Kahkashan Khan Yousafzai

Monday, September 5, 2016

Revitalizing the National Action Plan

The National Action Plan (NAP), which came out on December 24, 2014 as a result of a heinous massacre of school children in Peshawar on December 16, 2014 was even though a delayed action, but a right one in the right direction. Since the very beginning its success depended upon the commitment and dedication of the civil and military leadership. Hence it was witnessed that the All Parties Conference was attended by all and sundry, including the opposition parties, political parties in the government, and large number of military leadership too.

From the onset it carried positive vibes about its purpose and the fact that it was unanimously being pursued by all the stakeholders, gave it a positive thrust. The 20 points agenda was approved in the meeting, which was indeed a well thought-out blue print identifying the main areas of trouble that were undermining the internal security of the state. It was being expected that same commitment would continue for the prime purpose of rooting out the menace of terrorism and extremism from the society, and eventually to establish the writ of the state.

However after much positive and hopeful beginning, the further development on the plan is still lacking. The impetus that it was expected to gain, was somehow lost on the way and now after almost 2 years one doesn’t see much deliverance on the 20 points agenda deliberated upon in 2014.

The fact that the civil-military equation on various matters has always come in clash with each other, was even though not that obvious in this particular matter, but the force with which military had taken up this cause was seen missing on part of civil leadership. There are also some instances where one sees that the civil leadership expressed some reluctance in adopting a stern stance against the extremist organizations and the convicts. This very dimension did cause a major slowing down of the progress on materialization of set milestones. The establishment of military courts did compensate the slackness of civil leadership, but it did require renewed pledge by the civil leadership too.

At the same time even though the “problem areas” had sufficiently been identified but they were not supported by any framework as to how to go about achieving those goals. Probably the involvement of army was being seen as “delegation of responsibility” instead of “sharing of responsibility”, a thought that needs to be reviewed. One can also point out another very important area which is required for the successful achievement of NAP goals and that is the civic responsibility. There is an ever growing need that the civil society takes utmost care in curbing down extremist sentiments. It should refrain from getting involved and showing sympathies to the factors which invoke sectarian and ethnic rifts.

Also there is a need to indoctrinate people in this regard so they could readily condemn any such instances. This could be done through responsible role of media. Regular programs and shows should be relayed on religious harmony. Pakistan’s diverse ethnic and cultural richness could be telecasted on regular basis so that the people should feel connected cross culturally. The role by military leadership by conducting operations like Zarb-e-Azb will be complimented and supported immensely by a parallel measures taken through soft policies.

Having said all that, it was high time that the NAP should have been revived. The meeting convened for the purpose of implementing the NAP is once again a right move. The body supervising the progress on NAP contains some high profile names and once again there is a lot of hope attached that it will finally deliver. It should not face the same fate as NACTA. Finally the political will is there and the supervisory committee should be able to make the goals meet. With the help of 29 new wings of the Frontier Corps for border management, a lot of suspicions cross border activities could be kept under check.

At the same time process of mainstreaming the tribal areas is going to positively help in pacifying the grievances of locals against the government and its policies. The government also should realize that it doesn’t have to wait for tragedies in order to move ahead with progress on such projects. Previously Peshawar school attack became the reason and now the tragedy in Quetta which killed 75 people, finally was able to wake up the authorities from their slumber.

A special emphasis should be given on making NACTA functional as is already outlined in the 20 points of NAP. Now is the time that the momentum should be maintained, so that the NAP doesn’t become just another document of 20 points which no body had clue what to do with.

Discriminatory Approaches and Weaknesses in NPT

U.S. Ambassador Llewellyn E. Thompson, left, signs nuclear non-proliferation treaty as Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko watches in Moscow, Russia, on July 1, 1968. The treaty entered into force on March 5, 1970.

The Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ideally aims at keeping a check on the spread as well as acquisition of nuclear weapons. However this pronounced intention seemingly is to keep an eye on the non-nuclear weapon states only. Either for the possible chances of them developing nuclear weapons or acquiring the nuclear weapons from the nuclear weapon states.

This is essentially a character of horizontal proliferation, around which the very focus of the treaty revolves. However such an approach is seen as inherently discriminatory as well as limited in the scope. Therefore the treaty has been subjected to criticism on many occasions especially by the states that are not signatory to it. They easily make their case strong by pointing out its weaknesses and loopholes.

The very fact that it only puts check on the non-nuclear weapons states, makes it partial and biased, while the five “recognized” nuclear weapon states are exempted from such scrutiny. This also does not take into account the vertical proliferation of the nuclear weapons and technology, hence is not a very effective arrangement when it comes to stopping arms race among the states, an objective that is outlined in its preamble.

