[sacw] sacw dispatch #2 (7 Nov.99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #2.
Nov.7, 1999
________________
#1. Roots of the Crisis in Pakistan
#2. Interview: MM Joshi, India's Minister of education
#3. New York's Cabbies Show How Multi-Colored Racism Can Be
#4. South Asians and the Dowry Problem
________________
#1.
[The following article has been submitted for publication to a leading
Pakistani Daily]

ROOTS OF THE CRISIS
by Karamat Ali
(Secretary Education and Research PWC)

It is Pakistan's tragedy that it shall begin the 21st century under
military rule. It shall be one of the few societies anywhere to be so
afflicted. For this we can blame the callousness, corruption, mismanagement
and total disregard for democratic norms and values that characterise
Pakistan's economic, political and official elite.

It is fast becoming a commonplace belief that the majority of the people,
obviously working people, welcomed the coup. There is even a sense of
rejoicing among some sections of the intelligentsia as well as the
establishment, over this apparent indifference, even hostility, towards
democracy among the people. Even if such assertions are valid, this should
be a cause for concern and introspection rather than smug celebration. The
people's silence, which should not be interpreted as active consent, shows
only how successful previous governments have been in demeaning ordinary
citizens and eroding their sense of participation in managing their
society. No one with a belief in human dignity, equality and justice can
feel happy about such a sad state of affairs, since democracy and freedom
are the soul of an independent nation, and the Constitution is the very
basis of democratic governance.

No one concerned, in particular, about the working people of this country
can welcome the coup and what it portends. The fact is that working people
of Pakistan face circumstances not much better than those they confronted a
hundred years ago. They were subject to arbitrary rule, lacked fundamental
human rights, and struggled to survive under the exploitation and
oppression by the colonizers. However the colonial rulers, confronted by
the struggle for dignity and independence, had reluctantly initiated
gradual reforms in the 1920's and 30's. This process led to the recognition
and institutionalization of some basic rights through laws such as the 1926
Trade Union Act, the 1934 Factories Act, and the 1935 India Act. Even
though there were no constitutional guarantees, these legal provisions were
quite substantial in scope and amenable to implementation. They ensured
working people had a fair level of organisation and protection at the
workplace, and some, though limited, level of participation in the affairs
of governance through representation in the legislative assemblies.

The post-independence period has seen a marked reversal of these few hard
won gains. The working people of Pakistan today have fewer rights and
protections than they enjoyed in 1947. Governments, both civilian and
military, despite the many differences in their nature, style and
priorities, have demonstrated a remarkable consensus in dealing with the
rights of the working people-they have all tended to curtail and minimize
them. But there is no doubt that workers have suffered their gravest
setbacks under military rule.

So what does the new dispensation have in store for the people? The seven
point agenda announced by the Chief Executive has been widely acclaimed. It
is however full of abstract notions such as "rebuilding of national
confidence and morale', "restoration of national cohesion" etc., and does
not contain any direct reference to any of the problems faced by the
working people of Pakistan. It fails also to point out the causes of the
problems referred to in his agenda, as well as identify who bears
responsibility for bringing the country to such a pass. Like other leaders
before him, he merely points a finger at the dismissed regime.

The CE has assured the international community of his commitment to honor
all international treaties. From his public statements it seems safe to
assume he was referring to various agreements with Pakistan's aid donors
and the international lending agencies. Notably, the first item on his
agenda was restoring investor confidence. There seems no recognition of the
fact that Pakistan is a signatory to a number of international Conventions,
Covenants and Treaties, such the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Labour Organisation Conventions, and the Convention to
Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which guarantee
working people their fundamental rights, including the right to life with
dignity. Even our own Constitution, now in abeyance, whose substantive
parts relating to the rights of the working people have always remained in
abeyance, obligates the state to ensure these rights.

The CE has stated that "Pakistan has experienced in the recent years merely
a label of democracy and not the essence of it". Very true, but only
partially. The fact is that for the working people of Pakistan democracy
has been a sham for the past 52 years. One need look no further than the
fact that even now less than five percent of Pakistan's labour force enjoys
the fundamental right of association, and even that is not an unconditional
right. It is no democracy wherein workers (in all sectors including
agriculture) who had a legal right to form organisations of their own
choice, freely and independently, under the 1926 Trade Union Act, end up
being governed by a post-independence law-the 1969 Industrial Relations
Ordinance-which disenfranchises upto 75% of them, especially the
agricultural workers, and severely curtails the right for the rest!

Agricultural workers in most areas of Pakistan are in virtual serfdom,
completely bereft of all human rights. This has taken deliberate government
policy. Pakistan inherited the ratification of the ILO Convention 11 which
relates to the rights of agricultural workers and was passed in 1921.
Article 1 of the Convention commits each state to "secure to all those
engaged in agriculture the same rights of association and combination as to
industrial workers, and to repeal any statutory or other provisions
restricting such rights in the case of those engaged in agriculture". There
has been no effort to implement this. To make matters worse, in 1959 a
military regime repealed the 1926 Trade Union Act, which guaranteed the
right of association to all.

