Taliban Have Reached Karachi

Karachi is no stranger to gangland violence, driven for years by a motley collection of armed groups who battle over money, turf and votes.

But there is a new gang in town. Hundreds of miles from their homeland in the mountainous northwest, Pakistani Taliban fighters have started to flex their muscles more forcefully in parts of this vast city, and they are openly taking ground.

Taliban gunmen have mounted guerrilla assaults on police stations, killing scores of officers. They have stepped up extortion rackets that target rich businessmen and traders, and shot dead public health workers engaged in polio vaccination efforts. In some neighborhoods, Taliban clerics have started to mediate disputes through a parallel judicial system.

The grab for influence and power in Karachi shows that the Taliban have been able to extend their reach across Pakistan, even here in the country’s most populous city, with about 20 million inhabitants. No longer can they be written off as endemic only to the country’s frontier regions.

In joining Karachi’s street wars, the Taliban are upending a long-established network of competing criminal, ethnic and political armed groups in this combustible city. The difference is that the Taliban’s agenda is more expansive — it seeks to overthrow the Pakistani state — and their operations are run by remote control from the tribal belt along the Afghan border.

Already, the militants have reshaped the city’s political balance by squeezing one of the most prominent political machines, the Pashtun-dominated Awami National Party, off its home turf. They have scared Awami operatives out of town and destroyed offices, gravely undercutting the party’s chances in national elections scheduled for May.

“We are the Taliban’s first enemy,” said Shahi Syed, the party’s provincial head, at his newly fortified office. “They burn my offices, they tear down my flags and they kill our people.”

The Taliban drift into Karachi actually began years ago, though much more quietly. Many fled here after a concerted Pakistani military operation in the Swat Valley in 2009. The influx has gradually continued, officials here say, with Taliban fighters able to easily melt into the city’s population of fellow ethnic Pashtuns, estimated to number at least five million people.

Until recently, the militants saw Karachi as a kind of rear base, using the city to lie low or seek medical treatment, and limiting their armed activities to criminal fund-raising, like kidnapping and bank robberies.

But for at least six months now, there have been signs that their timidity is disappearing. The Taliban have become a force on the street, aggressively exerting their influence in the ethnic Pashtun quarters of the city.

Taliban tactics are most evident in Manghopir, an impoverished neighborhood of rough, cinder-block houses clustered around marble quarries on the northern edge of the city, where illegal housing settlements spill into the surrounding desert.

In recent months, Taliban militants have attacked the Manghopir police station three times, killing eight officers, said Muhammad Aadil Khan, a local member of Parliament.

In interviews, residents describe Taliban militants who roam on motorbikes or in jeeps with tinted windows, delivering extortion demands in the shape of two bullets wrapped in a piece of paper.

A factory owner in Manghopir, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety, said that several Pashtun businessmen had received demands for $10,000 to $50,000. The figure was negotiable, he said, but payment was not: resistance could result in an assault on the victim’s house or, in the worst case, a bullet to the head.

Mr. Khan said he had not dared to visit his constituency in months. “There is a personal threat against me,” he said, speaking at the headquarters of his party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which represents ethnic Mohajirs, in the city center.

The militant drive has even distressed Manghopir’s most revered residents: the dozens of crocodiles who inhabit a pool near a Sufi shrine here.

The Muslim pilgrims who come here to pay homage to the shrine’s saint have long also brought scraps of meat for his reptile charges.

But lately, as visitor numbers have dwindled from hundreds per day to barely a few dozen, the roughly 120 crocodiles here have grown hungry, according to the animals’ elderly caretaker.

Police officials, militant sources and Pashtun residents say that three major Taliban factions operate in Karachi — the most powerful one, which is rooted in South Waziristan and dominated by the Mehsud tribe, and two others from the Swat and Mohmand areas.

A senior city police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that militant commanders with those factions send operational orders to Karachi from the tribal belt; while some captured militants have tried to justify their activities by citing the authorization of religious clerics in the northwest.

In cases, he added, regular criminal groups have posed as Taliban fighters in a bid to increase their power of intimidation.

Just why the Taliban are adopting such an aggressive profile in Karachi right now is unclear. Some cite the greater number of militants fleeing Pakistani military operations in the northwest; others say it may be the product of dwindling funds, as jihadi donors in the Persian Gulf states turn to the Middle East.

In any event, it has shaken the city’s bloody ethnic politics.

Since the 1980s, armed supporters of the Mohajir-dominated Muttahida Qaumi Movement have engaged in tit-for-tat violence with those of the Pashtun-dominated Awami National Party. In the worst periods, dozens of people have died in a day. Now, faced with a common enemy, figures in both parties say they have declared an uneasy, unofficial truce.

As well as the attack on the Awami party — which have seen it close 44 of its district offices across the city — the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for two attacks on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement — first, a bombing that killed four people, then the assassination of a party parliamentarian.

In a recent interview with The New York Times in North Waziristan, the Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the group was targeting both parties — as well as President Zardari’s PPP — for their “liberal” policies.

The security forces, shaken out of complacency, have begun a number of major anti-Taliban operations. The latest of those occurred on March 23 when hundreds of paramilitary Rangers raided a residential area in Manghopir, near the crocodile shrine, confiscating a cache of more than 50 weapons and rounding up 200 people, 16 of whom were later identified as militants and detained.

“I don’t think the Taliban would like to set Karachi aflame, because they fear the reaction against them,” said Ikram Seghal, a security consultant in Karachi. “The police and intelligence agencies have very good information about them.”

Other factors limit the Pakistani Taliban’s ingress into Karachi. One of the more provocative ones is that allied militants — particularly the Afghan Taliban — might not like the added publicity. The Afghan wing has long used the city as place to rest and resupply. There are longstanding rumors that the movement’s leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, is taking shelter here, and that his leadership council, known as the Quetta Shura, has met in Karachi.

In such a vast and turbulent city, the Taliban may become just another turf-driven gang. But without a determined response from the security forces, experts say, they could also seek to become much more.

Tax Breaks During the Last Six Months of the PPP Rule

From July to December 2012, the federal government transferred Rs592 billion or 37.8% of the annual commitments made under the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award to provinces whereas it should have been 45%. For the current fiscal year, the federal government is expected to disburse Rs1.45 trillion to the provinces as per their share in tax revenues — the provinces are entitled to 57.5% of the total tax collection, but in the first six months, Punjab received Rs278.6 billion or 39.3% of its share of Rs710.3 billion, Sindh received Rs154.1 billion or 41.2% of its share of Rs373.6 billion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa received Rs96.4 billion or 39.9% and Balochistan was given just Rs63.2 billion or 47.4% of its annual share of Rs133.3 billion.

