Biometrics in Afghanistan The eyes have it

Courtesy:-   The Economist 

EVEN as the dining room smouldered, soldiers moved about taking fingerprints and scanning eyes of the corpses of Taliban fighters. The ghoulish ritual followed an attack, on June 21st, on a restaurant beside Qargha Lake in Kabul. After the scans, the information was compared with a biometric database.

Gathering such data, even from the dead, is now standard practice in the Afghan war. Soldiers learn that usable scans can be harvested as late as six hours after death, depending on the heat. Investigators were confident of finding a match at Qargha Lake, and did so. Their success underlines the growth of the database and the ambition of those behind it.

In this case an unnamed suicide-bomber had been scanned two years earlier, in Logar province, because he was looking suspicious, said Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammad Anwar Muniri, who leads the Afghan programme. However, he was not detained. A list of “martyrs” released by the Taliban after the attack in Kabul confirmed he was from that province.

His details could equally have got into the database in other ways. Few of Afghanistan's 30m people have a birth certificate, a second name or can read. Yet America's army and the Afghan government have collected digital records of more than 2.5m of them. Anyone arrested or imprisoned, or who seeks to join the army or police, is scanned. So are those, such as labourers, who attempt to get into a coalition military base. Each is checked against watchlists of suspects. Last year biometric machines were also put at all border crossings. In hotly contested areas any “fighting-age males”, meaning those between 15 and 70, may be scanned compulsorily.

Some patrols call all men from a village out of their homes and line them up by a mosque to be logged. At other times buses are stopped arbitrarily and all the men are taken off and scanned.

Elsewhere such intrusions would have caused an outcry. But few Afghans, so far, have protested. American officers praise the technology as a helpful counter-insurgency tool: if opponents can be identified, they can be separated from the wider, law-abiding populace. They cite examples of its usefulness. Nearly 500 Taliban prisoners tunnelled out of Kandahar's Sarposa prison last year, but they had previously all been scanned. Within a month 30 had been recaptured because of random biometric checks.

The data are passed on beyond Afghanistan, to America's army, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Agreements to share data exist with dozens of allied countries. American soldiers in Ghazni once described scanning a dead insurgent, then two days later getting a call from the CIA to say that his record matched someone first scanned in Iraq.

Yet as the system grows, so do worries about it. It is involuntary and shrouded in secrecy. It is easy to come across Afghans who claim that they were wrongly denied foreign visas or jobs after a biometric scan flagged up their presence on some watchlist. Evidence held against them is rarely divulged, nor is it clears how they can challenge it.

“There is a vetting process to be put on a watchlist,” says Sergeant-Major Robert Haemmerle, of the American army's Afghanistan biometrics programme. “It's not just a matter of ‘I don't like this guy'. There is a deliberate policy and process to ensure that people's rights are respected, that it's not abused.”

Yet those policies and processes are kept classified by NATO and America's Defence Department. Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group based in San Francisco that keeps a watch on how digital technology encroaches on civil freedoms, also questions the quality of the data. She fears that scans done quickly in the field, or by inexperienced technicians, could lead to cases of mistaken identity.

Neither Afghan nor American officials have described their ultimate plans for the project, nor whether they want to log the whole population. Talk of a new national identity card has fallen quiet. But the more people who are scanned, the more powerful the database becomes.

Pakistan in the role of Asian glue

Courtesy:-  Shahid Javed Burki


In terms of providing for the economic well-being of its citizens, Pakistan, today, is the poorest performing economy in south Asia. It is not doing well when its performance is measured in terms of a variety of economic and social indicators. It has had a declining rate of growth for almost 50 years. The trend started in 1965, when Pakistan fought a brief war with India over the issue of Kashmir. But punctuating this declining growth trend were a few spurts, each lasting for about three to four years. All of these occurred during military rule and all were associated with large foreign capital flows.

The military leaders were able to access foreign aid since it was consequent upon subscribing to America’s strategic interests in the area around Pakistan. The military rulers had more degrees of freedom to work with foreign governments. They did not feel they needed to be constrained by public opinion. As can be gauged from Pakistan’s difficulties with the US in 2011-12, a democratic government has to take people’s views into account while fashioning foreign policy. As a recent survey by the Pew Research Centre revealed, a very large proportion of people in Pakistan view the US unfavourably compared with other countries in Asia.
Pakistan’s current economic downturn has been extremely severe, lasting longer than any other in its history. It has lasted for five years and is likely to persist for a while. One way of dealing with this situation is to completely reorient the country’s approach to economic development. It needs to focus more on developing strong links with the Asian nations in its neighbourhood rather than continue to seek a close relationship with the US. For some time now, Pakistan has been attempting to negotiate a free trade arrangement, FTA, with the US. That is an impractical approach since Washington has signed FTAs with mostly small nations such as Panama. These countries could be given tariff-free access since they did not pose much threat to America’s domestic industry. For a large country such as Pakistan with one large sector — textiles — the path to an FTA will be slow and will not be particularly rewarding. Instead, this may be a good moment to think about going Asian.

