Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
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Talking empowerment
Author: Foqia Sadiq Khan
Published in: The News
Published on: February 3, 2019
First a few elementary statistics on gender
inequality in Pakistan: according to the Global
Gender Gap Index Report 2018, launched in
October last year; Pakistan ranks at 148th position
out of 149 countries. The gender gap in the
country is highlighted by the literacy rate of
women (at 44.3 percent) as compared to that of
men (at 69.1 percent). Women’s participation in
the labour force is 26.3 percent while men’s is
85.8 percent. And women’s parliamentary
presence is 20.6 percent against men’s 79.4 percent.
There have been articles recently on the need for
women’s empowerment. Rather than repeating the
commentary here, it may be worthwhile to
contextualise the broader concepts of women’s
empowerment in social science literature. That
might add to the debate on women’s
empowerment. Naila Kabeer’s seminal work
(1999, 2005) on conceptualising women’s
empowerment is revisited in this article. To
contextualise women’s empowerment in general,
as well as in Pakistan’s perspective, this article
also looks at some other literature (Khan 2011,
Mishra and Tripathi 2011, Farré 2013,
Balagamwala et al 2015).
Women’s empowerment is about change and the
ability to expand women’s ability to ‘make
strategic life choices’ and graduate to be able to
make decisions where this ability was not
available to them earlier. Women’s ability to
choose means that they have a set of alternatives
available. Lack of choice has a different impact on
women and men. In the case of the poor,
gender-centric inequalities often deepen the
impact of poverty.
In other words, choice, power, option, control over
one’s life etc are all linked to empowerment.
There are three tightly interlinked dimensions of
empowerment in terms of agency: conventional,
human, social resources; and achievements or
outcomes. Resources are the ‘enabling conditions’
and operate through societal relationships and
institutions.
Agency is central to empowerment as choices are
made through it. Agency must be transformative,
giving women, particularly poor women, more
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
ability to “question, analyse, and act on the structures
of patriarchal constraint in their lives”; it brings a
change through longer-term processes. Achievements
refer to the outcomes of exercise of agency.
There is a need to move along the continuum from
individual agency to collective power, from private
bargaining arrangements to collective action, and from
the informal space to the formal arena for legitimate
exercise of power.
The three operational resources to promote gender
equality and women’s empowerment are progress on
indicators of education, paid employment, and
political participation. Acquiring education increases
the chance for women to take care of their own as well
as their family’s wellbeing. Research undertaken in
rural Zimbabwe revealed that education and paid work
increased the likelihood of women to access antenatal
care and contraception which in turn helped improve
maternal wellbeing and survival.
In terms of women’s access to paid work and
resources, microcredit is considered to result in
positive outcomes in certain aspects. The increasing
feminisation of the labour force, particularly in cotton
picking in the agricultural sector in Sindh and other
regions is worth considering. On the one hand, there is
a link between nutrition and empowerment and, on the
other hand, there is a trade-off between earning
income by women and care at the household level
given the hazardous nature of work.
Agricultural growth intrinsically may not lead to
conditions for pro-nutrition decisions, particularly for
those who are socially at a disadvantageous position,
unless the growth process is geared towards inclusivity
and provides a conducive environment.
The Lady Health Workers’ Programme, which started
in 1994, is worth considering as it has transformed
into a ‘conduit’ for the operationalisation of nearly all
community health initiatives. Whatever success
Pakistan has achieved in bringing down maternal and
infant mortality rates might not have been achieved
had it not been for the community work of LHWs.
Moreover, it has also led to some empowerment of the
LHWs as they are becoming leaders in their rural
communities and also indulging in collective action to
transition from their short-term work to better work
entitlements.
In terms of political participation, the ‘strategic
presence’ of women through quotas in parliament is
encouraging. As per the press, the National
Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW)’s

report on the 2018 elections states that there is
both “incremental progress” as well as ample
room for further improvement. The Election Act
2017 sets a minimum five percent mandatory
quota for political parties to award tickets to
women. While that led to a steady increase in the
number of women candidates, the women who
won on general seats were less in number than in
2013 and 2008 elections since in 2018 women
were given tickets by political parties on
‘unwinnable seats’. In other words, it was a
checking-the-box exercise. Similarly, there is
progress in terms of calling an election result void
in a constituency, where women voter turnout is
less than 10 percent.
In Pakistan, women parliamentarians have
contributed in the past in terms of pushing
legislation, particularly pro-women legislation.
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Algeria’s belated Arab Spring
Author: Alvaro Vargas Llosa is a Senior Fellow
with the Independent Institute, Oakland, Calif.
Published in: Foreign Policy News
Published on: March 25, 2019
A popular uprising against Algeria’s dictatorship
has forced President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the
ailing autocrat who has presided over the country
since 1999, to postpone indefinitely the April
“election” that was supposed to give him a fifth
consecutive term.
Algeria is the country to which the international
community expected the riots that began in
Tunisia in 2010, which became known as the
“Arab Spring,” to spread quickly and forcefully.
Despite minor attempts to destabilize Bouteflika,
that didn’t happen. This gave the dictator and
former soldier, and the ruling National Liberation
Front (FLN), the wrong idea. They misread the
situation as confirmation that their sophisticated
mix of nationalism, socialism and co-option of
Islamist groups had succeeded in pacifying the
public, the dream of every dictatorship. That
could never be the case—unless Algerians
were Martians.
The same people have run the country for decades,
stifling dissent whenever necessary and allowing
small doses of free expression and political
participation when it was convenient, under a grossly consecutive term in a farcical “election” scheduled
inefficient and corrupt command economy that
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Page 3
However, unless women are stopped being treated as
proxies or merely added vote bank for the ruling and
other political parties, this transition to meaningful
political participation cannot be complete. Women’s
political participation at the level of local governments
is also immensely important.
Grassroots mobilisation of women, particularly poor
women, is the key to holding policymakers
accountable for a meaningful process of change and
women’s empowerment. Similarly, policies to
promote gender equality should include both women
and men and not exclusively focus on women;
otherwise it might not be effective.
The present government’s initiative of giving 10 days
paternity leave to men working in the NCSW is a
welcome step and must be expanded, along with other
holistic initiatives.
redistributed the country’s oil and gas money, the only
thing it produces.
At the end of the 1980s, following major riots, the FLN
had in fact experimented with limited pluralism and
freedom of the press. The result, in those hopeful years,
was the emergence of a powerful theocratic organization,
the Islamic Salvation Front, that won the first round of the
elections in 1991. The government then staged a
self-coup, canceled the elections and put a lid on the
political opening. What ensued was a period of horrific
violence, with the various anti-government groups
warring among themselves while the military battled the
armed wing of the Salvation Front and other Islamic
terrorists. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians
lost their lives before the military was able to prevail.
Bouteflika, who assumed power in 1999, subsequently
tried to ease up a bit, allowing Algeria’s 30 million
people to speak more freely and play a somewhat larger
role—in theory, if not in fact—in the country’s political
life, replacing brute force as the means to control the
traumatized and weary population.
It’s during this period that Bouteflika and his cronies
changed the Algerian constitution, permitting the dictator
to hold onto power beyond the previous two-term limit
and continue to govern after a stroke confined him to a
wheelchair and rendered him almost unable to speak.
This same man who seldom appears in public and
spends a good deal of his time seeking medical care in
Switzerland intended to set himself up for a fifth
for April 18, 2019.

But the Algerian people—now numbering more
than 41 million— apparently have decided enough
is enough, taking to the streets in massive
demonstrations that have surprised the world and
forced Bouteflika to postpone the electoral
charade. The people of Algeria rebelled in the
1980s because they were dissatisfied with
replacing colonial rule with independent
authoritarianism. It is now decades later and they
are still dissatisfied.
Algeria’s failure to establish a pluralistic system in
which civil society could thrive economically and
***********************************************
The Sino-US trade war –
Why China can’t win it
Author: Prof. Anis H. Bajrektarevic.
Published in: Down to Earth
Published on: March 29, 2019
Does our history only appear overheated, but is
essentially calmly predetermined? Is it directional
or conceivable, dialectic and eclectic or cyclical,
and therefore cynical? Surely, our history warns.
Does it also provide for a hope? Hence, what is in
front of us: destiny or future?
One of the biggest (nearly schizophrenic)
dilemmas of liberalism, ever since David Hume
and Adam Smith, was an insight into reality —
whether the world is essentially Hobbesian or
Kantian. As postulated, the main task of any
liberal state is to enable and maintain wealth of its
nation, which of course rests upon wealthy
individuals inhabiting the particular state. That
imperative brought about another dilemma: if you
are wealthy, the state will rob you, but in its
absence, the pauperised masses will mob you.
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 4
culturally has facilitated the incubation of fanatical
Islamism in opposition to the status quo. That has been
the tragedy of most Arab countries, where liberal
minorities routinely are frustrated by the ongoing
power struggle between secular, corrupt military rule
and totalitarian theocracy.
No matter how sophisticated the system and weary the
population, authoritarian rule eventually engenders a
popular response, as we are seeing in Algeria’s belated
Arab Spring. Whether the enlightened liberal segments
of the population will prevail or the religious fanatics
will take over the protests, prompting the military to
re-establish its draconian rule, remains to be seen.
The invisible hand of Smith’s followers has found the
satisfactory answer — sovereign debt. That invention
meant: relatively strong central government. Instead
of popular control through the democratic
checks-and-balances mechanism, such a state should
be rather heavily indebted. Debt — firstly to local
merchants than to foreigners — is a far more
powerful deterrent, as it resides outside the popular
check domain.
With such a mixed blessing, no empire can easily
demonetise its legitimacy, and abandon its
hierarchical but invisible and unconstitutional
controls. This is how a debtor empire was born. A
blessing or totalitarian curse? Let us examine.
The Soviet Union – much as (the pre-Deng’s) China
itself — was far more of a classic continental military
empire (overtly brutal, rigid, authoritative,
anti-individual, apparent, secretive), while the US
was more like a financial-trading empire (covertly
coercive, hierarchical, yet asocial, exploitive,
pervasive and polarising). On opposite sides of the
globe and cognition, to each other they remained
enigmatic, mysterious and incalculable. However,
common for both was a super-appetite for
omnipresence along with the price to pay for it.
Consequently, the Soviets went bankrupt by
mid-1980s — they cracked under its own weight,
imperially overstretched. So did the Americans — the
‘white man burden’ had already fractured them in the
Vietnam war, with the Nixon shock only officialising
it. However, the US imperium managed to survive
and to outlive the Soviets. How?
The United States, with its financial capital, or an
outfoxing illusion of it, evolved into a debtor empire
through the Wall Street guaranties. Titanium-made

