Daily Archives: February 6, 2023

The peoples’ rising firewall against terrorism is a welcome development

The peoples’ rising firewall against terrorism is a welcome development. Rallies across K-P against the surge in terrorism and the call for exterminating the non-state actors’ nexus is now the pulse of the nation. It is a good omen that the people are taking a stand and making themselves felt on the streets. This negates the impression that people are sympathetic to calls for jihad and are aware of their rights. It also categorically conveys the message that people are sceptical to cross-border interference in Pakistan and do not support militarisation. The mass pouring out of people in multiple regions of K-P, and elsewhere, is a sign of civil society’s conscious decision to nip the terror in the bud.

The K-P province in particular, and the country in general, has witnessed several terrorist incidents. The Peshawar mosque bombing on January 30 was an indication that terror groups are amassing themselves and want to bleed the nation once again. The rallies are calling for a proactive and offensive strategy, wherein the armed forces in collaboration with civil authorities were successful in flushing out the terror elements. But that episode of success seems to be half-lived, as there are sleeping cells and splinter elements all around the country, and the same are in need of being ruthlessly crushed.

While re-devising a new anti-terror strategy, the desire of the people should be upheld. Surveys and public opinion, as well as the mammoth rallies, make it clear that appeasing the terror elements through a carrot is no more an option. They believe in violence, and have not lived up to their pledges of serenity. The country cannot be a safe place to live until and unless this gangrene is taken out from society. Time to value the desire of the masses and exterminate terror through force.

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As the entire country reels from an economic crisis, such marginalised communities continue to suffer immensely

It is a positive step that the transgender community has been formally included in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). As the entire country reels from an economic crisis, such marginalised communities continue to suffer immensely. They will need all the support they can get from the government and from society to make ends meet. If successfully implemented, the Rs7,000 allowance will help members of the trans community to sustain themselves.

In order for this to be a success, there are a few things that the government must consider. First and foremost, PPP officials must look into the discrepancies within BISP as claims suggest that officers are keeping the money instead of distributing it to the hapless citizens of Sindh. Moreover, workers giving away the money must be senstitised on how to communicate with transgender persons in order to avoid any unforeseen situation. Ideally, further help can be provided by guiding the trans community on how to utilize money so that they are able to save and invest in order to achieve financial independence. A huge drawback however remains that transgenders persons still have a problem registering themselves with Nadra while many institutions refuse to acknowledge their identity. Recently, an incident occurred where two transgenders were stopped from boarding a flight due to their ‘x’ gender on their CNICs. While monetary aid much needed short-term relief to the oppressed community, a lot more effort will be required to genuinely uplift the community so that they no longer have to resort to informal means of earning a living.

Transgenders must be allowed to hold a job, rent an apartment, and receive inheritance just like others. The responsibility for this lies solely with the state. What is truly required is to make Pakistan an inclusive society so that people can live in harmony despite their differences.

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The sixth constitutional amendment – passed in December 1976 – made a mockery of the constitution. It allowed the chief justice of the Supreme Court and high courts to complete five- and four-year tenure even if they got past the superannuation age of 65 and 62 respectively.

This seemed strange as not long ago, the Bhutto government had deprived the judges of continuing their job after completing their four-year term as chief justice even if they were as young as just 55.

The sixth constitutional amendment allowed Justice Yaqoob Ali to continue working after the age of 65 on the pretext that he had not completed his term as the chief justice of Pakistan. Later General Zia removed him by overturning the amendment to appoint Justice Anwarul Haq – his favourite – so that he could get the decision he wanted.

Following the sixth amendment, Bhutto prematurely dissolved the assemblies in January 1977, hoping to catch the opposition unaware and unprepared for general elections. The March 1977 elections were controversial as the opposition – the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) – accused the government of malpractices and rigging. Bhutto was undoubtedly a popular leader and could have won the elections even without indulging in a spree of unopposed victories. The right-wing PNA used religion as its rallying cry, and unfortunately some left-wing politicians also sided with the party that wanted to establish theocracy in the country.

