DAWN

EDITORIALS+OPINIONS.
24-12-2020
Boiler explosion.
INDUSTRIAL accidents in the country occur far too
frequently, often resulting in a high number of deaths
and injuries. The latest deadly tragedy at an industrial
establishment occurred on Tuesday evening, when a
boiler reportedly exploded in a New Karachi factory. The
unit was located in a thickly populated neighbourhood
and resulted in at least 10 deaths, while the factory
building was destroyed. Neighbouring structures were
also badly damaged. Investigators on Wednesday said
they were still trying to probe the nature of the blast.
However, this tragedy — like others before it — will also
soon fade from memory until the next industrial accident
results in loss of life. While this may be a cynical
viewpoint, the fact is that officialdom does little to
enforce health and safety regulations at industrial
concerns, which paves the way for accidents such as
these. The 2012 Baldia factory fire tragedy, though a
criminal act, was exacerbated by the fact that safety
measures at the unit were inadequate.
Laws concerning occupational health and safety are of
course on the books. But as with other laws in Pakistan
there is little to motivate the state to enforce such
regulations, even though lives are at stake. It is not
unusual in Pakistan to have industrial units located in
densely populated residential areas; at times, accidents
have occurred when hazardous materials stored in these
factories have exploded. Moreover, Karachi has
witnessed a rising trend of using houses in purely
residential neighbourhoods as godowns, with no check
over the material stored in these buildings. Also, in many
industries, workers have to deal with hazardous
materials without donning safety gear or taking
precautions. All this is a disaster waiting to happen unless
the authorities get serious about ensuring that industrial
concerns start following health and safety laws. The
relevant government departments must ensure that
factories and workshops are adhering to safety
regulations, and that those units dealing with chemicals
‫‪or hazardous material are located in industrial zones far‬‬
‫‪from residential areas.‬‬

‫‪TRANSLATION.‬‬
‫بوائلر دھماکا۔‬
‫ملک میں صنعتی حادثات بہت زیادہ کثرت سے رونما ہوتے ہیں ‪ ،‬جس‬
‫کے نتیجے میں اکثر افراد ہالک اور زخمی ہوتے ہیں۔ صنعتی‬
‫اسٹیبلشمنٹ میں تازہ ترین مہلک سانحہ منگل کی شام اس وقت پیش آیا ‪،‬‬
‫جب مبینہ طور پر نیو کراچی کی فیکٹری میں بوائلر پھٹا۔ یہ یونٹ ایک‬
‫گنجان آباد محلے میں واقع تھا اور اس کے نتیجے میں کم از کم ‪10‬‬
‫افراد ہالک ہوگئے تھے ‪ ،‬جبکہ فیکٹری کی عمارت تباہ ہوگئی تھی۔‬
‫پڑوسی ڈھانچے کو بھی بری طرح نقصان پہنچا تھا۔ بدھ کے روز‬
‫تفتیش کاروں نے کہا کہ وہ ابھی بھی دھماکے کی نوعیت کی تحقیقات‬
‫کرنے کی کوشش کر رہے ہیں۔ تاہم ‪ ،‬یہ سانحہ – اس سے پہلے کے‬
‫دوسروں کی طرح – بھی جلد ہی یادوں سے مٹ جائے گا جب تک کہ‬
‫اگلے صنعتی حادثے میں جانوں کے ضیاع نہیں ہوتے ہیں۔ اگرچہ یہ‬
‫ایک مکروہ نظریہ ہوسکتا ہے ‪ ،‬لیکن حقیقت یہ ہے کہ آفیشلڈیم صحت‬
‫اور حفاظت کے ضوابط کو صنعتی خدشات کے مطابق نافذ کرنے کے‬
‫لئے بہت کم کام کرتا ہے ‪ ،‬جو ان جیسے حادثات کی راہ ہموار کرتا‬
‫ہے۔ سانحہ ‪ 2012‬میں بلدیہ فیکٹری میں آتشزدگی کا واقعہ ‪ ،‬اگرچہ‬
‫ایک مجرمانہ فعل تھا ‪ ،‬اس حقیقت کی وجہ سے اور بھی بڑھ گیا تھا کہ‬
‫یونٹ میں حفاظتی اقدامات ناکافی تھے۔‬
‫پیشہ ورانہ صحت اور حفاظت سے متعلق قوانین یقینا‪ .‬کتابوں پر ہیں۔‬
‫لیکن جیسا کہ پاکستان میں دوسرے قوانین کی طرح ریاست کو بھی اس‬
‫طرح کے قواعد و ضوابط کو نافذ کرنے کی ترغیب دینے میں بہت کم‬
‫ہے ‪ ،‬حاالنکہ زندگیاں خطرے میں ہیں۔ گنجان آباد رہائشی عالقوں میں‬
‫صنعتی یونٹیں رکھنا غیر معمولی بات نہیں ہے۔ بعض اوقات حادثات‬
‫پیش آتے ہیں جب ان فیکٹریوں میں محفوظ مضر مواد پھٹ جاتے ہیں۔‬
‫مزید یہ کہ ‪ ،‬کراچی میں رہائشی محلوں میں مکانات کو گودام کے طور‬
‫پر استعمال کرنے کے بڑھتے ہوئے رجحانات کا مشاہدہ کیا گیا ہے ‪،‬‬
‫ان عمارتوں میں رکھے ہوئے سامان کی جانچ پڑتال نہیں کی گئی ہے۔‬
‫نیز ‪ ،‬بہت ساری صنعتوں میں ‪ ،‬کارکنوں کو حفاظتی پوشاک عطیہ کیے‬
‫بغیر یا احتیاطی تدابیر اختیار کیے بغیر مضر مواد سے نمٹنا پڑتا ہے۔‬
‫یہ سب ایک تباہی کا انتظار ہے جب تک کہ حکام اس بات کو یقینی‬
‫بنانے میں سنجیدہ نہ ہوں کہ صنعتی خدشات صحت اور حفاظت کے‬
‫قوانین پر عمل پیرا ہونے لگیں۔ متعلقہ سرکاری محکموں کو یہ یقینی‬
‫بنانا چاہئے کہ فیکٹریاں اور ورکشاپس حفاظتی ضوابط پر عمل پیرا ہیں‬
‫‪ ،‬اور یہ کہ وہ یونٹ جو رہائشی عالقوں سے دور صنعتی عالقوں میں‬
‫واقع ہیں۔‬
‫‪…………………………………………………………………………..‬‬
 Census Results.