During the PPP rule, the following tax breaks in the last six months affected the collections:

Withdrawal of the biggest new revenue spinner — 1% withholding tax on manufacturing — resulting in a revenue loss of Rs18 billion.

Drastic cut of federal excise duty on sugar to 0.5% aimed at benefiting the influential sugar industry owners, causing a loss of Rs8 billion to the national exchequer.

50% cut of sales tax for steel melters, causing revenue loss of nearly Rs4 billion.

 

Not All Drone Strikes Are Carried Out by the Americans

U.S. Disavows 2 Drone Strikes Over Pakistan

When news of the two latest drone strikes emerged from Pakistan’s tribal belt in early February, it seemed to be business as usual by the CIA.

Local and international media reports carried typical details: swarms of American drones had swooped into remote areas, killing up to nine people, including two senior commanders of Al Qaeda.

In Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with the American Embassy.

Yet there was one problem, according to three American officials with knowledge of the program: The United States did not carry out those attacks.

“They were not ours,” said one of the officials. “We haven’t had any kinetic activity since January.”

What exactly took place in those remote tribal villages, far from outside scrutiny, is unclear. But the Americans’ best guess is that one or possibly both of the strikes were carried out by the Pakistani military and falsely attributed to the CIA to avoid criticism from the Pakistani public.

E-mail and phone messages seeking comment from the Pakistani military were not returned.

If the American version is true, it is a striking irony: In the early years of the drone campaign, the Pakistani Army falsely claimed responsibility for American drone strikes in an attempt to mask C.I.A. activities on its soil. Now, the Americans suggest, the Pakistani military may be using the same program to disguise its own operations.

More broadly, the phantom attacks underscore the longstanding difficulty of gaining reliable information about America’s drone program in the remote and largely inaccessible tribal belt — particularly at a time when the program is under sharp scrutiny in Washington.

For the past month, John O. Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism adviser and nominee to lead the C.I.A., has been dogged by Congressional questions about the drone program’s lack of transparency, particularly when it comes to killing American citizens abroad.

The biggest obstacle to confirming details of the strikes is their location: the strikes usually hit remote, hostile and virtually closed-off areas. Foreign reporters are barred from the tribal belt, and the handful of local journalists who operate there find themselves vulnerable to pressure from both the military and the Taliban.

That murkiness has often suited the purposes of both the C.I.A. and the Pakistani military. It allows the Americans to conduct drone strikes behind a curtain of secrecy, largely shielded from public oversight and outside scrutiny. For the Pakistanis, it allows them to play both sides: publicly condemning strikes, while quietly supporting others, like the missile attack that killed the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in 2009.

Still, the information vacuum also places American officials at a disadvantage when it comes to answering accusations that the drone strikes kill large numbers of innocent civilians alongside bona fide militants. State Department officials have complained that they cannot effectively counter civilian death claims they believe are hugely inflated because the program is classified — a subject of lively debate inside the administration, one official said.

The private controversy over the latest strikes, however, suggested another phenomenon at work: the manipulation of the actual drone reports themselves.

The two strikes, which took place on Feb. 6 in North Waziristan and Feb. 8 in South Waziristan, went unremarked on largely because they appeared so run of the mill.

Small Pakistani news agencies and international television networks, including NBC and Al Jazeera, carried common-sounding details: accounts of multiple American drones hovering overhead, estimates of the number of missiles fired, accounts of the rescue effort by local civilians and quotes from Pakistani military officials in the tribal belt or nearby Peshawar.

“The compound was completely destroyed. The militants had surrounded the area after the attack,” one official told Agence France-Presse after the second explosion, in Babar Ghar, near Ladha, in South Waziristan.

Some reports, attributed to Pakistani officials, said the dead included two Qaeda commanders, identified as Abu Majid al-Iraqi and Sheikh Abu Waqas. Other reports said four Uzbek militants had died.

“The Pakistan Air Force does not generally undertake stand-alone strikes such as these because it is not equipped with the appropriate strike weapons,” a Pakistani military source said.

The American narrative of those strikes is very different.

Two senior United States officials said there had been no American involvement in the attacks. A third official said the C.I.A. had not paid the reports much attention because no American forces had been involved. But that official said American intelligence pointed to the Pakistan Air Force as having conducted the first strike, probably as part of a military operation against Pakistani Taliban militants in the neighboring Orakzai tribal agency.

he second attack was more mysterious. “It could have been the Pakistani military,” the official said. “It could have been the Taliban fighting among themselves. Or it could have been simply bad reporting.”

Few issues antagonize the relationship between Pakistan and the United States as much as the drone program does — or encapsulate the often contradictory, smoke-and-mirrors nature of the military-to-military relationship.

In public, both Pakistani military and government officials routinely and vehemently condemn the strikes. But in private, a handful of senior Pakistani generals are “read into” the program, according to American officials.

The United States gives the Pakistani military 30 minutes’ advance notice of drones strikes in South Waziristan. However, it gives no notice in North Waziristan, considered a bigger hub of Taliban and Qaeda militancy, and also a major base for the Haqqani Network, which carries out attacks in Afghanistan, one senior American official said.

If American claims are correct, the United States has not conducted a drone strike in Pakistan since Jan. 10, marking the longest pause of the campaign since November 2011, when the C.I.A. stopped strikes for 55 days after American warplanes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a disputed border clash.

Some analysts believe the lull may be connected to Mr. Brennan’s nomination, pointing to a similar slowdown in Yemen, the other major theater of American drone operation. Others point to more prosaic explanations, like intelligence delays or bad weather.

“The whole thing seems to be on pause at the moment,” said Chris Woods of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a watchdog group that tallies the drone strikes, mostly using news reports.

If one thing is clear about the drones, it is that all sides — Pakistanis, Americans and the Taliban — have an interest in manipulating reports about their impact.

Mr. Woods said he would take American claims of noninvolvement in the February attacks “with a pinch of salt,” citing the details about the Qaeda deaths as potential evidence of C.I.A. involvement.

But, Mr. Woods added, his group had earmarked reports of about a dozen drone strikes as suspicious in recent years, and had marked them as such on its Web site.

Viewed from Washington, a handful of erroneously reported strikes may seem inconsequential. According to most estimates, the C.I.A. has carried out about 330 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt since 2004, the vast majority of them in the past five years. (Though the American military also operates drones, officials insist that the program in Pakistan is solely conducted by the C.I.A.)

Yet in Pakistan, they carry greater significance, igniting huge and sometimes violent anti-American demonstration that make drones a toxic subject for generals and politicians alike. But the American claims about the two attacks this month suggest that they may, also, be trying to have the best of both worlds.

 

Extraordinary Perks and Benefits For Our Rulers

By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq

The Supreme Court on April 17, 2013 suspended the March 14, 2013 notification issued by Interior Ministry granting former interior minister Rehman Malik and his predecessors lifetime perks and privileges.