After two months of mass agitation that the ‘usual suspects’ tacitly approved and General Zia clandestinely supported, Bhutto introduced the seventh amendment in May 1977. It introduced a provision for a referendum because Bhutto did not want re-election after the opposition rejected the results of the March 1977 general elections. He wanted to hold a referendum so that people could once again demonstrate confidence in him; however, he could neither hold a referendum nor go for re-election as the army chief, General Zia, toppled his government in a bloodless coup on July 5, 1977.

The new military dictator – who had violated the constitution and had promised to hold fresh elections within 90 days – would soon start his own mutilations of the constitution. General Zia suspended the constitution and as chief martial law administrator (CMLA) started issuing orders that were in contravention to his promises and exposed his intentions of ruling the country for as long as possible.

First, General Zia arranged for a suitable court that could convict Bhutto for a murder he never committed. Then he hanged him in the dead of night and buried him without a single member of his immediate family allowed to attend the funeral, or visit his grave.

While General Zia held the constitution in abeyance for years, he kept issuing one martial-law order after another, targeting all those who demanded the restoration of democracy. He spent the next eight years as a self-appointed ruler of the country and used religion as his primary weapon to disguise his ambitions to remain a dictator forever. In December 1981, under the presidential order (PO 15 of 1981), he appointed the ‘Majlis-e-Shoora’ (advisory council) that he filled with conservative and right-wing advisors who shared his vision of destroying democracy in the country.

The council met for the first time in January 1982 and gave the pretence of controlled and limited political activities. For eight long years, there were lashes and torture for political activists and even journalists. The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) that Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto led posed a serious threat to the dictator. The military government crushed the movement with full force and General Zia kept issuing presidential ordinances to serve his purposes. Finally in 1984, he decided to hold a referendum to gain at least some concocted legitimacy for his unconstitutional rule.

While the constitution was still in abeyance, the referendum in December 1984 failed to attract voters. Still General Zia and his administration declared that the people of Pakistan had approved his programme and claimed to have acquired the mandate to continue with his plans to put the country on a more religious path – he would remain president for the next five years. In the elections of February 1985, no political party could participate as they were non-party elections. The MRD could have asked its candidates to contest elections on an individual basis, but it opted to boycott.

Later, Benazir Bhutto regretted the decision and admitted that even in non-party elections the opposition should have participated. In March 1985, General Zia issued another presidential order (PO 14 of 1985) as the revival of the constitution order (RCO 1985) with which he made a large number of amendments in the constitution. This would later provide the backbone to the eight constitutional amendment.

The dictator appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo as the prime minister of Pakistan. Junejo had received a vote of confidence in the last week of March 1985. He reportedly threatened that if the bill did not go through, he would consider the possibility of dissolving the National Assembly and send everything packing once again. Most MNAs did not want to face that eventuality at the hand of the general. Then in August 1985, the situation on Independence Day also reinforced the supremacy of General Zia. He intimated that he would be taking the salute without the prime minister as according to the amended constitution only the head of the state had the entitlement to take the salute; the PM did not.

In September 1985, law and parliamentary affairs minister Iqbal Ahmad Khan tabled a draft bill which drew wide criticism both in and out of parliament. Ostensibly, the amendment aimed to bring about a ‘balance of power’ but in fact it was to empower the president to dissolve the National Assembly, dismiss the prime minister and provincial governments, and order them to seek a fresh mandate. Besides changes in other articles in the constitution, the addition of Article 58 (2) b would have the most devastating consequences for democracy in the country.

The self-appointed president General Zia who had been critical of Bhutto’s ‘authoritarian’ rule had already misgoverned the country for eight years and now was bent upon acquiring discretionary powers to dissolve the National Assembly at will. The amendment bill did create some uproar within the National Assembly and the general began making efforts to hold meetings with a number of MNAs to chalk out some way forward. By October, the eight amendment was ready for approval; the constitution incorporated it in November 1985.

Then, the cabinet and other institutions all worked only at the sole discretion of the president General Ziaul Haq, who had already awarded himself repeated extensions as the army chief as well. Without the president’s permission the entire parliament would be in a state of paralysis. Even more consequential was a blanket approval of all actions under the martial law government since the July 1977 takeover. The eight amendment indemnified all the unconstitutional actions of the military dictatorship against democracy in the country. All ordinances and martial-law orders that the general had issued over the past eight years as well as all decisions of the military courts became legalized.