THAT the results of the National Census 2017 were
approved by the federal cabinet on Tuesday, three years
after the fact, is an indication of how contentious the
exercise has been. The MQM, which earlier had
emphatically rejected the results but is now an ally of the
PTI government, submitted a dissent note. It was decided
at the meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Imran
Khan, to send the census report to the Council of
Common Interests for the provinces to sign off on.
Further, the cabinet proposed that the exercise be
conducted every three years instead of decennially as
mandated by the Constitution.
A periodic census is essential for running the country, at
least if it is to be run with the help of reliable statistical
data. Providing a detailed socioeconomic picture, it
guides governments in framing policies and allocating
funds for them. The population distribution mapped by
the census factors into the NFC Award, the delimitation
of constituencies and the allocation of seats in
parliament. Its results are thus not only critical for the
country’s future but they also go to the heart of political
power that is dependent on changing population
dynamics. With various distortions having crept into the
political arena due to periods of unelected rule and
disputed elections, the holding of the census itself has
become a fraught undertaking. Consider how the
intervals of national census taking have become longer.
After independence the exercise has been held in 1951,
1961, 1972 (a year later because of the 1971 war), 1981,
1998, and the most recent, 19 years later, in 2017. Even
so, the 2017 census was held only after the Supreme
Court ordered it. The conduct of the exercise by the
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the constitution of the
PBS governing council raised a number of misgivings
especially among the smaller provinces and the results
were widely disputed. Aside from other procedural
anomalies, the census was conducted without a pilot
survey and not followed up by a post-enumeration
survey. These mechanisms assess the quality of the data
and as a widely accepted practice are included as
components of the overall operation. A flawed census, in
a country already riven with ethnic and religious fault
‫‪lines, stokes further dissent and alienation. The census-‬‬
‫‪taking process itself must be revisited and amended to‬‬
‫‪ensure a transparent and credible exercise. Two hundred‬‬
‫‪million-plus people deserve nothing less.‬‬

‫‪TRANSLATION.‬‬
‫مردم شماری کے نتائج‬
‫اس حقیقت کے تین سال بعد ‪ ،‬وفاقی کابینہ نے قومی مردم شماری‬
‫‪ 2017‬کے نتائج کو منگل کو منظور کیا تھا ‪ ،‬اس بات کا اشارہ ہے کہ‬
‫یہ مشق کتنا متنازعہ رہی ہے۔ ایم کیو ایم ‪ ،‬جس نے پہلے سختی سے‬
‫نتائج کو مسترد کردیا تھا لیکن اب وہ پی ٹی آئی کی حکومت کی حلیف‬
‫ہیں ‪ ،‬نے اختالفی نوٹ پیش کیا۔ وزیر اعظم عمران خان کی‬
‫زیرصدارت اجالس میں فیصلہ کیا گیا کہ مردم شماری کی رپورٹ‬
‫صوبوں کے لئے مشترکہ مفادات کونسل کو ارسال کردی جائے۔ مزید‬
‫‪ ،‬کابینہ نے تجویز پیش کی کہ یہ مشق آئینی تقاضوں کے مطابق ہر تین‬
‫سالوں کے بعد ساالنہ انداز میں دی جانی چاہئے۔‬
‫ملک کو چالنے کے لئے متواتر مردم شماری ضروری ہے ‪ ،‬کم از کم‬
‫اگر قابل اعتماد شماریاتی اعداد و شمار کی مدد سے چالیا جائے۔ ایک‬
‫تفصیلی معاشرتی اقتصادی تصویر فراہم کرنا ‪ ،‬حکومتوں کو پالیسیوں‬
‫کی تشکیل اور ان کے لئے فنڈ مختص کرنے میں رہنمائی کرتا ہے۔‬
‫آبادی کی تقسیم مردم شماری کے عوامل کے ذریعہ این ایف سی ایوارڈ‬
‫‪ ،‬حلقوں کی حد بندی اور پارلیمنٹ میں نشستوں کی مختص رقم میں‬
‫شامل ہے۔ اس طرح اس کے نتائج نہ صرف ملک کے مستقبل کے لئے‬
