The poor have no choices

Economy, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

WHILE the Pakistan government goes to extraordinary lengths to laud its economic performance, economists have correctly pointed out the growing inequities that have been spawned by President Musharraf’s policies. (See Akbar Zaidi’s “Eight years of missed opportunities” in Dawn of June 10, 2007.)

It was, therefore, like a bolt from the blue to see the Pakistan Economic Survey 2006-07 attempting to prettify the state of poverty in the country by citing a few statistics to paint a somewhat rosier picture.
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How will historians see May 12?

Terrorism and Violence

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

AS PAKISTAN goes through a grave political and constitutional crisis, it increasingly becomes clear that we have learnt nothing from history, to borrow the title of Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s book. But how can we, when students are no longer taught history as a subject in our schools? You do not learn a lesson from something you are not even aware of.
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Time for a peace initiative

Politics, War and Peace

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

WILL President Pervez Musharraf’s pacification mission to Karachi last week bear fruit? From the accounts given by some of the “elites” and “notables” who attended his briefing, no healing of wounds can be expected. One of them disclosed that they had been advised not to be negative in their approach.

The president acknowledged that a few “after shocks” are still being felt but he believes that if we “suppress” them they will die out. Surrounded by self-serving advisers, the president failed to sense the undercurrent of tension in the city.

He commended the political parties for their positive role in trying to bring harmony and peace to the city. But he seems to have spoken prematurely. Soon thereafter, a war of words erupted between the MQM and the Tehrik-i-Insaf which degenerated into personalised attacks against each other’s leaders.
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Judicial probe to heal wounds

Politics, Terrorism and Violence

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

IT IS intriguing why the government has not responded promptly to the public demand for a judicial enquiry into the carnage in Karachi on May 12. Given the scale of the killings, the mayhem and the paralysis or collapse — whichever way one may view it — of the law and order machinery in the city, this would seem to be the most logical thing to do.
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Resisting exploitation, but …

Book Reviews, Economy, Labour

Reviewed By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

BASED on a doctoral thesis, this book explores the different kinds of leaderships that control labour informally outside the workplace and those exercising authority within the framework of the factory in Pakistan. Although this research was conducted in the ’70s and focuses on two case studies of the cotton textile industry in Karachi, it continues to be as relevant today as it was then.
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