US Drones Making Pakistan More Dangerous

When the militants claimed responsibility for carrying out brazen attacks on the country’s busiest airport on 9 June, the unmanned CIA aircraft hit their hideouts in North Waziristan. According to the international news agency Reuters, two top officials of the government of Pakistan told on condition of anonymity that Washington was working in tandem with Islamabad. The latter gave “express approval” to the Americans to carry out drone strikes inside Pakistan.

Some clues suggest that the above piece of news may be spot on. At first the ministry of foreign affairs stated that no drone strikes have been carried out on Pakistan soil. The prime minister, the defence minister and other top officials at the helm did not condemn the US strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. Also, given that last year the US halted drone strikes at our request, now it is reasonable to believe that the Americans have resumed them on our government’s request.

There are two prisms through which we can see the use of the armed drones. The CIA conducts covert drone operations to hit the militants who are the enemies of the state and the target of the armed forces too. Which is why the civilian administration approves the drone strikes. According to the UK-based news agency Reuters, the government of Pakistan publicly opposes the drone strikes saying they cause loss of innocent lives and violate the country’s sovereignty, while in private the officials admit the rulers support them. But the fact remains that they violate Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Is there any sovereign nation in the world which will allow the US to use drone strikes as a counter-terrorism measure on its soil?

Instead of requesting the super power to use the remotely piloted aircraft on militants in Pakistan in order to stamp out terrorism, the government should allow the Pakistani military to pounds their havens in Waziristan.

Should the civilian political bosses authorize the US to pound the tribal areas, it will muddy the waters enough to make the fight against militancy harder. A possible danger of strikes is bringing together of the fractured TTP. The insurgents holed up in Waziristan give the impression to those who are willing to listen to them that the government in the saddle right now is the puppet of the US, so holy war against the state is an obligation.

Please check the following website to learn that the government of Pakistan secretly requested the US to carry out drone strikes inside Pakistan.

Drones hit Taliban hideouts in 'joint Pakistan-U.S.' raid, say officials

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/12/uk-pakistan-drones-idUKKBN0EN0TD20140612

 

Eradication of poverty an obligation

Last year the finance minister of Pakistan officially set the minimum wage of an unskilled worker at 10,000 rupees per month. However, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has recently noted that the standard in existence is even lower: there are people who are on a salary of 7 to 9 thousand rupees monthly. But when the scribe of this piece of writing interviewed a worker at a hotel in Model Town, he revealed that other salaried employees are paid 5 to 12 thousand per month. Not to talk of rural and domestic workers, even urban are not protected by the minimum wage standard.

The vast swathes of the population are living in near or abject poverty. More and more people are quietly slipping below the poverty line. The greatest challenge such people are facing is making both ends meet. Their lives centre on managing food, schooling, electricity and fuel. Most of them fight against hunger and malnutrition in their lifespan. For them sparing thoughts for an enviable future is allowable in just wild dreams.

Due to a total indifference to the needs of the impoverished by those at the helm, the ranks of the poor are swelling with every passing year. The posturing politicians and policymaking elites display disregard for the welfare of the majority of the population. That is why they come up with the legislation which can benefit them and their ilk to the exclusion of all others. Reducing general poverty has never been high on the agenda of any political party in the corridors of power. The construction of new roads, putting more buses on the roads, initiating youth business loan scheme are all useful steps, but none of them is meant to bring advantage to the armies of workers who survive on the minimum wage.

Even the so-called middle class is just a relatively better-off section of the society. They feel excruciatingly uncomfortable when the prices of everyday essentials skyrocket. Even they struggle to pay their bills. Their annual pay rise fails to match a high rate of inflation. Therefore, their living standards too have plummeted.

Our state is unconcerned. The issue of economic failure concerns the elected representatives only peripherally. They are not bestirring themselves to give each citizen his or her due rights – the rights which are enshrined in law. Article 38 of the Constitution terms the fulfilling of basic needs of each individual the obligation of the state.