The Objectives Resolution also became part of the constitution. The amendment changed the system of government from parliamentary to presidential and the prime minister became subservient to the president. It minimized the status of parliament much in the same fashion as General Ayub Khan had done with his constitution of 1962 or General Musharraf would do in 2002.

To be continued…

The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK.He tweets @NaazirMahmoodand can be reached at: mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk

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The International Day of Education is observed every year on January 24 to sensitize people about the role of education to promote progress and development. The theme of this year’s International Education Day was: “to invest in people, prioritize education”.

Pakistan faces many challenges in the field of education like making it inclusive, accessible for all, and diverse in terms of fields of study. One such important area that requires our special attention is climate change.

Climate change disasters and lack of attention on climate change education are directly proportional to each other. Lack of initiatives in climate change education fails to produce research-based policies and absence of research-based policies on climate change leads to impractical projects to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

As a result of this vicious cycle and development greed of rich nations, Pakistan is among the top ten countries most impacted by climate change. Pakistan has been witnessing multifarious climate-led catastrophes like glacier melt, floods, smog, heatwaves, etc. As a result of these disasters, the alarm bell has rung for Pakistan in the form of a deteriorating economy, food security, water shortage, and health issues. Recent floods in Pakistan caused a loss of $30 billion, with negative impacts in many socio-economic fields.

The role of education and strategic communication cannot be denied in raising awareness and looking for research-based solutions. Pakistan needs to develop education policies and update its curriculum keeping in view the challenges of climate change. The prioritization of climate change on an emergency basis in educational institutions is an investment for the future of the people of Pakistan.

Article 12 of the Paris Agreement also states: “Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, recognizing the importance of these steps with respect to enhancing actions under this agreement”. Several ideas can be implemented at the government level to initiate formal education on climate change at educational institutions at all levels to give a befitting response to climate change disasters.

First of all, children at school should be taught simple concepts of climate change in their early school years. An excellent step was taken by the School Education Department, southern Punjab, by launching climate change as a separate subject in formal teaching in all public schools in 2022. Such steps are required in schools across the country. The idea of mitigating carbon emissions through forests can be inculcated in the minds of children through marked activities like arranging plantation days at schools. Teachers and parents should encourage school children to plant a tree or gift a plant on birthdays.

Chapters on climate change can be introduced in science books at secondary and higher secondary levels. The government can introduce the optional subject of climate change other than environmental studies at the undergraduate level. Educational institutions can encourage their students to conduct their field work related to climate change. The government should introduce Masters and PhD level specialized courses at universities and colleges to produce indigenous researchers in the field of climate change.

Climate change is a cross-cutting subject in social sciences having its impacts on health, economy, gender, agriculture, etc. The subjects based on sub fields of climate change can also be started at Masters-level courses in Economics, Health, Gender Studies Agriculture, etc. Special research grants in the field of climate change can further accelerate the process to conduct indigenous research in the field of climate change.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) can collaborate with the world’s leading educational institutions in the field of climate change to provide scholarships and arrange exchange programmes for Pakistani students.

Moreover, the government can engage the youth of Pakistan in generating awareness campaigns on climate change to sensitize the people on this threatening issue. National-level youth debates and painting competitions play an important role in encouraging young people to understand the seriousness of the problem.

Contests like the ‘Green Educational Institution’ can be arranged at the national, provincial, and district levels. The government and private educational institutions should also take measures to convert/develop green infrastructure and green spaces on their premises. Educational institutions can take environment-friendly measures to educate their students about climate emergencies. They can use solar energy to meet their electricity requirement and reduce carbon emissions. Educational institutions should also use electric vehicles to minimize the use of carbon fuels.

It’s high time we revamped our education policies to include courses, chapters and activities based on climate change education to create public awareness and produce specialists in this field to effectively combat climate change.

The writer is a graduate of University of Oxford in Public Policy. She tweets @zilehumma_1

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