Consensus on Karachi
CONTROVERSY continues to dog the results of the second phase of LG elections in Sindh conducted on Sunday, particularly the results for Karachi.
As per the tally so far, while the PPP leads in the metropolis, JI has come in a close second and the PTI has the third highest number of seats. The top leadership of the JI and PTI has cried foul, with allegations of ‘post-poll rigging’, as both parties claim the PPP has ‘managed’ the results.
This political confrontation has spilled out onto the streets, as several demonstrations took place in the city on Wednesday, while in separate incidents, violent clashes occurred between supporters of the PTI and JI and PPP workers.
In response to the scuffles, an antiterrorism case has been registered against PTI leader Ali Zaidi and other members of his party, while an FIR has also been lodged against JI supporters.
While all protests should remain peaceful, it is unwise to register terrorism cases against those demonstrating against the results. Moreover, the senior leaders of all three parties — the PPP, JI and PTI — need to show sagacity in this matter or else political scuffles can turn even more violent.
Party cadres need to be advised to express their views peacefully, while Sindh’s ruling party should not use the state apparatus to crack down violently on rivals. Firstly, there needs to be a consensus on the results.
The ECP has admitted that “irregularities” have been noted in at least six UCs, and the matter will be taken up on Monday. Once all the legitimate reservations have been addressed, the three leading parties need to accept the results in good faith, and move on to the business of electing the mayor.
As things stand, it is likely that the next mayor of Karachi will be elected after two of the three top vote-getters in the metropolis decide to join forces in the City Council. In this regard, though all three parties may be poles apart in the realm of national politics, they need to bury the hatchet for the sake of Karachi and work for the progress of this blighted metropolis.
A city that is supposed to be Pakistan’s economic engine, and shelters all within its embrace, has been severely let down by all political forces over the last few decades. In particular, after the Musharraf-era LG system was wrapped up, the city has fared very badly. Crime is out of control, infrastructure is crumbling, and sewage, water and solid waste services have failed to deliver.
Therefore, the parties that have been given a mandate by Karachi’s people need to reach an agreement on improving the lives of the residents, while the mayoralty should be an empowered office that can tackle all these considerable challenges.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023
Forced conversions
THE laments of Pakistani Hindu families losing one young girl after another to what they allege are forced conversions and marriage to Muslim men were bound to draw international attention at some point. Finally, that has come to pass. In a statement issued in Geneva on Monday, UN human rights experts expressed alarm over increasing reports of abductions, forced marriages and conversions of girls and young women in this country. They demanded immediate steps be taken to put an end to these depredations and ensure justice. The statement pointed out the institutional bias against the females placed in this predicament, with the police and judiciary often found extending support to the perpetrators instead of the victims.
The UN experts’ concern is not misplaced. Although the issues highlighted constitute multiple violations of both Pakistan’s domestic law and the country’s international obligations, the fact of conversion appears to trump all other concerns in an increasingly conservative society. Time and again — most commonly in Sindh which is home to a majority of Pakistani Hindus — newly converted minors, rather than being handed over to their families, have been ‘allowed’ to live with their often much older ‘husbands’, thereby putting them at heightened risk of domestic abuse and childbirth complications. The undeniable element of coercion present in a situation where vulnerable communities are pitted against powerful groups with a triumphalist mindset, is often conveniently ignored. Certainly, there may be some doubt as to whether all the conversions by adult women are forced. But it is worth asking why new converts are almost always young women, rather than older ones? Or males of any age, for that matter? Neither the government nor the criminal justice system appear to have the spine to address the issue for fear of angering the religious lobby. In 2016, the Sindh Assembly did pass a bill stipulating that any conversion by a minor would only come into effect when they reached the age of majority, ie 18 years; it also provided for severe penalties for perpetrators of forced conversions. However, in the face of an uproar by the religious right, including individuals notorious for forced conversions, the provincial government shamefully capitulated and prevailed upon the governor to not sign the bill into law. It is high time lawmakers protected weaker segments of society from exploitation in the name of faith.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023
Confused policy
RECENT statements by two major political leaders have underlined the perception that there is no political agreement on tackling resurgent terrorism. On the one hand, former prime minister Imran Khan — in whose tenure ‘peace talks’ were initiated with outfits operating from Afghanistan — has argued that the banned TTP were ‘driven’ to their old ways because Islamabad failed to live up to the promises made to them; on the other, incumbent Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has roundly criticised the PTI’s policy towards the TTP as mere ‘appeasement’. With so much confusion within our ranks, it is hardly surprising that the TTP has been able to exploit the situation to its advantage. It now threatens to start another violent chapter in Pakistan’s war against militancy.
It must be said that Mr Khan’s accommodating view of the TTP is starkly at odds with how the terrorist outfit sees Pakistan. The group has little respect or consideration for the Pakistani state or its sovereignty, which is reflected in its demand for the reversal of Fata’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP had made decoupling Fata a non-negotiable condition in its aforementioned ‘peace talks’ with the Pakistani state, presuming to dictate to Islamabad the limits of its dominion. After the talks broke down, the TTP’s brutal attacks targeting Pakistani security forces and law-enforcement personnel only hammered home its disdain for the same land where it was being ‘settled’ despite locals’ loud and angry protests. But even Mr Bhutto-Zardari, who has taken a tougher line on the TTP, has appeared softer on the Afghan Taliban even though Kabul is seen to be quietly patronising the TTP. Instead of taking a harder stance against the Afghan Taliban for failing to rein in the terrorists operating from their territory, the foreign minister wants to continue engaging with them. These conflicting messages are complicating Pakistan’s response to its gravest existential crisis. Clearly, this is another area which desperately needs political consensus.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2023