Dawn Editorial 22 September 2019

Regrettable ordinance

WHEN a law is passed surreptitiously, even if it is through a provincial ordinance that can only be in force for a maximum of two 90-day periods, there is good reason to be sceptical. It recently emerged during the hearing of a petition in the Peshawar High Court that the KP government had on Aug 5 issued the KP Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance, 2019. In other words, certain powers given to the armed forces to tackle militancy in former Fata and Pata back in 2011 (retrospectively applied to take effect in 2008 and legalise detention centres) have now been extended to the rest of KP. The legislation, presented as a fait accompli, brings millions more people under the ambit of a special law which compromises their constitutional rights. The HRCP has roundly condemned the promulgation of the ordinance, citing the findings from its recent report that reveal “a strong trust deficit between the state and citizens of KP, the local communities that HRCP consulted are already wary of what shape law enforcement and access to justice will take…”.
Rather than expand its writ over the newly merged tribal districts, bring them into the Constitutional fold and strengthen civilian authority, the KP government has abdicated its duty to maintain law and order to the armed forces. It is a regrettable and retrogressive move. After all, we have long been told that militancy is under control; why is there now a need to tighten the state’s grip over an even larger section of the population? When the ordinance was first promulgated, it could be argued that Pakistan was in an existential battle against militancy in an area where civilian authorities were ill-equipped to fight back. In fact, the main purpose behind the original legislation was to give legal cover to the internment centres in erstwhile Fata and Pata where hundreds of forcibly disappeared people were indefinitely detained. In many cases, it was only when the military courts were set up in late 2014 and began to convict detainees that their families learned of their whereabouts — often simultaneously finding out that their loved one had been sentenced to death.
Special laws are never the solution. Military courts, mercifully not revived, were said to have been ‘necessitated’ by the country’s dysfunctional criminal justice system. But setting them up merely allowed the government to kick the can down the road rather than undertake meaningful legal reforms. Another example is that of the Sindh Rangers, the renewal of whose special powers of arrest and detention every three months has become so normalised that it is hardly worth a mention. Instead, it should be the provincial police taking sole responsibility for fighting crime. The KP government must repeal both the ordinance and the Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011.

 
 

Climate emergency

IT is an irony that while it contributes little to the world’s carbon footprint, Pakistan is eighth on the list of countries most affected by climate change.
Until now, the conversation around climate change had been limited at best. However, the public march held on Friday in as many as 30 Pakistani cities, reflected that maybe we too have hit our own ‘climate swerve’.
In 2012, Pakistan was the first country to set up a climate change ministry. This was followed by the release of the National Climate Change Policy. But unfortunately, as usually happens here, nothing more was done to empower the ministry, nor was there any adherence by the government to its own policy.
Climate change is a much deeper and broader issue than policymakers realise.
According to a 2012 report of the World Wildlife Fund, due to Pakistan’s geographical location, the overall temperature increase in the country is much faster and greater than the global average. This has become evident with the mercury rising to record-breaking temperatures with every heatwave that strikes various parts of the country; prolonged droughts; erratic rain patterns and perennial flooding; frequent glacial lake outbursts and depleting water resources. These extreme weather events also pose a threat to the country’s existing oil, gas and power infrastructure, while the loss of homes, agricultural land and livelihoods force people to move to larger cities, putting further strain on our already overstretched resources.
The impact of climate change has multiple aspects. These include the immediate loss of lives incurred by extreme weather events and worsening water and food insecurity as droughts becomes more frequent and floods destroy farmland.
Meanwhile, people and governments struggle to cope with the economic damage of recurring climatic events.
The Global Climate Index Report, 2018, states that more than 10,000 people have perished in Pakistan during the past 20 years due to approximately 140 extreme weather events that incurred losses of almost $4bn. The crisis has reached a stage where it will take all-out efforts by both the government and the public to minimise the damage caused by extreme weather events. Alarm bells are ringing and the climate march is a cry for help from experts, civil society, and the public to take action. The ban on single-use plastic by the federal, Punjab and Sindh governments can prove to be the first step, only if enforced properly.

 
 

Beyond cricket

BOXER Muhammad Waseem returned home to deafening silence at the airport. With three swift punches, Waseem had knocked out his contender in a breathtaking 62 seconds just a day or two earlier in Dubai at the Rotunda Rumble event. Even more significantly, it was his first match after nearly a year away from the boxing arena. Unable to secure sponsors, Waseem was stripped of his silver flyweight title and top rating in 2018. Despite his remarkable comeback, the exhilarating minute and two seconds were not aired on local sports channels. Other than a handful of sports enthusiasts, no one in the country seemed to even notice what a big moment this was for Pakistan sports. In reaction to the cold indifference, a ‘news page’ on Twitter questioned why no one had bothered to greet Waseem upon his arrival. The flyweight boxer responded that he did not fight for “greetings”, but to show the world Pakistan’s boxing prowess. This exchange was picked up by cricket legend Wasim Akram, who criticised the Pakistani state and public for their apathy towards their own ‘heroes’. Finally, all eyes were now on Waseem.
Akram’s tweet pointed to a bitter reality: beyond the stars of cricket, there is little to no media, corporate or government interest in highlighting other sports. Earlier this year, when snooker champion Babar Masih arrived in Karachi after winning the Asian Team Snooker Championship in Doha, he regretted that only the association’s president showed up at the airport to greet the team. The present state of boxing has also been marred by tragedy, internal politics and indifference in recent years. One of Pakistan’s greatest boxers, Abrar Hussain, was shot dead in Quetta in 2011. Another rising star, Lyari’s Mehrullah Lassi, was banned during his peak after he failed a doping test in 2004 — for traces of cannabis, not any performance-enhancing drug. It is time to show greater appreciation to those who continue to make the country proud, despite all the odds stacked against them.

 
 

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