TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

Pakistan football saga

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Editorial | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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THE nasty tug-of-war for administrative control of football affairs in Pakistan has

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brought the sport to the brink of an indefinite suspension by FIFA. An unprecedented

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chain of events has seen officials of the FIFA-backed PFF Normalisation Committee
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forced to vacate the PFF headquarters by the rival Ashfaq Group following a vicious
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attack. FIFA on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the Ashfaq Group that failure to hand
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the PFF headquarters back to the PFF NC could see Pakistan suspended for the second
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time in four years. However, the Ashfaq Group has refused to budge and, instead,
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demanded negotiations with FIFA. A FIFA suspension would see Pakistan miss out on
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international events, while foreign teams’ participation in football competitions of the

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South Asian Games, scheduled to be hosted by the country in 2023, are likely to be in
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peril. The recent events add to the long-running crisis that has afflicted football in the
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country for the better part of the last decade. From the abuse of power and financial
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and administrative irregularities to court battles, allegations and counter allegations,

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Pakistan football has seen it all, barring, of course on-field action that has pushed the
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national football team to an ignominious 200th spot in international rankings.

It is lamentable, too, how the government has been a mere bystander in the saga. In spite of
the capture of the PFF headquarters, all that the government has done is to ask FIFA to open a
fresh dialogue with football officials in Pakistan, claiming that suspension isn’t the way
forward. Regrettably, the history of sports in Pakistan is replete with incidents of political
appointments of officials whose arbitrary dealings have greatly damaged the development of
a variety of sports in the country. The other big menace are the parallel bodies formed by
vested interests who eventually leave things in a mess. Such practices must be done away
with to ensure a better future for our sportsmen and sportswomen.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021

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Suez Canal shipping backlog ends, days after giant Jahangir Tareen, son granted interim bail by Lahore
vessel freed courts in FIA cases
 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

South Punjab province

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Editorial | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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THE controversy that surrounds the Punjab government’s plans regarding the future of

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an administratively and financially autonomous south Punjab is not likely to go away

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with the withdrawal of notifications that reportedly rolled back the powers to be
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devolved to the people of this area. It is likely that the people will increase their focus
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on each step the provincial PTI government will take to empower, or disempower, the
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residents of south Punjab through the delegation, or otherwise, of authority to the small
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bureaucratic set-up created in the name of a separate secretariat. The latter had been
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regarded as the first step towards a full-fledged south Punjab province. The other day,
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Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that “human error” was responsible for the
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controversial notifications. One notification had “erroneously” taken back the order
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issued in September to administratively separate the province’s three divisions —

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Multan, Bahawalpur and D.G. Khan — with split secretariats at the divisional
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headquarters of Multan and Bahawalpur. The other amended the rules of business for
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south Punjab, limiting the authority of the officers appointed in the south Punjab
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secretariat. The chief minister also announced the formation of a ministerial committee
that is supposed to come up with recommendations for reinforcing the separate
administrative set-ups for the southern districts and devolving more functions and
departments to improve governance and resolve problems at the local level.

The PTI had won the majority of seats in the national and provincial legislatures from south
Punjab in the 2018 elections on the promise of creating a new Janoobi Punjab province.
Although it ring-fenced the share of the southern districts in the provincial development
budget in accordance with their population, the administration continues to delay bringing
the issue of the new province to the legislature for Punjab’s division into two parts. Not only
did it take the Buzdar administration two years to set up a separate secretariat for the region,
the officers working there have limited powers to take administrative or financial decisions in
their jurisdiction. This has led to frustration even within the ranks of the ruling party. Indeed,
the division of a province is never easy and requires much political give and take and several
changes in the country’s constitutional and legal framework. But a fully functional and
independent south Punjab secretariat equipped with complete administrative and financial
powers could be the first effective step if the intentions are honest.