Given Pakistan’s current chaotic situation in both politics and economics, it would be rather presumptuous to suggest that the country could act as the glue for binding different parts of Asia, a large continent, which is now on the move. Several analysts have suggested that the 21^st century will be the Asian century; that the extraordinary combination of demography, the role of the state and recent economic history will take Asia forward. The 19^th century was the century of Europe and the 20^th that of America. This was now the turn of Asia. According to this line of thinking, Asia could, in the not too distant future, overtake both Europe and America in terms of the respective sizes of the economies of these three continents. There is enough dynamism in Asia for several scholars to be comfortable with the thought that such a repositioning of the continental economies is inevitable. However, the pace of change could be quicker and the result more definite if the various Asian countries, large and small, could work together and enable the continent to become a well-connected economic entity with strong inter-country links. Such an outcome could become possible if there was the political will to act on the part of Asia’s large countries. In this context, Pakistan’s role could be critical even when its own economy is very weak at this time.

Some analysts have suggested that rather than one Asia there were, in fact, two Asias, one dominated by China, the other by India. The question was whether the two Asias would converge into a loosely-bound economic entity, or diverge — each part going its own separate way — developing separate economic and political systems and pursuing different goals. There were just too many systemic differences between these two parts of Asia for them to meld together. The state systems in the two anchor economies, China and India, were so different that working together within a common policy framework would not be a practical proposition. China was a highly centralised state. In India’s evolving political system, federating states possessed considerable autonomy, a trend that was weakening the centre. Political systems were also different. China was able to orchestrate regime change in a fairly orderly manner; a process in which it was engaged in now for more than a year and will reach a well-choreographed finale in the spring of 2013. However, the transfer of power in India occurred through elections and the formation of governing coalitions was not always a smooth process. The two countries were headed in quite different directions. Divergence was the more likely outcome.

However, it is, perhaps, even better to think in terms of not one or two Asias but about four rather different parts. This further division of a geographic entity that many would like to see merge into one cohesive economic system certainly complicates the thinking about the future. But looking at Asia from this perspective is more practical and makes it easier to handle the making of public policy. It also makes Pakistan a central player. I will pick up this subject next week.

Media in the line of fire

Courtesy:- Mohammad Jamil

Over the past two centuries the media have contributed to the promotion of democracy and making it stable throughout the world. In early 17th century, when printing machine was invented, the only role of the print media was to inform the people. Symbolically, media are considered as the fourth pillar of the state; nevertheless constitutionally the Parliament, Executive and Judiciary are the pillars of the state, and their powers and responsibilities are outlined in the Constitution. As to the media's role in the modern state, there are two schools of thought  one stating that media should transcend the role to inform, and should educate and mould public opinion as well. But the other one subscribes to the view that it should only inform the people; uphold objectivity and shun partisanship. Media in the past had played prodigious role during Pakistan movement in uniting the Muslims of the subcontinent. And it was because of this unity that Muslims of the undivided India were able to carve out a separate homeland for them under the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam. But there is nothing to write home about what they have been doing during the last six decades.

Since February 2008 elections elected government at the helm, and all pillars of the state are engaged in a sort of turf war, trying to have authority and control transcending the powers and authority defined in the Constitution. Though the media could only derive its 'powers' from the Articles of the Constitution regarding freedom of thought and speech, it has no constitutional role in a democracy. However, the media has come in the line of fire since some of the media men, who had all praise for the judiciary and have been vocal because of tacit support from the judiciary, had focused and highlighted the Arsalan Iftikhar case. In fact, there was a glib talk by politicos and media about democracy, but the question remains whether is Pakistan a democracy. The answer is that it is not; it is in fact authoritarianism and plutocracy. It has to be said that democracy cannot blossom in the suffocating ambiance of feudalism. Feudalism is not an economic system; it is stagnant mentality, which has permeated most of the institutions of the state. 

