Privatization environment

IN the current wave of deregulation and denationalization, greater stress than ever before is rightly being placed on the central role of markets and the private sector as an engine of growth. This, however, does not imply that the government’s contribution to the management of economic development is not significant. To enable the private sector to function effectively as an agent of rapid economic development, there is need to ensure a favourable environment for economic activity — that is an appropriate legal, institutional and policy framework.

The government needs to ensure the provision of social services including infrastructure (such as energy, roads, water supply, sewerage); anti-poverty programmes; basic education; access to healthcare; environmental protection and public security. The government does not have to produce all these services itself to enable their provision. In some cases, such as education and healthcare, it may be more appropriate, on efficiency grounds, for the government to foster private sector provision and competition.

The government’s role is particularly critical in managing economic policy, anticipating and adjusting to external and domestic shocks, facilitating transitions in economic policy and, in general, designing and implementing policy reforms.

Equally important is a suitable regulatory framework and a stable legal system; government intervention is also desirable for addressing market failures, such as those posed by the presence of externalities (e.g., pollution and congestion).

In creating an efficient enabling environment for efficient development, a clear need is for institutional development to increase the competence of the government. This need is particularly urgent in four areas. The first is the need to strengthen the core agencies that formulate and implement a country’s economic policies. The success of adjustment and reforms programmes depends on the government’s ability to manage these efficiently and credibly.

The second need is to rationalize or scrap public enterprises, whose inefficiencies and losses are a drain on the public exchequer.

The third is to restructure the mechanism for policymaking, public expenditures and financial management. Improving the way public expenditure priorities are established, reviewed and implemented can greatly improve the quality of the reform programme.

The fourth need is to revamp personnel and incentive policies in the public sector, where inefficiency is related not only to the bloated size of the public sector but also to the quality of its personnel, which is linked to personnel policies.

AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi

Defining Ummah

MR Kunwar Khalid Yunus in his letter ‘Defining Ummah’ (Aug 6) has very rightly pointed out that the word ‘ummah’ has been grossly misinterpreted, and it was especially so during the Ziaul Haq regime. I, however, tend to differ with his interpretation that at present Muslims do not qualify to be acknowledged as an ‘ummah’ as they are divided into different nations and linguistic groups.

The word ‘ummah’ is derived from the Arabic root word of ‘umm’. For that reason, whenever the word ‘ummah’ is applied in respect of a Muslim community, it transmits a broader connotation, i.e., a group of people professing the same religion though coming from different countries as well as belonging to diverse ethnicities and cultures.

‘Ummah’ thus carries universal relevance whenever referred to Muslims as a community. As an adherent of the same community, no Muslim has precedence over the other either on the basis of colour, caste or social status. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in his last sermon had categorically said: “Every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and the Muslims constitute one brotherhood”. The ‘ummah’, therefore, may be viewed from the broader perspective rather than in the narrow sense of western nationalism.

In verse 110 of Surah al Imran, Almighty Allah has enjoined: “You are the best nation (khair-i-ummat) which has ever been raised for the guidance of mankind. You enjoin good, forbid evil, and believe in Allah.”

Mr Yunus has misconstrued ‘jihad’ as waging war against infidels and spreading Islam through war. The word ‘jihad’ means striving or making an effort in the way of Allah to achieve the desired objectives and not merely waging war. Thus, striving in the way of Allah for spreading Islam through ‘tableegh’ is ‘Jihad-i-Akbar’. Similarly, following a virtuous life, dispensing justice and struggling against ignorance by spreading knowledge also constitute ‘jihad’. Enjoying good and forbidding evil is a ‘jihad’ as enjoined in the following verses of the Holy Quran:

“And strive for Allah with the endeavour which is His right. He hath chosen you and hath not laid upon you in religion any hardship; the faith of your father Abraham (is yours). He hath named you Muslims of old time and in this (scripture), that the messenger may be a witness against you, and that ye may be witnesses against mankind. So establish worship, pay the poor due, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protecting Friend. A blessed Patron and a blessed Helper.”

“Let there arise from among you a band of people who should invite to righteousness, enjoin good and forbid evil; such are the ones who shall be successful.” (104 Al Imran).

As regards the centuries-old madressah institution that is imparting education in the Muslim world, much has been written about the history and the present role of madressahs, especially after 9/11. Accordingly, in order to bring these institutions at par with the present system of contemporary education, what we need to do here is to introduce modern scientific education in addition to the religious curriculum in these madressahs so that they can also play a dynamic role in the development of the country. The achievements of madressahs imparting religious along with modern education effectively in a neighbouring state with many more Muslim pupils registered there than in our country can be cited as an example.

ALTAMASH MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi

‘Fighting terror differently’

THIS has reference to your editorial ‘Fighting terror differently’ (Aug 3) which said: “The US now intends to put greater emphasis on ideology than on military means in the war against terror”.

This is not unexpected after the US failure in Iraq and Afghanistan and its domestic budgetary constraints.