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Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021

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tomorrow
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 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

Opposition split

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Editorial | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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THE Pakistan Democratic Movement is collapsing under the weight of its own

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contradictions. The escalating war of words between its two largest parties, the PML-N

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and PPP, is rupturing the alliance beyond repair. On Saturday, PPP leader Bilawal
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Bhutto-Zardari taunted his PDM partners again in a press conference. This was perhaps
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triggered by the decision of the PML-N a day earlier to form a separate bloc of five
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opposition parties in the Senate, excluding the PPP and ANP. The parliamentary leaders
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of these parties have also asked PDM chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman to demand an
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explanation from the other two parties regarding their conduct in the election of the
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leader of the opposition in the upper house. The PPP has reacted by saying they too can
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‘charge-sheet’ the PML-N for its conduct.

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Had the alliance shown greater maturity and political restraint, it would not have had to face
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this grim situation. It was always evident that the past would continue to haunt prospects of
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cooperation between the PML-N and PPP. The level of distrust between the two rivals had
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built up over the decades. It would have been naïve of anyone to expect that this accumulated
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reservoir of distrust would dissipate with the formation of the PDM. However, many believed
that their common desire to see the back of the PTI government would provide the bond that
the alliance needed. It worked well for the first few months but by January, when the hard
decisions about the long march and resignations from the assemblies cropped up, the alliance
began to strain at the seams. For a while it appeared that the PPP’s strategy of prioritising the
parliamentary over the street option was producing results and the other parties were
content to follow its lead, but then suddenly everything began to unravel. It was at this
juncture that wise leadership could have saved the day. Had the leaders of the two parties
confined their disagreements to closed-door meetings, and attempted to resolve these
differences with a flexible approach, perhaps the alliance could have been saved. The
aggressive manner in which both Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tackled these
disputes in full glare of the cameras left reduced any chances of a rapprochement. Whether it
was inexperience or ill judgement on part of these young leaders, the end result was the
veritable rupturing of the alliance.

The Supreme Court decision on the Daska election, which has gone in favour of the PML-N,
may be dulled by the impact of the PDM fracture. The PTI now finds itself in a better position

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to take advantage of the split in the opposition. For this no one is to blame other than the

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leadership of the two opposition parties. They cut the branch they were sitting on and now

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they are paying the price for it.

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Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021

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 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

PDM collapse no relief for PTI

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Abbas Nasir | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

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EVEN when the opposition PDM alliance, in the form we have known it, is collapsing, the
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question being asked is if the governing PTI really needs enemies given its incredible
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propensity to cause self-harm as the events of the past few days have demonstrated
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again.
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The governing party is being confronted with the rude awakening that holding sway over
social media with an untold number of dedicated supporters, that those opposed to the party
term a ‘troll army’, is easy, but governance and delivery is another story.

To be honest, it is easy to target and rubbish the PTI’s policy decisions, its multiple U-turns
that one social media user said had started to resemble a doughnut, and its inept handling of
the economy, but it is not that easy to call a spade a spade in terms of the party’s backers.
Take for example the lead headline in this newspaper’s April 1 edition that said: ‘Govt moves
to restore trade ties with India’. It was based on the news conference of the newly crowned
Finance Minister Hammad Azhar, who the prime minister had chosen to replace Hafeez
Shaikh.

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This remarkable day in the life of the PTI at

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the centre was replicated by a day in the

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life of the PTI in Punjab.

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This seemed to be a natural progression from the main story the day before, on March 31,
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whose heading was: ‘Pakistanis want peace with India, Imran tells Modi’. The story
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summarised the letter of thanks the prime minister sent in response to a message of
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felicitation sent by his Indian counterpart on March 23.

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The March 23 message and its response, for their part, did not come out of the blue as earlier
in the month addressing the Islamabad Security Dialogue the prime minister and then the
army chief offered an olive branch to New Delhi which represented a policy rethink.

Both Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders, in the order they addressed the Dialogue,
seemed to have softened their stance somewhat to the outrageous unilateral annexation of
India-held Kashmir by India when it scrapped the special status accorded to it by abrogating
Article 370 of the Indian constitution.
Since this unilateral Indian action in August 2019, Islamabad had been calling for its reversal.
This March’s Islamabad Security Dialogue saw the two Pakistani leaders call on India to move
towards a solution of all bilateral issues including Kashmir but a reference to Article 370 was
missing.

