Lights out in Faisalabad: Protest or civil war?
The loadshedding crisis in Faisalabad which took place last week could have been expected in the wake of unprecedented quota reduction of power supply from the national grid. Over a dozen demonstrations took place in all parts of the city. Even stakeholders took the opportunity to participate in a protest that was initially launched four days ago by powerloom workers and owners. The issue of loadshedding seems to be heading towards political turmoil in the country. The Faisalabad protest took a more serious turn when Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, sensing the volatile emotions of the business community, reassured them ...
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The Pakistan-Iran pipedream
For a government often accused of indecision and weakness, Islamabad has been strikingly defiant about its determination to pursue a natural gas pipeline deal with Iran. Pakistan’s strident tone has not changed in light of Washington’s heightened sanctions regime vis-à-vis Iran, which bans countries from having commercial transactions with Tehran. The foreign ministry has declared that the sanctions do not affect the pipeline project. Other Pakistanis, however, fear that the sanctions may well present problems. One prominent lawyer has suggested Islamabad go so far as to lobby the UN to ensure the ...
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Energy woes: Taking up Iran’s offer
If the average person on the street was aware of the recent discussions between Iran and Pakistan, he would, more than anything, want them to succeed. The long queues at CNG stations and daily power outages are reason enough for Pakistan to grab on to this offer for assistance from its neighbour. The Iranian foreign minister was in Pakistan for discussions on a wide range of issues pertaining to economic cooperation. These include the much-talked about Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, which if it were built, could help reduce Pakistan’s energy burden. The deal for this pipeline was first signed in 1995 and ...
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City of lights… only during the day
Not once, not twice… but a dozen times I have witnessed the city of Karachi being true to its name. The City of Lights, as it was called, has of late seen more than its fair share of darkness. But wait… there have been instances of the city being alight, trying hard to regain its past glory. It’s quite a pity that that has happened only during the day when it is least needed. At 5 pm at the peak of summer, I was rather upset to see all the street lights near Karsaz and on Sharah-e-Faisal shining merrily as ...
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Punished for living near Mangla dam
We learn nothing from history. Our incompetence makes sure of it, and the common man bears the burden. The issue of affectees of the ‘Raising of Mangla Dam Project’ is another such case of incompetency and mismanagement, where state institutions have failed to deliver promised and much-touted respite to the people, not because of its low capacity but due to its lack of foresight and poor institutional coordination. Affectees of the ‘Raising of Mangla Dam Project’ have once again been staging protests against the incomplete and delayed process of compensation. Grievances run deeper than that. A high ranking official in the ...
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What’s a little sovereignty worth?
Our country has failed its citizens. In a world where South Korea just spent tens of billions of dollars to ensure that each citizen has high speed broadband connections, fewer than 20 per cent of Pakistanis have access to the internet. Think about this: more than 75 per cent of our population does not know what Google is. And yet, in 1947, South Korea was as poor as we were. So what do we do? The current state of affairs One would think that, like Indonesia, we should be spending as much money on education as possible (Indonesia devotes a whopping 20 ...
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Earth Day: Five small steps to a billion acts of green
Today is the 41st anniversary of the Earth Day. This year’s theme is “A billion acts of green” and the goal is to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before the global Earth Summit 2012 in Rio. We can all contribute to a greener earth by doing at least one act of conservation in order to make those “billion acts of green” possible. 1. Recycle Start by recycling at home. We could encourage our kids to re-use old cans, tins and cardboard boxes to make useful things at home, like jewelry boxes and bookmarks. We can also reuse jam jars ...
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Typing with frozen hands in Gilgit-Baltistan
To be a journalist in Gilgit-Baltistan, one requires extraordinary patience not because of the many security threats in the region, but also because of the unfavorable working conditions, especially in winter. Access to information is not a challenge in Gilgit. It can be gathered under all circumstances be it times of peace or turbulence provided one has sufficient sources willing to cooperate. In fact, the G-B Supreme Court had recently ruled that access to official information is the right of a journalist, making it easier for journalists. As far as the threats are concerned, a journalist working for an ...
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The untapped power potential of AJK
On a recent visit to my hometown Chakothi in Azad Kashmir, I felt disconnected from the rest of the world due to the perpetual darkness I endured for two days. Azad Kashmir is said to have an enormous potential for producing hydropower – up to 17,000 megawatts. The state continues to witness many rulers making tall claims about developing it up to the standards of Dubai or Paris – something that does not seem like a hard task given AJK’s relatively small size in terms of population (3.2 million). Azad Kashmir consumes around 300 to 400 megawatts of power only, making ...
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Pakistan’s ‘Johnny Bravo’ returns
Pervez Musharraf recently announced his intention to return to Pakistan and actively take part in politics. He still seems to enjoy strong support among the Pakistani elite and urban middle class, business community and some political stakeholders. There are expectations that he will bring back the policies of his era which will lead to peace and economic prosperity. The following is intended as an analysis of his policies and reforms and the regions they benefited most. Economy Pakistan’s significant economic gains since 2002, which the Musharraf government takes credit for, were due to the impact of international post 9/11 developments. After 9/11, Pakistan was granted ...
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