Hearing the suo moto notice case regarding the unlimited perks and privileges granted to two former PMs, all former interior ministers, Sindh CM and other senior officials by the outgoing government, the five-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice sought a response from relevant authorities in this regard.

Pakistan is ruled and controlled by predatory elites in whose hands power and wealth are concentrated.

The ruling elites – comprising indomitable military-civil-judicial complex, unscrupulous politicians, mighty religious party leaders, absentee land owners, media tycoons and greedy traders – are engaged in loot and plunder, rent-seeking and snatching of public property.

Their lust for more and more control is giving rise to perpetual confrontations risking the very survival of the State.

These elites suffer from many maladies such as self-righteousness, self-praise, phobias of all kinds, especially losing of power and money, and despair arising out of affluence. These classes are captives of their own self-interests and victims of perpetual self-aggrandisement.

The two examples of worst rapacious activities of predatory elites are discussed below:

Grabbing of state lands

The high-ranking military-civil officials, judges, holders of public office, politicians, members of influential pressure groups do not pay a single penny as tax on plots they receive free of charge or at confessional rates though section 13(11) and 39(1)(j) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 so requires. Section 13(11) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 applies in the case of employees (military or civil) says:

“Where, in a tax year, property is transferred or services are provided by an employer to an employee, the amount chargeable to tax to the employee under the head “Salary” for that year shall include the fair market value of the property or services determined at the time the property is transferred or the services are provided, as reduced by any payment made by the employee for the property or services”.

Section 39(1)(j) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 is attracted in the case of persons other than State employees, it declares the following as income chargeable to tax:

“The fair market value of any benefit, whether convertible to money or not, received in connection with the provision, use or exploitation of property”.

Section 14(b) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 defines “services” to include the provision of any facility” and the concept of “fair market” is defined in section 68 as under:

“68. Fair market value.- (1) For the purposes of this Ordinance, the fair market value of any property or rent, asset, service, benefit or perquisite at a particular time shall be the price which the property or rent, asset, service, benefit or perquisite would ordinarily fetch on sale or supply in the open market at that time.

(2) The fair market value of any property or rent, asset, service, benefit or perquisite shall be determined without regard to any restriction on transfer or to the fact that it is not otherwise convertible to cash.

(3) Where the price referred to in sub-section (1) is not ordinarily ascertainable, such price may be determined by the Commissioner”.

On April 13, 2013, the Chief Justice took notice of press clippings containing the details that just one day before the end of the current National Assembly’s term, PM Raja Pervez Ashraf issued an order for an “unprecedented security protocol” for himself and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani – see details at http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/page.asp?id=1426.

It is indeed a welcome move, but one hopes the issue of non-payment of tax by the allottees of state lands at throwaway prices and other benefits will also be taken up by the apex court.  In the last days of the government, the following obnoxious steps were taken:

1. Just hours before the constitutional tenure of Parliament, the Interior Ministry issued a notification on 14.3.2013 declaring unlimited perks and privileges for Rehman Malik, Federal Interior Minister and his predecessors.

2. According to the note of the Registrar of Supreme Court put up to the CJP, “the benefits/privileges bestowed would be a huge burden on the public exchequer. The security protocol would further deplete the strength of security agencies, who otherwise do not have adequate force to maintain peace/security and protect the rights/freedoms of citizens including the right to life, security, liberty and property, etc. The measures seem to be violative of Articles 4, 9, 24 and 25 of the Constitution”.

3. The Sindh Assembly on 14.3.2013, the last day of its tenure, passed two private bills moved by Pakistan People’s Party legislators Ghulam Mujadid Isran and Dr Sikander Mandhro respectively to grant lifetime monetary and other benefits to the outgoing Chief Minister, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

The CJP on the basis of news reports presented to him by the Registrar passed the following order:

“I have carefully perused contents of press clippings dated 16.03.2013 published in “daily Dawn”, according to which a day before dissolution of Assembly, incumbent Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf issued an order of following unprecedented security/protocol for himself and former PM:

(i) A contingent of 450 police personnel would be taken from Islamabad Police, out of them 150 would be deployed for Raja Pervez Ashraf. Same number of personnel would be deployed for Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani (former PM).

(ii) Special protocol/security of special squad of 15 Rangers and 15 Frontier Constabulary force would be provided to five former PMs during their intercity movement. Their names have been mentioned to be as Raja Pervez Ashraf, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Zafarullah Khan Jamali.  A batch of five DSPs of Islamabad Territory, led by Dr Sultan Azam Taimoori, DIG was called at PM House on 15.03.2013 evening for selection of a DSP to head the force. A contingent of 450 police personnel consisting of ex-army jawans, inducted in the ICT police by the former government on a three years contract, will be spared for this purpose and the vacuum created by their departure will be filled after fresh recruitment.  Similarly, Interior Ministry issued a notification on 14.03.2013, reference of which finds mentioned in the “Express Tribune” dated 15.03.2013, according to which former Federal Interior Ministers and the Federal Ministers excluding the caretaker Federal Ministers, who had held the office when the Constitution stood suspended, can benefit from the following facilities:-  a. Protocol coverage be provided by FIA to the Ministers, their spouses and children at all airports of the country; and  b. Service of a Personal Staff Officer/Assistant Private Secretary/Personal Assistant, a driver, and an orderly, all to be appointed by the National Data Base Regulatory Authority.

On March 16, 2013 that the Sindh Assembly had passed a law, wherein lifetime monitory and other benefits to the outgoing CMs, Speakers and Deputy Speakers have been provided, as follows:

“If a person who remained CM, Speaker or Deputy Speaker for not less than four years, on the expiry of his term, shall be entitled for seventy percent of salary and allowances per month, a Private Secretary of grad-17, an Assistant, a Driver, a Cook, a Gardener, a Sanitary Worker, lifetime police security and landline and mobile phone facilities with a credit of Rs 10,000/- per month.”

Sindh Assembly has also passed the Sindh Provincial Assembly (Members) Privileges (Amendment) Law, 2013, according to which the Provincial Law makers have been brought at par with the Senators and MNAs as far as the perks after their tenure are concerned, namely:

a. A MPA shall be entitled to have access to all government guest houses, rest houses and Sindh House Islamabad and Sindh House Gwadar at the rates applicable to the government officers on official tours;

b. Use of VIP Lounges at all airports;

c. Lifetime entry pass for the Assembly Secretariat, Assembly Library and Speaker Gallery to observe Assembly Sessions;

d. Official or Gratis passport for self and spouse for life;

e. Issuance and renewal of four weapons licences at fees applicable to government employees.

f. The spouse of deceased minister and a dependent child up to 18 years shall be entitled to enjoy these facilities.