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If this was the result of backchannel diplomacy between the two sides that has been the
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subject of news stories in Indian and Pakistani media, including these columns, then wouldn’t
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it be safe to assume that some of these moves were choreographed, that is pre-agreed, as the
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first baby steps forward?

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But then the day after the trade resumption headline, the main story in April 2’s Dawn, read:
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‘Cabinet nixes ECC decision to allow imports from India’. The story said the federal cabinet
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had shot down the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) proposal announced a day
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earlier by the new finance minister.

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Who knows what happened in the 24 hours that saw the decision announced and later
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rescinded. Perhaps, reminders on the media that Nawaz Sharif was vilified for trying to
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better ties with India and called a traitor, while the same happening after the loss of so many
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years now seemed kosher, made key decision-makers nervous.

But that Pakistani government and its leaders appeared to be dithering over such a vital
decision was compounded by bizarre explanations by the PTI spin doctors such as Minister of
Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and SAPM on national security Moeed Yusuf.
Both addressed the fact that the prime minister, as he holds the commerce ministry portfolio

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too, signed off on the ECC summary and later as the head of the cabinet rejected it or at least

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decided to ‘defer’ the move, and offered identical explanations.

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Both said the prime minister wears two hats and so signed off the summary on strictly

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commercial considerations as commerce minister but then as prime minister wider

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considerations such as national security etc came into play so it was rejected.

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Moeed Yusuf wanted this dithering celebrated as a great win because, in his view, it
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represented strengthening of the institutions that everyone yearns for. It left many shaking
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their heads or, as my young daughter would say, was a ‘facepalm’ moment.
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This remarkable day in the life of the PTI at the centre was replicated by a day in the life of
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the PTI in Punjab when Chief Minister Usman Buzdar described the withdrawal of a
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notification of setting up a government secretariat for south Punjab in Multan as a ‘a

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technical mistake and a human error’.

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The notification was issued in September last year as part of the PTI pledge to improve
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governance in south Punjab and facilitate the people who would otherwise have had to travel
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all the way to Lahore for a solution to their issues. It was withdrawn last month.
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The above events make it apparent that even beyond the halfway mark, the PTI is still
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faltering in key decisions. This was also illustrated by making Hammad Azhar the finance
minister and then bringing in Shaukat Tarin as the head of an economic council to oversee
policy.

All this is happening against the backdrop of the collapse of the PDM as PML-N, JUI-F and
allied parties seem to be on the verge of showing PPP and ANP the door. The PTI ministers
have celebrated the demise of the alliance and understandably expressed much joy at it.
However, the PTI’s influential backers may have greater clarity and understand the
ramifications of an opposition led by the PML-N and followed by JUI-F cadres and vociferous
smaller parties when freed from the ‘moderating’ influence of the PPP and ANP.

The cause of the PTI is not being helped by its dithering. Coupled with an economy that is just
not taking off and with inflation still to be controlled, and scandals such as the one that saw
Nadeem Babar’s exit making people angry, who knows if the situation is salvageable.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

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abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

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Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021

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Administration of single dose Cansino begins PDM divide widens as parties pin hope on Fazl
tomorrow
 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

Endless pain

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Sammi Deen Baloch | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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AS I sat in Prime Minister House, anticipating the arrival of Prime Minister Imran Khan,

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I had a feeling of hope and triumph that my decade of struggle had finally borne fruit. It
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was not only me but before my meeting with the prime minister, I had received many
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calls from the families of missing persons, and they were hoping that this
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unprecedented meeting would be a step towards the release of missing persons in illegal
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detention or that at least they would find out where they were. But I think we still have
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a torturous wait ahead of us.

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After spending a week under the open skies in Islamabad’s nail-biting cold and sleeping in D-
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Chowk, we were given good reason to end our protest — Prime Minister Khan was going to
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meet us in mid-March. As the first step, the families of the missing persons were asked to send
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the names of the latter as the prime minister would give them an update during the meet-up.
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Before he became prime minister, Imran Khan was one of the most vocal voices against
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enforced disappearances. On March 18, three representatives of Baloch missing persons’

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families including myself, accompanied by Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari and
Zobeida Jalal met Prime Minister Khan. We stepped into his office with infinite hopes and
expectations.