The new US scheme of things poses a question. Is Bush back to his original reaction to 9/11 — the Crusade? The fact of the matter is that the US has involved our ideology with terror as a matter of choice. Its present ‘rentier state’ position, as stated by Prof Stephen Cohen, has also played a part. The “Middle East is a victim of the faith-based foreign policy being pursued by the Bush administration”, wrote the late Robin Cook, who resigned from Blair’s cabinet following differences over the Iraq war. For the West, Afghanistan and Pakistan are now parts of the Middle East.

Some other relevant quotes may be in order:

— Winston Churchill once said: “The Americans will always do the right things after they have exhausted all other alternatives”.

— Hut Gutman, a US professor, writes: “Truth for those who rule Washington these days is an outdated concept.”

— CIA senior terrorism analyst Michael Scheuer writes in his book Imperial Hubris: “The US leaders refuse to accept the obvious — we are fighting a world Islamic insurgency, not terrorism.”

— George Soros writes in his book The Bubble of American Supremacy: “The US is presently in the hands of extremists.”

— Novelist John le Carre writes in his book Absolute Trends: “Anyone can see what happened in Iraq. It was nothing more than a war of colonial conquest fought for oil, dressed up as crusade for western life and liberty. And its authors were a clique of war-hungry Judeo-Christian geopolitical fantasists who hijacked the media and exploited America’s post 9/11 psychopathy.”

— In 2002, Portuguese Nobel prize winning writer Jose Saramago declared: “What is happening in Palestine is a crime which can be put on the same plane as what happened in Auschwitz.”

— Machiavelli, in his book The Prince, says: “It is better to be feared than loved”.

For years, Americans called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. This was an ignorant outburst; so also now its shift to ideology.

Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi

‘Strategic this and that’

MR Ayaz Amir (August 5) rightfully points to the problem we have about the way we think on national issues when he writes: “Inasmuch as this enables us to get out of the old ruts of national thinking and explore fresh options, looking to our neighbourhood and China and distant Russia, this should be counted a blessing, not a curse.”

Perhaps, one might add that it could prove to be a greater blessing if we stopped looking for help from any outside source. Would it not be a better option to look at our own selves for creating the required strength in technology and scientific research by our own effort? In terms of manpower our nation is larger than Japan or Germany.

Mr Amir also rightly says: “The only question is: are our generals and defence mandarins at all capable of entering this brave new world? Are they capable of fresh thinking?” The only problem is we must also seek answer to the questions: “Is the capability profile of our civilians any better? Why our democracy fails every time it is given a chance to bring its house in order under democratic procedures?”

What is stopping us from creating newer economic, financial and political concepts that are more relevant to our own development requirements? What are our PhDs and professors in our universities and colleges doing? Why do we need to import canned economic, political and financial concepts from foreign universities or from the World Bank and the IMF which mostly prove to be inappropriate prescriptions for the maladies that we are suffering from?

Talking of fresh thinking in the civilian sector, why are our industrialists unable to design and fabricate the machines and parts they use in their factories? Why are they so import dependent?

Why do our intellectuals and journalists keep churning out second-hand imported concepts and ideologies conceived in far away foreign lands by foreigners to serve their own purposes? Are we concept-starved? Can anyone name any economic, financial or political concept that originated from our land in the last 50 or so years?

HUMAYUN ZAFAR
Toronto, Canada

Kalabagh Dam

THE response to my letter (July 14) shows the importance of the Kalabagh Dam and the people’s interest in the project. Dialogue is the best way to resolve differences. However, calling names or casting personal aspersions (Nawab Saeed Ahmad Khan Laghari’s response, July 19), do not help .

If I had not opposed the project nearly 45 years ago, Kalabagh Dam and not Tarbela would have been in operation today. The untold story appeared in Dawn in July 1996. It happened because the World Bank wanted to finance Kalabagh Dam and not Tarbela under the Indus Waters Treaty. We in Wapda opposed it.

We then earnestly believed that to get the bigger and more expensive Tarbela built by the bank was in the greater national interest than the less costly Kalabagh Dam which we could construct at our own expense later. It is worth mentioning that our team were all engineers from Punjab. We struggled for Tarbela not as Punjabis but as Pakistani engineers. Today, ironically, one is engaged in a lone crusade to arouse awareness of the worsening water crisis and urging early construction of Kalabagh and more large dams. Nawab Laghari has said a lot but nothing relevant to the core question raised in my letter. Mr Zafarul Haq Memon has raised some pertinent points though a little tartly. But he too has dodged answering the core question. Mr. Memon asked if I had ever been to Kotri barrage. Yes, I visited it first as irrigation engineer when it was under construction in 1951. Later I crossed over the bridge several times. As for how much water I saw below Kotri barrage, it depended upon the time of year. One needs to know that the flow pattern of the Indus River varies largely during the year as well as from year to year. It carries high discharges, about 84 per cent, in summer and 16 per cent in winter. For instance, Mr. Memon saw no water but sand dunes downstream Kotri bridge on July 3, 2005. I would believe it. However, had he passed there 10 days later on July 13, he would have found the river in flood with a discharge of at least 129,000 cusecs (Dawn, July 14).