 
The government’s interest lies in pillorying the army and the implementation of Article 6; the common people have no concern whether the generalissimo is let off or penalized. All they crave is a financial status of sorts in society.

Vocabulary through tweets

8 April 2014

•    Musharraf is accused of the subversion of the Constitution.

subversion: trying to destroy or damage

•    Musharraf’s best hope lies in decamping from the country on one pretext or the other.

decamping from: leave suddenly

10 April 2014

•    He was accepted to a top-notch university in the UK.

top-notch: excellent

•    The school tries to hammer home the importance of homework.

hammer home: emphasize

11 April 2014

•    Violence and instability are blighting the nuclear-armed state
blight: ruin; damage

12 April 2014

•    The propensity to try the former strongman in the media as well as the courts should be resisted.

propensity: tendency

•    John Kerry's determined concentration on peace talks has ended not in a bang but a whimper
bang: a sudden loud noise.

whimper: a low weak cry

15 April 2014

•    Intemperate statements of the ministers have antagonized the army.

intemperate: too extreme; immoderate
antagonize: make hostile; provoke

•    Khawaja Asif pilloried the army in 2006.

pilloried: criticize strongly in public

•    Every Afghan poll since 2001 has been tainted (=damage; spoil) by fraud.

taint: damage; spoil

16 April 2014

•    Gen Raheel Sharif is neither laidback like Kayani nor reckless like Musharraf.

laidback: calm and relaxed
reckless: disregarding the consequences

•   South Africa under Mandela could work together with erstwhile white supremacists.


supremacist: an advocate of the supremacy of a particular group 

Tax avoidance in Pakistan

In Pakistan, an insignificant number of people with taxable income pay tax.

1.      Legislators and tax delinquency

The FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) – a state-owned agency –revealed towards the end of the last year that nearly half Pakistani legislators did not pay their tax. Many legislators are not registered with tax authorities. A minuscule amount is deducted from the legislators’ salaries but they, almost all of them, are running lucrative private businesses.

2.      Poor tax collection

Less than one per cent of people file income tax returns in Pakistan. The situation in India is better where 4.7 per cent pay income tax. The French pay 58 per cent and the Canadians pay 80 per cent.

3.      The rich let off the hook

The PML-N’s talk of bringing the rich into the tax net has failed to produce any noticeable result on broadening the tax base. Despite all its efforts, only a few hundred more people filed the tax return voluntarily.

Last year, the government introduced a scheme for whitening the black money. Even though the government offered exemption from surcharges, penalties, audit and questions about the source of money, the incentive scheme did not induce those with taxable income to pay tax.

4.      Taxpayers shrinking

What is more troubling is the fact that the ranks of taxpaying people are shrinking every year. In 2011, 1.4m people filed returns. But in 2013 there were only about 84,000 taxpayers whom the FBR could trace to their homes or workplaces. Towards the end of last year, the FBR witnessed a tax shortfall of over 130bn rupees.

5.      Evil effects of tax avoidance

As successive governments do not collect tax revenues efficiently, they take loans from international donor agencies. The donors give loans with stringent conditions of increasing revenue. So the Pakistani governments increase indirect tax on items like fuel – a move which shifts burdens onto the poor and middle class while the rich are always let off.

6.      Why a crackdown on tax evasion is avoided

Nearly half of all Pakistani lawmakers dodge tax, and more than one in ten lawmakers are not registered with tax authorities. Most of the taxpayers who are in national and provincial assemblies seem dishonest. A small amount of money is deducted from their salaries, but almost all of them have lucrative second careers which they do not reveal.

A corrupt person lacks moral courage. As the parliamentarians do not pay taxes honestly, they have lost the moral courage to impose it on the rich. That is why the government has failed to put into practice its claims of broadening the tax base and taxing the affluent.