‫اہم ہیں بلکہ وہ سیاسی طاقت کے دائرے میں بھی جاتے ہیں جو آبادی‬
‫کی حرکیات کو تبدیل کرنے پر منحصر ہوتا ہے۔ متناسب حکمرانی اور‬
‫متنازعہ انتخابات کی وجہ سے متعدد خلفشار سیاسی میدان میں داخل‬
‫ہوچکے ہیں ‪ ،‬مردم شماری کا انعقاد خود ہی ایک پُرجوش اقدام بن گیا‬
‫ہے۔ غور کریں کہ قومی مردم شماری کے وقفوں کو لمبا ہونے کا‬
‫طریقہ کیسے ہے۔ آزادی کے بعد یہ مشق ‪1972 ، 1961 ، 1951‬‬
‫(ایک سال بعد ‪ 1971‬کی جنگ کی وجہ سے) ‪ 1998 ، 1981 ،‬میں‬
‫منعقد ہوئی تھی ‪ ،‬اور حالیہ ‪ 19 ،‬سال بعد ‪ 2017 ،‬میں۔ پھر بھی ‪،‬‬
‫‪ 2017‬کی مردم شماری صرف اس کے بعد ہی ہوئی تھی۔ سپریم‬
‫کورٹ نے اس کا حکم دیا۔ پاکستان بیورو آف شماریات کی جانب سے‬
‫اس مشق کے انعقاد اور پی بی ایس گورننگ کونسل کی تشکیل نے‬
‫خاص طور پر چھوٹے صوبوں میں بہت سی بدگمانیوں کو جنم دیا اور‬
‫اس کے نتائج کو بڑے پیمانے پر متنازعہ کردیا گیا۔ دیگر ضابطے کی‬
‫بے ضابطگیوں کے عالوہ ‪ ،‬مردم شماری بغیر کسی پائلٹ سروے کے‬
‫عمل میں الئی گئی تھی اور اس کے بعد گنتی کے بعد سروے نہیں کیا‬
‫گیا تھا۔ یہ طریقہ کار اعداد و شمار کے معیار کا جائزہ لیتے ہیں اور‬
‫بطور وسیع قبول شدہ پریکٹس مجموعی طور پر آپریشن کے اجزاء کے‬
‫طور پر شامل ہیں۔ ایک ناقص مردم شماری ‪ ،‬جہاں پہلے ہی نسلی اور‬
‫مذہبی غلط خطوط سے دوچار ملک ہے ‪ ،‬اس میں مزید اختالف اور‬
‫بیگانگی کی بات کی گئی ہے۔ مردم شماری کے عمل کو خود پر نظر‬
‫ثانی اور ترمیم کرنی ہوگی تاکہ شفاف اور قابل اعتبار عمل کو یقینی‬
‫بنایا جاسکے۔ دو سو ملین سے زیادہ افراد کسی بھی چیز سے کم‬
‫مستحق نہیں ہیں۔‬
‫‪…………………………………………………………………………..‬‬
 Performance record.
ON Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan dropped some
truth bombs that will no doubt be remembered by both
his voters and political rivals for days to come. Mr Khan
spoke at an event where he invited his cabinet to sign a
‘performance agreement’ for the coming year, with the
aim that his ministers must deliver in the period before
the next election. Mr Khan urged his ministers to deliver
on key promises, as “the time for performance has
arrived”. He also admitted that, before he assumed
office, he had had no time to prepare and that his first
three months were spent on understanding the state of
affairs in the country. “We no longer have an excuse that
we’re new and are learning because most of us came
into power for the first time,” he added. Though no
doubt well intentioned, this admission by a sitting prime
minister halfway through his term is quite disturbing. For
the past two years, the country has faced multiple crises.
From an economy in a downward spiral and a near war
with India to the Covid-19 pandemic and the wheat,
sugar and power crises, the challenges have had real
consequences for millions of people. For the prime
minister to admit that his administration was getting
acquainted with governing — against the backdrop of at
least four cabinet reshuffles with one as recent as this
month — is an indictment of the leadership’s grip on the
country’s affairs.
When lives and livelihoods are at stake, should a
government be allowed more than a few weeks of
adjustment before taking on the challenges? The time for
the current government to start performing should have
been very soon after taking power in August 2018.
Successive governments blame past dispensations for the
mess they have inherited. This administration is no
exception, with the prime minister heaping blame on the
18th Amendment. Again, the reality is that the scope of
the powers of the centre are not new concepts and
should not catch an incoming head of government or his
team by surprise. In fact, it could be asked why no
performance record was signed in the year the
government was elected to power.
