Afghan election: cocktail of arms, poppy and politics

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq

American-sponsored elections in Afghanistan today—amidst inveterate attacks by the Taliban—are going to have serious impact for the entire region in the coming days. The war-ridden country—occupied by NATO-US troops—no matter who wins—though Hamid Karzai is said to win again—is certainly to be run by a puppet regime. With sham democracy in Afghanistan, the United States wants to justify its occupation—the main object of which is to keep the spectre of al-Qaeda and Taliban alive. If this policy continues for another few years, Afghanistan—and adjacent tribal areas of Pakistan—will become central stage for military conflicts. And this is what the US wants.

The strategy of US and its allies is simple; to induce Russia, India and China in military conflicts. This will destroy their growing economies—posing serious challenges to capitalist monopolies created by US and its Western allies. The containment of China—real agenda behind Obama’s Af-Pak policy—is not possible without using extremist elements—they are covertly funded and supported by US. These militants will be used ultimately for creating troubles in Muslim areas of China as part of US long-term foreign policy.  

The State Department continuously campaigns against its “hidden allies”—but overt adversaries, Al-Qaeda and Taliban— that drug money is their main source of funding. According to so-called experts (planted) the total annual income from narco-trade by the Taliban is about $300 million—independent experts put the figure at $100 million. We challenged it and unveiled (see Ugly face of narco-terrorism, The Post, October 18, 2008) who are the real beneficiaries of $4-6 billion narco industry of Afghanistan. Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in a Press conference in Islamabad, confirmed our report admitting that “drugs accounted for less of a share of Taliban coffers than was previously thought”. Holbrooke told reporters that “he would add a member of the Treasury Department to his staff to pursue the question of Taliban funding”.

One wonders if Holbrooke will ever look into his own backyard for this. There is credible evidence (see references below from articles, Life, Death & Taliban by Jean MacKenzie and Funding the Pakistani Taliban by Shahan Mufti in Global Post, August 07, 2009) to confirm that the Taliban are receiving huge money from the following sources:

1. “Major contractors, funded by US and Western countries for rehabilitation projects, pay the Taliban their “due share” and it is in the knowledge of Afghan government.
2. The manager of an Afghan firm with lucrative construction contracts with the U.S. government builds in a minimum of 20 percent for the Taliban in his cost estimates. The manager, according to Press reports, has told friends privately that he makes in the neighborhood of $1 million per month. Out of this, $200,000 is siphoned off for the insurgents. “If negotiations fall through, the project will come to harm — road workers may be attacked or killed, bridges may be blown up, engineers may be assassinated”.
3. One Afghan contractor, speaking privately, told friends of one project he was overseeing in the volatile south. “I was building a bridge,” he said, “one evening over drinks, the local Taliban commander called and said don’t build a bridge there, we’ll have to blow it up”. I asked him to let me finish the bridge, collect the money — then they could blow it up whenever they wanted. We agreed, and I completed my project.”
4. In the south, no contract can be implemented without the Taliban taking a cut. One contractor in the southern province of Helmand was negotiating with a local supplier for a large shipment of pipes. The pipes had to be brought in from Pakistan, so the supplier tacked on about 30 percent extra for the Taliban, to ensure that the pipes reached Lashkar Gah safely. Once the pipes were given over to the contractor, he had to negotiate with the Taliban again to get the pipes out to the project site. This was added to the transportation costs. “We assume that our people are paying off the Taliban,” said the foreign contractor in charge of the project.
5. In Farah province, local officials report that the Taliban are taking up to 40 percent of the money coming in for the National Solidarity Program, one of the country’s most successful community reconstruction projects, which has dispensed hundreds of millions of dollars throughout the country over the past six years.
6. Many Afghans see little wrong in the militants getting their fair share of foreign assistance. “This is international money,” said one young Kabul resident. “They are not taking it from the people, they are taking it from their enemy.” But in areas under Taliban control, the insurgents are extorting funds from the people as well.
7. In war-ravaged Helmand, where much of the province has been under Taliban control for the past two years, residents grumble about the tariffs. “It’s a disaster,” said a 50-year-old resident of Marja district. “We have to give them two kilos of poppy paste per jerib during the harvest; then we have to give them Ushr (an Islamic tax, amounting to one-tenth of the harvest) from our wheat. Then they insisted on Zakat (an Islamic tithe). Now they have come up with something else: 12,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately $150) per household. And they won’t take even one rupee less.”
8. A report by the Center for Public Integrity in Washington published in June 2009 claims that millions of dollars are also ending up in Pakistani Taliban coffers from its control of the trade in counterfeit cigarettes. The report estimates that profits from the illicit cigarette trade may account for as much as 20 percent of total funding for these terrorist groups. “After poppy, tobacco is probably the biggest revenue generator,” for the Taliban, said Ikram Sehgal, who runs one of the largest private security firms in the country.
9. The environmental protection agencies in Pakistan are blaming the “timber mafia” — illegal loggers — for funding the militancy. Last year the Taliban took over a dormant marble mine near the Afghan border, which then reportedly generated tens of thousands of dollars for it every month. It all adds up, of course. But all things are relative: if the Taliban are able to raise and spend say $1 billion per year — the outside limit of what anyone has been able to predict — that accounts for what the United States is now spending on 10 days of the war to defeat them”.

