released’ him? Many questions remain unanswered.
An inquiry free of allegations of bias must determine how Bilal lost his life. But this episode, beginning with the one-day imposition, on an entirely flimsy pretext, of Section 144 in Lahore also raises troubling questions about the caretaker government’s credentials as an impartial arbiter.
Its coercive actions against the PTI as well as the slanted remarks of some of its ministers on the media in the aftermath of Bilal’s death bode ill for stability in the country’s largest province. They will however burnish the PTI’s political narrative. The PML-N may want to reflect on that.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023