Prolonging the agony

THE manner in which Mukhtaran Mai’s case has been handled by the government this past week is disgraceful. There is still a lot of fog surrounding the current position which makes it difficult to ascertain the truth. On Wednesday, the interior minister told parliament that Mukhtaran Mai’s name had been removed from the exit control list on the instructions of the prime minister and that she was free to travel abroad. However, our correspondent reports that Mukhtaran Mai’s passport has been seized, and she has been told that it is being kept as a trust (amanat). Her decision not to travel abroad on account of her mother’s illness is widely seen as having been made under duress. The government’s discomfort at the publicity Mukhtaran Mai’s plight continues to receive is obvious, but it is hard to digest the appalling lengths to which it has gone to gag her. Government officials have callously mishandled the case with their contradictory and, at times, dim-witted statements. They hoped to avoid a “bad press” they believed would result if Mukhtaran Mai travelled abroad but given the scathing international reaction to the steps taken to prevent the trip from materializing, the country has ended up getting a far worse press. In its lead editorial on Wednesday, the New York Times rebukes Pakistan for thinking that Mukhtaran Mai’s visit would have maligned its image, “as if it has not taken care of that rather ably by itself.” It is also disgraceful that the Pakistan government should be perceived as removing Mukhtaran Mai’s name from the ECL only under US pressure.

Given the bizarre twists and turns the case has taken, it is said that tension in Mukhtaran Mai’s village Meerwala is escalating. Irrespective of the security she has been granted, she must be a frightened person now that her alleged rapists are free again. She says her only concern continues to be that she should be given justice — a pursuit from which she refuses to be deflected. Given its track record on women’s rights — let us not forget how quickly Gen Pervez Musharraf had come to defend the main accused in the Sui rape case — it is not surprising that Mukhtaran Mai should have despaired of official backing. The government has evoked the ire of human rights activists previously as well for its flip-flop on women’s issues. There must be an immediate end to Mukhtaran Mai’s harassment. Her passport should be returned to her and every step taken to ensure her freedom of movement and her security.

In the whole episode, some legislators and government functionaries have dragged in NGOs into the debate. The derogatory references made to NGOs by certain ministers is highly irresponsible. In the absence of good governance, had it not been for the valuable role NGOs have played, society would have been much worse off than it is today. Many of the injustices in Pakistan — like the existence of private jails in Sindh — were brought to our attention by NGOs. For state minister of interior Shahzad Wasim to rubbish NGO activists as “people [who] are ready to say anything for one dinner with Johnny Walker” is thoughtless and speaks of an encrusted right-wing lobby within what is projected as an enlightened government. The contribution of NGOs in various fields has been invaluable and the government should be seeking their contribution rather than alienating them.

Ties with Australia

IT seems there will be more to our ties with Australia than cricket, hockey and squash, going by the outcome of President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to that country. The first-ever visit by a Pakistan head of state has ended on a positive note, with the two countries signing a number of accords on issues of vital concerns to both, including terrorism. The agreements to strengthen counter-terrorism ties and enhance cooperation in economic and cultural fields should help both and bring the two countries closer. Australia’s large size, its highly developed economy and its cultural achievements make it an important country for Pakistan to have close relations with. As President Musharraf said at a joint conference with Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra, Pakistan wanted more help from the host country in trade and investment, especially in agriculture, and more joint ventures. Of special significance is Australia’s decision to provide scholarships to 500 Pakistani students over the next five years. This by any standards is a major gesture of friendship by a country which has been attracting more foreign students than before.

Australia is closely aligned with the US, is a member of ANZUS and, for that reason, shares some of the western world’s concerns, especially over terrorism and non-proliferation. It supported Washington on the questions of Iraq and Afghanistan and has troops in both countries. Pakistan may have reservations about the American-led war on Iraq but it sees eye to eye with those fighting the remnants of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan is a front-line state in the US-led war on terror and for that reason evokes support and sympathy from Australia. During his speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, President Musharraf asked Australian entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan so as to establish more industries, create more jobs and thus contribute to Pakistan’s war on poverty. However, it is for Islamabad to create a more congenial environment in the country for foreign investment. A major obstacle is the bad security situation. Without a perceptible improvement in law and order, it is difficult to see how Australian and other foreign businessmen can be interested in investing in Pakistan.

Menace of quackery

ALTHOUGH there is not much reason to be optimistic, one does hope that the federal government’s promise to launch a countrywide campaign against quackery does not prove a non-starter yet again. With at least 600,000 illegal medical practitioners ‘treating’ millions across the country for a variety of ailments, the public sector health authorities can ill afford to ignore the issue. Lacking even basic medical training, many of these so-called doctors end up harming their patients, sometimes even killing them, rather than curing them of their illnesses. While many have a lucrative practice in urban centres, those operating in the rural hinterland pose a real danger to their patients. For here, in the absence of proper medical facilities, most people have no choice but to seek the services of quacks. Short-lived campaigns against quackery won’t do. There may be temporary pressure on fake doctors to wind up their practice, but, as previous experience has shown, they are quite capable of staging a comeback, especially when there is a demand for their services.

The solution lies in expanding public sector healthcare in both the cities and the rural areas where the bulk of the population lives. The task may seem gargantuan, especially in rural areas where the existing ramshackle basic health units and rural health centres are of little use as medical units. But there is no excuse for putting it off, considering the pervasiveness of quackery and the growing danger to people’s health. Perhaps, the health authorities could in earnest start getting young medical graduates to serve some years in the rural areas and try and lessen their concerns on this score with the promise of decent living conditions. At least, this would give people an option between qualified practitioners of modern medicine and quacks.