Adil Najam
When you write and think deeply about Pakistan every day – and, really, every minute – you become sensitive not only to the great trends of our time but also to the subtle changes in those trends. Sometimes, although never often enough, such change is not only perceptible but positive.
The last few week have witnessed such a change. One cannot be certain yet whether this change is momentary or permanent – indeed, there are many reasons why it could be easily reversed – but it is clear that the combined effect of the displacement of 2.5 million Pakistanis from their homes, the growing immediacy and coming out of the shadows of the threat from extremism, and the forceful military action against militant forces, have had the combined effect of galvanizing Pakistanis. Our criticism of and cynicism for the government, for politics, for international affairs, for anyone and everyone with any power, has not subsided – nor should it – but our Pakistaniness, our Pakistaniat, is much more vividly, more unambiguously, more unconditionally on display.
This Pakistaniat has been on display right here in the generosity of our readers in response to our appeal for relief efforts for IDPs. But it has been even more profoundly on display everywhere else. It has been on display by my friend and fellow-blogger Dr. Awab Alvi (TeethMaestro) and his amazing effort to take truckloads of relief goods directly to those in greatest need. It has been on display in the calls to action made by relief organizations, by development organizations, by telethons, by newspaper appeals, by facebook appeals, by bloggers, by Pakistanis everywhere. It has been on display in our personal, institutional, national empathy for our displaced fellow Pakistanis. But most of all this heightened sense of Pakistaniat has been evident in the perceptible change in the tone of our conversations – conversations where we speak of ‘Pakistan’ not as if it was a group of powerful individuals who control the country, but as if it is us all. Each one of us. It is this new sense of taking on national as well as personal responsibility that is the best news coming out of Pakistan today.
We will need to hold steadfast to this spirit. Because things never change overnight. Attacks on Lahore and Peshawar by the enemies of Pakistan in the last few days have shown that those who are out to kill Pakistanis are relentless. The crisis of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) is going to be long-drawn. Not just because they may be stuck in camps for long, but because they will need much help even when they go back and try to rebuild all that has been destroyed. And the seeds of division and disdain that have been sown deep into our society at every level will continue to haunt us. These demons will not depart overnight.
For our part, we at All Things Pakistan (ATP) will continue to do what we can. In whatever little way we can. For now, we continue our drive for relief. Till now a total of US$6000+ has been raised ($4000+ directly from readers and $2000 added to that from ATP Ads). We hope that the amount collected from readers will reach US$5000 by June 1. At that point we will decide whether to keep the collection widget live or not. In either case, our commitment to Pakistan is forever. Our commitment to whatever we can do for IDPs must also be long-term. We know that our reader’s committment to Pakistan and Pakistanis is eqully deep.
This blog came out of the view that Pakistaniat come from the recognition that you can be against the government, against the establishment, against all that is patently wrong, but you have to stand with Pakistan, with Pakistanis, with Pakistaniat. Indeed, the purpose of our criticism of that which is wrong is to make Pakistani stronger. As we approach our third anniversary, the importance of this idea is again made evident to us. Pakistan’s future, we firmly believe, lies not in the hands of those who control government, or the military or civil establishment, nor of outside actors, nor internal enemies. Pakistan’s future lies in the strength of our own Pakistaniat. If that survives, so do we.
AOA, All Pakistanis appreciate the good efforts being by welfare organizations to help IDPs but also very well understand too what these regionaly biased parties are upto. Just their internal fears and week base to keep polotical power in hand.
The rapidly changing socio-ecnomic scenario and geoploitical realities of the region are going to bring national and patriotic politicals parties to the fore front within a year, the preachers of this regional/ethinc politics may themselves be IDPs then:)
Pakistan Zindapad, Pakistaniat Paaindabad
Government also raised head money of Taliban commander to end this issue, for detail http://www.vofp.pk/cms/?p=3666
You guys are doing excellent work. I hope every Pakistani realizes that we must prove to our displaced citizens that this war is not against them or their way of life.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?zx=at7uiwz2oler&shva =1#compose
Ethnic discrimination?
Legal eye
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Babar Sattar
The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.
A naked ugly form of ethnic prejudice is fettering the right of our wretched brothers and sisters displaced from Swat to move freely and settle anywhere across Pakistan. The invidious stance against the temporary settlement of IDPs in Sindh adopted by Sindh political parties (JSQM, and in a more equivocal yet equally unmistakable manner by the MQM) exposes the ethnic fault-lines dividing our national fabric and lack of generosity of spirit of various political actors. But more importantly the ease with which fundamental rights of a vulnerable group of citizens can be transgressed in pursuit of selfish ethnic interests raises serious constitutional questions. Article 15 of the Constitution holds that “every citizen shall have the right to remain, and subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.” This right to reside and settle in any part of Pakistan is not merely an individual right. It is an imperative feature of our collective existence and recognition as a state wherein the various federating units of the country are subsumed into one coherent whole called Pakistan.