The first thing that saddened me was that he had no information about our loved ones.
Worse, he was given wrong information, the kind that most families are conveyed: they have
gone away of their volition or have gone to the mountains or have been picked up because of
personal enmity. Soon the prime minister was given some written information about our
missing family members. The first bit was about my father.

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‘We need more than assurances. We are
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tired. We need results.’
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The prime minister asked me if my father had been picked up because of personal enmity. I
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said that wasn’t true and told him that there were witnesses who could testify that my father
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was abducted by the security forces. At this, the prime minister asked his personal secretary
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to get a follow-up on the cases and asked for new and updated reports. We were told we
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would be updated soon but were not given a date despite our insisting on it.
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We are told by activists and politicians that the prime minister is powerless regarding this
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issue, but we hope against hope. He had vowed no one would go missing when he became
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prime minister. We did not doubt his sincerity as we shared the stories of our pain, PTSD and
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sufferings. He felt all our pain and suffering.

The prime minister promised us that he would meet the army and ISI chiefs to discuss the
matter and pass a bill to criminalise enforced disappearances. The statement of DG ISPR, that
the issue of missing persons will be resolved soon and the prime minister’s assurance that he
would do his best to ascertain the whereabouts of and release our missing loved ones, are
welcome, but we need more than assurances now. We are tired. We need results.
Our lives have become a quest. Before the abduction of our family members, we had not seen
cities like Karachi and Islamabad. Now we spend our time on their streets and outside their
press clubs carrying portraits of our missing persons. We feel constant pain.

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I first came to Islamabad in 2010 and again with swollen feet. I walked 3,000km from Quetta
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to Karachi and then to Islamabad for the release of my father. This January too was the first
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time that most of our suffering families came to Islamabad.

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Our demands are very simple. We want to escape the collective punishment that an entire
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family suffers after the disappearance of one person. We want the release of missing persons.
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If they are suspected of committing a crime, they should be presented in a court of law.
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From the judiciary to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, we have

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knocked on every door. Recently we met the chairman of the aforementioned commission
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retired justice Javed Iqbal, who assured us that the ones who have gone missing since 2015
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would be released. But when? He too had no words for the people who went missing before
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2015.
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Truth be told, the commission is a toothless tiger. Since 2009, when my father was abducted, I
have attended dozens of JITs and commission meetings. My studies have been ruined and my
life has become a search. In a recent meeting of the JIT regarding my father’s disappearance,
representatives of all the security agencies including the ISI, MI, FC and police were present.
After a long discussion, I was informed there was now a ‘new reason’ behind my father’s
abduction. When I pleaded that I be told of it I was asked to leave the room.
 8
Now, some weeks have passed but no update has been received and we have not been

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contacted by the prime minister. Families are losing hope and making a decision: if the prime

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minister breaks his word, they will be back in Islamabad to stage a sit-in with a hunger strike.

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The writer is a missing persons activist.

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Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021

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Administration of single dose Cansino begins PDM divide widens as parties pin hope on Fazl
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 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

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Dangerous optics

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Waqas Younas | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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The writer is an author and entrepreneur.

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ON March 25, Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz shared a
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photo on his Twitter account that showed the prime minister who had tested positive
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for Covid-19 (I pray for his complete recovery) a few days before the picture was taken,
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meeting six men indoors. The minister captioned the photo, “Prime minister with the
media team today at Bani gala”.

This photo was a disturbing optic. What kind of a signal does it send? Does it signal that a
person who has tested positive for Covid-19 can start socialising? If so, is it not in strong
contrast to what the government itself is trying to stop citizens from doing? Does it signal that
you don’t need to isolate yourself when you have Covid-19? Or does it signal that you can’t
spread the Covid-19 virus even if you’re infected with it? Again, is it all not against medical
guidelines?

Let’s forget for a second that Covid-19 is wreaking havoc. Let’s not concern ourselves that
hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have died from this dangerous disease.
Let’s pass over the fact that many families are going through emotional trauma for having
lost their loved ones because of this deadly illness. Even if someone has a hard heart and
prefers to ignore all these facts, one can’t ignore that thousands of people are fighting for
their lives because of this very disease in our country even if we go only by the numbers

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released by the government.