Holbrooke, during his four-day visit to Pakistan (August 15-18, 2009) monitored Afghan elections and used Pakistani “clout” to refrain the Taliban from disrupting the electioneering process substantially—Mr. Nawaz was specifically helpful in this endeavour for his intimate links with Jihadis. Holbrooke now acts like de facto ruler of Pakistan—suggesting all kinds of prescription for all our problems. The political leaders (sic) of this country feel proud to “meet him and follow his instruction”—this is a state of shamelessness.

Holbrooke knows who is funding the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is well aware of the involvement in drug trade of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of Hamid Karzai—the puppet President—as his name appeared in the official International Narcotics Strategy Report 2008 issued by State Department. Who knows better than him that the policies of US and its coalition partners bring warlords into an alliance with terrorists—many criminal warlords like Rashid Dostum are back to support Karzai! It was not possible without the consent of US policymakers. The US has never been interested in rebuilding Afghanistan. Its plan of colonizing Afghanistan had three motives: to attain strategic supremacy over China by holding key points in South Asia; use of Afghan Card against Central Asian States if they refuse to toe US policy interests; and to control drug-for-arms trade.

Today’s election in Afghanistan will provide yet another opportunity to warlords to hijack ‘American-sponsored democracy’. In coming days, the entire region may witness a new wave of terrorism that becomes insurmountable—posing security challenges to Pakistan, India, China and Central Asian States. This is the core aim of Af-Pak policy. The rulers and masses of this region must understand this conspiracy. If they want to get rid of religious obscurantist, ruthless militants and warlords, they need to kick out foreign interventionists and the Taliban simultaneously—they are allies though pose to be adversaries.

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The writers, visiting professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), have written numerous articles on narco-terrorism and reality of ‘war against terrorism’.

How to democratize governance?

 

 

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq

Civil servants performance reflects the performance of government. Your role must be that of “enablers” and “facilitators” rather than just “regulators” — Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, addressing 90th National Management Course and 5th Senior Management Course at National Management College Lahore on July 25, 2009.

In our Land of the Pure, the poor masses are subjected to heavy and cruel taxation — cumulative incidence of various indirect taxes alone is as high as 40 percent—to finance the luxuries of the politicians, civil-military bureaucracy and the rich and mighty — who enjoy all possible facilities at subsidized rates. The way they waste and plunder the taxpayers’ money is no secret — shamelessness is the most appropriate word to explain their conduct. No serious effort since independence has been made to reform our mighty civil-military complex and its henchmen — the corrupt politicians and businessmen. On the contrary, numerous committees and commissions were constituted to “rationalize their pays and perquisites”. The politicians, who openly and vehemently profess differences on all the major national issues, always unanimously vote for manifold increases in their pays and lucrative perquisites.

Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani while speaking to grand gathering of senior bureaucrats asked the Pay and Pension Commission, notified on 6 April 2009, to come up with concrete suggestions for a reasonable pay and pension package for the government employees. Our worthy prime minister has not established any commission to assess the unbearable incidence of taxes and cost of basic services to the ordinary citizens and how to give them relief. But he is very concerned to give further benefits to the mighty bureaucrats, enjoying unfettered powers and making the lives of common people miserable. It is a strange form of democracy where the privilege classes do not pay due taxes but want more and more share in taxpayers’ money. In other democratic countries, the rich are taxed for the benefit of the poor. In Pakistan it is the other way around.

Our civil servants and politician feel that they are economically deprived! They always look for enormous emoluments and fringe benefits!! The sense of economic deprivation is certainly true for the majority of low-paid employees—though most of them are also involved in corruption — but the top-notches have enormous assets and money — hidden kept outside or within the country in the names of others. They have legitimate right to get the reasonable pay and security of job. The State must fulfill its duty of good Pay master towards them. They in turn should be the public servants in real sense of the word and not the Gora sahibs—the legacy left by the colonial masters.

A system of check and balance — under which asset and tax declarations of civil servants, judges, generals and politicians are open to public — is a sin qua non for the establishment of a true democratic culture and polity. The monetizing of all the fringe benefits available to the government employees, judges, generals, ministers, advisers must be done forthwith — it will not only be cost-saving but a first step towards the democratization of governance. It is the high time that the government should devise and implement a well-thought-for programme for democratization of governance.

The other day a powerful officer in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) — known as seasoned bureaucrat and extraordinary tax administrator — was complaining about rude and incompetent politicians. He commented: “governance is not the politicians’ cup of tea they all are law violators by nature. Look at their election expenses and declaration the file with the Election Commission”. He said “double salary given to FBR employees is just peanuts when compared with “huge money” wasted on “worthless” elected members—each one is costing over Rs. 4 million per year. Besides, the money they plunder from various schemes and funds allocated to them as political bribes.

Total budget sanction for National Assembly and Senate for fiscal year 2009-2010 is about Rs. 1.5 billion and Rs. 0.7 billion. This does not include perks and perquisites of ministers, state ministers and advisers. This poor country has army of ministers, state ministers and then advisers! A minister enjoys salary, allowances, financial benefits, rights, privileges and concessions. There are ‘equipment allowances’, travelling expenses for the minister and his family, cost of transporting personal servants, cost of transporting house-hold effects, sumptuary allowances, a furnished residence, travelling allowances for touring in Pakistan, Business Class air fare for him/her and his/her spouse, travelling allowances for tours abroad, First Class air fare, unlimited medical allowances and reimbursements, police escorts, fuel expenses, security, personal staff, office staff, utilities, entertainment allowances, entitlements of staff and telephone allowances—the list is yet not exclusive.

The total amount spent on military establishment — not for defence needs but for the luxuries of the generals and other high-ranking officers — is nearly Rs. 125 billion. The cost of running the offices of president, prime minister, ministers, all the ambassadors-at-large, advisers and governors (supported by huge staff) in a year is between Rs. 130-145 billion — 60 percent of it is extending a host of fringe benefits. The entertainment budget alone of Prime Minister and President House is Rs. 70 million and Rs. 95 million respectively.

One minister costs around Rs. 60 million per year; whereas we spend Rs 144 per Pakistani per year for health; and Rs 145 per Pakistani per year for education! We beg money from all and sundry — its use for non-productive purposes is more painful. No sustainable growth has been achieved even after borrowing billion of dollars. People are dying of hunger — majority is living in miserable conditions — and our privileged public servants (sic), public office holders, generals and judges are not ready to give away their perks and benefits. Why they cannot live like ordinary people?

According to a Press report, “in the locality sprawls over an area of 1,514 kanals of Mozang, Lahore, the largest house in the area, over 52 kanals, is the designated house for the Lahore High Court Chief Justice. The Commissioner’s House is the second largest house covering 26 kanals. The Chief Secretary’s House covers 12 kanals and the Chief Minister’s House covers 5 kanals.