Jagirdars, waderas, sardars and so-called pirs want power and prestige by deliberately keeping the public illiterate and backward, so that no one can challenge their writ. Because of their corruption, lawlessness, spiraling inflation and poverty, degeneration has crept into all strata of society; and media is no exception. Last month, two-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its verdict on Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar's case remarked: "The ethic and legal framework of the media requires fairness and objectivity; it requires that journalists conduct due diligence before reporting any news so that rumours and insinuations are filtered out, particularly in matters of grave significance such as ones arising in this case". Rumours also abound that 19 senior journalists of Pakistan allegedly were paid handsome amounts by the Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz. In this regard a video was also shared on website Youtube, showing an off-the-record conversation between television anchors of a local channel. 

The footage made public some shocking revelations, including the fact that the entire interview was planted. It has yet to be investigated whether journalists and anchorpersons did receive those amounts from Malik Riaz, however, some of the alleged recipients are said to be living beyond their means. One can view that some anchorpersons in the TV Talk appearances as hosts at their TV channels also invited as analysts and guests in other TV channels. They unleash avalanche of blistering censure against the corrupt individuals and agencies in Pakistan. But today their reputation is on the line. It is a steep downfall that cannot be rescaled through explanations on their part. Today, the media is in the line of fire, and its halo is disappearing. During proceedings of recently held three-day judicial conference organized by Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, the participants among other things agreed that "there should be no media trial and the media should not be allowed to encroach upon the space of the judiciary". 

It is true that print and electronic media in Pakistan have played an important role in creating awareness among the masses and exposing scandals of corruption and graft. However, they exceeded the limits, and once under scathing criticism, they are trying to evolve the code of conduct for themselves. In September 2011, Supreme Court Bar Association held three-day conference in which one of the topics was 'Justice and impunity: Its portrayal by media'. All participants agreed that there should be no media trials, and the media should not be allowed to encroach upon the space of the judiciary, and this trend must be discouraged. Participants from India had also raised this concern and said that media should not be allowed to impose their opinions at the pre-trial stage as this undermines the rule of law. If media is to become a credible source, it should provide reliable and accurate information, and has to work with utmost diligence to offer reports and comments objectively. Analysts should present their analysis, which should be unbiased and free of prejudices. 

William G. Pollard had said: "Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit." However, credibility of media as a source of information is of paramount importance. 

It has to be mentioned that all dictators were given legitimacy by the then apex court and also supported by the politicians, who were in turn vaulted into power by the establishment. Media persons were not behind in this race, as they eulogized dictator and contributed to making the dictator popular. When during the course of time, the dictator became weak and unpopular because of flawed policies, they started criticizing him. It is because of these aberrations that the country seems adrift on its own momentum, with no direction and with no administrative stewardship. Having that said, media men, be it a reporter or an analyst, should uphold objectivity and shun partisanship. 

Unfortunately, one can find some reporters and columnists that do not adhere to this basic norm and ethic not only in Pakistan but also in the US. A poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in July 2009 had revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans think the news stories they read, hear and watch are frequently inaccurate. 

That marked the highest level of skepticism recorded since 1985, when this study of public perceptions of the media was first done. The survey had polled 1,506 adults on the phone in late July 2009. In Pakistan, there are indeed patriotic elements in the media, who comprehend the issues in their true perspective and dispel the impression of present state of despondency, conspiracy theories and misperceptions. Today, the nation is confronted with gigantic challenges, both external as well as internal. 

Internally the nation is hopelessly entangled in vicious terrorism. To extricate the nation out of this quagmire, Pakistan needs tall leaders with a good set of brains and creative thoughts, which unfortunately we don't have. 

Dividends of consensus

Courtesy:- Malik M Ashraf 

In the backdrop of the renewal of traditional animosity between the ruling PPP and PML (N) after a short-lived bonhomie brought about by the signing of COD between Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, the political pundits and those who had watched the political duels between these two major parties in the nineties had started painting a very bleak picture about the future of democracy in Pakistan. The split between them encouraged the elements inimical to democratic norms to make bizarre predictions about the collapse of the democratic system and even time-lines were given in this regard. People witnessed an incessant and well orchestrated campaigns to denigrate and discredit the government on unsubstantiated charges of corruption designed to give a cue to the predatory forces to make their move. 