Also, government leaders would do well to go into the
new year reflecting on their relationship with the
opposition. There is no doubt that the latter have made
governing more difficult for the current rulers but the
challenge might have been less intimidating had the
government built less acrimonious connections with the
opposition. It is also high time that disputes within the
PTI, which have so often spilled into the public domain,
were addressed by the prime minister. Public admission
of the government’s teething problems are not going to
inspire confidence, but stepping up to the challenge and
turning in a good performance might do the trick.

TRANSLATION.
‫کارکردگی کا ریکارڈ۔‬
، ‫ وزیر اعظم عمران خان نے کچھ سچے بم گرا دیئے‬، ‫منگل کے روز‬
‫جو ان کے ووٹرز اور سیاسی حریفوں کو آنے والے دن تک یاد نہیں‬
‫رکھیں گے۔ مسٹر خان نے ایک تقریب میں خطاب کیا جہاں انہوں نے‬
‫اپنی کابینہ کو آنے والے سال کے لئے ایک "کارکردگی کا معاہدہ" پر‬
‫ اس مقصد کے ساتھ کہ ان کے وزرا کو‬، ‫دستخط کرنے کی دعوت دی‬
‫اگلے انتخابات سے قبل اس مدت میں فراہمی کرنا ہوگی۔ مسٹر خان نے‬
‫اپنے وزرا پر زور دیا کہ وہ اہم وعدے کریں ‪ ،‬کیونکہ "کارکردگی کا‬
‫وقت آگیا ہے"۔ انہوں نے یہ بھی اعتراف کیا کہ ‪ ،‬اقتدار سنبھالنے سے‬
‫پہلے ‪ ،‬ان کے پاس تیاری کے لئے وقت نہیں تھا اور ان کے پہلے تین‬
‫ماہ ملک کی صورتحال کو سمجھنے میں صرف کیے گئے تھے۔ انہوں‬
‫نے مزید کہا ‪" ،‬ہمارے پاس اب کوئی عذر نہیں ہے کہ ہم نئے ہیں اور‬
‫سیکھ رہے ہیں کیونکہ ہم میں سے بیشتر پہلی بار اقتدار میں آئے ہیں۔"‬
‫اگرچہ اس میں کوئی شک نہیں کہ اچھ ‪.‬ے ارادے سے ‪ ،‬ایک اراکین‬
‫وزیر اعظم نے اپنی مدت مالزمت میں آدھے راستے سے یہ داخلہ کافی‬
‫پریشان کن ہے۔ پچھلے دو سالوں سے ‪ ،‬ملک کو متعدد بحرانوں کا‬
‫سامنا کرنا پڑا ہے۔ ایک نیچے کی طرف آنے والی معیشت اور‬
‫ہندوستان کے ساتھ قریب جنگ سے لے کر کوویڈ ‪ 19‬میں وبائی بیماری‬
‫اور گندم ‪ ،‬چینی اور بجلی کے بحران تک ‪ ،‬چیلنجوں کے الکھوں‬
‫لوگوں کے حقیقی نتائج برآمد ہوئے ہیں۔ وزیر اعظم کو یہ تسلیم کرنے‬
‫کے لئے کہ ان کی انتظامیہ حکمرانی سے واقف ہو رہی ہے – اس ماہ‬
‫کی طرح حالیہ عرصہ میں کم از کم چار کابینہ میں ردوبدل کے پس‬
‫منظر میں – یہ ملک کے امور پر قیادت کی گرفت کا ثبوت ہے۔‬
‫جب زندگیاں اور معاش معاش خطرے میں پڑ رہے ہیں تو ‪ ،‬کیا کسی‬
‫حکومت کو چیلنجوں سے نمٹنے سے پہلے چند ہفتوں سے زیادہ‬
‫ایڈجسٹمنٹ کی اجازت دی جانی چاہئے؟ موجودہ حکومت کے لئے‬
‫کارکردگی کا آغاز کرنے کا وقت اگست ‪ 2018‬میں اقتدار سنبھالنے کے‬
‫بہت جلد ہونا چاہئے تھا۔ یکے بعد دیگرے حکومتیں ماضی کے نظاموں‬
‫کو ان کے وراثت میں ملنے والی گندگی کا ذمہ دار ٹھہراتی ہیں۔ یہ‬
‫مستثنی نہیں ہے ‪ ،‬وزیر اعظم نے ‪ 18‬ویں ترمیم کا الزام‬
‫ٰ‬ ‫انتظامیہ بھی‬
‫لگایا ہے۔ ایک بار پھر ‪ ،‬حقیقت یہ ہے کہ مرکز کے اختیارات کا دائرہ‬
‫نیا تصورات نہیں ہیں اور آنے والے سربراہ حکومت یا ان کی ٹیم کو‬
‫حیرت سے نہیں پکڑنا چاہئے۔ در حقیقت ‪ ،‬یہ پوچھا جاسکتا ہے کہ‬
‫حکومت کے اقتدار میں منتخب ہونے کے بعد کسی کارکردگی کے‬
‫ریکارڈ پر دستخط کیوں نہیں ہوئے۔‬
‫نیز ‪ ،‬حکومتی رہنماؤں نے اپوزیشن کے ساتھ اپنے تعلقات کی عکاسی‬
‫ا کام کرنا چاہئے۔ اس میں کوئی ‪do‬کرتے ہوئے نئے سال میں اچھ‬
‫شک نہیں ہے کہ حالیہ حکمرانوں نے موجودہ حکمرانوں کے لئے‬
‫حکمرانی کرنا زیادہ مشکل بنا دیا ہے لیکن اگر حکومت اپوزیشن کے‬
‫ساتھ کم گستاخانہ روابط استوار کرتی تو چیلنج اس سے بھی کم خوفزدہ‬
‫ہوسکتا ہے۔ یہ بھی وقت آگیا ہے کہ تحریک انصاف کے اندر تنازعات‬
‫‪ ،‬جن کا اکثر و بیشتر عوامی حلقوں میں دخل پڑا ہے ‪ ،‬وزیر اعظم نے‬
‫ان کا ازالہ کیا۔ حکومت کے دانتوں سے چلنے والی دشواریوں کا‬
‫عوامی طور پر داخلہ اعتماد کو متاثر نہیں کررہا ہے ‪ ،‬لیکن چیلنج کا‬
‫مقابلہ کرنا اور اچھی کارکردگی کا مظاہرہ کرنا اس چال کو انجام دے‬
‫سکتا ہے۔‬
‫‪…………………………………………………………………………..‬‬
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‫‪ii. Tribune Editorials.‬‬
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‫‪iv. Pak Observer.‬‬
v. Express Newspaper.
vi. Daily Times.
vii. New york times or wall street journal.
viii. ‫اج کے کالم‬
2 ..Magazines.
i. The Economist.
ii.World Times.
iii.neerpear Magazine.
iv.global age.
v. Foreign Affairs.
vi. Css Times.
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i. hourly news any Pakistani news channel.
ii. Aljazeera News at daily Basis.
iii. RT or TRT news at daily basis.