The MQM as well as the PPP-led government in Sindh is aware that imposing travel restrictions on IDPs (akin to seeking a visa to enter Sindh) is barred under the Constitution. Conscious of the legal constraint, the Sindh government, goaded by the MQM, has simply resorted to hypocrisy and duplicity in dealing with IDPs. The official line now is that the IDPs are welcome to settle anywhere in Sindh subject to mandatory registration, though the government will not facilitate the IDPs by setting up habitable camps any place half-decent. In affect the Sindh government while not imposing an outright prohibition on the entry of IDPs in Sindh is ensuring the same outcome by (i) pursuing administrative policies and plans that promise a life of extreme hardship to the IDPs if they venture into Sindh, and (ii) allowing MQM and JSQM to create a law and order situation that would jeopardize the security of Sindh-based Pushtuns should Pushtuns IDPs seek refuge in Karachi.
The formal arguments against the relocation of IDPs to Karachi and Sindh have been three-fold. One, Farooq Sattar has vociferously opposed the arrival of “strangers in Sindh” on the ground that the Taliban and other terrorists could enter the province in the garb of IDPs and threaten the security of the province. Two, Shazia Marri has argued that “Sindh is already overburdened as far as resources and population are concerned” and thus cannot support influx of huge number of migrants in the form of IDPs. And three, the most moronic voice of the ruling PPP-regime has argued that IDPs might disappear if allowed to move freely all over the country, which we “cannot afford after the bitter experience of the Afghan refugees.”
While none of these arguments really wash, the third argument is the most ridiculous. IDPs are not foreigners. Each of them has been promised the same constitutional rights as a Pakistani as those afforded to Ms Fauzia Wahab. And secondly, the big lesson from the Afghan refugee crisis was that it is preferable to mainstream refugees and integrate them within the society rather than keep them in squalid conditions at the fringes where they become even more vulnerable to violent ideologies and criminal ways.
The apprehension that some Taliban might escape Swat camouflaged as IDPs is legitimate. But is it legal to resist the entry of all IDPs into Punjab or Sindh on the basis of such apprehension? If the threat is real, what about the security of the residents of NWFP, if the IDPs are to be restricted to their province, especially when they are already disproportionately bearing the brunt of the insurgency as well as the military operation against it? Further, what is the legal basis of introducing a mandatory regime to register IDPs? The equality clause of our Constitution (Article 25) holds that “all citizens are equal, before law and entitled to equal protection of law.” While the law allows differential treatment on the basis of reasonable classifications, would it be reasonable to subject the ill-fated IDPs to forced internment or registration regimes on the basis that they have been displaced from a region less than one percent population of which is involved in an insurgency?
The government has a right to introduce a voluntary registration regime to enable refugees to derive benefit from exclusive relief and rehabilitation programmes set up for such IDPs and ensure that non-qualifying citizens don’t devour the resources earmarked for displaced citizens. The government has a right to ensure that all IDPs possess national identity cards like all other citizens. But it is impermissible to use a mandatory registration regime to fetter the freedom of movement of the IDPs as that would fall foul of Article 15 of the Constitution, or use such administrative measures as a proxy to monitor and regulate internal migration of citizens of Swat in violation of Article 25. The federal government and the provincial government have a right and obligation to take measures to protect the lives, property and security of citizens. But in discharging such obligation, can they employ programs that undermine the fundamental rights of a select class of citizens?
Hypothetically speaking, if statistics establish that all insurgents in Pakistan are Pushtun, can we then reasonably treat all Pushtuns as terrorists and bar their travel to the rest of the country? Such measures or approaches to law enforcement have been used across the world by governments indifferent to the need to protect fundamental human rights. But when scrutinized judicially, they have always been labelled as impermissible forms of profiling that violate equal protection provisions of the law. If we cannot profile IDPs as prospective suicide bombers and terrorists, is there any other ground to force a registration regime upon them that could pass muster under the Constitution? There are hundreds of thousands of citizens that relocate within the country each year from rural to urban areas or from one province to another. If we do not have a national law that requires the registration of such internal migrants, how can we force IDPs to register with provincial or federal authorities except for the explicit purpose of benefiting from IDP-exclusive grants and facilitation programs?
The argument about limited resources of Sindh and Karachi is equally misguided. What legal authority does the Sindh government or the Punjab government or the parties controlling these provinces have to rule that their cities and towns are overstretched and can take no more people? Can cities and towns within provinces decide that their resources should not be divided up any further and no more citizens from rural areas would be admitted into such urban centres? To the extent that certain subjects
The spirit and enthusiasm that this website has for Pakistan and the genuine feeling and passion is really what makes it special.
Shabaash and keep it up.
I hope you will reach your goal.