The NRO saga and a spate of manoeuvred petitions designed to keep the government entangled in the struggle for survival presented ominous portents. The intentions of the architects of this detestable exercise ostensibly were not to allow the government to concentrate on resolving the inherited problems that affected the lives of the people. Even the political parties who have a big stake in the continuation of the democratic system resorted to certain moves that could have easily sent the system into a terrible tumble. Thanks to the reluctance of the praetorian powers to take the bait and more so the philosophy of consensus politics practiced by the ruling coalition, the system is trundling along and there are strong indications and hope that the country will for the first time see a smooth and peaceful transfer of power through ballot.. 
This hope is kindled by the resolution of the most contentious issue of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner acceptable both to the ruling party and the opposition. The agreement to appoint Justice (retired) Fakhruddin G.Ibrahim as the new Chief Election Commissioner, whose name was originally proposed by the PML(N) is a good omen for the future of democracy in the country. He is known to be a man of impeccable integrity and the fact that he has been appointed with the consensus of all the political forces, will eliminate the chances of any political entity raising the bogey ofrigging in the coming elections that has always marred the process of polls in this country. 

All the political parties, especially the ruling PPP deserves unqualified accolades for the spirit of accommodation shown by it in the larger national interest and resolving this festering issue which had the potential to build up into a serious political crisis. Such achievements are only possible in a democracy. The beauty of democracy is that it has the capacity and versatility to surmount all difficulties due to its inherent flexibility and resilience. The maxim that the worst kind of democracy is better than the most benign dictatorship is amply vindicated by this episode.

The government may not have been able to bring about much improvement on the economic front and completely beating back the debilitating problems of power crisis and law and order situation in the country, but it certainly has succeeded in taking epoch making steps in the political and social arenas which have unleashed strong forces that surely will help democracy to take roots in the country by warding off the machinations of the anti-democracy entities and nurturing a silent social revolution. These measures could not have been possible in a hostile atmosphere that has prevailed during the last four years, but for the sagacity and political acumen exhibited by the ruling PPP in building consensus and broad based support for those measures. 

The adoption of the system of proportional representation, which is prevalent in most of the European countries is perhaps the best remedy for a multi-cultural entity like Pakistan to extricate the itself from the fetters of feudal political culture. The biggest advantage is that it will ensure representation of almost all the political forces in the parliament, more so the small regional parties. This mainstreaming of the small and nationalist parties will strengthen national unity and integration. The political parties must make their move and bring in the legislation to effect the change through consensus before we go for the next polls.

Inauguration of Pakistan Sponsored 3 storied state of the art School in Gampaha, Sri Lanka

The High Commissioner of Pakistan H.E Seema Ilahi Baloch along with Honourable Minister of Economic Development Mr . Basil Rajapksa inaugurated ‘Babussalam Maha Vidyalaya ‘a  Pakistansponsored three storied school building  in Pasyala, Gampaha  today.

The Government of Pakistan has sponsored the construction of this 3 storied  state of the art school building in Gampaha district to support education sector development drive of the Sri Lankan government.

The foundation stone of the project was laid on 9^th February 2011 by the Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister for Economic Development and High Commissioner of Pakistan , Seema Ilahi Baloch .

The newly constructed school will be catering to the local population of Pasyala area. Presently, the school has an enrollment of over 500 students (both male and female), with 19 teachers as the instructional staff for the institution.

The school building would add 7200 sq.ft .of floor area which will include all the modern facilities including a library, a fully equipped home science laboratory, Computer laboratory and class rooms.

The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Hon. Chief Minister Western Province Prasanna Ranatunga , Wasantha Senanayake member of Parliament and Several prominent Personalities from the area along with Pakistan High Commission officials and big number of Parents and students.

This project would add to various projects carried out by the government of Pakistanin health, education and livelihood sectors inSri Lanka. These projects includes construction of the district Hospital , Akurana; equipping science laboratories in schools, 30 computer centers and 6 stitching centers, providing ambulances to hospitals ,awards of Jinnah Scholarships to students for continuation of education, and the awards of long-term scholarships for study of medicine, engineering , dentistry and pharmacy in Pakistan.

The Minister for Economic Development Hon. Basil Rajapaksa , thanked the government and people of Pakistan for extending their support for the construction of school. He said Pakistan has proved  to be a true friend of  Sri Lanka through out our history. The High Commissioner HE Seema Ilahi Baloch also announced donation of computers for the newly built school.

The civilization links between two peoples and culture date back 2500 years , to the time when the Indus and Gandhara civilizations and Buddhist  culture has prospered in what is now Pakistan. Both countries have made impressive efforts to preserve and build on these solid foundations. Since 1948, the two countries have consistently maintained close, cordial and mutually supportive relationship.

The newly constructed school in Pasyala will  help to create professionals amongst the young citizens for the future benefit of Sri Lankaand it will further cement the good relationship between the two brotherly countries.