7.      Who pays taxes happily?

Indeed, paying tax willingly is a hard thing. Even people in the most civilized countries are not happy to pay tax. Some of them seek ways to avoid the payment of tax, but their governments have made efficient systems where they are made to pay taxes.

A vast majority of the parliamentarians in Pakistan are crooked. The bureaucrats working under them are corrupt like their bosses. Corruption has infiltrated even in the law courts, where one is supposed to get justice. The common people of Pakistan complain that every department of the government is riddled with corruption.

Family vocabulary

She would always thank him effusively

effusively
showing much or too much emotion: effusive thanks

Three Political Parties In Indian Elections

1. An event of global significance

The largest democratic exercise on Earth will start in India on 7 April and will last for six weeks. 814 million potential voters will cast their ballots in nine separate tranches. Over 1.4m electronic voting machines will be used across the length and breadth of India, which have put an end to booth capturing. Unlike Pakistan, where almost every political party cries foul, nobody in India suggests that the results are rigged.

2. Where the Congress stands

In the general election this year, the governing Congress party is likely to take a real pasting. In Indian politics, election results are hard to predict (in 2004 and 2008 the BJP – tipped to win – lost both times); yet this year it will not fare well on polling days due to some obvious factors.

The ruling party did not live up to the expectations of the masses. The lame-duck premier constantly ran into difficulties with Sonia Gandhi, the matriarch of Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, in the second term. Resultantly, the party’s policies lacked coherence. The economic growth which Manmohan Singh’s first stint in power established his leadership credentials saw economic downturn in the second term due to the global financial crisis of 2008 and allegations of graft against his team. Also, the wealth generated in the boom years largely went to the elite, whereas the poor broadly endured poverty and privation. The average voter’s frustration with the current government is disheartening the incumbents.

The Congress will likely plump for Rahul Gandhi to attract the general electorate, especially the youth. Yet analysts comfortably predict the scion of Rajiv and Sonia will probably fail to woo the voters. The young politician lacks the charisma of his father and is politically inexperienced. When Rahul should be contacting the grass roots of the population, like his political rival Mr Modi, he is busy overhauling the structure and the inner working of the party.

3. Where the BJP stands

The disillusioned public will now try the BJP for bringing about good governance. Mr Modi who comes from a low caste is playing up his man-of-the-street appeal during the election campaign. The Guardian has eulogized Mr Modi as a hero, “Mr Modi is one of the most polarizing politicians to have walked the India’s political stage for many years.” Modi’s claim – he is the candidate of change – is not missing the target.

The fast-growing clout of Modi is threatening Congress and its underwhelming frontman, Rahul Gandhi.

That is why pollsters are predicting a victory for the BJP. Today’s main opposition party looks set to cobble together a coalition and form a government in mid-May.

4. Where the AAP stands

The popular AAP has roots in the anti-corruption movement which Anna Hazare launched close to three years back. In fact, it is a reaction to India’s political woes. Though the nascent political party has won millions of sympathizers across India and its ideology is likely to shake up the political parties that have dominated Indian politics, presently it is not being considered a viable option. It is not easy to defeat the entrenched political parties and their winning horses whether or not they deliver in power.

Sentences for practice

Our police force is perennially (=perpetually; constantly) under-resourced

Death is a perennially popular subject with the clergy.
The perennial problem of clean water shortage has never been a top priority of any dispensation.
Corruption is a perennial theme in politics.
Caste and corruption are perennial themes of any election in India.


The crippling (=damaging) energy crunch has hit the poor

The crippling debts of Pakistan benefitted the government officials, not the poor.

Unrestrained military spending is crippling Pakistan and India.

Due to crippling energy bills, the common man finds difficult to make both ends meet.

The government should rein in runaway (=out of control) prices

Runaway inflation affects the have-nots.

The runaway success of Dr Qadri's rally has upset those who are afraid of the call to revolution.

Most of us are runaway slaves of our Lord.