Hounding journalists
WHEN it comes to press freedom, the arrest of journalist Shahid Aslam highlights the weaknesses in our democracy and the state’s failure to do the right thing. Mr Aslam was arrested by the FIA after the publication of an online story about retired army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s taxes and wealth statements last November. According to the article, Gen Bajwa’s family amassed billions of rupees in the last six years. It is alleged that Mr Aslam, who has been sent to jail on judicial remand, contributed to the story by leaking data, but the journalist who wrote the story later said Mr Aslam had no connection to it. Mr Aslam’s lawyer, too, has told the court that the journalist committed no illegality. Yet he is being hounded.
Mr Aslam’s arrest is part of an age-old pattern: the state cracks down on negative coverage of powerful quarters by arresting media personnel it holds responsible. All too often, journalists have been dragged to court, threatened and intimidated for publishing stories that have raised questions about military officers. This case again proves that the state prefers to shoot the messenger rather than open an inquiry about the message. Mr Aslam’s arrest, the demands for his passwords and access to his phone and laptop violate the protections guaranteed to journalists by law. If the state is so concerned it should have focused on how the details were ‘leaked’ at the government’s end, if indeed, it was an illegal action. But more important is the necessity of an investigation by the FBR and other relevant bodies of how the alleged vast amount was accumulated in the first place. Unfortunately, successive governments, even if elected democratically, have been only too happy to facilitate the persecution of journalists at the behest of a higher authority. To prove that Pakistan is not a democracy in name only, the state must release Mr Aslam and refrain from such knee-jerk reactions.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023
Auto prices
OVER the past year, inefficiencies and unfair practices in our domestic automobile market, import restrictions, stratospheric increases in car prices due to exchange rate fluctuations, and prohibitively high automobile financing rates due to the State Bank’s restrictive monetary policy have all but made it impossible for the middle class to purchase a new vehicle. Sales of passenger cars — which drive the majority of the industry’s sales — have resultantly taken a steep hit. The decline has been so sharp that several major automobile companies have recently announced plant closures to cope with the slump. While it may not seem to be the country’s most pressing concern at the moment, the automobile industry and its fortunes are as closely followed by the citizenry as perhaps the dollar exchange rate or gold prices. The affordability of new cars is an indicator of the overall economic health of the country as well as how evenly wealth is being distributed. This is why it comes as little surprise that rising automobile prices have once again become a topic of concern in broader conversations around the economy.
Due to the reasons mentioned earlier, there has been a sharp drop in passenger car sales in the six months from July-December 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year. The sudden unaffordability of most vehicles, to the layperson, tells them how rapidly their wealth has lost its value. Nothing makes people realise how much worse they’re doing today than knowing that what they could have bought a year ago is now out of reach for them. The resultant anger being directed at both the government and automakers is justifiable. Due to bad policies and misplaced priorities, the established assemblers have still not localised production to a level that they would not need to gouge customers to offset frequent fluctuations in the dollar-rupee exchange rate. The policy to diversify the industry by inviting new players, including from Malaysia, South Korea and China, provided a glimmer of hope, but the fact remains that newer, better automobiles still remain unaffordable for most households. It should be asked how long auto manufacturers can be allowed to burden the exchequer with their demands for concessions and subsidies, especially when they are doing very little to benefit the majority in terms of providing affordable products that can improve general standards of living.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023
Sindh LG polls
After much ado, the second phase of local government elections in Sindh was held on Sunday, despite the provincial government’s best efforts to delay this crucial democratic exercise indefinitely. Thanks to the ECP’s firmness, polls were held primarily in urban Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad and a few other districts, to elect representatives to the third tier.
Before Sunday’s electoral exercise, Pakistan’s biggest city had been without elected representation at the local level for nearly two and a half years. The polling process was largely peaceful, though marked by low turnout, for which various reasons were responsible.
The PPP has emerged as the largest party in Hyderabad and, surprisingly, Karachi. Jamaat-i-Islami, which ran a spirited campaign and lobbied for the polls, has the second-highest number of seats in Karachi, while the MQM-P, which traditionally dominated electoral politics in urban Sindh, sat this one out because of what it saw as unjust delimitations and ‘fake’ voters’ lists.
It is a matter of concern that the JI and PTI have raised questions about the transparency of the polls, particularly the late compilation of Karachi’s results, with both parties alleging that state machinery was used to rig the elections. As we have seen on the national stage, unless these allegations are adequately addressed, controversy will mar the LG polls and put a question mark over the transparency of the process. Therefore, if the opposition parties have solid proof of illegal practices being used to influence the polls, they must produce it, while the PPP-led administration and ECP must satisfy critics of the transparency of the LG polls.
Regardless of who emerges as the winner in Karachi, it is clear that the task for the new mayor of the megacity will be gargantuan. Ensuring that the elections were held was itself a major achievement; convincing all of their fairness will be even more challenging, while getting down to work and rebuilding this metropolis, and indeed the rest of Sindh, into a livable 21st-century urban space will be the toughest task of all.
For this, the 2013 Sindh local government law needs changes, particularly to empower the mayor of Karachi and other civic bodies in the province with the tools needed to run an effective administration. If the Karachi mayor remains a figurehead, and all municipal powers continue to be concentrated in the provincial government, the LG polls will largely be a cosmetic exercise.
Water and sewerage, solid waste, planning and building control, among other functions, must all be overseen by an elected mayor. Karachi is in ruins, and unless the provincial administration supports the incoming mayor with powers and finances, the deprivation of the megacity will only increase.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023 The editorial has been updated to reflect the latest position.