4..Daily videos.
i. Qasim Ali Shah mitivational Videos.
ii. Dawn news editorial or opinion with short summary.
ii. Informative videos.
iv. Videos on CSS..PMS..NTS math Questions with
solution and explanation..(not on daily basis).
5..Book.
i. CSS BOOKS. (Those books that I have in my cell memory
not all css books).
ii. CSS NOTES.
Iii GK books.
iv. Historic Books.
v. Grammar Books.
vi. upto date study material.
Information for all competitive exams.
And other material according to css and pms exams.
Rules.
i. Monthly Fee for all of it is Rs.100 you can send me
through easy paisa on my easy paisa account no.
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ii. I’ll send those books or other material which are
mentioned above and I have in my cell memory
not all types of materials.
iv. On any type of disturbance you’ll be removed form
group and you are not allowed to send this material in
your groups.
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…………………………………………………………………………..

OPINIONS.
Disappearances:a festering
sore.
I.A. Rehman
THE latest (for November 2020) monthly press release of
the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances
offers us sufficient information to show that enforced
disappearances should continue to attract the attention
of the government and civil society as one of the
topmost matters of concern to them.
The document tells us that complaints of enforced
disappearances continue to be received by the
commission as 23 such complaints were received during
November 2020, and that with the addition of these
cases the total number of cases referred to the
commission has risen to 6,854. Of these cases, the total
number disposed of till Nov 30, 2020, was 4,782 and the
balance of cases carried forward is 2,072.
The break-up of the 34 cases disposed of during
November this year is as follows: 13 cases were deleted
as they could not be treated as instances of enforced
disappearance or complete addresses were not available.
Out of the 21 persons traced during the month of
November, 10 returned home, four were found at
internment centres, another four were found in jails,
while three of them had died.
The commission was candid enough to report that five
complainants from Swat and one from Lower Dir
withdrew their cases from the commission and the
common entry about them says: “The case has been
closed as the complainant has withdrawn his complaint
[of] his free will to avail some other remedy for redressal
of his grievance.” Such an admission of some aggrieved
persons’ lack of confidence in the commission is quite
rare in the annals of the government.
The commission is apparently not interested in finding
out who picked up the victims and why.
Some of the stories of persons that have been traced are
quite interesting as well. Take the following case: Ahmad
Said Khan belonging to a village in Buner District was
reported missing in December 2014. The account of his
having been traced is as follows: “Ahmad Said entered
appearance before the Commission, whose statement
was recorded on oath, in which he deposed that he
surrendered himself to Pak Army and after keeping him
in detention for five months they handed him over to
police. Thereafter he remained in detention in Dagar jail
for about one year and in the meanwhile his case
remained under trial in Anti-terrorism Court at Swat
which acquitted him. Now he was at home and earning
his livelihood.”
Is it actually possible to gloss over this tale of
unmitigated suffering? Investigations in some other cases
have yielded identical findings.
The case of Muhammad Ejaz belonging to Kurram
District, who was reported to have disappeared in April
2013, is also worth noting. The entry about him says: “MI
Directorate report dated 30.7.2020 indicates that
Muhammad Ejaz s/o Abdul Khaliq is interned in the
Internment Centre, Laki Marwat. Abdul Razzaq, uncle of
the traced person, was present before the Commission
and apprised of the status of the case. No further action
is required. The case is closed.”