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The picture points to another issue that I, as an ordinary citizen, find concerning. It is this.

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How does the government make its decisions? The public should know this since the minister

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made an unnecessary decision by sharing this photo. As a citizen, I would like to know how

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these decisions are made. How do those in power evaluate their choices? And I’m interested

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in finding out how the pros outweighed the cons in this particular case. More importantly, I

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wonder how those in power make consequential decisions. I want to know whether those in
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power show deliberation and seriousness of purpose while they make such decisions, and if
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so, how. Also, what does it take for those in power to realise and fix their mistakes? Because
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the last I checked, this picture was still on social media, and lest we forget, a picture is worth a
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thousand words. Are thousands of deaths not enough to realise the mistake? Is it not enough
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that every single day scores of mothers lose their sons and daughters, and children lose their
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parents? Is it not enough that people are losing their dreams, their support and hope? Is it not
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enough? What would it take to make one realise that it is enough?

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 What kind of signals did the Banigala
picture send?

If people follow the message conveyed by this picture in its spirit, it can put their lives in
danger since some of them like to follow their beloved leaders blindly. Sadly many political
leaders play down the risk of this deadly virus. Meetings of people infected with the virus can
be dangerous at a time when this deadly illness is attacking us with all its force and fury.

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So this picture raises three more questions. As a national leader, is it prudent to put the lives

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of those who follow you out of love and respect at risk? No, it’s not. In this case, the leader

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unfortunately did that but luckily this can be undone by owning and fixing the error.

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Secondly, as a leader, do you put the lives of your most trusted allies in danger? No, you don’t.

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But in this case the lives of six people (and possibly more if we count the person who took the

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picture) and their families were potentially at risk. Thirdly, is it not wise to stop each other

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from doing something unwise? It certainly is. But, sadly, the men in the picture couldn’t do
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that. Noble men are noble because of their noble deeds.

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Any private act of a public leader that can lead to public harm can break the trust that people
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place on the leader — trust that the leader would prioritise the well-being of his people; trust
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that the leader would take care of the emotional and physical safety of his people. Is it fair
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and just to break that trust and then publicise it too?

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Some may say that this writer is trying to blow an innocuous incident out of proportion. Well,
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it wasn’t innocuous. This meeting was a blatant violation of SOPs. This meeting was a bold
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denial of expert health opinion. If this meeting was necessary, the simple use of technology
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could have made it possible. Also, to me it’s a communication blunder by the government and
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I say that as someone who has lost a few dear ones in his family to Covid-19. And as someone
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who’s still trying to navigate through these difficult times when every day I come across
people who still challenge the existence of a disease which is as real as it can be. And this
alone is enough of a reason for all political leaders to act seriously.
 TODAY'S PAPER | APRIL 04, 2021

Changing security paradigm?

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Muhammad Amir Rana | Published April 4, 2021 - | Updated about an hour ago

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The writer is a security analyst.

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A SERIES of recent events has led many to speculate that winds of change pertaining to
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the national security paradigm may be blowing in Islamabad’s policy corridors. From
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the Pakistan army chief’s calling on India and Pakistan to bury the past and move on,
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and the exchange of letters between the two countries’ prime ministers, to the renewed
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discourse on bilateral trade — despite the subsequent backtracking — it reflects

Pakistan’s apparently changing and intertwined national security and economic
diplomacy outlooks. And this is happening at a time when an initial draft of the long-
awaited national security policy is expected to be soon submitted to the prime minister.

Successive governments in Pakistan, since 2008 to be precise, have struggled to craft a brand
new, comprehensive national security policy. They assigned the task to diplomats,
bureaucrats, and retired generals, who submitted the drafts to their respective governments.
While the governments, for reasons unknown, preferred not to announce or make public
those policy drafts, portions of these made their way into the media. They indicated a shift
from geostrategic to geo-economic considerations, and the insertion of non-traditional and
human security dimensions into the orbit of national security. The last policy document had
gone a step further by adding a component of regional connectivity to supplement the
Chinese Belt and Road Initiative while conceiving Pakistan as a transit state. Although
previous versions have already covered most essential elements of national security, both
internal and external, the incumbent government claims that the policy draft it intends to put
forth would be the outcome of a more inclusive process.

