Neglecting animals
WWF-PAKISTAN has given Sindh government officials a much-needed reality check regarding the upkeep of animals in Karachi Zoo. It has called on them to effectively outsource the zoo’s management to a committee with civil society representation. This advice comes from an organisation with decades of experience in wildlife conservation, and should be taken seriously. WWF-P highlighted the heartbreaking saga of Noor Jehan, the critically ill elephant at Karachi Zoo, as one of many examples of neglect and bad decision-making in animal welfare. It reminded authorities and zoo-goers that the elephants we see at zoos are captured from the wild at a young age, causing them physiological and psychological hardship. The list of callously treated elephants in the country’s zoos is long and includes, apart from Noor Jehan, Kaavan, who was lucky enough to be transported from Islamabad to a kinder home in Cambodia; Suzi, who died in 2017; Saheli, who died in 2012; and Anarkali, who died, neglected, in 2006. Sadly, zoos in Pakistan have witnessed a series of animal deaths due to health problems “rooted in poor management; inappropriate diet, and limb and foot complications arising from insufficient exercise, shackling and inappropriate husbandry”.
Noor Jehan’s case is yet another reminder that the level of incompetence in our zoos obscures any educational benefit for children. Many zoos in the country have been a subject of concern, with multiple reports of inadequate facilities, poor living conditions for animals, disease outbreak and even physical mistreatment. In recent years, there have been efforts to improve the conditions in zoos, with some people attempting to implement new policies or improve facilities. But these have fallen short where animal welfare is concerned. Hardly any zoo in the country can provide the natural habitat required by large animals to flourish, nor can they guarantee proper care for them. Such zoos should be closed down unless there is a serious effort to revamp them.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2023
Wheat shortage
PAKISTAN’S major national food security policy goal is to grow enough wheat to not only meet its consumption needs but also create a surplus for buffer stocks and export. To achieve this, the government annually sets national sowing, output and procurement targets before planting begins. This policy worked well and the country more than doubled its wheat production between 1990 and 2011. Since then, however, wheat production has hovered around 26m tonnes, peaking to above 27m tonnes in 2021. The government had set a target of 28.4m tonnes for the current harvest, an ambitious goal considering that last summer’s flooding left vast swathes of Sindh and some parts of South Punjab and Balochistan uncultivable. Now the government has knocked down its original production target to 26.81m tonnes against the required 30-31m tonnes. It is sad that Pakistan has become a net wheat importer from a small exporter as it has been importing nearly 3m tonnes of grain every year to meet national needs for the last few years.
The reasons for this shift are obvious: climate change, low yields, lack of research, land fragmentation, poor international wheat trade policies, low mechanisation, high harvest losses, lack of proper storage, etc. With the population likely to double by 2050, and volatility becoming a regular feature of international commodity markets, our increasing dependence on imports should be a cause of serious concern to policymakers. The only option for Pakistan is to increase wheat production. We can nearly double production by boosting the wheat yield from below 31 maund per acre to 58 maund per acre, equal to the average output in Indian Punjab. That will not happen overnight but it should not be too difficult and can be pulled off through changes in the production system, such as reduced tillage, increased use of certified seeds, and a better match between fertiliser applications and soils. There is also massive potential to reduce on-farm and off-farm crop losses through improved harvesting, bulk handling and storage in modern silos. Additionally, there’s a need for making domestic and international wheat trade flexible. With large numbers of people facing moderate to severe hunger, and food imports soaring to nearly $10bn during the last fiscal, we are already running out of time to fix our farm sector in general and our wheat economy in particular.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2023
A Gordian knot
THE three branches of the state seem rather intent on turning the royal mess they are in into an even more intractable problem. With the executive unsure of whom to follow, the judiciary and legislature unwilling to take a step back, and the establishment still playing its games, the stand-off has turned into a Gordian knot that may take a lot of effort and genius to unravel.
There had been some speculation that the apex court may ‘take it easy’ on the elections matter after reports that several senior intelligence officials had ‘briefed’ several judges regarding the country’s ‘sensitive’ security situation.
However, Wednesday’s court proceedings, which saw a three-member bench set aside a defence ministry plea seeking the holding of elections to all assemblies on the same day, poured cold water on such hopes.
The long and short of it is that last year, the PDM parties overthrew the PTI government by using the constitutional process of a vote of no-confidence against then prime minister Imran Khan.
The ousted prime minister played his hand almost a year later by dissolving the assemblies of KP and Punjab using that same rulebook. Their tussle, over the past year, has now sucked in every player in the country’s power matrix. We now have a situation where no one has clean hands.
Elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies should have been held within the constitutional deadline but were not. However, while one did not expect the Supreme Court to turn a blind eye to the flouting of the Constitution, the manner in which the institution approached the challenge gave the government space to challenge its rulings simply because it could argue that they lacked endorsement from within.
Sometimes the simplest solution to an overwhelming problem is to cut right through it. The government should realise it cannot force any exceptions to the Constitution without setting a precedent that will fracture the very foundations of Pakistani democracy.
However, it can still resolve the crisis politically. The PTI and several key stakeholders in the government have expressed a renewed openness to talks. They should not waste time hesitating.
The PDM and PTI must agree to do politics differently than they have in the past. The two factions must come to a settlement on what a mutually acceptable roadmap for general elections can look like.
Once an agreement has been reached, changes or an exception to election rules can be made through parliament to ensure that all elections are held on the same date. If not, perhaps some other arrangement can be arrived at to protect each party’s interests till the country is ‘ready’ for polls.
The country has suffered enough for the egos of a few. It should not be made to suffer more.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2023