How can anyone assume that the case is closed? In fact,
the case begins at this point. The man disappeared in
2013 and his fate is being reported in July 2020. What
happened to him during the intervening seven years?
When was he taken to the internment centre and why?
The case cannot be arbitrarily closed. For what was he
picked up and was he given a fair trial? It bears repeating
that, instead of the case being closed, it actually starts at
this point.
Let us look at the case of Ammar Abbas from a village in
Muzaffarabad District, who had disappeared in October
2017. The entry about him says: “Focal person of MI
appeared before the Commission who submitted report
dated 17.11.2020 which states that Ammar Abbas is
interned in the Internment Centre, Fizaghat. No further
action is required. Family will be facilitated to see him
subject to prescribed procedure.” There is no indication
as to when Ammar Abbas was admitted into the
internment centre.
These accounts fully expose the extremely limited nature
of the inquiry commission’s activities. This commission is
apparently not interested in finding out who had picked
up the victims and why. Why did the commission not
investigate the actions of the authorities that were
involved? Is the commission unaware of the Supreme
Court ruling that statements of all persons who are
released or recovered should be recorded so that those
guilty of depriving innocent citizens of liberty could be
prosecuted?
It was in view of the uselessness of the commission that
United Nations experts and domestic observers had
asked the government not to extend the term of the
commission when it expired a few months ago, but the
government did not heed the advice. The commission
does not have a fulltime chairperson, and retired justice
Javed Iqbal, who heads the National Accountability
Bureau, is unfairly burdened with the additional
responsibility of looking after the commission.
What the government must do to deal with the issue of
enforced disappearances has been pointed out on
numerous occasions. First of all, Pakistan must ratify the
UN Convention on the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance. Causing an enforced
disappearance must be made a penal offence, and those
responsible for any enforced disappearance must be
prosecuted. In 2014, a bill to criminalise enforced
disappearance was tabled in the National Assembly but
was not taken up by the PTI government. As has been
pointed on several occasions, the government may bring
in its own bill if it did not like the previous government’s
draft.
The state should also coordinate its work on the subject
with the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.
Unfortunately, when this group visited Pakistan a few
years ago, the authorities here declined to meet them
except for the then chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.
This attitude must change.
…………………………………………………………………………..
 For your eyes only.
Khurram Husain.
THE prime minister made an astonishing revelation on
Tuesday. While speaking to his team of ministers and
advisers and special assistants — when he said it’s a good
idea to do your homework before coming to power — he
observed, “for one and a half years we remained unable
to even know the actual figures of different sectors,
particularly the power sector. From one ministry at times
the figures indicated we were performing very well and
then sometimes some other figure showed we were not
performing that well.”
Pause for a moment and absorb the full impact of this.
For one and half years, we are being told, the
government could not even get its figures straight, let
alone adopt a policy direction. Some of us knew this all
along, and even wrote about, saying the government
does not seem to know what it’s doing. It was clear to
see for those who have eyes and ears. A leader appealing
to his population to step forward and make donations to
the dam fund, to take one example, was all that was
needed to know that the ruling party had come to power
with no idea of how big the world is, how complex is its
machinery and how delicate the balance of the moving
parts.
But let’s not get too strung up on this. Those in
government take umbrage when we listen too carefully,
and the inevitable cries of ‘he said this but he meant
that’ get triggered. Let’s focus instead on one more
ceremony of senior government leaders assembled to
“evaluate the performance of ministries”. Having seen
this same spectacle more times than I care to count over
the years it should be clear by now that it is little more
than a ceremonial performance.
Some of us have had the tedious task of following closely
all the ceremonial performances that count for
governance these days and need no effort to recall this,
but to those who have been paying scant attention to the
news flow, it is worth recalling how many times we have
been here before.
It seems that the government came to power with no
idea of how big the world is and how complex is its
machinery.
The first ‘performance review’ was in December 2018 on
the first 100 days of the PTI government. “The
circumstances are not normal. We are passing through
an extraordinary situation and I expect all the ministers
to show extraordinary performance” that report quotes
the prime minister as telling his ministers. Specific
performance targets were given to all ministers in that
cabinet meeting, which was held in an air of seriousness
as the IMF talks dragged on, the economy was stalling,
and the leadership was beginning to wake up to the fact
that running things in a country of 200 million people
was serious business which would take more than
televised appeals to emotion to pull off.
Then in January 2019, the creation of a cell to monitor
the performance of ministers and government servants,
to be headed by Arshad Dad, the party secretary general
at the time, was ordered. You’ll have to do some serious
excavating in the news flow to find out what became of
that cell. A little more than a month later we had another
announcement of quarterly reviews to be held to
monitor the performance of all ministries, who would be
required to deliver 30-minute presentations to show how
much they had performed against targets that were
supposedly established during a cabinet meeting in
November of the preceding year. There was no mention
in this announcement of what happened to the decision
of the Dec 10 cabinet meeting to give ministries three
months to meet specified targets. Three months later,
we had another meeting, another sombre
announcement, another ceremonial vow to get serious
and make ministers hold presentations.