Sputnik vs gold mine of printed-paper… Nothing
epitomizes this better than the words of the longest
serving US Federal Reserve’s boss, Alan Greenspan,
who famously said to then French President Jacques
Chirac: “True, the dollar is our currency, but your
problem”. Hegemony vs hegemoney.
House of cards
Conventional economic theory teaches us that
money is a universal equivalent to all goods.
Historically, currencies were space and time
related. However, like no currency ever before,
the US dollar became — past the WWII — the
universal equivalent to all other moneys of the
world. According to history of currencies, the core
component of the non-precious metals money is a
so-called promissory note — intangible belief that,
by any given point of future, a particular shiny
paper (self-styled as money) will be smoothly
exchanged for real goods. Thus, roughly speaking,
money is nothing else but a civilisational construct
about the projected tomorrow.
This and similar types of social contracts
(horizontal and vertical) over the collective
constructs hold society together as much as its
economy keeps it alive and evolving. Hence, it is
money that powers economy, but our blind faith in
tomorrows and its alleged certainty is what
empowers money.
Clearly, the universal equivalent of all
equivalents — the US dollar — follows the same
pattern: Strong and widely accepted promise.
What does the US dollar promise when there is no
gold cover attached to it ever since the time of
Nixon shock of 1971? Pentagon promises that the
oceanic sea lines will remain opened (read:
controlled by the US Navy), pathways unhindered
and that the most traded world’s commodity – oil,
will be delivered. So, it is not crude or its delivery
what is a cover to the US dollar – it is a promise
that oil of tomorrow will be deliverable. That is a
real might of the US dollar, which in return
finances Pentagon’s massive expenditures and
shoulders its supremacy.
Admired and feared, Pentagon further fans our
planetary belief in tomorrow’s deliverability — if
we only keep our faith in dollar (and
hydrocarbons’ energised economy), and so on and
in perpetuated circle of mutual reinforcements.
These two pillars of the US might from the East coast Indeed, no successful and enduring empire does
(the US Treasury/Wall Street and Pentagon) together merely rely on coercion, be it abroad or at home.
with the two pillars of the West coast — both
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Page 5
financed by the US dollar and spread through the
open sea-lanes (Silicon Valley and Hollywood), are
an essence of the US posture.
This very nature of power explains why the
Americans have missed to take our mankind into
completely other direction; towards the
non-confrontational, decarbonised, demonetised/
definancialised and depsychologised, the
self-realizing and green humankind. In short, to
turn history into a moral success story.
They had such a chance when, past the Gorbachev’s
unconditional surrender of the Soviet bloc and the
Deng’s Copernicus-shift of China, the US —
unconstrained as a lonely superpower — solely
dictated terms of reference; our common destiny and
direction/s to our future/s.
Winner is rarely a game-changer
Sadly enough, that was not the first missed
opportunity for the US to soften and delay its
forthcoming, imminent multidimensional imperial
retreat. The very epilogue of the WWII meant a full
security guaranty for the US: Geo-economically —
54 per cent of anything manufactured in the world
was carrying the ‘Made in USA’ label, and
geostrategically the US had uninterruptedly enjoyed
nearly a decade of the nuclear monopoly.
Up to this very day, the US scores the biggest number
of N-tests conducted, the largest stockpile of nuclear
weaponry, and it represents the only power ever
deploying this ultimate weapon on other nation. To
complete the irony, Americans enjoy geographic
advantage like no other empire before. Save the US,
as Ikenberry notes: … every major power in the world
lives in a crowded geopolitical neighborhood where
shifts in power routinely provoke counterbalancing.
Look at the map, at Russia or China and their packed
surroundings. The US is blessed with neighboring
oceans — all that should harbor tranquility, peace and
prosperity and foresightedness.
Why the lonely might, an empire by invitation did not
evolve into empire of relaxation, a generator of
harmony? Why does it hold (extra-judicially) captive
more political prisoners on Cuban soil than the
badmouthed Cuban regime has ever had? Why does it
remain obsessed with armament for at home and
abroad? What are we talking about here — the
inadequate intensity of our confrontational push or
about the false course of our civilisational direction?
However, unable to escape its inner logics and

deeply-rooted appeal of confrontational nostalgia,
the prevailing archrival is only a winner, rarely a
game changer.
To sum up, after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Americans accelerated expansion while waiting
for (real or imagined) adversaries to further
decline, liberalise and bandwagon behind the US.
Expansion is the path to security dictatum only
exacerbated the problems afflicting the Pax
Americana. That is how the capability of the US
to maintain its order started to erode faster than
the capacity of its opponents to challenge it. A
classical imperial self entrapment. And the
repeated failure to notice and recalibrate its
imperial retreat brought the painful hangovers to
Washington by the last presidential elections.
Inability to manage the rising costs of sustaining
the imperial order only increased the domestic
popular revolt and political pressure to abandon its
mission altogether. Perfectly hitting the target to
miss everything else.
China, the main contestant?
When the Soviets lost their own indigenous
ideological matrix and maverick confrontational
stance, and when the US dominated West missed
to triumph although winning the Cold War, how to
expect from the imitator to score the lasting moral
or even amomentary economic victory?
***********************************************
Back to the Afghan Future:
The security challenges of
Afghanistan’s reconstruction
and development
Author: Gilles-Emmanuel Jacquet.
Published in: Geopolitical Monitor.
Published on: March 18, 2019
Though current talks between the representatives
of the Taliban and the US government in Qatar are
an important step, peace and stability are still
beyond reach. Afghanistan’s reconstruction and
durable development requires a satisfactory level
of security and tackling issues such as
unemployment, corruption, and armed violence.
Since 2001, many reconstruction and assistance efforts ISAF Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) have
have been conducted in Afghanistan, but their real
impact is limited by the security context and corruption.to an end with the withdrawal of ISAF troops. The
Foreign material and financial assistance has frequentlyaction of the PRTs also sparked debates and was
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Neither more confrontation and more carbons nor
more weaponized trade and traded weapons will
save our day. It failed in past, it will fail again any
given day. Interestingly, China opposed the first
world, left the second in rift, and ever since
Bandung of 1955 it neither won nor joined the
third way. Today, many see it as a main contestant.
But, where is a lasting success?
Greening international relations along with greening of
economy (geopolitical and environmental
understanding, de-acidification and relaxation) is the
only way out. Historically, no global leader has ever
emerged from a shaky and distrustful neighborhood, or
by offering little bit more of the same in lieu of an
innovative technological advancement. Ergo, it all starts
from within, from at home. Without support from a
home base, there is no game changer.
China’s home is Asia.
Hence, it is not only a new, non-imitative, turn of
technology what is needed. Without truly and sincerely
embracing mechanisms such as the NaM, ASEAN and
SAARC (eventually even the OSCE) and the main
champions of multilateralism in Asia, those being India,
Indonesia and Japan first of all, China has no future of
what is planetary awaited – the third force, a
game-changer, lasting and trusted global leader.
been affected by embezzlement and misappropriation.
Many examples can be easily found in Kabul or all over
the country. In Kabul’s Parwan-e-seh district, the main
road was in a bad shape and looked as if it had been
built during the 1970s or the 1980s. According to some
local residents, the road had been built during the 2000s
and the main cause of its deplorable condition
was corruption: the road was 9 cm-thick, when it was
supposed to be 18 cm-thick and its maintenance was
almost nonexistent. Many rural-areas schools were built
with the financial support of foreign countries, NGOs,
or organizations, but a large part of the funds inevitably
disappears. As a result, these schools are often found in
unfinished or badly constructed buildings, where
furniture, windows, a heating system, decent toilets,
and/or electricity can be missing.
done some great work since 2001, but this work came

criticized by some non-governmental organizations,
as it could create confusion in the minds of local
populations about the nature of humanitarian
assistance, as well as the role of foreign armed
forces and foreign NGOs. Many foreign or local
NGOs operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan have
reported that after the elimination of Osama bin
Laden by a team of US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad
in May 2011, they were facing more difficulties in
carrying out their operations. It can be explained by
the fact that one of the methods used by the CIA to
identify Osama bin Laden took the form of a fake
vaccination program conducted in Abbottabad, which
seriously undermined the trust of local populations
toward NGOs, and especially foreign aid workers.
The current security context is dire, as the Taliban
controls from 44% to 61% of Afghan districts and
the Islamic State is conducting terrorist attacks
throughout the country. The current negotiations are
an important step, but their outcome will not bring
about a stable and immediate peace. Only a fraction
of the Taliban has endorsed this process and agrees
to participate in it; as a whole, the Taliban movement
remains divided. Some Taliban factions wants a full
withdrawal of foreign troops and of all foreign
presence, as well as the resignation of the current
Afghan government. This precondition can’t be
satisfied as it would put the current Afghan
government at risk and trigger a new phase of
conflict. Such an outcome would not create a
conducive environment for reconstruction.
Moreover, since the fall of its Syrian and Iraqi
Caliphate, Islamic State has found new momentum
in Afghanistan and some Taliban factions have
pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while
others refuse to do so and are engaged in a fierce
competition with ISIS.
In this regard, reconstruction and development
will depend on the context created by the peace
deal and a satisfactory agreement for all parties,
which is far from easy. All parties have ties to
foreign and neighboring countries. It means that
foreign powers and neighboring countries should
reassess their agendas and interests in Afghanistan.
They should also find common interests and a
joint approach, at least with regard to the
reconstruction of the country. It’s the only way to
ensure a sound reconstruction process and
especially access to rural areas, where most of the
work should be conducted.
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Security conditions and corruption are also closely
tied to the social and economical problems affecting
Afghanistan’s rural areas. Agriculture is the largest
sector and the basis of Afghanistan’s economy.
Agriculture should be strongly supported, especially
when it comes to the eradication of opium poppy
cultivation. As per recent UN annual surveys, the opiate
economy accounts for 20% to 32% of the country’s
GDP (US$ 4.1-6.6 billion) and 24 provinces out of
34 grow opium poppy, though 69% of cultivation is
carried out in Southern Afghanistan. Taliban groups
control these areas and earn c. US$ 200 million per year
from the opiate economy. Eradication efforts have led
to a decline of opium production from 9000 tons in
2017 to 6400 tons in 2018 and the price of dry opium
fell to its lowest level since 2004 (US$ 94 per kg).
Foreign support is crucial, but the United States
government decided in February 2019 to end Operation
Iron Tempest, an airstrike campaign launched in 2017
against Afghan drug labs.
Providing jobs and decent revenues to rural
populations plays a role in decreasing the activities
of insurgent groups in rural areas. This key issue was
well understood by the French troops in charge of
civil-military operations in the province of Kapisa
and the district of Surobi. French scholar Bernard
Dupaigne explained that during the First Indochina
War (1946-1954), “the map of quiet areas coincided
exactly with the map of regions where hydraulic works
improving agricultural yields had been carried out by
French engineers. The areas controlled by the
insurgency corresponded to poor regions from an
agricultural point of view.” The French troops
conducting civil-military operations in Kapisa and
Surobi wished to play a role in the long-term
development of these areas, but their mission
was ended in 2012.
Eradicating the cultivation of opium poppy and
supporting farmers in their transition towards the
cultivation of legal crops is expensive. Many efforts
have been done and opium production has decreased,
but the results are limited by corruption, widespread
poverty, and the threats made by criminal gangs,
corrupt officials, or Taliban commanders against
farmers. Taking into account such difficulties, some
experts argue that opium poppy cultivation and opium
production should be allowed and that farmers could
legally sell their production to the pharmaceutical
industry. Such alternative could provide stable
revenues to a part of Afghan rural populations.