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However, it is difficult to understand these ‘mysterious’ inclusive processes in Pakistan, in

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particular on national security, which evade parliament and are usually considered the

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exclusive domain of powerful institutions. Lack of parliamentary debate on the issue was also

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a major flaw in the previous drafts of the national security policy. On the whole, in Pakistan,

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democracy or democratic processes are hardly considered a factor in nurturing national

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cohesion, building trust among communities and bringing economic prosperity to the

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country. There is no harm in getting input from academic institutions and think tanks, despite
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their sorry state of affairs in the country. At least the standing and special committees of the
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lower and upper houses can be taken on board. In the end, these committees can ensure
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implementation and transparency in policy discourse. But the establishment is not a big fan
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of these committees and often ridicules the ‘quality’ of the people’s representatives.
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The fate of the policy framework, which has yet to materialise, cannot be predicted. The
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bureaucracy has also developed some security frameworks, including the National Internal
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Security Policy, Counter Violent Extremism Policy, and National Dialogue Policy. However,
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these policies have never been taken seriously enough to be implemented. The existing power
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structure is not capable of conceiving new ideas nor can it implement even what it devises on
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its own. The National Action Plan is another example of this failure, with a little exception in
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that parliament was taken on board, at least for its endorsement. This is the reason NAP is
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still alive in memory and we recall it whenever any critical extremism challenge arises.
 A shift in our security approach needs open
discussion on public forums, media, and in
parliament.

8
61
80
02
Developing a discourse on critical security challenges does not require rocket science. The

41
collective memory of a nation guides its provisions, which are largely related to our lives,

03
society and nation. Drafting may require skill and for this purpose, the bureaucracy is

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brought in. If shorn of clichés and jargon, the national security discourse can be described in

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a simple way.

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To handle its internal and external challenges, Pakistan needs a strong economy and good
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relations with the world, especially with its neighbours. Among the neighbours, India is the
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most critical challenge, mainly because of the Kashmir issue. To deal with India, there are
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several courses of action possible, including direct talks, mediation or complete

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disengagement. To defuse tensions, there are few better examples in both countries than the
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efforts made by Vajpayee, Musharraf, and Mian Nawaz Sharif. If required, these can be used
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as a template or they can be reinvented, but the most important consideration is leadership.
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The relationship between India and Pakistan has passed through many ups and downs.
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During the good patches it has triggered enormous optimism on both sides, but its
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fundamentally conventional framework has remained intact. It is interesting that whenever a

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change in national security is conceived in Islamabad, it starts from the eastern border. This
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is natural as our political universe revolves around the threat from the eastern side, and this
is deeply rooted in our psyche.

In that context, does there need to be a shift in Pakistan’s security approach? Does the
conventional security paradigm not serve the purpose? If so, why, and what kind of shift does
the power elite have in mind? These questions need an open discussion on public forums,
media, and most importantly, in parliament.
 8
61
Pakistan’s political and strategic position has been subject to an international coercive

80
02
process, where its relationship with traditional allies including the US and the Middle East

41
has gone through a transformative phase, and India has exploited it very well. Since its

03
inception, Pakistan’s economy has remained dependent on its political and strategic

e)
relationship with the world, mainly the West, China, and the Middle East. Whenever global

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and regional political dynamics change, Pakistan’s economy suffers. The power elites have

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been successful in so far as realignment and adjusting according to their strategic needs are
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concerned, but they have never seriously addressed the economic issue.
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Pakistan has to focus more on transforming its economy, which may require good relations
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with India, Afghanistan and Iran. Conceiving everything in the security perspective and
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putting everything in the basket of human security will further empower the elites, which are
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least interested in reforming the economy, state, and society, and more concerned about
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maximising the advantages to themselves. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has become
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a victim of this mindset. CPEC has great potential to transform the economy and challenge the
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existing means of production, but the idea has been confined to a narrow strategic and
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political context.
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The writer is a security analyst.

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Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2021