MORE than two decades ago, Pakistan and India had put up a joint front to protect the ownership of their ‘shared heritage’ by fighting an attempt by a US company to get an American strain of rice patented as basmati. The World Trade Organisation decided in their favour, denying the American company’s application. Today, they are at loggerheads over who owns the unique, long-grain aromatic rice grown only in the subcontinent as India has applied for the grant of an exclusive GI (Geographical Indications) tag for its basmati rice at the European Union’s official registry. If India wins this battle, Pakistan would not only lose the large EU market but also find it difficult to export its basmati rice to the rest of the world to the detriment of thousands of farmers and other people associated with the rice trade. At present, Pakistan exports basmati rice worth between $800m and $1bn, controlling almost 35pc of the basmati market share across the world. India, the only other global basmati rice exporter, accounts for the rest of the market.
The EU had given both countries an additional three months until May this year to settle the matter between themselves. The period expired, and India sought another three months for reaching a bilateral settlement of the issue. However, only a few on this side of the border expect a negotiated settlement since the two countries have yet to begin discussing the matter let alone agree on its resolution. This is in spite of the fact that Pakistani basmati farmers and exporters are strongly in favour of the two countries applying for joint ownership of the shared heritage of this region. Although the Pakistani variety of basmati rice has an edge over its Indian counterpart owing to its superior characteristics and better quality, as well as the EU’s pesticide restrictions, some are not ruling out an EU decision in favour of India in case New Delhi declines the proposal for joint ownership of the basmati trademark. Pakistan has diluted its case because we have rebranded our basmati under different nomenclatures, failed to resolve the dispute between growers and exporters over the domestic GI ownership of basmati rice, and delayed GI legislation. Given the implications of an adverse EU decision for basmati farmers and exports, it is imperative that the government and other stakeholders work together as a team to prevent any such outcome.
Bahria Town violence
BEHIND the immaculate façade of Bahria Town Karachi, violence has been ongoing since years. Indigenous farming communities have been coerced into surrendering the land they have called home for generations and seen their livelihoods destroyed. Police contingents have raided goths and threatened those who continued to resist their strong-arm tactics, sometimes arresting them on spurious terrorism charges. Bahria Town personnel, along with local authorities, have overseen the bulldozing of villages, the destruction of tube wells, the uprooting of orchards and even the levelling of graveyards. All this suffering, the very erasure of a people’s way of life and their history, scarcely found a mention in the media.
On Sunday, a different kind of violence took place at the sprawling gated community. The occasion was a protest called by the Sindh Action Committee against the real estate developer’s modus operandi on the outskirts of Karachi. According to reports — of which this time there was no shortage— a mob broke away from the protesters gathered in front of the main entrance and pushed their way inside. They set fire to two international food franchises, a car showroom, realtors’ offices, several vehicles and the main gateway itself.
The wanton destruction of property, and the panic and fear caused thereby, is condemnable. There must be a transparent probe to determine the identity of the perpetrators and look into why matters took such a turn despite the presence of police contingents who would have had advance notice that a large number of people and organisations from across the province, including nationalist parties, were going to converge outside BTK.
The SAC has pointed the finger of blame at Bahria personnel themselves for having staged the violence to sabotage their peaceful protest. Whatever the case may be, there appears a danger at this point that a legitimate rights movement, based in the very real deprivation inflicted by ruthless corporate interests hand in glove with the power elite, could be hijacked by groups with a broader agenda against the state.
One could ask why nationalist parties have suddenly shown up after being nowhere on the horizon in all the years Bahria was working to depopulate villages in the district. Those directly affected by the firm’s seemingly unstoppable expansion in the area could find themselves crushed in what could follow this new development. The events on Sunday have already provided the perfect excuse for law enforcement to crack down on locals.
But there is another danger, one the state must consider in the interest of Pakistan’s future. The impunity with which Bahria and other powerful land developers operate, trampling the law and the rights of local populations, is straining the fragile bonds between the different ethnic groups in the country and also deepening the sense of socioeconomic inequality. Such a model of ‘development’ is unsustainable — and as phony as the replica Eiffel Towers that dot Bahria’s gated communities.
Controlling polio
DESPITE the existing challenges to polio eradication efforts in the country, this year has offered some much-needed respite. So far, only one case of the wild poliovirus has surfaced in Balochistan, while eight cases of the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) have emerged in the country. Last year, 84 cases of wild poliovirus and 135 cases of cVDPV2 had been reported. The low number of cases have been reported despite the fact that for at least five months of 2020, polio vaccination campaigns had been suspended owing to Covid-19. Though this present reduction might be an encouraging sign, Pakistan still has a lot of ground to cover in terms of fixing a number of structural problems in its polio eradication efforts and tackling extremist mindsets that oppose immunisation.
Pakistan is only one of the two countries in the world where polio remains endemic, the other being Afghanistan. Pakistan came close to eradicating polio in 2018, but the disease has made an aggressive resurgence since 2019. This was attributed to a number of lapses in the polio programme and related government policies and infrastructure, according to the International Monitoring Board, the top global body monitoring polio eradication efforts. An IMB report released in February declared Lahore as the epicentre of polio transmission in the country and strongly criticised the provincial government’s lapses. Meanwhile, attacks on polio workers by extremist groups have also witnessed a resurgence. In January, a policeman was killed in KP’s Karak district; earlier, another had been killed in Bannu. Vaccination campaigns are underway in districts of Sindh and Balochistan, and also in Islamabad. Polio workers are again risking their lives at a time when the third wave of Covid-19 has gripped the country. The authorities need to double down and boost awareness campaigns and improve the management of the polio-related infrastructure so that this disease can be defeated. As the IMB pointed out in its report last year, if Pakistan can battle Covid-19 effectively, why not polio?