Education plays an important role in the
development of Afghanistan, especially vocational
education and professional training. As one of the
most influential thinkers and leading practitioners
in the field, Dr. Djawed Sangdel has repeatedly
stressed: “Afghanistan may need businessmen and
managers but it needs even more technicians,
agronomists and engineers.”
The reconstruction and development of
Afghanistan will also benefit from the Belt and
Road Initiative, China’s new Silk Road, but it
requires serious security improvements and a
coherent regional approach from foreign powers.
The new Great Game in Central Asia pitting the
USA against Russia and China could, in this
perspective, prevent Afghanistan from reaping the
benefits of trade with China and hinder its
development. Competition between international
or regional powers can take on a violent form,
especially when it comes to the control and
exploitation of strategical mineral resources and
rare-earth elements whose value could reach $3
trillion. Mineral resources are an important asset
for the country and its development, but the
local mining industry is opaque and Afghanistan’s
Ministry of Mines and Petroleum is riddled with
corruption. Moreover, illegal miningbenefits
various criminal gangs and the Taliban.
State control over this sector should be increased,
sound legal standards should be enforced,
corruption should be punished, and transparency
should be supported. Moreover, there should be a
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Indo-Pak: economy,
diplomacy gone for a toss
Author: Bilal Hussain
Published in: Foreign Policy News
Published on: March 15, 2019
Notwithstanding the economic priorities, the two
major nuclear powers in South Asia: India and
Pakistan are engaged in an almost war-like
situation. The state of affairs has taken a heavy
toll on these nation’s financial markets, currencies,
soured business sentiments and potentially could
hurt foreign investment.
It was Kashmiri youth who in a suicide attack killed
Following the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter
at least 40 Indian forces in Kashmir and is considered
aircraft crossed the Line of Control on 26th of
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Page 8
comprehensive and coherent strategy ensuring that
Afghanistan will not just own its resources, but it
will also use the revenues generated by minerals
or oil for its development and reconstruction. The
current trends on international markets and the
increasing scarcity of some mineral or energy
resources have also led to a crucial issue for
Afghanistan. Competition among foreign powers
over the access to rare and strategic minerals will
also have a negative impact upon the country: it
could increase corruption, weak governance, and
aggravate the “resource curse.”
There should be a multidimensional strategy
taking into account these issues and supported by
the United Nations, foreign powers involved in
Afghanistan, and regional powers or neighbors. In
order to succeed there should be a common and
radically new approach whereby foreign powers
and regional powers find common ground and
common goals or at least, interests. Afghanistan is
affected by the geopolitical competition between
USA and Russia and China, but also by the
US-Iranian crisis, as well as the Indo-Pakistani
rivalry. Iran and the former Soviet republics of
Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) should be
included in this joint approach. Saudi Arabia and
Qatar should not be left aside, but the effects of
their past influence and their future role should be
questioned. This approach is obviously too
optimistic but the long-term development and
stability of Afghanistan can be only ensured by a
genuine commitment of all parties.
as the worst attack in 30 years, who is responsible and
brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

February, 2019 and carried out attack on a
‘terrorist camp’. This is the first time since 1971
that the Indian Air Force breached the Line of
Control and entered into Pakistani territory.
Diplomacy takes a dig
Justifying the act, the Foreign Secretary of India,
taking a first dig to the diplomatic relations
between the two nuclear states in a media report
says, “this strike absolutely necessary. It was a
non-military, pre-emptive strike.” According to
the ministry of external affairs (MEA),
government of India in a statement by Foreign
Secretary mentions, “India struck the biggest
training camp of JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad) in
Balakot. In this operation, a very large number of
JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and
groups of jihadiswho were being trained
for fidayeenaction were eliminated.”
However, countering the Indian claims, the
Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah
Mahmood Qureshi, busted the claims of having
targeted a terrorist camp and resulting in
causalities. Ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) in
its statement rebutted, “completely absurd and is
based on a false narrative designed to placate
domestic audience.” Yet, other independent
reports suggest that Indian bombing inside
Pakistani territory appears to have struck a mostly
uninhabited forest and a farmer’s wheat field.
Reacting to the IAF attack, Pakistan Air Force
strikes back and according to the MoFA-Pakistan,
“This was not a retaliation to continued Indian
belligerence. We have no intention of escalation,
but are fully prepared to do so if forced into that
paradigm. That is why we undertook the action
with clear warning and in broad daylight.”
Nonetheless, MEA-India claimed that Pakistan
de-marched on the act of aggression against India.
While, the Indian media reported that at least 325
terrorists and 25 to 27 trainers were eliminated at
the camp when the IAF strike took place. Twelve
Mirage-2000 jets took part in the operation and
dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs to destroy
at least six-terrorist camps. Also, India launched
a renewed diplomatic aggression by briefing
diplomats from foreign missions including
China and the UK.
The military action took toll on religion sentiments
as well. In a recent move by Pakistani devotees are
denied visa. The devotees would miss
Ajmer-Urs— at Dargah Ajmer Sharif.
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 9
Cost of military action
This military action and the reaction by the two
countries has resulted in any gain on either sides.
According to a report, 3 Indian aircraft (two MIG 21
planes and a Mi-17-V5 chopper) were brought down,
resulting in seven casualties (six airmen, one civilian),
as opposed to one Pakistani F-16 down (as claimed
by Indian sources). The cost of two MIG-21 is 6.53
billion Indian Rupees. The cost of one Mi-17-V5
helicopter is 1.45 billion Indian Rupees. That is a net
hole of 7.98 billion Indian Rupees in the Indian
exchequer. Also, one of the India’s pilot, Abhinandan
Varthaman, was captured.
The Sensex, India’s stock market index, lost as much
as 600 points as Indo-Pak tensions escalated. And the
Indian rupee also fell by 0.41 against the dollar.
While, the Karachi Stock Exchange, fell by 4%.
While, on Pakistan’s side their climate change minister,
Malik Amin Aslam in a news report has said that Indian
MIG-21 has bombed their forest reserves and the govt
of Pakistan is undertaking an environmental impact
assessment, and contemplating to file a complaint at
the United Nations and other forums against India
on ‘eco-terrorism’.
War of word
The war was going on the media channels as they
turned the studios into battle grounds. A war of
word, conflicting media narratives not only confused
the international community, however, those on the
ground too had no idea of what is going on. While a
report in Foreign Policy mention how India’s media
is war-crazy and journalism has taken a back seat to
jingoism. Besides, the International media be it Al
Jazeera English, Washington Post, New York Times,
The Guardian, Gulf News, Daily Telegraph, or Jane’s
Information Group, each one of these publications
have questioned the Indian claims of ‘killing 300
militants inside Pakistan’.
Concerned over the credibility of media, former Vice
President of India, Hamid Ansari, says that “for the
media to play its designated role, it must be impartial
and unprejudiced in coverage of news and views
connected with all segments of society.”
Kashmir, a nuclear flash point
The Kashmir is the nuclear flash point that can explode
anytime and is the real theatre of unspeakable violence
and moral corrosion that can spin us into violence and
nuclear war at any moment. The author, The God of
Small Things, and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Arundhati Roy, in a write-up wrote that to prevent that

