Adil Najam
Its time to take stock of the year 2006. Its also time for another ATP Poll.
We did think of doing something around a ‘Person of the Year’ theme and I even thought of a few possible candidates (here, here and here). But that seemed too obvious, and more likely to turn into a popularity contest rather than a thought-provoking discussion.
Instead, we want to focus on the following question:
WHICH EVENTS AND TRENDS FROM 2006 ARE MOST LIKELY TO LEAVE A LASTING IMPACT ON PAKISTAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY?
Our desire is to have the focus not just on what has happened in 2006, but in the implication of what happened in 2006 on the FUTURE of Pakistan. The emphasis is clearly on the future, and we hope to have a good discussion on why, which trend will impact the future of Pakistan, how.
(An explanation of what we mean by each choice is given below; because of a cache plug-in your vote may not appear in the results immediately.)
{democracy:2}
Unlike previous ATP Polls (on women rights, Gen. Musharraf’s future, past leaders, and Gen. Musharraf’s performance), the challenge here is not in phrasing the question but in figuring out possible options for the answer. Since we do not have the technological ability to allow readers to add their own options, we have narrowed down the list to the following ten key events and event-related trends. We are sure other things that could have been added to this, but without wanting to make this too long, too unwieldy or too broad, we have decided upon the following possible events and trends as answer choices. (Some of are very directly related to a specific event but signifying broader underlying trends; others are broader trends that relate to a collectivity of multiple smaller events.)
Movement on Pakistan-India relations (also here and here), especially including recent moves by Pakistan on Kashmir and related improvements in Pakistan-India relations.
Hiccups in Pakistan-USA relations (also here), including Pres. Bush’s visit to India and Pakistan and Gen. Musharraf’s visit to USA.
Frictions in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, including the re-rise of Taliban.
The killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti (also here) and the continuing unrest and volatility in Balochistan.
Signs of an impending break-up of the Mutihadda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), including over the resignation issue.
Positive economic trends, including rise of foreign investments in Pakistan (including for high visibility projects like the Centaurus), strength in some service sectors like telecommunication and banking, etc.
Negative economic trends, including rise in cost of living, inflationary pressures, stock-market controversies, etc.
Continuation of sectarianism and sectarian violence, including various attacks during first part of the year.
The passage of the Womens’ Rights Bill (also, here and here) and related events signifying a change in role of women in society (here, here and here).
Changes being brought into education curriculum and other educational reform, including how other communities and religions are portrayed within historical and other texts.
If you do want to influence the results, please, by all means ask your friends to also vote. Feel welcome to use the ‘Email’ button at the very top to send to your friends.
Voting is anonymous; as it should be. This is, of course, not be a very scientific poll, but it will at least give us a sense of what this community � the ATP cohort � thinks. Do vote, but please vote only once (even if you are smart enough to beat the system somehow).
On educational reforms, Zubeida Mustafa has written an excellent article in Dawn
http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/20/op.htm#2
[quote post="484"]…our education planners want that children should be taught subjects like science and maths in English so that they can compete at the international level. But is it not going too far to attempt to teach a child of five various mathematical concepts in a language to which his only exposure has been through TV ads. He would never be able to understand it. At the most he would memorise whatever the teacher tells him… By switching over to English, our education planners will ensure that the child never learns to think for himself.
The second problem worrying the education minister in Islamabad is the polarisation in society caused by some children studying in English medium schools and others being the products of schools that use Urdu as the medium of instruction. No one would deny that this polarisation is the bane of Pakistani society today. But it needs to be pointed out that a class divide is being created more by the disparity in the quality of education being imparted in the elite private sector institutions and the government schools. It is not the language but the academic quality that makes the difference.
When the government switches over to English as the medium for the teaching of science and mathematics the condition of the government schools will deteriorate further because the majority of their teachers do not know enough English. They will be teaching their students poor stuff in poor English. How that will remove the polarisation is not at all clear.
