IN a dressing-down that was broadcast for the world to witness, Prime Minister Imran Khan this week lambasted the country’s top diplomats for failing to serve the Pakistani diaspora in their respective countries of residence. A recording of the video meeting chaired by the prime minister showed around 20 ambassadors and high commissioners on a split screen listening as he furnished a damning list of transgressions reported by overseas Pakistanis through a citizens’ complaints portal.
Mr Khan chastised the diplomats for having a “bad attitude” towards the labour community. Among other things, he indicated that basics such as working hours were not communicated to the community. He also said that the ambassadors had failed to attract foreign investment, noting that Indian diplomats are more proactive — a statement that made headlines across the border. While the prime minister’s censure of the poor performance of some of the missions is valid and must lead to remedial action, the manner in which the no-holds-barred criticism was publicised is quite bizarre.
Soon after he tweeted a link of him scolding the diplomats, senior ex-officials of the foreign service expressed their reservations. Former foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua said she was “deeply dismayed at the unwarranted criticism” of the foreign ministry and objected to Mr Khan’s reference to a “colonial mindset” when referring to officers. She also said the problem cannot be resolved through tweets. Ex-foreign secretary Salman Bashir said the criticism was misplaced and that public critique “demoralises the best and brightest”. Former US envoy Jalil Abbas Jilani, too, said it was unfair. Though they protested against the public criticism, they all acknowledged long-standing issues and flaws. Why did Mr Khan feel it was important to broadcast this admonition? Is it a political move to win the electoral support of 9m overseas Pakistanis, after the PTI has lost a string of by-elections?
A public telling-off will demoralise an already under-fire Foreign Office — which is the only institution that is professionally trained to tackle the country’s foreign policy matters. There are certainly better ways to improve embassies’ public service delivery. Unprofessionalism is unacceptable. It is also deplorable that some officers in the foreign service ignore the requests of expats from low-income and working-class backgrounds. Shockingly, there are even reports of officers asking for bribes to process paperwork.
All these problems must be addressed, but grandstanding is not the solution. There are systemic issues that need to be fixed when it comes to consular services, which often face acute resource constraints. Staff appointed to these missions must be trained, selected and motivated. Poor performance at certain missions appears to be a perpetual problem, but it cannot be solved with a broad-brush approach that blames the entire institution. Instead of demoralising the entire service, the prime minister should have engaged with honest and respectable officers to identify how solutions can be found.
Foreign funding case
THE foreign funding case against the PTI has become a never-ending tale. It has been dragging on for years and after many dozens of hearings it is still nowhere near concluding. The case pertains to a complaint by Akbar S. Babar, one of the founding members of the PTI, in which he has accused the party of acquiring illegal funding. The case is being heard by the Election Commission of Pakistan which is the relevant authority to decide whether the PTI stands guilty as charged. The ECP had appointed a scrutiny committee to go over all the relevant documents and determine if the case could actually be proved against the PTI. For its part, the PTI has also accused the PPP and PML-N of illegal funding.
The hearings of the case are now bogged down in minor details like the use of laptops for data uploading and whether printouts of this data should be allowed in the hearing or not. The whole exercise appears to be dissolving into a farcical project given the unnecessary delays that do not appear to be grounded in substantive reasons. This is giving rise to all manner of conjecture that has an adverse impact on the credibility of the ECP. The chief election commissioner therefore needs to rap the scrutiny committee on the knuckles for its unjustifiable tardiness. The committee must fast-track its process and not allow the lawyers to drag the arguments endlessly. The committee should also move swiftly to determine if the documentary evidence being presented holds up to legal scrutiny. The tediousness of the process should not become an excuse to keep the hearing going without any conclusions. The chief election commissioner must emulate the decisive deadlines that had been given by his predecessor to wrap up the case. After his retirement, the scrutiny committee had gone back to its slow pace. It is never easy for any institution to hold the ruling party to account. This may be one reason why the ECP is not pushing the case as firmly as it should. However, given the time already elapsed, and the high stakes involved, nothing less than the personal intervention of the ECP chief will expedite matters. The nation has a right to know the truth of the matter under scrutiny. The PTI also deserves a decision so that the matter is settled once and for all.
Water woes
IRRIGATION experts have voiced concern over the decline of freshwater flow through Kotri barrage, which has led to ‘drought-like conditions’ in Badin’s Laar region. The grievance is a long-standing one, and it concerns the distribution of water between the provinces, with the coastal regions of Sindh receiving a trickle of the flow from the mighty Indus. The experts brought up the issue of discriminatory practices and ‘water theft’, which has not only exacerbated the problem of water scarcity, but deepened underlying resentments. This is compounded by water mismanagement and wastage, in a country where millions lack access to clean drinking water, despite having more glaciers than any other part of the world, barring the polar regions. Presently, several parts of the Indus Delta face dire water shortages, which has led to the intrusion of saline seawater onto the land, wreaking havoc on the soil, ecology and economy of the region. In a cruel irony, residents are deprived of water, and simultaneously threatened by it — caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, between scarcity and excess. To make matters worse, global warming and rising sea levels have only accelerated the process.
Most people in the region are dependent on agriculture and livestock, and as the land becomes uncultivable and uninhabitable, they are forced to relocate or migrate to other parts of the province. Furthermore, mangrove forests are depleting due to the lack of freshwater flow to the delta region. Not only do the trees sustain a diverse ecosystem and support the fishing community, they have also protected the coast from natural disasters and soil erosion for centuries. Now, in a span of a few decades, thousands of acres of land have been lost to the sea, particularly in Badin and Thatta districts. According to researchers, it will take just another few years before other parts of the region are submerged under water, unless the present, self-destructive patterns are reversed. It is a warning we should heed.