from happening, the conflict in Kashmir has to be
addressed and resolved.
Besides, one of the founding member of
the Defense Planning Staff, India, Gen Ashok K.
Mehta mentions in an article, “Pakistan’s reaction
was swift, signaling: ‘you can do it, we can hit
you back’. The big strategic take-away is that
while India may have breached a 50-year old red
line, it cannot claim air raids as the new normal or
a game-changer. So another mass-casualty
terrorist attack in India/J&K will present a
decision-making dilemma for the government.”
Moreover, former India’s high commissioner to
Pakistan, Sharat Sabharwal, in one of his
write-ups says, “Pakistan fishes in the troubled
waters of our own making in Kashmir. Force
alone cannot build durable peace there.”
Peace prevailed
The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, stood
up and announced the release and return of India’s
captured pilot. Khan also offered peace talk to India.
However, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi refused to accept peace talks. Refusing to
give peace a chance, in a media report Modi said,
***********************************************
Trump's Real Foreign Policy
Author: Jacob Heilbrunn
Published in: National Interest
Published on: February 9, 2019
Now that he has been in office for two years,
Donald Trump is moving to assert control over
foreign affairs. The most prominent members of
his original foreign policy team—Rex Tillerson,
H.R. McMaster, James N. Mattis and Nikki
Haley—are gone. Their departure has provoked
consternation among those members of the foreign
policy elite who viewed them as the “adults in the
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 10
“Just now one pilot project has been completed. Now
we have to make it real, earlier it was just practice.”
Also, there is a visible de-escalation move from
Pakistani foreign ministry’s director general South
Asia and SAARC, Dr. Mohammed Faisal in his tweet
mentions that their high commissioner would be
returning to Delhi. Besides, India’s foreign
secretary, Vijay Gokhale is on US visit where he is
expected to meet senior officials of the American
administration and exchange views on major foreign
policy and security-related developments, officials
said. The visit to the US comes in the backdrop of
growing tension between India and Pakistan.
Final word
The irony is that still 30% of Pakistanis and about a
sixth of India’s 1.3 billion live under poverty, as per
the World Bank, which defines poor as those living
on less than $1.9 per day. For the greater good of
both the countries, they should focus on their
economic wellbeing and provide a good governance
to their population. While, reviving all the diplomatic
channels between the two nations, it is high time to
address the core issue of Kashmir which could prove
a nuclear flash point anytime.
room,” as the popular phrase had it, who would
restrain Trump himself.
During his first two years, Trump took several steps
that appealed to his base—abandoning the Iran
nuclear deal, withdrawing from the Paris climate
accord, imposing trade tariffs and demanding that
NATO allies contribute more financially—but he
did not fundamentally reorient American foreign
policy. In recent months, with his declarations that
he wishes to withdraw American troops from Syria
as well as Afghanistan, Trump has signaled that he
is returning to the precepts that he enunciated in
2016. But as Trump—besieged by the Russia
investigation and stymied on the domestic
front—lashes out against his real and perceived
enemies, there are ample grounds to wonder whether
he can really fulfill his decades-long exhortation for
American retrenchment.
There can be no doubting that Trump himself remains
undaunted by the serial controversies that have
engulfed his administration. Trump, who has never
been shy about touting his accomplishments, offered his
own assessment of his record this past November in an
interview published in the new book by Corey R.
 Page 11
Lewandowski and David N. Bossie, Trump’s Enemies. As Lord Macaulay put it in an 1845 parliamentary
In it, Trump suggested that even Reagan, the most speech on the propriety of sugar duties: I do not say
hallowed figure in the modern Republican pantheon, that we ought to prefer the happiness of one
was already eclipsed by him, the sun around which all particular society to the happiness of mankind; but
members of the GOP must now orbit. According to I say that, by exerting ourselves to promote the
Trump, “the amazing thing is that you have certain happiness of the society with which we are most
people who are conservative Republicans that if my nearly connected, and with which we are best
name weren’t Trump, if it were John Smith, they acquainted, we shall do more to promote the
would say I’m the greatest president in history and happiness of mankind than by busying ourselves
I blow Ronald Reagan away.” about matters which we do not fully understand,
A more qualified verdict was rendered by Henry and cannot efficiently control.
Kissinger during an interview with Edward Luce of
the Financial Times: I think Trump may be one of But Trump’s velleities on foreign affairs are one thing.
those figures in history who appears from time to The ability to translate them into actual policies is
time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give another. In an essay in Foreign Affairs, Thomas Wright,
up its old pretenses. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discerned
he knows this, or that he is considering any great an embryonic Trump doctrine: For the first time,
alternative. It could just be an accident. observers can identify a unified, if still incomplete,
Trump foreign policy in which the administration
Does Trump indeed mark the end of an era? Or accommodates the president’s impulses and seeks to act
will he prove a transitory figure who created a on them. This unified foreign policy is one in which the
mere interregnum in America’s quest for primacy Trump administration has no permanent friends and no
after the Cold War? In speaking about America’s permanent enemies. It takes a transactional approach
purpose, Trump himself has repeatedly made it with all nations, places little value in historical ties, and
clear that he seeks to overturn what he regards as seeks immediate benefits ranging from trade and
the benighted policies of the past. In contrast to procurement to diplomatic support.
his predecessors, Trump has repeatedly disparaged
the notion that America is uniquely virtuous. In But this unified field theory of Trump foreign policy
his inaugural address, he thus signaled that the era may inadvertently ascribe more coherence to it than
of American exceptionalism—the notion that actually exists. On a variety of issues, ranging from
America is an indispensable nation, to borrow Syria to Russia, dissension, not unanimity, appears to
former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s characterize the administration’s stands. Director of
wording, that can set wrong aright—was coming National Intelligence Daniel Coats testified to the
to an abrupt terminus. “We do not seek to impose Senate in January that North Korea is unlikely to
our way of life on anyone,” said Trump, “but relinquish its nuclear arsenal. What’s more, CIA
rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine director Gina Haspel stated that Iran is complying with
for everyone to follow.” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Trump
responded with a belligerent series of tweets chastising
In his hostility to the European Union—he referred tothe intelligence agencies. In short, the president can
it in July as a “foe”—Trump has made it plain that propose, but his officials dispose.
he wants to deal with states on an individual basis
when it comes to trade matters, which is why he has Trump’s new crop of cabinet officials has often sought
urged Britain, among other things, to fulfill Brexit to split the difference with him rather than engage in
and conclude a separate deal with America. Similarly, open confrontation. When Secretary of State Mike
he appears to regard America’s European allies as, Pompeo delivered a speech in Brussels in December,
more often than not, mendacious mendicants who for example, he sought to anneal Trumpian nationalism
are failing to fulfill their fiscal obligations to NATO, onto a traditional Reaganite crusading foreign policy. He
the one hand, and exploiting America economically, decried the shortcomings of various international
on the other. Like Lord Palmerston, who declared organizations, from the European Union to the United
“we have no eternal allies, and no perpetual enemies. Nations, and stated that multilateralism could become
Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those an “end in itself.” In a January 24 interview with
interests it is our duty to follow,” Trump’s inclinations Martha MacCallum of Fox News, he equivocated when
are for independence, not interdependence. asked whether the United States would come to the aid
of new NATO member Montenegro: “I’m not going

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


to get into hypotheticals about what might happen
or how a certain scenario might unfold, but make no
mistake about it: America has always been there
when there were important American and global
interests at stake.”
Throughout, Pompeo has made it apparent that he
views America as Mr. Big. In Brussels, Pompeo
declared : This is what President Trump is doing.
He is returning the United States to its traditional,
central leadership role in the world. He sees the
world as it is, not as we wish it to be. He knows
that nothing can replace the nation-state as the
guarantor of democratic freedoms and national
interests. He knows, as George H.W. Bush knew,
that a safer world has consistently demanded
American courage on the world stage.
Pompeo is championing a hawkish posture toward
Iran in the conviction that it can lead to internal
regime change. Writing in Foreign Affairs,
Pompeo extolled the power of “moral clarity”—a
term straight out of neocon 101—in dealing with
Iran and North Korea: “President Trump’s actions
in confronting outlaw regimes stem from the
belief that moral confrontation leads to diplomatic
conciliation.” One area where Pompeo may be
able to claim success is in speeding the departure
of US troops from Afghanistan. Special
Representative Zalmay Khalilzad is negotiating
with the Taliban to secure a peace deal—one that
would include an enforcement clause that ensures
they oppose any attempts by Al Qaeda or the
Islamic State to establish bases in Afghanistan.
But as Seth G. Jones carefully explains in this
issue, the path to exiting is strewn with serious
obstacles.
Then there is National Security Adviser John
Bolton. The rumbustious Bolton has targeted
international organizations and nuked the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty
between Washington and Moscow, all with
Trump’s approbation. Trump has also rebuffed his
efforts to torpedo peace talks with North Korea.
But most recently, Bolton has sought to impede
Trump’s expressed wish to depart Syria. While
meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in December, Bolton openly
contradicted Trump. He indicated that the Trump
administration would not exit Syria precipitously.
According to Bolton, “There are objectives that
we want to accomplish that condition the
withdrawal. The timetable flows from the policy
Page 12
decisions that we need to implement.” In addition,
the Wall Street Journal has reported that Bolton
repeatedly solicited plans for a military attack on
Iran, starting in the fall of 2018—a move that
alarmed defense department officials. The Trump
administration is hardly the first to feature rival
factions within its ranks. The Reagan
administration, for instance, featured fierce battles
between Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger
and Secretary of State George Shultz over the
presence of American troops in Lebanon in 1983.
But the Trump administration appears to be the first
in which the president and his foreign policy team
continue, at times, to work at cross purposes.
It is also the case that Trump’s episodic attention to
foreign affairs can result in the outsourcing of specific
issues. The administration has struck a stance at
variance with its otherwise emollient approach to
authoritarian states in calling for what amounts to
regime change in Venezuela. It has been widely
reported that the administration has deputed
responsibility for its policy toward that country to
Senator Marco Rubio, who has long been associated
with the neoconservative camp, not to mention Elliott
Abrams, the champion of the Nicaraguan Contras
during the Reagan administration whom Pompeo
recently appointed special envoy to Venezuela. After
protests took place in Venezuela, Vice President Mike
Pence declared on Twitter in both Spanish and English:
“We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay
with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim
your birthright of Libertad.” The idea is to execute
regime change against what Bolton in a November
speech called a “troika of tyranny”—first, Venezuela,
then Cuba, and, finally, Nicaragua.
If Trump has performed erratically, it is also the case
that his critics have often failed to offer much new
thinking. At times their writings seem reminiscent of
the Newspeak term “crimestop” in George
Orwell’s 1984: “Crimestop means the faculty of
stopping short, as though by instinct at the threshold of
any dangerous thought.” In assessing Trump, for
example, Antony J. Blinken and Robert Kagan in
the Washington Post offered a predictable peroration:
If the United States abdicates its leading role in shaping
international rules and institutions—and mobilizing
others to defend them—then one of two things will
happen: Some other power or powers will step in and
move the world in ways that advance their interests and
values, not ours. Or, more likely, the world will
descend into chaos and conflict, and the jungle will
overtake us, as it did in the 1930s.

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


But as Ali Wyne observes in this issue, despite the
vagaries in its foreign policy, the United States is
the world’s lone superpower; in the 1930s, by
contrast, despite commanding the world’s largest
economy, Washington’s military and diplomatic
***********************************************
Future of North Korean
nuclear program
Author: Beenish Altaf
Published in: Foreign Policy News
Published on: January 15, 2019
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, recently
showed his willingness to have a second summit
meeting with the United States President Trump.
However he conditioned the offer that he will
only cooperate if the US will remove international
sanctions against his country, otherwise the North
Korea will be left with no choice then to return to
the nuclear option.
The North Korean leader in his New Year Day’s
speech said that “he is willing to meet the United
States president at any time for the betterment of
our international community. However, if the
United States does not keep its promise in our
international community and misinterprets our
patience and intention and continues with the
sanctions, then we have no choice for the sake
of our national interest and peace of the Korean
Peninsula but to come up with new initiatives
and new measures.”
Previously, the same country that was once
annoyed strongly against a state, cause of its
nuclear buildup, was impressed from its
diplomatic twist to the extent that it decided to
change its decisions favoring it. At that time point
in time, President Donald Trump reversed its
decision of military exercises with South Korea by
calling it as “waste of money”. That happened in
the backdrop of a Summit held-in between the US
and North Korea on June 12, 2018 in Singapore.
Since the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien
Loong welcomed the meeting open-heartedly, the
role of the country, was fairly vital in carrying out
parlays among both the leaders, North Korean
Kim Jong-un and the US Donald Trump.
Critically it was believed to be the first remarkable
deal in many years among both the countries.
Regarding its agenda, largely denuclearization
was on the top most priority list in the summit.
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 13
influence beyond its border lagged far behind its
industrial heft. As Trump navigates what are likely to
be increasingly turbulent foreign policy waters in the
next two years, he will be judged by how he deploys
that influence.
Despite the fact, that some were anticipating the
results of the deal quite positive as a step building
good relationship between the US and North Korea,
likewise others were apprehensive of it.
Paradoxically, the country habitual of military
solutions, is evidently foreseeing a “good feeling”
for North Korea this time; with reference to the
June’s summit.
The Rodong Sinmun of Pyongyang on the other hand
said that “broad and in-depth opinions would be
exchange to establish a permanent and peaceful
regime in the Korean Peninsula and to solve problems
that are of common concern, including issues to
realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Formerly relationship of the US and North Korea has
remained on the edge and tensed to the extent of
transferring harsh and threatening statements to each
other at the state level. It was followed by several
missile tests from North Korean side, who up till now
conducted six nuclear tests too (the latest of which
was in September 2017). North Korea offered a
frightening and alarming demonstration over the
precedent months of its capability to deliver warheads,
using missiles that could easily strike South Korea,
Japan and the United States territory. It was actually
exasperated by the US plan of installing anti-missile
defence system in the South, which resulted in further
evoked concerns in the North Korean.
Pakistan always condemned North Korean nuclear
ambitions because it damages the global objective of
making Korean a nuclear weapons free peninsula.
More precisely, all that Pakistan wants is peace in
Korean Peninsula. It was always desired that all the
countries in the region including North and South
Korea, Japan, China and the US, manage the situation
diplomatically with utmost responsibility.
However, if look with the lens of a victory, several
conclusions could be drawn including: a durable
peace is anticipated as the best outcome as North
Korea is now trying to develop good ties with South
Korea. The top leader, Kim met President Moon
Jae-In and discussed areas of mutual interests.
Besides, the next summit could be a step-up for
international community’s disarmament goal that is
the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula, ironically,

