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The Many Contests in Pakistan
The Pakistan economy which had been
suffering over a period due to neglect by the government and endemic bane of
aid and assistance from outside is now possibly set to self correct if moves by
the government to implement the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) bear
fruit. The Senate approved
recommendations of the Senate Standing Committee of Finance over the proposed
General Sales Tax Act, 2010 and Finance (Amendment) Bill, 2010. This will now
have to be approved by the National Assembly where the ruling Pakistan’s
People’s Party has a strong presence ensuring passage of the Bill.
With the government forced to the wall
by the opposition and some of its own allies such as the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) playing the populist card there was a relatively smooth passage
of the RGST bill due to walk out by a large block of the opposition in the
Senate that is the Pakistan Muslim’s League Qaid. How much of this was stage
managed remains to be seen, but there is also likely to be resistance on the
streets as political forces are likely to unite against the government but this
is a bullet the government would have to bite in case it wants more assistance
from the IMF. The opposition not unaware of the same wants to make political
capital and a virtue of a necessity thereby increasing pressure on the ruling
PPP.
In
the socio political space, rise of the Sunni Tehreek (ST) or the Sunni Ittehad
Council is seen by many as an attempt by the government to rein in fundamentalist
Deobandi forces as the ST claims to represent the Barlevi school of Sunni Islam.
It is now seen as a force to counter rise of the Taliban in Pakistan. The Council
is a collection of Barelvi Sunni parties joined to fight Deobandi ideology professed
by the Taliban, but the overall traction by the organization so far remains low
and how this will pan out in the future remains to be seen. The Barelvis are
far less radical than the Deobandi and this may lead to deradicalisation of society
one of the many challenges faced by the government in Islamabad. The suspicion
of the government supporting the ST and likelihood of the Taliban targeting the
group may however dampen prospects of rise of a genuine counter radical
movement amongst the Sunnis in the country.
The Deobandi and the Barlevi schools are however
united in resisting repealing of blasphemy laws under which a Christian women
is facing a death sentence on what some say cooked up charges. Chief of the
Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Sahibzada Fazal Karim said the SIC will not allow
repeal of the blasphemy laws.
The Baloch question is looming large
on the Pakistani political spectrum. With militancy in the province continuing
though in a low level sim fire burning mode, there is a concern that a solution
would have to be worked out as the same may spin out of control in case allowed
to fester for long. The Baloch grievance is related to exploitation of resources
of the province by the dominant Punjabi community without sharing the spoils
with the locals. The overall state of militancy is low but this is preventing maximum
exploitation of mineral and energy potential of the province with targeting of
infra structure as well as prospecting. With Pakistan economy in dire straits
and dependent on aid and assistance from outside, developing resources in Balochistan
would provide a way out. However for this political compromises will be
necessary and at present there is no support for the same.
The Gwadar port in Baluchistan seen by
many as another major hub for trading and transportation with a favourable
location in the Northern Arabian Sea has also failed to take off due to lack of
adequate number of ships berthing there. Thus the government is planning to cancel
the agreement with the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) to operate the Gwadar
port and a Chinese company may take over the same. The unrestricted access to
Gwadar is also one of the grievances of the Baloch parties.
The US President’s visit to India
drew intense opposition from the Pakistani media and Foreign office particularly
on support expressed by Mr Obama for a permanent seat for India in the
UNSC. The proposal for India Pakistan
talks however was welcomed by the official side in Pakistan but whether some things
will come of these remains to be seen.
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