Then in August came another announcement, this time
vowing to make performance reports of all ministries
public. “In a pioneering move, PM Imran Khan has
decided to break the mould of this cryptic style of
governance and push facts and figures of the
performance of various ministries to the public more
rigorously than any previous government” went the
opening line of an article written by somebody who
seemed awfully impressed after this announcement.
Nothing further.
The next month, in September, we had another
announcement, this time of ‘red letters’ being issued to
27 ministries for being lax in implementing specific tasks
assigned to each. Many of these were mundane, such as
counting up the number of vacant posts in their divisions,
but were left unfulfilled. This time the leadership was
serious, went the word. And then in May 2020, there was
another announcement of another round of ‘red letters’.
By April 2020 sources in the PM Office were telling
reporters that the prime minister was deeply dissatisfied
with the performance of several of his ministries. “The
PMO has directed all the federal ministers to submit a
detailed report on the meetings held in their ministries,
decisions taken and implementation on those decisions
since the time of their taking office” went one report that
was sourced to a PMO official. In June 2020, there was
another warning. “We have six months to deliver and
show results” the cabinet was told at that time,
triggering fevered speculation that something in the
critical equation that holds this government together
might snap soon.
Yet here we are, six months later, and now we learn that
through all this they didn’t even have their numbers
straight. And another round of performance targets,
another announcement that ‘this time it is for real’.
While the music plays, this merry-go-round will never
end. This is not a vow to improve governance. It is a
performance, a ceremony meant for your eyes only, to
create the impression that folks are now buckling down.
Good luck to those tasked with cheerleading all this.
…………………………………………………………………………..
 Unhappy X’mas
F.S. Aijazuddin.
WHAT has mankind done to itself? World wars, global
warming, lemming-like migrations, and now Covid-19.
Will we ever see an unclouded morn again?
When January 2020 dawned, no one imagined that its
tail-ender December would close on a note of such
helpless despair. The world is undergoing an
unprecedented convulsion as convivial celebrations
shrink into forced isolation, annual traditions are packed
away for a Covid-free day, and human emotions are
being tested as never before. Joy has become a word to
be used only in the past tense.

Worldwide, scientists have been developing vaccines

faster one fears than the speed of safe practices. Three
have emerged ahead of others in the Free World —
Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford AstraZeneca. Rather like the
major political parties in the West, they are identical in
purpose, distinguishable from each other only in the
detail.
To the layman, the major differences are the
temperature at which the vaccine can be stored safely,
and its cost to the vulnerable poor. Oxford’s vaccine can
be stored at fridge temperature, Moderna requires
storage at -20 degrees Celsius; Pfizer at an Arctic -78°C.
Who will foot the bill, and how?
The comparative cost of the doses is equally disparate.
One report estimates $39 for two doses for the Pfizer
vaccine, $50 for two doses of Moderna, and a low $3 a
dose for the Oxford. The Oxford loaves-and-fishes
miracle might be made possible through Covax, a global
initiative that hopes to distribute about two billion doses
to 92 low- and middle-income countries at a maximum
cost of $3 a dose.
On the far side of the once Iron Curtain, Russia has
developed its own Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik-V) vaccine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a massive
‘voluntary’ free vaccination programme against Covid-19.
Western reports indicate that only half of Russia’s
population are willing to be inoculated ‘voluntarily’.
In parallel, China has been concentrating on two state-
sponsored vaccines — Sinovac and Sinopharm. Although
they have not been tested to the nth degree, these
Chinese vaccines, like Covid-19 itself, have been exported
already to other countries, hopefully with less lethal
consequences .
In Pakistan, while the opposition PDM is busy with loftier
distractions, the PTI government is occupying itself — as
befits a bankrupt country with no healthcare — with
Covid-19 prevention rather than its cure. It has privatised
social distancing, leaving it to its citizenry to imitate self-
restraint.
From its depleting coffers, the government has
earmarked $150 million towards the procurement of a
vaccine, “initially to cover the most vulnerable five per
cent of the population” (ie front-line health workers and
people above the age of 65 years). Experts have yet to
decide from which source the vaccine supplies will be
procured, Western or Eastern, when or at what price.
$150m doesn’t buy much these days.
As a country dependent upon Saudi handouts and
Chinese subventions, Pakistan’s access to the vaccine will
be determined by the quantity available with
manufacturers, its ability to pay, and, most importantly
for a country with shallow pockets, the burden and the
incidence of cost. Who will foot the bill, and how? One
popular news channel has given this wishful forecast:
“Two vials of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine will cost
Rs1,000 in Pakistan. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s vials
will cost Rs6,000. The Moderna vaccine will cost
Rs12,000.” Charity may begin at home. It is not elastic. It
does not extend to pharmaceutical companies.