the time frame of which cannot be measured at this
point of time. Another gain for North Korea could be
the removal of sanctions from the American side that
will be a further aid in the development of good
bilateral relations. However, till present there is
nothing substantial outcome as the US is stick to
***********************************************
Balochistan &
Fifth generation warfare
Author: Hashim Nadeem
Published in: The Nation
Published on: March 30, 2019
Media networks have recently had a policy shift
towards educating the masses aptly packaged with
entertainment. People have hardly known how
the drug cartel worked and later uprooted before
tuning in to one of their favourite seasons on
Netflix. In the same way, corporate giants are
effectively using all possible mediums
in establishing a brand image and awareness
about a certain technological feat. Apple has
grown due to highly effective marketing mix
and stands out as a niche product. The same
applies to any government’s plans and
propagation of policies in order to attain mass
support. People in United Kingdom still consider
the 48% to 52% result of the first Brexit
referendum due to most of them not actually
knowing the real implications that have
subsequently brought United Kingdom to the
brink of a political turmoil. It was government’s
duty to inform and build a public understanding
of the matter before venturing upon a legally
binding referendum result.
One of prime objectives of Information Dept is to
publicize and propagate the policies and future
plans of Government through its film section - in
shape of short films, documentaries and feature
films. The significance of film making is pretty
much relevant in the modern age of social media,
smart phones and web traffic. The first world has
already employed these tools effectively and
during dipolar state regime, USA succeeded in
conquering the cold war against USSR through
its highly effective propaganda machine via film
medium creating a powerful counter narrative
that was adequately propagated.
India with a Bollywood powerhouse has strategized
the industry in the same manner. Many national
issues such as health, Education system, Kashmir
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 14
its military presence in and around Korea likewise the
North Korea is also stuck to its condition of removal
or lifting of sanctions first before any solid step
towards dismantling its nukes.
and terrorism and even small skirmishes against
Pakistan are portrayed globally suiting their national
interests. Major banks and other financial institutions
as a government policy fund the production houses
to that effect. They have been very successful in
floating their national strategy and plan regarding
their major issues through their films. When they
needed to bring reforms in their educational system,
they came up with a film ‘Three Idiots’ and for health
reforms, the central idea had to do with ‘Munna Bhai
MBBS’. Similarly, when they realized that their
youth and new generation is straying from their
national heroes like Gandhi, they made a commercial
film in which Gandhi himself appeared as a character
describing his philosophy of life and non-violent
struggle in such an interesting way that the film
ended up as a massive success and popular among the
target audiences bringing billions of local and foreign
revenue to the country. Very recently, a dying culture
of wrestling was projected through a film ‘Dangal’
and it not only revived the wrestling game in the
country but brought billions of dividends home.
Unfortunately, Pakistan and specifically Balochistan
is left faraway in adopting this very creative tool
(film) to cope up with the real issues. Resultantly, the
youth is carried away with strong Indian propaganda
through Bollywood. Our emerging youth, most of
them, don’t really know that names of our national
heroes but are well aware of Indian celebrities, their
ongoing affairs and even dates and venues of their
to-be marriages.
ISPR has been trying hard in recent times to counter
Indian propaganda influx but they have also not used
this commercial film technology in coping up with
the genuine matters. Nowadays, it is rather difficult to
attract the masses and youth over lectures, debates
and visual preaching. They can only be engaged by a
subject of their common interest and Government can
deliver its motive - policy of reforms in a very mild
and sugar coated manner to masses and youth in
particular in order to convey and get the message
penetrated in their hearts and minds convincing them
of an informed exposure.

The Information Department, Govt of Balochistan is
already running a film section under DGPR office but
due to non-technical and less qualified staff, routine
approach and zero funding have left it dormant since
ages. The present incumbent Information Department
intends to reactivate this section and aims to convert
it into a fully equipped film department with the help
of outsourced national and international film makers
by inviting them to Balochistan for national and
international films based on Balochistan issues and
promoting culture and tourism in Balochistan
naturally in the process while showcasing Balochistan
to the world through films.
The shift in priorities will not only enhance image
of the region in terms of its beautiful landmass,
cultures and stories but will also inform the world
about the issues of Balochistan creating a critical
***********************************************
When free speech is truly free
Author: Sundar Sarukkai (The Hindu)
Freedom is a theme which comes up again and
again. It is a term, like truth, that has globally
become extremely important today. But it is not an
easy concept to understand, especially in a public
political discourse. First of all, there are many
kinds of freedom: freedom to speak, to write, to
think, to imagine, to live our lives, to eat what we
want, and so on. Since this term is invoked so
quickly and so easily — witness little children
saying they want their freedom to have ice cream!
— it is important that we understand its diverse
meanings in our everyday use of this term.
Here I want to understand what one of the most
important expressions of freedom, free speech,
could mean.
Freedom to hold forth? We often tend to think
that among the main elements of democracy are
the holding of elections and a free media. Both
elections and free media are important because
they stand, among other things, for the notions of
free speech and free expression. Casting a vote
anonymously, of one’s own free will, is an
example of free expression and is broader than
just ‘free speech’. Similarly, when the media has
the freedom to air all kinds of views, it is seen to
be an example of free speech. But is free speech
really the essence of democracy? Is it really so
important for an effective democracy?
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 15
environment of positive public opinion. The
notion of togetherness and sense of ownership can
be brought while contributing to the government’s
exchequer to compensate the costs involved.
However, the costs of losing this opportunity,
may never by recompensed.
There is a dire need to establish a film fund for
Balochistan that could help new creative ideas
flourish and new film makers from Balochistan
encouraged to capitalise on them. This will engage
youth and artists from Balochistan channelling their
latent talents to noticeable expression and Balochistan
may wriggle out of the perceived identity crises for
the international world. This has to be a landmark
step from government of Balochistan setting trends
for other provinces.
Paradoxically, there is an inherent tension between
free speech and democracy. If free speech is
understood merely as the freedom to say what one
wants, then that is obviously not conducive to
meaningful social behaviour. For example, one can
spread falsehood about another in the name of free
speech. One can insult, lie, create harm and hatred
through free speech. In these cases, free speech
should rightfully be called rumour and gossip.
Rumour, gossip, fake news and deliberate lying can
be hidden under the guise of free speech. It is speech
with an ulterior motive. To call these as free speech
is a mistake.
The answer to the problem of defining what really
constitutes free speech lies in understanding the
meaning of ‘free’ in free speech. What is really free
in free speech? The freedom to say what one wants?
We can’t really say what we want all the time since
all speech is constrained. We are constrained by
language, words, concepts and grammar, and even
by the physical contours of our mouth. We are
constrained by the biological and cognitive structures
related to thought and its expression through language.
Socially, we are not fully free to say what we want.
We cannot make certain utterances in certain places.
A commentator, commenting on a game of cricket,
cannot suddenly give a lecture on philosophy saying
that he is protected by free speech!
In addition to constraints, all speech also has a cost.
When we utter something, good or bad, there is a price
to pay. Even in personal relations with family and friends,
we cannot say what we want. If we do so — that is, if
 Page 16
we are honest and outspoken — there is a price to pay. free speech is a tool to make democracy workable
Relationships get broken, wars are declared between and it is not really about the individual freedom to
people because somebody spoke ‘freely’. say what one wants.
Thus, the essence of free speech is not really about the Democracy is about governance for others and on
freedom to say what we want. It is more about speech behalf of others. It is a social and public system of
which is free, which comes with no cost. Free speech isresponsibility of governance. The very foundation
actually speech for which you don’t pay a price. But of democracy is collective action and the real
paying a price is not in the hands of the speaker. When freedom in a democracy is the freedom of choosing
I say or write something, I do not know who will take who will govern on our behalf. The ideal of
offence at it. People get upset and take offence very democracy is that we are all potential rulers — any
easily these days! Free speech is nothing but the one of us can be the Prime Minister of our country.
conditions under which the hearer is not allowed to When we elect somebody, we are only putting a
take offence and intimidate the speaker. group of people to govern on behalf of us. Free
speech is the mechanism to make sure that they
The real freedom in ‘free speech’ lies not in the govern correctly and on our behalf. It is only free
freedom of the speaker to say what she wants but speech, defined in this manner, that makes democracy
in the constraint on hearers to allow the speaker to workable.
say what she wants. Thus, when we demand the The true power of free speech lies in its capacity to
right to free speech, we are essentially demanding make those in power accountable to those who do not
the right to stop others from not letting us speak. have power. It is a means to control those in power
The most important consequence of the idea of and is not really about freedom of individuals. The
free speech is that it shifts the responsibility of price we demand for making somebody govern on
free speech from the speaker to the hearer. But our behalf (the elected leaders) is to allow us to say
does this mean that anybody can say what they what we want about them, not as individuals but as
want? Can they slander a person through political leaders.
falsehood in the name of free speech? Is
slandering a person the same as criticising the The power equation: Thus, true free speech covers
government or the nation? After all, our only those acts of speech which speak against power,
governments, independent of which party is in and keep those in power accountable. It thus
power, have effectively used the charge of safeguards the most cherished democratic principle.
sedition to stop certain utterances in public. Free speech by itself is not the essence of democracy
but is the means by which any democracy can be
Criticism as a duty: It is not free speech to sustained. Anybody who doesn’t like to hear criticism
purposefully slander a person. But criticising the of government or government representatives is being
government or nation is not the same as slandering undemocratic. We dilute the importance of free
an individual. Such criticism is not just a right, it speech when we use it to derive personal benefit or
is more a duty of democratic societies. In a true cause harm or do so in situations which are not about
democracy, there is nothing that can be considered power. Speech, in the task of keeping check on power,
as slandering the government, even if a criticism has to be subsidised and made free by those in power.
may be wrong and unjustified. That is because