Also, even though the treaty supports the peaceful use of nuclear technology, it doesn’t really have any framework to ascertain that the states who posses it, will only be employing to for peaceful purposes. At the same time it highlights the division of the world into two nuclear blocks as nuclear haves and nuclear have-nots.

The NPT unnecessarily gives the five nuclear haves a privileged position where they can keep their nuclear stockpiles and demands the have-nots to remove and forego their quest to acquire nuclear weapons. This is the very reason why Pakistan strongly opposes the joining of this treaty.

This particular dimension has added to the security dilemma, invoking the urge among non-nuclear weapon states to acquire weapons for their security and safety, hence eventually adding to the arms race. This comes in direct clash with another clause in its preamble which stresses upon the cessation of the manufacturing of nuclear weapons.

Hence one can see the inherent flaw in this treaty where the very right of the states to secure their sovereignty is highly undermined. The realities of the internal political world don’t seem to have been given any space in this treaty rendering it unrealistic.

It is also believed that the NPT is being used as a tool by the five recognized nuclear weapons states to put restrictions on others for the development and acquisition of these weapons, while they themselves have been allowed to continue to develop on their own stockpiles. This again is highly discriminatory and explicitly biased. Another point is about its cutoff date, which as per this treaty is identified as 1st January 1967.

So any state, according to the provisions of NPT, which resorted to the development or acquisition of nuclear weapons after this cutoff date, has technically done so in violation of this treaty. In other words, this treaty takes away the right from the states to be considered as the recognized nuclear weapon states if they acquired nuclear weapons after this cutoff date and should instead be liquidating their nuclear assets.

This is why as per NPT there are only five recognized nuclear weapon states while the other four are not even recognized as the nuclear weapon state despite the fact that they possess nuclear weapons. So the issue of legitimacy of states that posses nuclear weapons, needs to be reviewed. This also puts these states under pressure to opt for disarmament and roll back their nuclear weapon programs.

However the withdrawal clause of this treaty simultaneously makes the NPT an intrinsically weak document which on one hand makes it obligatory for the states to refrain from developing and acquiring the nuclear weapons but on the other hand it allows the signatories to withdraw in case the treaty is somehow jeopardizing their supreme interest.

All these loopholes and intentionally biased approaches of NPT call for the revision and amendment of its provisions. The same has been demanded by many nuclear and non nuclear weapon states as well. Another aspect that glaringly makes it outdated is that it still reflects the West centric approach where the US and European powers are maneuvering the world matters. It largely ignores the fact that the world focus is now increasingly shifting towards Asia, predominantly towards East and South Asia. This naturally demands the treaty to be updates as per the latest trends of the international political environment.

A treaty like NPT can only be successful if it truly stands and deliver on its commitment to disarmament and condemnation of arms race. If it continues to bank upon its discriminatory policies, the ideals of a peaceful world free from arms race will remain a distant possibility.

Federal sports authorities assure support to PBSA

The Pakistan Billiards &a Snooker Association (PBSA) has been assured the allocation of a hall for setting up snooker academy at the PSB Karachi Centre besides the release of the pending cash award to the ace cueist, Hamza Akbar.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh. President, PBSA, who returned to the city after having held a series of meetings with the top functionaries of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) in Islamabad over the past three days, expressed his delight with the positive mindset and cooperative attitude of the government officials.

“The Federal Sports Minister, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, during our meeting, issued the directives to immediately release Hamza Akbar’s long pending cash award of Rupees 15 lacs for winning the Asian Championship 2015 in Malaysia. He also ordered for the allocation of a suitable hall to the PBSA for setting a snooker academy at the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Karachi Centre besides advising for the release of pending special grants to the Association in which the Pakistan snooker team had participated,” Alamgir Shaikh revealed.

The PBSA President also held formal meetings with the newly appointed senior officials at the Ministry of IPC which included the Secretary, Raja Mohammad Nadir Ali, the Deputy Secretary, Fayyaz-ul-Haq, and the Joint Secretary Hussain Ahmed Madni, having briefed them on the performance and achievements of the association and the cueists.

The snooker chief of the country also had lengthy sessions with the high-ranking functions of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) including its Director General, Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, Director General (National Federations), Mohammad Azam Dar and Deputy Director General, Syed Habib Shah.

“The matters relating to the appointment of a foreign coach were on top of the agenda in meetings with the PSB officials. After deliberations and discussions they have given their consent to the PBSA for hiring Soheil Vahedi from Iran as the coach for the Pakistan snooker squad,” Alamgir Shaikh disclosed.

“Accordingly, as a part of the PBSA Coaching Programme, it has now been mutually decided to hold a 15-day training and coaching camp for Pakistan’s top cueists at the PSB Complex in Islamabad under the supervision of coach Soheil Vahedi next month,” the PBSA President concluded.