Coming heatwave
TEMPERATURES across the country are expected to rise from May 18 — as high as 46°C in some Sindh districts — with the Met Office forecasting hot and dry weather. As the mercury rises, there are fears that, aside from the suffering that is unleashed on those battling the heat, the country’s water reservoirs too will be under stress, and that crop, vegetable and fruit produce could be affected as a consequence. Demand for energy and water will increase, the Met Office said, warning that they should be used judiciously. Sadly, this is all a part of climate change that Pakistan cannot wish away. Instead, as we wait for collaborative international actions to take place and hopefully bring down current global warming levels, the country will have to learn ways of coping, with heatwaves in South Asia becoming more intense, and arriving earlier than expected.
Though Pakistan is not among the biggest polluters, it has borne the brunt of the extreme impact of a changing climate and heating world. Time and again, officials from developing countries have demanded, as they should, compensation for the loss and damage unleashed on their countries by the world’s top emitters. But our responsibility does not end there. Pollution within Pakistan also remains unchecked. The government continues to pursue energy from dirty fuels and cities keep growing. This must cease if we want to imagine a future where Pakistan can be a liveable place. Our policymakers must factor in extreme scenarios when making decisions about construction, energy and water. City planners must think of using resources that are resilient, have a low carbon footprint and that also add a cooling effect to the surroundings. Every year, the poorest among us suffers immeasurably during heatwaves, while those who can afford it splurge on polluting cooling systems. Our officials need to wake up to these realities and not treat their effects as some faraway event in the future.
Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023
Not returning?
IT could well be that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s trip to London for the coronation of King Charles III may result in the situation becoming clearer vis-à-vis the return of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif. Indeed, it seems quite odd that so far there have been few real indications, despite the wishes of PML-N leaders, that the senior Sharif will come back at a time of mounting national turmoil to guide his party. Like many other Pakistani leaders before him, he prefers, instead, to engage in remote-controlled politics and make decisions regarding PML-N’s political strategy abroad. The former prime minister, who has been in London since 2019, is in his fourth year of self-imposed exile. His public position is that he is unable to return to Pakistan owing to health issues, yet he recently spent more than two weeks in Saudi Arabia. His party ought to explain how these medical issues seemingly disappear when he is sojourning in Europe, or spending time with family in Saudi Arabia. Clearly, ‘health issues’ are not holding Mr Sharif back; he faces a slew of cases, and faces jail time if he returns, for his bail and permission to leave the country on health grounds were sought at a time when he was serving his sentence. Worryingly for the PML-N, neither Shehbaz Sharif nor Maryam Nawaz have been able to give the party the firm direction that Mr Sharif was able to do, or to heal rifts within.
The question for Mr Sharif is very simple: if he does not return now, when his brother is prime minister and his party in power, when will he do so? Is Mr Sharif, who has been jailed previously in politically motivated cases, afraid of jail? Why does he continue to avoid Pakistan, when his presence in the country may lessen the worries of his party? Elections are imminent, and will certainly take place in October if not earlier, yet Mr Sharif chooses to be absent from the political scene. It is bewildering that, even at a time when the incumbent army chief is perceived to be someone of his choice, Mr Sharif is unable to summon the courage to come back. Returning to Pakistan and resolutely facing the cases against him would have shown political courage; staying away will paint quite the opposite picture.
Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023
IHK Hindu militias
REPORTS that the Indian government is propping up Hindu militias in held Kashmir point to the disturbing fact that the right-wing administration in New Delhi wants to exacerbate communal tensions in the disputed region.
Thousands of Hindus in Kashmir have joined the so-called Village Defence Guards in an apparent attempt to protect their settlements from militant attacks. This is not the first time armed militias comprising civilians have been deployed in occupied Kashmir.
The groups were first raised in the 1990s, but even in their last incarnation there were hundreds of complaints accusing militia members of heinous crimes including murder and rape. There is little to suggest things will be different this time, and many Muslim residents of IHK have expressed their unease.
The latest justification for the formation of militias appears to be the January attacks in the Rajouri area. A number of Hindu civilians had died in those incidents, while members of the Kashmiri Pandit community have also been killed over the past few decades.
It should be stated that targeting non-combatants is unacceptable and besmirches the Kashmiri freedom struggle; in fact, leading Kashmiri freedom groups, including the APHC, have condemned violence on religious grounds. Yet the BJP is cunningly exploiting these tragedies to crush the Kashmiri struggle, and promoting religious conflict in the troubled region. Already held Kashmir is a highly militarised zone.
Giving one religious community weapons and state authorisation to use them will only heighten tensions in a sensitive region. Also, creating militias on confessional grounds can be replicated outside IHK.
The Sangh Parivar is, of course, no stranger to violence, and several organisations within its stable, particularly the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, are known for their central role in anti-Muslim violence.
A successful ‘experiment’ in IHK involving armed Hindu militias can be used as a prototype for Hindutva groups in India to forward their divisive, blood-soaked agenda. The BJP is playing with fire by creating a pretext for religious conflict in IHK as well as India.
Instead of encouraging armed gangs and using the brute force of its military machine to suppress the Kashmiri struggle, India needs to give diplomacy a chance.
New Delhi is mistaken if it thinks relentless brutality, or changing the status of the disputed region through constitutional chicanery as it did in August 2019, can extinguish the Kashmiri desire for freedom.
The past few decades have roundly proved this to not be the case. Kashmiris want freedom, dignity and the right to decide their future through democratic means.
India should strive to arrive at a workable solution together with the Kashmiris and Pakistan that would protect the rights of all of Kashmir’s communities, while the dubious plan of raising communal militias should be discarded immediately.
Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023