***********************************************
The Seeds of Intolerance
Author: I.A. Rehman
Published in: Dawn Newspaper
Published on: March 28, 2019
The wave of intolerance sweeping across Pakistan
is posing a more serious threat to the country’s
most vital interests and the people’s mental
equilibrium than any other problem, including the
threat of external aggression. Let us take a look at
some recent incidents of intolerance.
A student killed Prof Khalid Hameed, head of the
English department at a Bahawalpur college,
because he thought that a mixed gathering of male
and female students that was planned to welcome
newly enrolled students was un-Islamic. This is a
new excuse for taking the life of a fellow Muslim,
and a teacher at that.
Two Ahmadi doctors were abducted and murdered
and their bodies stuffed inside a canal head. The level
of brutality against Ahmadi doctors even in personal
quarrels has risen considerably. The campaign of

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


vilification launched by the pious and patriotic men
of the country against the audacity of the women who
joined the Aurat March on International Women’s
Day continues to become more and more vicious.
The prominent targets of male venom include some
of the organisers of the event in different cities.
From where does the vigilante brigade derive its
sanction to enforce its morality code?
Two minor girls belonging to the Hindu community
of Ghotki in Sindh were apparently abducted,
converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men.
What makes these manifestations of intolerance
more ominous than they are generally believed to
be is that the objects of unmitigated violence are
women and minority communities that deserve
extra protection in view of their known
vulnerability. Besides, the government has not
taken due notice of the threats to the lives and
peace of mind of innocent citizens. It has not
bothered to denounce the foul murders nor has it
shown concern at vigilante violence except for
the last-mentioned incident, which has propelled
the prime minister into action against the culprits.
It would be idle and dangerous to pretend that
the latest surge in intolerance is the work of some
overexcited individuals or groups whereas it is
rooted in the state’s failure to precisely define
the place of belief in politics and governance.
The problem has confronted successive
governments and none has attempted a complete
or long-term remedy.
Take the case of the alleged forced conversion of
two minor Hindu girls — a horrible crime that is
un-Islamic too. One should like to see how far the
government will go. The existence of centres in
certain parts of Sindh that specialise in
abduction-conversion-marriage procedures is no
secret. These centres have flourished under the
patronage of feudal politicians who have been
courted and pampered by the country’s major
political parties. If the government does not
proceed against these conversion centres, it will
be guilty of abetment.
Quite a few issues relating to forced conversion need
to be earnestly examined and resolved. The women
in our subcontinent have been led to believe that
victims of forced marriages won’t be accepted by
their parents/siblings and they must resign themselves
to their fate. Some of them are afraid of being killed
if restored to parental custody. The courts usually do
not allow the victims to meet their parents/siblings.
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 17
Being sent to a shelter for some days to enable them
to make up their minds does not seem to have worked.
The questions regarding the marriage of underage
girls and the age at which a girl’s conversion can be
deemed valid need to be settled beyond any doubt.
The government should support the new bills on child
marriage and forced conversions, especially the
former that should be easy to enforce. Measures to
prevent forced conversions also demand properly
thought-out policies and guidelines for the
law-enforcing and judicial authorities.
The murder of Prof Khalid Hameed, the abduction
and killing of the Ahmadi doctors, and the frenzy of
attacks on women activists denote a new high in
vigilante activity, an assertion of the self-acquired
right by any Muslim to question a fellow Muslim
about his performance of religious rituals.
C.M. Naeem, who has been a distinguished teacher at
the Chicago University for over four decades, could
not believe his ears when for the first time in his long
career he was queried by two of his students about
missing his prayers. The killer of the Bahawalpur
teacher and the instigators of violence against the
organisers of the Aurat March are the advanced
models of the Chicago vigilantes.
But from where does the vigilante brigade derive its
sanction to enforce its morality code? For an answer,
one has to go far back in the past to the point when
Pakistan decided to become an Islamic state without
working out a mechanism for interpreting Islam and
left the various schools of thought free to interpret the
state religion in different ways. Ijtehad was sacrificed
at the altar of traditionalism. Came Gen Zia and
overruled Allama Iqbal’s 1930 call to defreeze
Islamic fiqh that had been frozen for 500 years and to
free it of the stamp of Arab imperialism.
Pakistan is now governed under the Zia constitution
of 1985. The conservative traditionalists are
determined to defend Zia’s version of state-enforced
belief as the original and real Islam. Further, some
people seem to have joined the hisba force Gen Zia
had proposed for enforcing moral discipline, a move
that was foiled by the judiciary.
The members of the private hisba force derive
strength from the interpretation of religion by militant
extremists, especially their view that jihad can be
carried out by individual Muslims, and their complete
reliance on the theory of takfir, which means that a
good Muslim has a right and a duty to behead a
person who claims to be a Muslim but does not
qualify as such by the former’s standard. Hitherto the
 Page 18
state has gone along with the interpretation of Islam intra-religion discourse and define the role of belief
by traditionalists and militants. If it wishes to break in matters that are apparently outside its jurisdiction.
out of its self-acquired shackles it must encourage

***********************************************

The curious case of

Pakistan's natural gas crisis
Author: Maha Rehman
Published in: Herald
Published on: January 21, 2019
This winter has been marked by not only the
regulars – fog and Kashmiri chai – but also by a
worsening smog and gas shortage. In fact, energy
shortfall and disputes over its allocation have
become regulars as well. From frequent electricity
breakdowns to acute gas load-shedding, these
crises have only worsened in one way or another.
A couple of weeks ago, the gas shortage reached
such a high level in Sindh that industrialists in
Karachi threatened to shut down factories in
protest if the government did not address the
problem. Is there a common thread among these
crises that leads all the way to policy, planning In terms of the provincial share of the demand for
and operational levels? Are we keeping track of natural gas, Punjab and Sindh lead, with 47 per cent and
the basic indicators that are both predictive and 43 per cent, respectively, followed by Khyber
prescriptive of these crises? Or are these indicators Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Sindh is also the major
getting camouflaged in lobbying by industries as supplier of natural gas – followed by Balochistan –
well as by political point-scoring? which makes it strange that the province is also
suffering an acute shortage this winter. According to a
A look at the indicators shows that almost 40 per cent report prepared by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority
of Pakistan’s energy needs are being met by natural (OGRA) in 2016-17, the gap between supply and
gas. Power sector consumes 43 per cent of the total demand is expected to increase to 3,999 Million
natural gas available in the country, followed by the Cubic Feet per Day (MMcfd) in FY 2019-20 and
residential sector and fertiliser production, each 6,611 MMcfd by FY 2029-30 without imported
consuming 21 per cent of it. gas. These statistics leave very little room for
adjustment if and when demand increases or
supply decreases. Already when there is a 40
per cent increase in the demand during
winter season, it always leads to cuts in
supply but those cuts are never applied to
the two industries — power and fertilisers.
They are, instead, shifted to domestic
consumers and other smaller industries that
run on natural gas.
The growing demand for gas, however, has a
history. It has been driven by not only an
annual increase in its consumer base but also due to a
switch by industries and automobiles from using oil to
running on gas over the past decade and a half. When
the switch started taking place, the policymakers failed

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


to gauge its impact on the long-term balance between
supply and demand. Additionally, the opacity of the
way the change was allowed to take place hindered
holistic and long-term planning.
In an ideal policy world, the switch should have been
preceded and accompanied by a data-driven forecast
of the shortfall in supply. This, in turn, would have
helped policymakers formulate a timely and
long-term action plan to address the shortage
before it happened.
So, while we celebrated the cheaper fuel option that
natural gas provided, we did not prepare ourselves
for its shortfall and did not consider the fact that its
production as well as import take both money and
time. Now, part of the shortfall is being met by
expansive imports in the short term. The continuity
of even this short-term approach has been rocked
by political and bureaucratic changes. What we
need is continuity and change going hand in hand,
especially of measures that impact critical sectors
Page 19
of the economy. While the larger policy framework
should remain stable, it should be flexible enough
to accommodate changes that occur due to factors
that cannot be controlled such as weather.
The import of natural gas is impacted by not only
national and regional politics but also by industrial
groups that have become dependent upon it. In
order to ensure transparency and to counter industrial
lobbying, the public needs to demand data-driven
accountability that not only clarifies the extent of
the shortfall and its impact but also enables a clear,
candid and honest debate so that all stakeholders
can chart an effective policy for the future.
To create a sense of urgency to tackle the natural gas
crisis, we must begin by quantifying the indirect
impact of the shortfall along with its direct impact on
various sectors of the economy so that the shortage of
not only natural gas but also the overall energy mix is
met by an effective, timely and long-term action plan.

***********************************************
Pakistan’s Population Threat 60% of the population under the age of 30 and a
Author: Ashar Jawad national median age of 22 coupled with fewer
Published in: Daily Pakistan employment opportunities, population explosion
Published on: March 20, 2019 presents the most serious challenge to the stability
and security of the country. Despite the gravity of
A finite world with finite resources can only support the situation, this issue has hardly figured in the
a finite population. Amidst intense political national discourse.
wrangling and a plethora of national issues, a more
important concern affecting the future of this country Major factors responsible for high population
has almost gone unheeded. The population time growth in Pakistan are high fertility, low
bomb that had long been ticking is now exploding. contraceptive prevalence rate, high unmet need
of family planning, declining mortality due to
Pakistan being one of the high fertility countries with a improved healthcare, custom of early marriages,
large proportion of young adults and children had a male child preference, poverty, illiteracy, patriarchy,
population of 33 million in 1951. Today, the populationreligious constraints, beliefs, customs, traditions
has risen to nearly 210 million making Pakistan the and lack of recreational activities. Add to that the
6th most populous country in the world after China, failure of government to plan and implement
India, United States, Indonesia and Brazil. population control measures. Pakistan had its first
In terms of land, Pakistan is 0.6% of the world area population census after 1998 in 2017 – a gap of
and home to 2.65% of the global population. Every 19 years. Pakistan’s bulging population and its
40th person on the planet is a Pakistani. Population unrestricted rise presents real dangers to political
has soared across the globe since the start of the 19th stability, economy, national security and the state’s
century from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.5 billion in 2018. plans to achieve self- sufficiency is various human
But while the growth rate globally is 1.2%, it is development indicators.
1.90% in Pakistan where on average each family Agriculture is a key contributor to Pakistan’s national
has 3 children. The South Asian country is tipped GDP. With rising population, lands that were used
to become the 4th largest country in terms of for agrarian purposes are now being turned into
population by 2050. villages, towns, suburbs and housing societies. If
With abysmal human development indicators – this trend continues unhindered for long, the country
ranked 150 out of 189 countries by the UNDP, might face severe food shortage in the years to come.