Prima facie, it seems that at the cost of public exchequer and in violation of Articles 3, 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution, the order issued by former Prime Minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf and notification dated 14.03.2013 issued by Interior Ministry are without any lawful authority. Likewise two amendments made by the Sindh Provincial Assembly extending privileges to the former CMs, Speakers, Deputy Speakers and the Ministers at the cost of public exchequer being unconstitutional are unwarranted as no law can be promulgated, which is not in consonance with the Constitution.

The citizens of Pakistan, who are suffering from different kinds of miseries, deprivation, lack of education, lack of health facilities, lack of drinking water and lack of normal facilities of life cannot share such financial burden of the former Prime Ministers, Interior Minister, Chief Ministers, Speakers, Deputy Speakers etc except if the law so permits or the concerned authorities decide to provide them protection against any threat to their lives in peculiar circumstances.

As far as law promulgated by the Sindh Assembly to extend the benefits to the Chief Ministers, Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Ministers or their families as well as the members etc is concerned, whether it is permissible at the touchstone of Article 8 read Article 9 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The privileges, which have been extended to the above functionaries for the purpose of self serving, are required to be examined at the touchstone of Article 184(3) of the Constitution, therefore, instant note be registered accordingly as a Constitution Petition.

Notice be issued to:

(i) Interior Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of Pakistan specifying the competence under the Constitution and the law of the Prime Minister to extend life time benefits to himself as well as to the former and future Primer Ministers at the cost of public exchequer.

AND

To explain as to whether the notification dated 14.03.2013 issued by the Interior Ministry extending security/protocol to the Interior Minister from the public exchequer is in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

Interior Secretary and Secretary Law are also directed to place on record copies of orders/notifications issued by the Prime Minister as well as the Interior Secretary, noted above.

(ii) Chief Secretary, Secretary Home as well as Secretary Law, government of Sindh.

(iii) Auditor General and Accountant General of Pakistan to calculate the approximate financial burden, which the nation has to bear if the privileges conferred by the incumbent Prime Minister upon himself and others as noted above are allowed to continue.

(iv) Raja Pervez Ashraf, former PM, Rehman Malik, former Interior Minister as well as Syed Qaim Ali Shah, former Chief Minister, Sindh to appear in person or through their counsel, if they desire to support or justify the actions of the PM and the legislation respectively in pursuance whereof prima facie the nation has been financially burdened as salaries etc of these persons shall be paid from the public exchequer.

(v) Learned Attorney General for Pakistan and Advocate General, IGP Sindh, to submit parawise comments and state as to whether at the cost of public exchequer the benefits extended to the former PM etc can be provided to them by sparing contingent of police as per their choice and desire.

(vi) Advocate General, Sindh may also place on record copy of Sindh Provincial Assembly (Members) Privileges (Amendment) Law, 2013.

It is a matter of record that funds of billions of rupees were released by the government within the last day after making sure the banks remained open to hand out the money to relevant parties – the federal government declared March 16 (Saturday) a working day so that it could get the bureaucracy to push through the last minute appointments, loans, promotions and transfers. The entire staff at National Bank of Pakistan and State Bank of Pakistan was on high alert throughout the day to accommodate the last whims and desires of the people who were about to abdicate power within a few hours. Even private banks were forced to remain open on Saturday ensuring all cheques of government got cleared on that day.

On the last day of the National Assembly (NA), Speaker approved 100% increase in benefits and allowances of all members of the NA. Millions of rupees worth of new cars were bought on her orders and approval of life time benefits and perks for Speaker of NA were obtained.

In a letter to Finance Minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, an ex-Member of Board pointed out that collossal revenue loss occurred due to non-taxation of benefits given to public office holders, the high-ranking civil-military officials, politicians and their cronies as free or at a confessional rate as FBR did not invoke section 13(11) and 39(1)(j) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. The finance minister and FBR ignored the letter as expected. FBR did not bother to recover tax from the beneficiaries. In Pakistan, privileged classes want to tax the weaker sections of society (exorbitant sales tax on many item consumed by the poor), but not ready to pay taxes on their incomes. Adding insult to injury, these predatory elites get unprecedented perquisites and benefits funded by taxpayers – what makes the situation more painful is the fact that even no tax is paid on these ignoring the explicit provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 mentioned above.

Extraordinary perks and benefits 

Pakistan is a tax haven for the rich and mighty. The poor are victims of fiscal highhandedness whereas the ashrafiya – military-civil bureaucracy, higher judiciary, landed aristocracy and its cronies, industrialist-turned politicians, religious and spiritual leaders (ulema and pirs), media tycoons and unscrupulous businessmen – is enjoying all kinds of privileges and perquisites without paying due taxes on these. The elites (ashrafiya) while thriving on taxpayers’ money, borrowed funds and foreign aids get extraordinary tax concessions – even where taxation is provided they do not discharge their liabilities and the bodies responsible for collecting taxes at federal and provincial levels instead of taking any punitive action, extend them legal cover through the infamous Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs), tax amnesties and immunities for avoidance, or just remain silent and look the other way.

While the poor sections of society are paying exorbitant indirect taxes on commodities they consume and are being crushed under the skyrocketing inflation, ashrafiya is enjoying extraordinary tax benefits, for example:

1. The perquisite represented by the right of the President of Pakistan, the Provincial Governors and the Chiefs of Staff, Pakistan Armed Forces to occupy free of rent as a place of residence any premises provided by the Government.

2. The perquisite represented by free conveyance provided and the sumptuary (entertainment) allowance granted by Government to Provincial Governors, the Chiefs of Staff, Pakistan Armed Forces and the Corps Commanders.

3. The perquisites and allowances provided or granted by Government to the Ministers of the Federal Government.

4. The perquisites represented by the right of a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan or of a judge of High Court to occupy free of rent as a place of residence any premises provided by Federal or Provincial Government, as the case may be, or in case a judge chooses to reside in a house not provided by Government, so much of income which represents the sum paid to him as house rent allowance.

5. The following perquisites, benefits and allowances received by a Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan and Judge of High Court, shall be exempt from tax:

a. Perquisites and benefits derived from use of official car maintained at Government expenses;

b. Superior judicial allowance payable to a Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan and Judge of a High Court;

c. Transfer allowance payable to a Judge of High Court;

d. The services of a driver and an orderly;

e. 1000 (one thousand) free local telephone calls per month;

f. 1000 units of electricity as well as (25 hm3* of gas) per month and free supply of water; and

g. 200 litres of petrol per month.

[If during service, a judge dies, exemption from tax in respect of benefits and perquisites mentioned above provided to his widow shall also be exempt].