“The Punjab government has earmarked Rs 841.52 million in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) at the disposal of the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) out of the total outlay of Rs 160 billion. The S&GAD would complete 51 ongoing schemes at the cost of Rs 475 million and Rs 366.4 million would be used to initiate and execute 25 new schemes during the next fiscal year commencing from July 1. The lion’s share of the funds would be used for the renovation, alteration and landscaping of GOR-I to facilitate the civil, police and judiciary officers living in the residential locality. The government has allocated Rs 10 million to construct 13 residences in GOR-I for officers in BS-20 and above. The renovation of Punjab House in Islamabad, Karachi, Murree and Rawalpindi is also a part of the budget. The government has allocated Rs 28.39 million for upgrading a gymnasium in GOR-I, Rs 0.66 million for the improvement of parks and playgrounds, Rs 0.39 million for the renovation of external water supply lines, Rs 1.16 million for the construction of cabins for security, Rs 5 million for the construction of an over-head water reservoir and installation of a turbine, and Rs 5.23 million for the installation of a diesel generator to ensure uninterrupted water supply to GOR-I”, the Press report reveals.

The government has also allocated Rs 27 million for the construction of the Chief Minister’s (CM) Secretariat at 8-Club Road in GOR-I, Rs 2.5 million for uplifting the facade of the Punjab Civil Secretariat and to build a gymnasium there for secretariat officers. The government has allocated Rs 1.2 million for installing a diesel generator for uninterrupted power supply to Punjab Hall and the Chief Secretary’s Office, and has set aside Rs 20 million for furnishing the Minister’s Block at the Civil Secretariat”, the Press report further adds.

 

This is the story of good governance in the Punjab—where the Chief Minister prefers to be called Khadim-i- Aala (Chief Servant)! The situation in other provinces and the federal government is no different—rather worse. Huge sums are wasted for providing privileges to the high-ranking government officials and politicians. The situation is same in the military establishment. The style of living of our generals is unmatched in the world. In the post-colonial period they became not only political masters but also the main beneficiaries of country’s major resources [see facts in Military Inc by Ayesha Siddiqa]. In the prevailing scenario, democratization and decentralization of governance in all institutions, including the army and judiciary — two scared cows in Pakistan — is vital if we want to progress.

While the government servants blame politicians for plundering and wasting the money, they allege that bureaucracy is the root cause of all the ills. They claim that a secretary of government costs at least Rs. 500,000 per month to national exchequer with lot of facilities and perquisites in kind. If rent-free accommodation given to him in Islamabad alone is evaluated on market basis, the benefit is not less worth Rs. 150,000 per month. In addition, he exercises unfettered powers and defy the orders of elected members of parliament and even sometime of ministers.

The politicians complain that bureaucrats do not implement their orders and keep on tarnishing their image in the public. The expense of monstrous government establishment — at federal and provincial levels — is very high and on top of that corruption and rent-seeking is the order of the day. The following details will certainly be eye-opener for public at large and extremely painful for the honest taxpayers, who are fleeced to pay for the luxuries of the mighty government servants and the rich:

Out of total consolidated current expenditure of Rs. 2066 billion for fiscal year 2008-2009 of federal and provincial governments, the amount spent on perquisites and benefits of government servants was enormous; Federal government spent Rs. 140 billion, Punjab Rs. 55 billion, Sindh Rs. 40 billion, NWFP Rs. 17 billion and Baluchistan Rs. 12 billion.

184 high ranking officers inhabit 12,644 kanals of land for their palatial residential buildings. Sitting in these palaces, these people consider themselves Gora sahibs above any accountability. They decide the fate of Pakistani people on the streets.

Majority of government functionaries lives beyond means spending far more than salaries it receives.