The basic truth that has still to gain recognition in our education circles is that the standard of education is to a very large extent determined by the quality of pedagogy. Good teachers produce good and accomplished students. A good teacher is one who not only knows his subject. He also has mastery over the language in which he communicates and has communication skills as well.[/quote]
All this is a farce to remove reference to Jihad, vice and virture, two nation theory, islamic ideology etc from Islamiat and Pakistan Studies textbook which most of us don’t remember after passing the exams.
YLH,
I dont know who do you mean when you say that no one has objection to AKP kind of Islam. Because Turkish Army, President, western media and EU is against that kind of Islam. Though I am still intrigued by your phrase “kind of Islam” but then this is not the post to discuss “kind of religion”. On freedom of religion: You are not allowed to pray, maintain a beard and wear headscarves in public offices and universities.
You and I both know what Musharraf and others refer to when they talk about Kemal Ataturk. Its definitely not Islamists they are talking about.
By any definition, Kemal was a nationalist and would be turning in his grave upon finding that he has been labelled as an islamist.
You say in the other post and here that you thought of making Saira Amin (air force sword of honor winner) as the Pakistani-of-the-Year. Interesting choice but I think for 2006 it has to be Bugti very clearly.
[quote post="484"]BTW, is your name real…or is it a play on Adil Najam… [/quote]
lol…..even though I’m a big fan of Mr. Najam, I wouldn’t go so far to change the name my parents gave me. No, it is my real name but an interesting observation on your part nonetheless.
On Turkey I’d like to say that it has become fashionable to describe AKP aka the Justice and Development Party as “Islamist” simply because they - like the Christian democrats of Europe- are proud of their faith.
By that standard … even Kemal Ataturk himself, with his fervent cry of Jehad and Muslim solidarity during the Turkish War of Independence, would be a greater Islamist than AKP.
The Turkish ruling elite in the first few decades after the demise of Kemal Ataturk sought to cement his legacy and excesses were committed. But today they’ve brought their nation to a point, where even the so called “Islamist” AKP is completely and wholeheartedly committed to Turkish Secularism (separation of Church and State) and complete freedom of religion. Infact, in many ways AKP are even more secular in the European Sense than the Kemalist Elite because the AKP has loosened the state’s stranglehold on religion.
If AKP and its leadership is “Islamist”, then no one has any objection to their kind of Islam.
Education reform will have the longest shadow in my opinion on our collective destiny.
Pakistan’s syllabi were destroyed through deliberate distortion in the 1980s- funded by American Dollars and University of Nebraska aimed at transforming Pakistan from a simple Muslim Majority State to a stauncly ideological and militarised hardline Islamic state as bullwark against communism … thank god the current syllabus being introduced is not ideological… but realistic. If American dollars are funding it then it is ironic… maybe Americans have suddenly realised that their course of action in the past was probably not the right one.
In any event I am glad someone has had the courage to undo the poisonous legacy/by product of the 1980s war against USSR.
[quote post="484"]Shujaat and Benazir meet in Dubai, discuss 2007 elections[/quote]
Is Shujaat visiting for Dubai Shopping festival? :>
He might have seen BB busy in shopping for Zardari so he would have thought k lagay hatoun siyasat bhe hojayee
For those of you who praise Turkey, have you ever been to Turkey. Except for the urban areas in the Western parts, Turkey is relatively poor and religiously inclined even after more than half a century of Kemalist politicians. Despite that, there has been a strong revival of islamists - the current AK party.
And if you follow Turkish politics, there is conflict appearing between the popularly elected AK party and the country’s president and the army (vanguards of secularism) who are trying to prevent them for implementing their laws.
And what if few years down the line, we have a strong islamist government, (seems unthinkable now but it happened in Turkey after more than half a century of secularists) would we accept it (like the Turks have done) or would we request someone in uniform to jump in with his uniform and push through secular politics or block islamist policies.
After Kemalization, they are moving back to islamization. I hope this aspect is also acceptable to all those praising Turkey.