The above shows that the powerful in the Land of Pure live in palatial palaces at the expense of taxpayers’ money, while the poor are dying of hunger and vast majority lack even basic facilities like drinking water, what to talk of health and education. Tragically, these powerful elements do not pay taxes on perquisites and benefits enjoyed by them. Then within a group there is discrimination. The judicial allowance of the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts is exempt from tax, whereas the same is taxable in the hands of the lower judiciary. Does this not attract suo motu action on the part of the apex court on the touchstone of Article 25 of the Constitution?

The Reckless Borrowing By the Government is Retarding the Economic Growth

Living beyond means

By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on January 22, 2013 reported that public sector borrowing from commercial banks between July 2012 and January 2013 rose to Rs770 billion from Rs627 billion a year ago. In the absence of foreign inflows, the net government borrowing from banks alone amounted to Rs762 billion during July 1, 2012 to January 11, 2013 as against the borrowing of Rs634 billion reported last year. The pace at which fiscal deficit is growing, bank borrowings are going to increase substantially in the coming months. At the end of the current fiscal year, fiscal deficit is estimated to touch 7% to 7.5% of GDP — it means financing requirement of Rs1,624 billion.

This reckless and unabated borrowing by the government from commercial banks is not only retarding growth — depriving private sector of the much-needed funds for investments — but is also forcing SBP to inject heavy amounts of liquidity in the banking system through frequent open market operations, as the high borrowings wipe out liquidity from the money market. The only way to come out of this mess was to enhance tax revenue and control expenses, but the government failed on both the fronts.

During July 1, 2012 to January 11, 2013, the government borrowed Rs594 billion from the banking system for budgetary support and retired Rs168 billion to the SBP. According to latest estimates issued by International Monetary Fund (IMF), “Considering the size and magnitude of Pakistan’s public debt, a high fiscal deficit is inevitable, as the country’s total debt and liabilities have increased to Rs15.1 trillion, or 68.4 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, while debt alone stood at Rs14.4 trillion, or 65.3 per cent of GDP during the same period”. The IMF claims that fiscal deficit reached 8.5 per cent of GDP in 2011-12, against the original budget target of 4 per cent, reflecting both revenue and expenditure slippages, including higher subsidies mainly to clear arrears in the power sector — the situation is worsening in the current fiscal year.

While Pakistan is caught in a deadly debt trap, the rulers are not inclined to impose fiscal discipline and the government continues to borrow recklessly from banks to pay off liabilities of the corruption-ridden inefficient public sector enterprises (PSEs). According to the SBP, this has hit economy heavily and resulted in billions of rupees increase in the stock of total debt & liabilities (TDL). Accumulated loss of PIA alone has reached Rs125 billion by the end of 2012.

The government has failed to devise a strategy for raising revenues even to the extent of Rs6 trillion, though actual potential is not less than Rs8.5 trillion [complete roadmap was given in Taxing targets, The News, August 26, 2012 for this collection]. Unless it is done, Pakistan can never come out of the ‘debt prison’.

The Senate was informed on January 23, 2013 that over 3.39 million people have so far been issued National Tax Numbers (NTNs), but only 885,999 filed their income tax returns during the current year. In a written reply, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh admitted that the number of income tax filers had drastically reduced to 1.6 million in 2009 and only 810,000 people filed their returns by the end of this year. The Senate was told that “a large number of businesses and individuals, who were regularly filing their income tax returns, are now avoiding their legal obligations by either under-declaring or incorrectly declaring their assets and incomes”.

The city-wise break-up showed that 665,896 taxpayers filed their returns in Karachi, 270,005 in Rawalpindi, 224,383 in Lahore, 186,136 in Faisalabad, 168,008 in Multan, 145,598 in Peshawar, 75,846 in Gujranwala and 41,085 in Quetta. In the case of large taxpayers, out of 1604 companies registered with three large taxpayers units (LTUs) of the country, 192 avoided filing returns. City-wise, 103 companies in Karachi did not file returns, followed by 58 in LTU Islamabad and 31 in Lahore. The most depressing aspect is that the number of non-filers is increasing. Filing of returns had fallen to 885,999 in 2012 from 1,501,630 in tax year 2011, showing a drastic decline of 40.99 per cent in a single year.

The failure to check widespread tax evasion and enforce tax obligations by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and wasteful spending on monstrous government machinery and inefficient PSEs has pushed Pakistan to the verge of economic collapse. Our foreign debt is going to be US$75 billion in 2015 and domestic debt Rs20 trillion if curative measures and tough decisions are not taken on urgent basis.

The policy of appeasement towards tax evaders, money launderers and plunderers of national wealth, if not discontinued, will push the country to a complete disaster. The word ‘austerity’ is not in the dictionary of politicians in power, high-level civil military bureaucrats and public office holders. The tradition of living beyond means — our national addiction — has turned the nuclear-powered Pakistanis into a nation holding the beggar’s bowl. When foreign lenders see the lifestyle of our ruling elite, they immediately show indignation — it is hard to believe for them that the rulers of a nation struggling on borrowed funds are able to display such flamboyance.

The reluctance to collect taxes from the rich and mighty is worsening the miseries of the poor — there is no scarcity of resources as propagated by the rulers to shift blame on others, but the real cause is outlandish living of the elites off taxpayers’ money. Wasteful spending and unwillingness to harness the real potential by taxing the rich is playing havoc with the economy. Behind the present chaotic socio-economic and political situation in Pakistan, amongst other factors, is an ever widening gulf between the rich and the poor. With every passing day more and more people are being pushed below the poverty line — their total number is now not less than 60 million in a country where rulers unashamedly waste billions of rupees on their personal comfort and security.

Debt burden of 68% of GDP testifies to the bankruptcy of our political leadership and economic managers, who keep on relying on an incompetent and corrupt bureaucracy. As regards technocrats imposed upon Pakistan, they always take the first flight to Washington after creating mess. The policy of appeasement towards tax evaders, money launderers and plunderers of national wealth is showing its impact in all spheres: political culture of rapidly changing loyalties continues, nation is in high despair and all sectors of economy are showing alarming indicators. In this bleak scenario, neither our political leaders nor technocrats dominating the Finance Ministry have definitive plans for resolving these crises.

All said and done, nothing will change unless rulers start living within their means. Unashamedly, they are not ready to surrender extraordinary perks and privileges enjoyed by them at the cost of taxpayers’ money. How can rulers and bureaucrats living in fortified containments, completely oblivious of the ordinary people’s plight, feel the pinch of life’s hardships? In a democratic setup, responsibility towards people who vote for parliament and accountability are interconnected. The concept of a democratic State emerges from the sovereign right of the Parliament to levy taxes but simultaneously the government is required to spend the same for public welfare rather than for personal comfort and self-aggrandizement. This second part of democracy is completely missing in Pakistan.