Regarding opposition by three provincial assemblies against the Kalabagh Dam, it is politics which falls beyond one’s purview as a hydraulic engineer. As for failure of the telemetry system, I could not agree more with Mr Memon. I had initiated a similar system for the Nile River. There was no reason why it should not work here. Some heads responsible for failure of the system should fall.

Regarding the C-J Link and Thal flood canals, it is incumbent on the Punjab authorities responsible for these canals to remove the apprehensions of lower riparians such as Sindh. Pakistan may be surplus by 2,000 mws in power. I do, however, believe that by the time a big dam like Kalabagh comes on line the power demand would exceed 2,000 mws.

As for the core question, it is repeated as follows: Sindh’s population is expected to increase by 11,000,000 by the year 2010. In my assessment, its minimum additional water requirement will be five maf. Will those in Sindh opposed to the Kalabagh Dam kindly enlighten the people by what viable alternative they propose to meet their additional water requirements of five maf by the year 2010 — less than five years hence?

B. A. MALIK
Lahore

Indo-US deal

A Dawn news item dateline Washington Aug 7 indicates that an important research paper prepared for US Congress emphasizes that the Indo-US deal of July 18 would be a setback to nuclear non-proliferation. Capitol Hill experts fear that a deal allowing India to acquire nuclear technology from the US could prompt Russia, which had stopped supplies in the face of tough opposition from the nuclear suppliers group (NSG), to resume supplies of nuclear fuel and other material to developing countries. The race for nuclear as well as conventional arms will gather momentum.

This deal would defeat the very purpose of non-proliferation and would-be nuclear powers like North Korea, Iran and even Brazil could accelerate the development of nuclear weapons. The cost of non-proliferation will outweigh the benefits the deal can yield.

An article by Lawrence J. Korb and Peter Ogden (Aug 8) points out that the US has been biting China’s ear that its ally North Korea should be punished for violating the NPT, and now the Bush administration says India will not be punished for its refusal to join the NPT.

The premature announcement of the agreement by President Bush, that is, without Congressional approval, which seems an uphill task, may lead the US to end up paying the cost of the agreement without reaping its rewards. The Bush administration is wrong to believe, the article says, that the agreement with India will serve America’s strategic interests better than the NPT which it threatens to render all but obsolete.

America will be elevating our neighbour India to world power status by giving it nuclear and space programme technologies and what not. America is our ally. So in comes a telephone call (on July 28) from President Bush to President Musharraf comforting him that the Indo-US deal is not against Pakistan.

So, Pakistan is safe.

S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi

Path to paradise

THE letter by Brig (retd) Khalid Hasan Mahmood (August 2) in response to Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column titled “Path to paradise” (July 31), referring to Maulana Maudoodi’s controversial book “From Caliphate to Kingdom”, as proof of his scholarship is questionable.

Maulana Maudoodi and his political party the Jamaat-i-Islami had given unconditional support to Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah against Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan in the presidential election held in 1964. This decision was criticized by no less a person than Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence in an editorial note in his weekly “Sidq-i-Jadeed” published in Lucknow (India).

In the words of the Indian scholar Dr Moin Shakir: “In Maudoodi’s personality are combined self-righteousness, ignorance of modern science, obscurantism and bigotry of narrow theology and the ambition of a power-hungry politician”. (“Khilafat to Partition”, p254).

DR MOHAMMAD KHALID
Karachi

US visas

MY wife had applied for a visit visa to be with her daughter in the US to manage the latter’s newborn second child for a few months. The application was supported by the US doctor concerned. My wife was called by the US embassy in Islamabad for an interview.

After a very brief interview, visa was refused on the grounds that she would not return to Pakistan. She tried to explain why she could not stay back in the US, but the visa officer was set on rejecting the case.

All relevant information is given in the prescribed application form and if the visa officer is not inclined to grant a visa, the applicant need not travel a long distance to be told that the application has been refused.

S.M. JAWED
Karachi

Society’s role models

WHILE crossing through Karachi’s main Gizri in the afternoon the other day, I saw a newly-imported car without number plates being driven by a teenager escorted by a police mobile (SP 5778).

The boy driving this posh car was talking on his cellphone while going through the busy road and the traffic policeman on duty was running around and controlling traffic so that this escorted car could find its way.

One is sure the boy was the son of some high-placed politician in the Sindh cabinet. This is something which you see on Karachi roads everyday. I have some questions I hope somebody can answer.

1) How can the government allow a car on the main streets without any registration and number plates to be protected by police mobiles?

2) In Karachi people are paying a penalty of Rs500 for talking on cellphones while driving, so why wasn’t this boy intercepted and penalized for violation of traffic rules?

3) If a highly placed politician cannot control his family how can he play an effective role in running the government?

NAVEED KHAN
Karachi

UK diplomat’s case

THE case involving the alleged attack on a British diplomat and his wife in Islamabad cannot be commented upon because the remarks could be sub judice. However, without pronouncing a verdict, we can see that the cause of the fracas was honking.

Do we Pakistanis know that the world over honking is frowned upon and considered uncivilized?

Regrettably, most drivers in our country seem utterly indifferent to this — as many other aspects of sane driving.

JAMIL ZAHID
Karachi