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar

 Page 20
There has been a rapid rise in urbanization over the Family planning programs were initiated in
past few decades. People have moved in millions Pakistan in the 1950s, and have greatly helped
from rural areas in search of employment which reduce the birth rate from 4.5% in 1947 at the time of
has put further strain on the existing infrastructure independence to 2.9% in the 1990. The figure has
of urban centers. More than 20% of Pakistan’s further come down to 1.90% now, but still a lot remains
population lives in 10 major cities. Shrinking forest to be done as it is much higher than the global rate of
and farm space to make way for infrastructure population growth which stands at 1.2%.
development to facilitate growing population needs The government requires to develop a comprehensive
will cause environmental degra dation through and cohesive strategy to deal with the population
anthropogenic activity, contributing to global dilemma involving all federating units, as well as
warming. Pakistan is the 7th most vulnerable have a mechanism to review progress. Awareness
country to climate change according to the UN. about the ills associated with population explosion
Resources are scarce, and Pakistan has suffered should be promoted through educational programs,
from acute water and energy crisis since the dawn awareness seminars, celebrity endorsements, and
of the 21st century, which has had an adverse effect media campaigns.
on the business industry. Shortage of electricity Though China’s one-child and two-child policies that
and gas has forced many to shut down and go out prevented 400 million births might be deemed as harsh,
of business. With limited job opportunities in the Pakistan can take a leaf out of its Muslim neighbor
market and academic institutions churning out Iran’s book on population control measures. The
degrees, a major chunk of the youth may grow southwest Asian country’s population grew at over 3%
restless and turn to crime, including militancy. between 1950 and 1980. The government in Tehran in
Population threat will also affect Pakistan’s ability the 1990s introduced a comprehensive population
to meet United Nation’s Sustainable Development control strategy, where the clergy declared that Islam
Goals (SDGs). favors families with two children only. Government
Right since independence in 1947, Pakistan’s launched a nationwide campaign and promoted
provinces have wrangled over resources. Water being contraceptives, vasectomies and sterilization. Men and
one, that has often strained relations between Punjab women were required to take birth control courses
and Sindh. On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before getting married. Food coupons, paid maternity
complains about not receiving its share in electricity leaves and other social welfare subsidies were
as much as it should since the province is the major abolished for the third child. As a result, Iran’s
producer of hydel power. Balochistan has had its population growth rate shrank to 0.7% in 2007. It
own share of grievances, mixed with on-off stands at 1.1% now after the government led by former
insurgencies since the 1950s. Limited resources and president Ahmadinejad decided to curb control
ever growing demand to meet the needs of a bulging measures. The problem of overpopulation is very
population could trigger further inter-provincial serious, and has the potential to cause chaos and
competition and rivalry. Recent trends show that anarchy in the coming years as Pakistan faces depleting
those countries facing internal security problems national resources, including water. If not curtailed now,
currently, including Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, it may go on to haunt the country in the future. To
also experienced high increase in population become a progressive, prosperous and stable state, it is
leading up to the turmoil. the need of the hour for Pakistan’s leadership to devise
a sound and dynamic strategy to deal with this peril
before it is late.

***********************************************
Return of Imperialism interest was to get as much profit as possible by
Author: Mubarak Ali establishing commercial relations with Asian and
Published in: The News African countries.
Published on: March 18, 2019 In the second stage, the imperialism became
There are different categories of imperialism which political, which led to the conquest and occupation
emerged, according to the need of the time. In the of countries, and used military power to extract
first category was commercial imperialism, whose the resources of the colonies. The base of political
imperialism was to civilise and modernise

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


colonies, which provided an opportunity to exploit
while in the garb of moral values. After the
Second World War, colonies gradually got
liberated from European imperialism and became
independent countries. However, the performance
of most of these countries was poor and dismal.
Their leadership enjoyed all privileges and
consumed the resources of the countries which left
common people in a state of misery and poverty.
Keeping in view the political, social and economic
condition of the formal colonies, a group of English
historians have been discussing that the efforts of
British imperialism to promote civilisational values
to its formal colonies have failed, and they have
reversed to backwardness and disorder. They have
even failed to maintain the imperial system which
established the supremacy of law, higher
educational institutions and led to the introduction
of new political and social thoughts which erased
conservative traditions and superstitions.
Historians have argued that again it is the
responsibility of Britain and other European
countries to take over the rule of those Asian and
African countries that are not in a position to
improve their condition, so that their resources
can be used for the development of their societies.
However, there is also a group of historians who
oppose this approach and argue that European
imperialism was not beneficial to its colonies. They
point out the crimes committed by the colonisers,
including crushing rebellion brutally, massacring
people whenever they resisted and silencing all
opposition to their rule by imposing censorship
and surveillance by intelligent agencies. They also
point out that European countries, including Britain,
fully participated in the African slave trade and
earned huge profits by these ugly commercial
activities. These slaves were then shipped and sold
in the markets of South and North America and the
Caribbean Islands. In these islands, the slaves were
engaged in hard labour to cultivate sugarcane and
produce sugar, which was a high-priced item for
the elite classes of Europe.
These historians question pro-imperialist historians
on how the colonial powers smuggled opium to
China and addicted its population, something that
brought not only profit to them but which also
engaged them with China in a number of wars.
Consequently, forced by treaties, the Chinese
government had to hand over their ports and
****************************************
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 21
territories to the colonial powers. Whatever the
British imperialism did in India, the detail of its
plunder and loot is described in detail by Dadabhai
Naoroji (d1917), R C Dutt (d1909) and Rajani
Palme Dutt (d1974). After Independence, Indian
historians started researching and writing the
impact of colonialism on Indian society.
The reason Britain is remembering the old colonial
days of its glory, grandeur, power and diplomatic
success is because after losing the colonies, it
returned to its small island – losing all economic
and political benefits and advantages. Britain is also
acting like those powers of the past, who, after their
decline remember the golden days of their rise and
construct a golden period of their history. This
provides them a refuge against the present miseries
and helplessness. In Britain, historians, writers,
filmmakers etc make efforts to make the colonial
past a golden period of their history. In school
textbooks, the heroes who conquered the colonies
and exploited their resources are highly admired.
Some historians still demand that Britain again play a
role to civilise its former colonies by removing corrupt
rulers and reviving the old imperial rule. This is a
dream; neither does Britain have the same military and
naval power nor a competent bureaucracy nor economic
resources nor nationalist and patriotic spirits among its
younger generation nor any ambition to become a
colonial power again. Moreover, there is a change in
the newly independent countries. Now Malaysia,
Singapore and Hong Kong are economically highly
developed and politically well established. In India, the
size of the middle class is increasing and Indian
intellectuals are contributing to scientific subjects and
social sciences. Those countries whose rulers are
corrupt are stabilised by the IMF and World Bank by
providing them debt which consequently deteriorates
the condition of the common people because they have
to pay all kinds of taxes. And American imperialism
interferes in the internal affairs of these countries and
uses their leaders for its political interests. The progress
and prosperity of third-world countries, especially those
in the grip of the IMF and CIA. depends on people not
only liberating themselves from their own corrupt and
incompetent leadership but also from world institutions
that are keeping them backward.
The dream of those historians who are in favour of
imperialism and past glory cannot be realised under
the present conditions which have changed the world.
There is no space for colonialism.

‘Urdu medium’
Author: Irfan Husain
Published in: Dawn Newspaper
Published on: March 30, 2019
If you eat at one of Karachi’s upscale restaurants,
chances are that the conversations you overhear
from nearby tables will be in English.
This is equally true of ice cream parlours and
cafés in the high-end Defence and Clifton areas
where kids chatter on with varying degrees of
fluency in English. Ditto high-rise corporate
offices where executives are almost banned from
speaking in Urdu by an unwritten edict.
So what’s going on in Pakistan, a country that
gained its freedom from British rule 72 years ago?
Why this growing use of the language of our
erstwhile colonial masters decades after their
departure? This trend has marginalised our
national and regional languages, and weakened
creativity.
When speaking to friends, we unconsciously
switch from Urdu to English and back when we
don’t find the right word in one language. And let
me confess that I am very much part of this
syndrome. I recall that years ago, we were fined
four annas (or 25 paisa) at St Patrick’s, my
missionary school, for speaking in Urdu to our
friends during the break. There is widespread
recognition that English is the language of power.
The other day, while picking up some sourdough
bread off Karachi’s Zamzama Road, I was
accosted by a young boy of around 10, asking me
to buy a children’s book. This was hardly unusual.
What was unusual, however, was his insistence in
speaking to me in good English, although he was
clearly from a working-class family, and thus
unlikely to be educated in a private school.
Clearly, there is a widespread recognition that
English is the language of power. Among the
children of well-to-do parents, ‘Urdu medium’ is
almost an insult. Kids understand early on that
Urdu is the language you use to order servants in,
while English is used by their parents to
communicate to friends and family.
Poorer parents also get this message, and sacrifice
much of their meagre resources to pay for their
children to study in so-called ‘English-medium’
schools. However, there are only a handful of
institutions that impart instruction in correct
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 22
English, and charge very high fees that are way
beyond the means of most parents.
But if you are lucky enough to graduate with a
relatively sound command of spoken English, many
doors are open to you. Intelligence counts for little as
it is assumed that if you can speak English fluently,
you must not just be bright, but from a well-connected
family as well. So you start life with a distinct
advantage, looking down on those less fortunate
people whose accent identifies them as ‘Urdu medium’.
And if these lesser beings presume to address you
in English, chances are that you will respond in
Urdu, thus putting them in their place. This kind of
linguistic arrogance divides our society in a way not
dissimilar to the division in British society. Here,
attendance at expensive private boarding schools like
Eton and Harrow gives you not just the right accent,
but a certain attitude that immediately identifies you
as the product of an elite school. To pay for this
privilege, parents will mortgage their homes to
ensure their kids have an edge.
Despite the clear advantages fluency in English
endows, there is much confusion and hypocrisy
surrounding its teaching and use. Our policymakers
and public representatives extol the use of Urdu and
pay lip service to its propagation. But guess where
their children are educated? Even our senior clerics
have been known to send their kids to America for
higher education, forgetting the anti-America slogans
they chant so fervently. Admission to schools like
Lahore’s Aitchison College and Karachi’s Grammar
School is like gold dust. There are scores of
applicants for each place, and tiny five-year olds are
examined for suitability, though what such a young
child is expected to know is beyond me. But just to
make sure his or her parents are the ‘right’ sort, they
are summoned for an interview as well.
Once admitted, the child’s path in life is more or less
charted. Graduation is often followed by a university
in America; then comes a job in a sound corporation
— preferably a multinational — or daddy’s company;
marriage to somebody with a similar background is
next; and then comes the struggle to ensure admission
for the children in an elite school.
But in the midst of this programmed life cycle
of a tiny elite is the huge loss we suffer due to the
exclusion of many gifted children born without the
privileges our elites take for granted. These
marginalised individuals remain stuck in the
grooves etched by our adherence to English.