We cannot come out of debt-enslavement unless we tax each according to his ability and giving each according to his work, as enshrined in Article 3 of the Constitution. For this, the starting point should be a complete change in the style of governance — the president, prime minister, ministers, parliamentarians, heads of political parties and high-ranking government officials have to live at the average man’s level. Palatial official residences should be sold or converted into income-yielding assets, and all perquisites of public servants and office-holders be monetized to remove the burden off our country’s broken financial back.

 

The Eighteenth Amendment Has Virtually Destroyed Pakistan

by Noreen Haider

One of the things that the present PPP led coalition government is very fond of taking credit is the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment and that after this phenomenal success the provinces have been made fully autonomous. The genesis of the eighteenth amendment is that it has created a “new federalism” where the authority has been devolved from the center to the federating units.  The amendment has eliminated the concurrent functions list (overlapping functions), separating the responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments.  Till 2010, there was a hierarchical relationship among the federal, provincial, and local governments with the federal government at the apex as the dominant player. But after 18th Amendment, provincial governments will enjoy significant autonomy from the federal government and therefore it will move the government closer to people and hence improve governance.

The great success of devolution, was actually based on a hypothetical assumption that provincial autonomy  would automatically result in better governance, bring redress to the long held grievances of the provinces, bring about  more federal-provincial and interprovincial harmony, ensure economic empowerment of the federating units and even eliminate the ever present danger of military intervention in the country for good. It will also eliminate the opportunity of arbitrary federal intervention in the provincial matters and most important of all it will thwart the separatist movements brewing in some provinces which were spawned as a result of insecurities and discontent developed by the federal policies and military interventions in the past.

These are some of the “great boons” that the devolution of power were supposed to bring about and it is non other than the self-trumpeting Federal ministry of Information and all government spokesmen and ministers have been declaring repeatedly after the passing of the eighteenth amendment.

If we just look at the situation in Karachi it is beyond horrible now. Karachi has been declared as one of the most violent cities in the world with the worst crime rate for a metropolitan city. Karachi, the economic hub of Pakistan with a population of 18 million is in the grip of criminals, extortionists, kidnappers and murderers.  Only in 2012, over 2000 people were killed in the city and the situation is getting worse with each passing day. Just in the last five years over eight thousand people have been killed on the streets of Karachi.  What are the reasons that the fully autonomous and empowered government of Sindh failed miserably to control the situation there?

The law and order situation of Karachi is not an isolated matter which can be delegated to a provincial government and labeled as a provincial matter. The unrest, crime and terrorism in Karachi have roots in four corners of the country as well as geo political causes outside the borders. It was never a provincial matter to be left to the provincial government to deal as they have proved to be totally inept in bringing the situation under control.

The fact is that the no system, no matter how effective it looks on paper can bring any results if the people at the helm of affairs do not have an honest intent to improve things. The appearance given to the setup according to the “constitution” has no more reality attached to it than to stage set up for a play; for the viewing pleasure of audience. After the phenomenal success of the 2008 elections and great public mandate, according to the amazing new ideology of “reconciliation” as the new political philosophy, a coalition government was formed in Sindh with the three major political parties as partners in the government. It was led of course by PPP which appointed a senile, half dead person as its Chief Minister. This only shows the level of seriousness PPP had for the Sindh government to be independent and autonomous and make dynamic progress towards solving the complex problems challenging it. The old and senile Chief Minister was never ever able to articulate a coherent sentence in his whole tenure and was seen babbling in front of the media whenever he got a chance. Even more ridiculous was a Home Minister who thought every situation was a joke and made non serious comments after even most horrific incidents in the city of Karachi.

It is but redundant to say where the real power rested. The President House remained to be the power center and even the cabinet meetings of the Sindh Government were conducted in Islamabad. So much for the provincial autonomy! It was a nightmare to see what chaos did the reconciliation result in.

The bottom line is that Karachi is burning and the blood of innocent people has painted its streets red. The Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict on Karachi and declared that all the ruling political parties are directly involved in the Karachi carnage. The war there is multifaceted and highly complex; there are turf wars, extortionists, gangs of dacoits, dons of underworld having a  field day and then there are acts of terrorism, sectarian killing and attack on civilians belonging to all sects and ethnicities in religious processions. There is not enough space to go in the details of all that is wrong in Karachi but the point here is that the autonomous provincial government utterly failed to bring the situation in control with all major political parties in Karachi sitting in it.

The “reconciliation policy” just turned out to be another name for appeasement to secure power position in the sordid number game. The appeasement resulted in the strategy of looking the other way where direct action was needed. The few terrorists and killers that were arrested and their names announced on media had direct patronage of coalition partners in the government.

Similarly in the case of Balochistan another half-dead, non-serious man was appointed as the chief minister who hardly ever took any interest in the most capricious and volatile situation in the province. All the assembly was turned into the provincial cabinet as per the appeasement policy of PPP led federal government but it also filed to bring any improvement. The verdict from the apex court regarding the drastic law and order and escalating crime situation is a national disgrace and a commentary on the “people’s representative” electoral system itself. The Chief Justice of Pakistan has declared again and again that provincial minister are directly involved in gravest crimes in Baluchistan and there was virtually no government there.

In the last five years since the inception of  “true democracy” in the country we have witnessed some of the most heinous acts of violence, terrorism, brutality by the state organs themselves, target killing, ethnic cleaning of disadvantaged tribes like the Hazara and sectarian killing by the hundreds.

The Balochistan government became a stale joke like the ones its ex-chief minister was fond of repeating. The corruption of provincial government reached such phenomenal heights that the Chief Justice had to take suo moto action in Baluchistan, where the national resources and assets were being sold for a pittance in shady deals by the government and canceled them.

The real question is that where is the will of the people of Balochistan in this system? How does any of this prove that the government is a representative of the people acting on their behalf according to a mandate and act for the betterment of the people? The people are just a tool and a means to use and discard on the Election Day even if the elections are free and fair which was not the case in the last elections in Baluchistan. After that it hardly matters if they live or die or are left at the mercy of the elements.

The same is the case in KPK where the province is literally on terrorist target every day.

In Punjab the story of provincial autonomy takes a twist and becomes the tale of one autocratic ruler who is in charge of everything and has literally refused to hand over even the slightest charge to anyone else but himself and his family. The result is arbitrary, useless supply driven projects to gain cheap popularity overnight. The crime rate is soaring sky high and the province has become the safe haven of terrorists who are free to roam all around without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow.

The hypothesis that an autonomous province in federation will have better governance is totally wrong. There is no cause and effect at play here with regards to devolution and improved governance. Devolving more authority to the province does not result in moving the government closer to the people or improvement in service delivery. Rather it just shifts responsibilities from one set of incompetent civil servants in federal capital to another equally incompetent civil servants and executive in the provinces. The ugly truth is that there is neither stake of the ordinary citizen nor any voice anywhere. He is as vulnerable as before on the whims of the sordid system which he hardly comprehends. He does not know what changes have occurred after any amendment and that how he should expect to benefit from any of it. In fact things have become more confused.