The above facts call for immediate right-sizing — closing down of all the unnecessary departments, divisions, sub-divisions and allied paraphernalia [see list in Capital Suggestions, The News, January 04, 2009, by Dr. Farrukh Saleem]. The list is long and astonishing. At Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, one can count 30 useless government establishments that are doing nothing but have imposing buildings and huge staff. The same is true everywhere — in all parts of the country one finds governments office, overstaffed, wasting money and time and making the lives of the citizens difficult. This is in nutshell the story of our civil service — the worst remnant of colonial legacy.

Living in sprawling bungalows with army of servants, the mighty bureaucrats and generals are least pushed to bother how the common man is living (or dying)—even totally indifferent towards their own fellow low-paid employees. The civil-military structure in Pakistan is class-oriented and against the basic precepts of democracy. They make policies while sitting in the air-conditioned rooms for poverty alleviation and what not. The other day, the FBR issued rules making it mandatory for all firms to file statements and returns electronically without realizing the non-existence of internet facility at the remote places of the country, and even in big cities for want of electricity supply!

All indicate that democratic form of governance is an alien concept in our peculiar socio-political milieu — State of Pakistan since independence is either directly run or controlled by a strong civil-military complex. It has proved to be crueler that colonial masters — in terms of oppression, denying the people their fundamental rights and being highly inefficient and corrupt. Since independence political elite, playing in the hands of civil-military complex has also shown strong indignation towards pro-people decentralized governance. Our governance model — under civil or military rules alike — has proved to be even worse than many developing countries where decentralized governance has brought benefits for the people at gross root level — during our recent visit to Chile we experienced the great advantages of democratization of governance with government official getting all the emoluments in cash and living as happily as their fellow citizens in same localities, using the same public transport and their kids going to public schools meant for all. Our elitist system has made civil servants, judges and military bureaucracy masters. The low-paid employees in civil service hardly meet the both ends but their bosses live like kings! Democratization and decentralization of governance needs serious consideration if we really want to move forward — democracy is not electioneering per se. One of its essential elements is rule for the person which is missing totally in Pakistan.

The first and foremost step towards democratization of governance should be undoing the legacy of Raj. The immediate action should be right-sizing of huge government machinery and monetizing of all the fringe benefits and perquisites in kind given to the employees [see detailed recommendations by Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Shahid Kardar, Nadeem Ul Haque and many others]. Democratization and decentralization of governance necessarily requires complete reform of our civil service and military establishment as well as accountability of public office holders. The State must withdraw from all its employees and public office holders all facilities like houses, cars, servants, telephones etc. All perquisites given in kind should be monetized. Let the government servants, especially the senior bureaucrats, live with the ordinary citizens of Pakistan and not in GORs or other posh colonies. It will give them real insight how the policies should be made and what are the real problems of the ordinary folk.

The government servants should construct their own houses or take residences on rent as other citizens do. Grand housing scheme by the State should be for all — no separate palaces for bureaucrats. The lucrative properties on The Mall in Lahore and elsewhere in the country are not the jagirs of bureaucrats. These belong to the masses and they should be the beneficiaries of their assets. Why the ministers live on the sprawling houses on The Mall and designated placed in Islamabad and in other cities. Why in GOR, The Mall, judges get huge bungalows. They should also live like ordinary people.

Why the Corpse Commanders have houses right in the cities in acres. Why the governor houses in all the four provinces are so huge. These questions are important from the standpoint of democratization of governance. The existence of such luxuries for the rulers and privilege segments of society is derogatory to Constitution and democracy. In other countries such buildings are open to public—as museums or functional places. In Pakistan, these are outbound for the common man. These should not be available as perquisites to anybody.

The government must revise pay structure of its employees but all fringe benefits/perquisites in kind should be monetized. This will be the starting point of change in society — beginning of the democratization of governance. It is the Constitutional duty of the State to treat all the citizens equally and provide them the facilities of education, health and transportation. Since all the money is spent on the luxuries of the rulers and their henchmen, the State has persistently been failed to fulfill its main responsibility. Those who manage and perform State functions — public office holders and civil servants — must be made part of the masses. The colonial concept of master and servants relationship must end now. 14th August 2009 — marking 62nd anniversary of independence—is close and it is the high time that we should make a beginning of democratization of governance.