Thus, we have not only excluded women and
minorities from important positions, but have
shrunk our talent pool by focusing almost
exclusively on English. This has led to a situation
where most kids today leave school without
***********************************************
Daily reminders
Author: Amin Valliani
Published in: Dawn Newspaper
Published on: March 22, 2019
Human life is at the centre of all Islamic teachings.
It is said that Allah created human being in His
own image, awarded him life and made him His
khalifa — vicegerent. He is made superior among
all creatures and supervisor over the land, waters
and skies (17:70).
While on earth, he was promised that whenever
guidance comes and whoever follows it, there
shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve (2:38). Thus,
he is required to adhere to and comply with the
holy guidance in letter and in spirit. But very few
people remember the divine promise while most
of us are forgetful.
Forgetfulness is a part of human nature. We are
called ‘insaan’ — an Arabic word derived from
verb ‘nasiya’ which literally means to forget.
This indicates the human tendency to forget. It is
evident through Quran which says “… Indeed
We made a covenant with Adam before, but he
forgot. ...” (20:115).
In daily life, we experience forgetfulness.
Sometimes we forget names/appointments or petty
items. We often forget what we listen to, read,
watch, think and encounter directly or indirectly in
life. Many of us do not even remember what we
have eaten a week before. The positive side of
forgetfulness is that it ‘lessens’ our mind enabling
it to remember what is most essential. It also
allows us to be oblivious of the bitter memories of
the past and move forward. Every religion
prescribes rites to help its adherents be aware.
Similarly, nations forget their past enemies with
whom they have fought wars over years in order
to build a strong future. The example of the
Second World War can be cited in which many
nations fought against each other but now they
are friendly.
But the negative side of forgetfulness makes people
ignore their origin and specially the purpose of
Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar
Page 23
a sound grasp of either English or Urdu. And
inevitably, we lose an important part of our
cultural heritage.
coming into the world. It is a plain truth that no one
can achieve his/her goals unless they remember them.
The ensuing struggle rests on the constant
remembrance of the exact goal.
To obviate this human weakness, every religion has
prescribed certain rites and ceremonies for its
adherents to perform in order to make them
constantly aware of their goal. These are not an end
in itself but means to an end. It is for this very reason
that Islam stresses on the importance of matters of
practice and the significance of ritualistic acts. These
are often repetitive in nature because they are our
reminders.
For instance, the daily ritualistic prayers are
considered significant because they are the most
powerful reminder of our submission towards our
Omnipotent Master. Similarly, Islam’s utmost
emphasis on reflecting upon natural signs carries
multidimensional significance.
Moreover, nature has devised its own system of
reminding every individual on a regular basis. It
manifests signs and signals around every individual’s
life to remind him or her to be careful and conscious.
For example, in every society, we observe diseases,
death and distress. These are natural signs for every
individual to be careful and understand the inherent
message of every occurrence. In short, each sign
indicates that life on earth is but a short passage in
eternity; it is a testing ground and everyone has to
reap what they sow.
Though these signs are reminders, they also open new
avenues for further progress and development. They
propel humans to think and discover divine secrets,
unfold puzzles. They also make humans strong and
courageous in adversity, humble in success with a
sense of realisation that success or failure is not only
due to human efforts.
But most people do not heed the natural signs and
reminders. They are beset by their worldly problems
with a tendency to be hypnotised by the temporal and
to forget the eternal. They just want to improve the
mundane aspects of life by getting good food, good
clothing, good housing and improving their social
status. Sometimes they drift away from the right path

to get things done by indulging in unfair means and
unethical practices. Thus they forget the noble cause
of their life enshrined in the teachings of Islam.
In addition to this, the task of reminding people is
also assigned to a special group whom Allah has
rewarded. Allah says that there should be a group
of people inviting to all that is good (3:104). This
group may include a variety of dignified people
such as Imams, mystics, scholars, historians,
intellectuals, philosophers, educationists, and all
Page 24
other leaders known by different titles/
designations who have excelled in their field of
endeavour. During the last 1,400 years, Muslim
history has witnessed many dignified people who
have reminded the ummah of its purpose.
Forgetfulness at the level of worldly matters can
be excusable but one must not forget the Creator.
Allah warns us “And be not like those who
forget Allah and He caused them to forget their
own selves. …” (59:19).

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Pakistan: The impact of urbanisation on society
Author: Muhammad Zafar Khan Safdar Published in The Nation on October 22, 2018.

Pakistan is one of the fastest urbanising countries local citizens and the business community have taken
in South Asia and the share of urban population matters in their own hands and created productive
has risen from 17% in 1951 to 37% in 2010 and to infrastructure and connectivity without the
39.7% in 2017 with annual rate of urban change at involvement of the government. Karachi saw some
2.77%. Projections show that in next 10 to 15 semblance of better governance when it had its own
years half of the population will be living in urban City District Government structure in place between
areas. Population growth and net migration are the 2002-2008. Since 2008, Karachi has suffered from
major forces behind urban growth. About one-fifth benign neglect as the institutional structure of
of the annual rise in urban population can be the City District Government and Town Councils was
attributed to net migration. Large cities with abolished without any alternative system. Land, water,
population of one million and above had a share in transport mafias and criminal gangs have assumed
the total population of 50% in 1998 which by now ascendency to the larger detriment of the citizens of
have risen to at least 66% or more. Urban areas Karachi. Negative externalities have turned Karachi
contribute 80% of GDP, which accounts for 60% into a highly polarized, deeply contested and an
of the employed labour force of the country. almost unliveable metropolis.
Urban poverty rate is almost one half of that the Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi have
rural poverty rate. Per capita income levels and witnessed some mixed outcomes at different time
growth rates have also been relatively higher in periods but overall do not present a wholesome
the urban areas. picture. Gujranwala, Hyderabad and Sukkur are
With mix positive outcomes, public policy towards typically the worst examples of unplanned urban
urbanisation in Pakistan is like sporadic spurts of sprawl. Multan has made some modest progress in
enlightened political leaders who assume power but infrastructure development over the last 10 years. All
lack foundational stability or consistent planning and these indicators and estimations pose a very alarming
execution. A cursory look at the large urban situation for the country where the business sector is
conglomerates in Pakistan does not provide a small, jobs scarcity is high and economic
satisfactory picture. Master plans are prepared with opportunities are little. Urbanisation has both positive
great effort and at considerable costs only to be and negative sides but the analysis has shown as if the
breached in their practical applications or execution. negativities of urbanisation are not addressed, it will
Around 35 to 50 percent of the urban population still result in far more dangerous implications that
live in Katchi Abadis. In Karachi, there are 500 such overcome all its positive tendencies. By 2025,
informal settlements, with more than 300 in Lahore. Lahore’s population, currently about 11.12 million,
Islamabad has been spared the agony because the will reach to 12.13 million. Karachi’s will be 17.12
master plan formulated 55 years ago is still the main million where it is 14.91 million today. Strikingly,
guiding instrument and the deviations are far and “What these numbers show”, according to renowned
few. Lahore has benefitted by the personal interest economist Shahid Javed Burki, “is that Pakistan is at
taken in its growth by successive Chief Ministers the threshold of a major demographic transition”. It is
over last 10 years. Sialkot is atypical because the also a fact that in Pakistan, the urban development

Current Affairs for CSS 2020, by Aamir Mahar


has shifted from public land to centring a few
privileged classes. Hence land in Pakistan has
become an important mean for earning money.
This unwanted and unjustified process has left
serious implications by setting inequalities in
urban centres. There is no role of low-income
communities in deciding the fate of urban cities.
Movement or shifting of people from rural to
urban has a direct link with the shifting of
economy from rural to urban. Agriculture sector
is the major contributor in Pakistan’s economy.
This sector accounted for about half of GDP in
the years of 1949-50, but with the growth in cities,
this fact decreased to 27% of GDP for the year
2015-16. Whereas during the same period the
share of manufacturing sector has increased to
29% from 8% to the GDP while the share of
services sector has reached from 25% to 55%.
Likewise agriculture sector accounts almost 65%
to the labour force but it declined to 38% in 2016.
Rise of population in cities increases the low-
demand for employment in urban areas. Currently,
Pakistan’s major cities are facing the challenge of
housing deficit for about 3 million units (while
nearly 50% of Pakistani urbanites live in slums).
One of the major indictor of urban decay is
infrastructure deficit. According to World
Economic Forum survey (2012-13), out of 125
countries of the world, Pakistan ranked 67th in
lacking basic infrastructure. Poor infrastructure
services results in constrained economic activities
Page 25
and reduce the potentials of growth. Balance
between demand and supply of infrastructure
facilities has faced a chronic imbalance. It is now
imperative that we should have an urban development
policy addressing infrastructure, improvised basic
facilities and community based services.
There are certain inherent flaws for urban decay in
Pakistan, such as, low employment rate, unstable
economic growth, incapable entrepreneurship and
weakening of civilian institutions. It is validated that
the fastest growth rate in Pakistan is of the ages
between 15 and 25. Although education ratio in urban
areas is almost high, finding employment is difficult.
Due to incapable entrepreneurship and dearth of
employment for youth, emotional distress and
disappointment emerges, which results in eruption of
street violence and aggression. A study reports the
increase in violent crime during the last 15-20 years
in Pakistan that is yet a reason of unemployment and
lack of opportunities for the youth. Another challenge
in urban Pakistan is the intolerance towards the
diversity of views and virtues for the future of
Pakistan. On one hand are the conservatives who
would like to see the economic growth of cities
divorced from the cultural evolution and diversity.
On the other hand are the pragmatists who see
cultural evolution a natural outcome of the
urbanization process. The lack of tolerance towards
divergent views continues to pull urban Pakistan in
different directions, which is not conducive for
growth and development.