Some may remember the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s brave
attempt in 1972 to introduce generic medicines. The
public welcomed his initiative hoping it would lead to a
reduction in prices. Bhutto was thwarted by powerful
Western pharmaceutical firms and their local licensees,
abetted by the country’s medical profession. Will some
socially conscious corporate obtain a licence to
manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine locally? Theoretically,
yes, provided it could remain one step ahead of Covid-
19’s ingenious mutations. Meanwhile, our health
authorities may achieve greater success with the anti-
Covid-19 vaccine than they have with the innocuous
polio one. Only time and failure will tell.
Covid-19 had been as destructive to modern civilisation
as the mad monk Rasputin was to the 300-year-old
Romanov dynasty, the latest television series The Crown
is to the present British monarchy, and chain-mail coups
have been to democracy.
In London, on Dec 25 — a date he shares with Jesus
Christ and Quaid-i-Azam M.A. Jinnah — PML-N chief
Nawaz Sharif will celebrate his 71st birthday with his sons
in Avenfield House, Mayfair. He was elected Pakistan’s
prime minister thrice — in 1990, 1997, and in 2013. After
three doses, he should have developed an immunity by
now to that insidious virus — power
His fellow prime ministers — Boris Johnson and Imran
Khan — have offered him a cruel choice of birthday gifts
— be locked down in London, or be locked up in Lahore.
…………………………………………………………………………..

Bundal Island life

Ahmad Shabbar.
THE excitement surrounding the proposed development
of Bundal Island has the power brokers and real-estate
developers in a tizzy. A world-class resort type of facility
is going to be built off the coast of Karachi, far away from
the mess that Karachi itself has become. An enclave for
the super-rich of Pakistan to live in splendid isolation
from the rest of Sindh. Governor Imran Ismail says that it
will “surpass Dubai” and all stakeholders are enthralled
by this prospect.
The reality of this project is a little different. Bundal
Island is not physically connected to the mainland but
located one mile away from DHA Phase VIII. So how does
one get to and from the island? By boat? This takes two
hours each way. So it rules out any residents that have to
get to work off the island in the morning. Or any students
that need to get to school or college during the day.
‘Oh we can build a bridge to Bundal Island,’ say the
supporters. The cost of constructing a causeway over
water runs $89-95 million per kilometre. This means that
the 1.6 km bridge over to the island will cost $142m at
the very least. There will be annual interest payments on
the capital used for the bridge as well as the cost of
upkeep. A failing bridge is not an attractive feature for
super-rich investors.

The next issue is power. If Bundal Island is connected to

the mainland power distribution system, then it will
require submarine cables to conduct electricity and gas
to the island, with substations located at both ends of
the submarine cable. Then an entire underground
distribution grid has to be developed for the island.
Conservatively, this power infrastructure installation will
cost over $100m. Interest costs on this investment at
seven per cent will work out to Rs1.2 billion per year.
Who will pay for these costs? The residents of Bundal
Island or all of Karachi?
The reality of this project is a little different.
Will the residents be paying for electricity at the current
highly subsidised tariff being offered by K-Electric? Or will
they pay the market rate for power? Singapore Power
estimates that the monthly charge for power to a
bungalow on the island nation is S$758 per month. This
works out to about Rs91,000 per household on Bundal
Island.
How about water supply? Clearly, the tanker system will
not work on the island. So there is the obvious solution: a
desalination plant. But wait! According to Dubai
Electricity and Water Authority, it costs Dhr1 to process
37 gallons of water in the desalination plant. We
estimate that providing desalinated water for Bundal
Island residents will be Rs39,000 per month per
household. Of course, we must not forget the cost of
setting up a desalination plant. A plant that can serve the
island will cost $300m. The interest costs on capital
borrowing of that scale will be Rs3.5bn per year. Again,
who pays for these development costs?
We then come to waste treatment. What is the Pakistan
Islands Development Authority’s plan for that? Will all
the trash and effluent be dumped into the sea? That will
make for a very smelly place to live. And the trash will be
swept back up to the land with the tide, as it does on
Seaview Beach in Karachi. One cannot imagine any of the
so-called elites tolerating such an environment.
‘So how about a waste-to-energy plant,’ say the
supporters. The sum total of solid municipal waste that
can be generated through this development is 16,650
tons per month. This level falls far below the tonnage
required to operate a W2E plant successfully. So what is
the solution? Is the trash going to be shipped back to the
mainland by boat every day? After all, this kind of
development cannot have kachra-kundis spread over the
town. Where will the sewage lines lead to? The ocean?
Or will the plans include a waste treatment plant as well?
Consider the costs of constructing one of those.
Then, of course, there is the healthcare issue. Where will
the residents go in the case of a medical emergency?
Travel by boat for two hours to get to see a doctor or get
admitted to a hospital?
Our estimates based on the size of the island of around
130 square kilometres indicates that the total number of
residents that can reside on Bundal Island is 731,000.
This means, given five persons per residence, the number
of housing units will be 146,263. This is a very small base
of residents for such a complex ecosystem to be
developed.
The danger of this development is that if all of the
infrastructure elements are not addressed, the project
will fail. The people of Karachi will then once again be left
with a half-built and abandoned project, huge
investment losses and a ruined ecosystem
......................................................................................