According to the constitution there has to be a system of local bodies and fiscal devolution has to be ensured to the grass root level if any benefit can be delivered to the ordinary citizen of this country. But we observed in the last five years that the constitutional requirement was blown to the air and the chief ministers in all the governments refused to hold local bodies’ election because they simply do not want to share even an iota of power with anyone.

There is simply no law, no wish to adherence with the requirement of constitution just a mad drive for power and more power. Take for example the situation in Punjab where the funds were not distributed to the districts according to any formula of sharing but the provincial funds became the personal kitty of the Chief Minister to spend as and when he likes.

This is not democracy or any semblance of it. Now is the time to take a serious look at the system derived from the constitution itself and honestly assess its flaws rather than being in the delusion that just because everything seems to work on paper that’s how it will work on ground.

Zardaris’ Hunger for Wealth is Insatiable

President Asif Ali Zardari is already one of the richest persons in Pakistan but his hunger for more wealth is insatiable. The new Bilawal House in Bahria Town Lahore worth more than Rs 5 billion, a bullet proof bungalow built on over 200 kanal of land, is yet another proof.

The house carries a runway for landing of private jets with capacity of over 10,000 people at a time. Completed at a cost of around Rs 5 billion, the house also has a helipad and airstrip for landing of small planes. The boundary wall, having thickness of 30 inches, has been built using concrete and steel material to make it bomb-proof.

A three-layer security system has been provided to ensure fool proof security for the residents.

A bunker and basement constructions are also there for security purposes.

The residential compartment comprises six bedrooms and an equal number of drawing rooms.

The house has been completed in a record period of eight months which is too short a time for such a big building perfect in all respects. Over 80 percent of the construction at the house has been completed so far.

Constructed under the supervision of able engineers of property tycoon, Malik Riaz, it is a fort-like purpose-built building with spacious lawns, conference rooms, staterooms, bed rooms and offices.

Some say that the house will be gift to Zardari from Malik Riaz,  the owner of Bahria Town. One does not know if it is true or not but a gift worth this much obviously will not be given without getting something in return.

It is a resident-cum office building also housing Secretariat of the party Chairman who would be using the building for his political activities.

It may be recalled here that immediately after his release in 2004, Asif Ali Zardari had announced to build a Bilawal House in Lahore on the pattern of one in Karachi. Initially, it was set up in a rented house near old airport (in 2005), but later shifted to another building in Model Town. The latter one did not exist after two years.

Neither Bilawal nor Benazir Bhutto ever visited the two houses as they were in exile during the period.

Such extravagant show of corrupt wealth hardly sets exemplary example of leadership and what could one expect from ordinary party workers when their leaders show their ill-gotten gains so openly and unabashedly.

Faryal Talpur Removed the KP Governor For His Refusal to Give Her Money

It is nothing short of shocking that President Zardari’s sister, Faryal Talpur, held a meeting with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Kausar a few days prior to his unceremonious removal and directed him to remove two political agents in the terrorist infested agencies of FATA, and replace them by two new persons. She also asked him to collect hundreds of millions in the Province and give them to her as she said she needed the money for the upcoming elections.

The Governor told her that political agents cannot be removed without consulting the military as it is conducting military opertions in those very agencies and it was thus not possible.

Regarding the collection of money, the Governor told Faryal Talpur that such practice would malign him and the Party and would not be in the interests of anybody.

When Faryal Talpur failed to convince the Governor, she told him in that very meeting that he should consider himself no longer a Governor. The same evening, she met the present Governor and appointed him.

One need not dwell too much about the fact that political agents in the tribal areas cannot be appointed without paying literally crores of rupees as these areas are the hub of drug and all other kinds of smuggling. It appears now that even the post of KP Governor is also sold to the highest bidder.

SC’s Order Puts Question Mark On Democracy

In a surprising move, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has directed NAB to arrest the PM in the Rental Power Projects Cases HRC No: 7734G of 2009.

On 15.01.2013 the SC usurped the executive powers making investigations in crimes its domain.

In its anxiety to gain popular opinion, the SC has not simply entered into political questions, but moving far ahead to augment Judiciary as a political actor in Pakistan’s already dismal polity.  The recent spate of events unfolding as the tenure of the democratic system moving into its transitory phase on March 16, 2013 before the elections draws closer, shows the SC and the ‘Establishment’ working in tandem to once again derail democracy from Pakistan, according to the AHRC.

The case HRC NO: 7734-G of 2009 is pending since last three years; NAB is filing reports before the SC on a fortnightly basis.

The timing chosen for the passing of the order makes the political scenario not only potent with grave risks but an interesting read. The vigor with which the present SC is putting in developing public opinion in its favour, takes us back to 1940s when a fictitious case was authored by Prof. Lon Fuller of Harvard University, the “Case of the Speluncean Explorers”. Justice Tandy one of the judges resonates the voice of the present SC “What do you think the SC should do with the Speluncean explorers? About ninety per cent expressed a belief that the defendants should be pardoned or let off with a kind of token punishment. It is perfectly clear, then, how the public feels about the case. We could have known this without the poll, of course, on the basis of common sense, or even by observing that on this Court there are apparently four-and-a-half men, or ninety per cent, who share the common opinion. This makes it obvious, not only what we should do, but what we must do if we are to preserve between ourselves and public opinion a reasonable and decent accord. Declaring these men innocent need not involve us in any undignified quibble or trick. No principle of statutory construction is required that is not consistent with the past practices of this Court. Certainly no layman would think that in letting these men off we had stretched the statute any more than our ancestors did when they created the excuse of self-defense. If a more detailed demonstration of the method of reconciling our decision with the statute is required, I should be content to rest on the arguments developed in the second and less visionary part of my brother Foster’s opinion”.

This was in fact the same period when a battle was raging between President Roosevelt and the SC of United States and the SC’s emphasis on Public Opinion was made to change not by force but by rationale.

Unfortunately the days of realism were over in judicial annals of common law by 1970s. Why did realism come to end, the Honourable SC must seriously consider– if it wishes to maintain the stature of the Courts in eyes of the public. From taking up and virtually striking down the Presidential immunity without interpreting Article 248 of the constitution and to sending two elected Prime Ministers home, does not go well with the silent majority?. Pakistan may be suffering from endemic corruption but the manner in which the SC is taking up the issue is not the answer to the problem.

Democracy is not simply to be read only in the “independence of judiciary”, or for that matter “Rule of Law” in no jurisdiction is assumed to be the sole prerogative of the Judiciary. What is happening in Pakistan is the demolition of democracy in the name of democracy. If we are to assume for a moment that Pakistan has finally created its very own panacea, then it would do well with the people that the wastage of State money on the forth coming elections.

