Daily Times Editorial 25 November 2019

Norway must tackle far-right trends

Norway should revisit its policies to fight the growing trends of Islamphobia after the recent attempt of the desecration of the Holy Quran by the member of a far-right group. Pakistan has done its share of lodging a strong protest with the local Norwegian ambassador through the foreign office. Other than Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia have strongly disapproved of the act of the desecration of the Holy Quran in the Nor­wegian city of Kristiansand. Lars Thorsen, a leader of an anti-Islam group, tried to burn the Holy Quran while another leader of the far-right group Arne Tumyr also dishonored two other copies of the holy book in a procession by their organisation. The authorities allowed the rally with the condition that no desecration would be committed. It was, however, left to a Muslim young man to forcibly stop Thorsen from committing the hateful crime. Norway does not take strict action against such acts in the name of ‘freedom of expression’ but, in fact, hurting the sentiments of others cannot be allowed.

As the Norwegian authorities are looking into the incident, a wave of anger is sweeping through the Muslim world. The Foreign Office said in a statement on Saturday that “such actions hurt the sentiments of 1.3 billion Muslims around the world, including those in Pakistan”. Norwegian ambassador to Pakistan Eriksen has tweeted his government disapproves of the act of the Quran burning in the demonstration. It is the high time that Norway acts beyond just ‘disapproving’ hurting other religions and takes up effective measures to rein in the growing Islamphobia and far-right trends. The beautiful country of the Scandinavian bloc used to be described as a land of harmony and moderation. Of the five million population, there are more than 150,000 Muslims there putting in their share in the prosperity of the country.

When in March last, a gunman attacked a mosque in New Zealand and broadcast the crime online, their Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stood by the Muslim population as an act of harmony and undertook sweeping measures to control the tide of extremism. Sadly, Norway has not demonstrated such spirit despite experiencing attacks against Muslims from time to time. In August, a gunman attacked a mosque in Bearam city, which was prevented by two Muslim people. The Norwegian media provides a great deal of space to the far-right while local mainstream political parties have increasingly been dominated by similar narratives. Norway is the only country in Scandinavia where a right wing party called Fremskrittspartiet entered parliament for the first time in 2013. If extremism tides goes unchecked, Norway will be hurting itself. *

Advisory group on polio

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government has lost on many fronts mainly due to its policy of going solo. Now, sanity is prevailing as the federal government has planned to include representatives from other parties who have been part of the national polio programme in a bid for polio eradication. The national cause needs to be taken up collectively. After a recent change of guard in the polio programme, newly-appointed Polio Coordinator National Emergency Operation Centre for Polio Dr Rana Safdar has decided to establish a broad-based body National Strategic Advisory Group (NSAG) in consultation with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The NSAG will be led by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and includes former focal person on polio in PPP-led government Shahnaz Wazir Ali, former focal person on polio in PML-N-led government Ayesha Raza Farooq and former Pakistan Permanent Representative at the UN Zamir Akram. Besides them, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party, Dr Nosheen Hamdi, the parliamentary secretary for National Health Services, and PTI lawmaker from Sindh Assembly Dr Sanjay Gangwani will be part of the NSAG.

The much needed inclusive approach was adopted after a damning report by the International Monitoring Board which dubbed the national polio programme as political football and susceptible in areas where the power structure is divided between different political parties. The previous polio programme head would often blame the PML-N government’s policies on polio eradication but his own policies proved to be disastrous as the country saw an unprecedented surge in polio cases. The eradication of polio is a national cause, which needs to be tackled beyond political lines. Political fragmentation would often become a barrier to tackle the polio virus. The International Monitoring Board cited the example of Karachi, where the provincial government is led by the PPP, the city government by the MQM and the federal government by the PTI. The three parties have political rivalry with each other, which resulted in mismanagement of polio vaccine drives.

The collective approach will likely yield good results as sharing of experience and making the polio programme apolitical will address international concerns too. Polio has been eradicated from all over the world except for Pakistan and Afghanistan. This year, Pakistan has reported 91 cases, including five just last week. Last year, the number of confirmed cases stood at eight for Pakistan.