The Asian Human Rights Commission is of the view that the order, directing NAB during the course of the day, to submit investigation reports to the concerned authorities, and to get approved the challans/references against the accused persons and to cause their arrest without any hesitation, gives a clear feeling that investigations in the corruption are not complete.

Will the Courts also usurp the right of the accused under Article 10-A (the Right to Fair Trial) and the due process of law?

The SC must visit the case of Shahnaz Begum versus The Honourable Judges of the High Court of Sind and Baluchistan (PLD 1971 SC 677) in which Justice Humood ur Rehman presided the Bench. Should the Judgment be reversed?

If the SC is directing the investigations then who would be judicially reviewing cases?
 

Proposed City Zulfikarabad is a Disaster in the Making

The proposed city of Zulfikarabad in Sindh is impregnated with environmental and social risks

By Naseer Memon

Zulfikarabad, the dream city of the president of Pakistan, has sparked another controversy in Sindh. In spite of tooth and nail opposition, the government seems ready to proceed with its plans. The project, originally named as Jheruk, was first heard of in 2009. The scheme was later relocated to further south of Thatta district in Jati, Shah Bunder, Keti Bunder and Kharo Chaan talukas.

A meeting chaired by President Zardari on January 28, 2011 was told that the project would require some 1.6 million acres of land in the four coastal talukas of Thatta district. More than 1.2 million acres of the earmarked land is presently under sea and would require huge amount of money to reclaim. Sindh Land Management and Development Company has been established to acquire land for the project.

An autonomous body, Zulfikarabad Development Authority (ZDA) has been established to steer the project. The authority enjoys rare powers of approving any scheme even without seeking approval from the provincial Planning and Development Department. A high powered Executive Committee of the Authority has been empowered to take decisions. The chief secretary of the province would be just an ordinary member of the authority, ceremonially chaired by the chief minister and practically operated by the managing director. This is probably the only development scheme of its kind, for which key decisions are taken in meetings chaired by not less than the president of Pakistan.

Coastal strip is globally considered as an enticing location for commercial investments e.g. housing, tourism, industry and trade. Most expensive residential schemes are developed along coastal towns and cities. According to some estimates, approximately three billion people on earth live within 200 kilometres of coast and 14 out of 17 biggest cities of the world are located on coastline. This development is often materialised at the cost of indigenous communities. Against this backdrop, civil society has expressed its serious reservations on social and environmental implications of this scheme. Involuntary displacement of thousands of people from coastal villages is afoot.

China has shown its keen interest in the scheme. Delegations of Chinese investors frequently meet the president to lobby for major contracts in the project. The president has also recently visited China and the two countries have signed MoU to implement the project through Chinese companies.

Such high value projects nest hefty profits and poor communities become their casualty in numerous ways. Pakistan does not have impressive track record in this context. Resettlement of few thousand people of much smaller projects like Chotiari reservoir reeked with massive embezzlements and nepotism. Plight of the would-be displaced communities of Zulfikarabad is a foregone conclusion.

Key reason for Sindhis to oppose this project is lurking fear of being turned into a numeric minority in their own province.

According to the 1998 census, Sindhi speaking population was 60 per cent. Sindhi speaking population in urban areas was 25.8 per cent against 78.75% Punjabi speaking in urban Punjab and 73.55% Pashto speaking in Urban KP.

Demography of Karachi was even worse with Sindhi speaking population standing at 7.7%.

Against this backdrop, any new city of expected population of 10 million would easily convert Sindhis into a minority within a decade. Nationalist parties in Sindh consider Zulfikarabad a tool of demographic genocide of Sindhis.

The project is also impregnated with environmental risks.

Indus Delta is jewel in the crown of Pakistan’s ecological heritage.

For its rich biodiversity, the Delta is declared as a Ramsar site and attains great environmental significance. According to WWF Pakistan, the area where the city is proposed houses about 50 per cent of the country’s remaining mangroves cover most of which is declared as ‘protected’ since 1950s.

Recent studies on the existing land use of the location indicate that mangrove forests, wet mudflats and seawater in various major and minor creeks cover 7.2, 40.2 and 20 per cent of the total area of the site, respectively (WWF Pakistan). The remaining one third is the inland area which comprises agriculture and inland vegetation on about 9 per cent and uncultivated agricultural land and residential areas on 24 per cent of the total area of proposed Zulfikarabad site. More than 50,000 hectors of the proposed site are covered with mangroves forests, most of which are under the administrative jurisdictions of Sindh Forest Departments. Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Act requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (to which Social Impact Assessment is a component) of such projects. Considering the scope of the project, ideally a Strategic Impact Assessment should be conducted. However, all these requirements have been violated flagrantly.

Coastal cities are no more considered salubrious locations. Environmental hazards and coastal disasters have made such cities more vulnerable. Tsunamis of East-Asian coast in 2004 and of Japan in 2011 provide ample evidence of alarming vulnerability of coastal cities. Tourism, industry, shipping and aqua-culture are some of the prime areas of interest for investors. Natural ecosystem is gradually encroached and eventually replaced by concrete and steel in such areas.

Tsunami hit East-Asian countries developed shrimp farming into a $9 billion industry by erasing mangroves forests in vast swathes. The massive wave of destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami dwarfed all economic gain that the shrimp industry claimed. According to some reports, Sindh coast witnessed an average of four cyclones in a century. However, the frequency and intensity has increased manifold and the period of 1971-2001 records 14 cyclones. From 2001 to 2010, two high intensity cyclones i.e. cyclone Yemyin and cyclone Phet narrowly missed Sindh coast. Thus, Zulfikarabad would be exposed to serious potential hazards.

The proposed city is located in an active seismic zone, where exists Allah Band Fault, a potential threat of severe earthquake. In its southeast lies Gujarat Seismic Zone (GSZ) and in north-west Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ) that pose serious threat to the proposed city. Bhuj earthquake of 2001 caused devastation in the adjoining areas across the border.

Looking at shambolic infrastructure and substandard quality of services in Sindh, one wonders why these resources cannot be veered to improve the existing system. Most of the province is devoid of vehicle-worthy highways, link roads and basic infrastructure in secondary cities. Housing, drinking water and sanitation facilities are not available in large parts of big cities and secondary towns of Sindh. Thousands of schools and health facilities are without basic facilities. According to official data, 10,722 schools are without building and 24,559 are without drinking water facility in the province (Sindh Economic Survey 2009-2011). The same document acknowledges that provision of health facilities in Sindh is grossly inadequate. The province has only 3.5 doctors per 10,000 people and only 1.1 nurses against the same number of people. Against this backdrop, the decision to pour billions of dollars to build another big city lacks prescience.