We need to remember that the military regimes introduced a curious doctrine
to the industrial relations framework. They ordained that worker's rights
were incompatible with the demands of "national security and defence". Thus
workers employed in undertakings engaged in defence production, such as the
Pakistan Ordnance Factory, could not unionise. This was later exteded to
cover any establishment, even in the private sector, that was even
incidentally connected with defence production. On this pretext, factories
providing commodities such as water coolers to the army, were exempted from
the application of basic labour laws! In the early 1980's, the military
regime of Zia ul Haq, ordered all provincial labour ministries not to
undertake inspections without prior notice to and consent of the owners.
This order virtually put an end to the work of inspectorates. As a result,
in addition to being high on the list of the most corrupt countries in the
world, Pakistan today also ranks very high among the list of countries with
maximum level of fatal industrial accidents and occupational hazards. The
infamous "contract labour system" was introduced at an extensive level,
with the active support and encouragement of this regime, throughout the
1980's. In 1992, the Ministry of Defence declared almost every railway line
in the country as the Ministry of Defence (MOD) line, and the unions of the
workers employed on those railway lines were banned!

In January 1999 when the dismissed government of Nawaz Sharif asked the
army to take over the administration of WAPDA, the union was immediately
suspended and later de-registered. The army chief himself admitted, while
addressing the officers of WAPDA, that this was the precondition for
intervention! Soon after that, the dismissed regime of Nawaz Sharif in its
draft labour policy of January 7 proposed to extend the right of
association to agricultural sector. However, this was qualified with the
proviso "wherev er convenient". With regard to other workers, the policy
announced the government's intention to bring the laws relating to the
right of association in full conformity with the ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
Again the actual enjoyment of these fundamental rights was to be dependent
on the discretion of the "Chief Executive of the "company"-the company here
seems to be a substitute for the country (it is notable that Mr. Sharif
harbored the desire to become our Chief Executive!). The present Chief
Executive has reportedly remarked that his attempted dismissal was wrong
since "you have to follow set rules while removing even a peon from his
job." Could these rules then be applied to to cover every employed person
in Pakistan, including the employees of WAPDA, KESC and millions of
contract workers and tenants-at-will?

If after 52 years of post-colonial existence the rights of the majority of
the citizens remain contingent upon the whims of the rulers, what is the
true nature of the state? It is certainly not possible in an independent,
democratic state where sovereignty lies with the citizens. That brings us
to the roots of the perennial crisis faced by our country. Pakistan's elite
was largely created and shaped by its collaboration with the colonial
state. It has faithfully maintained the colonial structures of the state,
the economy, the society and politics and continues to retain all the
attributes of the colonial era: their outward appearance, their modes of
thought and functioning, their mindset, rules of business, and above all
their attitude toward their fellow country men. It is these which need to
be undone and dismantled.

This task however cannot be managed by a mere "depoliticisation of state
institutions" as proclaimed by the CE. It requires a complete
de-colonization and democratization of them. Any "path towards democracy "
will have to be charted through full and unconditional recognition of the
sovereign rights of the citizens. Over 90 per cent of our people have to
become part of the "Nation", before we can talk of "National
Integration".The Federation will become stronger and viable only through an
informed and organized participation of the people inhabiting the
federating units, and not by alternately bribing and cajoling into
submission feudal and tribal elites. Accountability, whether across the
board or a limited one, cannot be done without empowering the common people
who have been the direct victims of the lack of it.

Is the current regime likely to prove equal to these gigantic tasks? Is it
likely to attempt Comprehensive Structural Change instead of Structural
Adjustments? The record of past military regimes suggest not. The current
structural adjustment program was, after all, also thrust upon Pakistan in
November 1988, by the then caretaker regime under direct control of Mirza
Aslam Beg. It will certainly require a fundamental change of heart and mind
at the top. Is such a change likely? Considering the attitude towards
worker's rights displayed by the current military leadership when it took
over WAPDA and the KESC, the answer is most likely an emphatic NO.

But hope springs eternal, and the struggle for a genuine and comprehensive
democratization of Pakistan must be waged regardless. There are things
which must be demanded, argued for, and fought for. Some basic ones are:

1. Immediate and unconditional restoration of the right to organize and
bargain collectively for all working people.
2. A realistic revision of the existing minimum wage to be applicable to all
workers.
3. A serious attempt at establishing a comprehensive Contributory Social
Security System, including unemployment benefits. A substantial part of
money recovered from defaulters and scaling down wasteful military and other
state expenditures should be allocated as seed money for such an
undertaking.
4. Establishing a comprehensive program of apprenticeship for the youth,
especially the educated unemployed.
5. Plan for comprehensive Agrarian reforms with active involvement and
participation of rural workers.
6. Freedom from state control for radio and television, and access to them
for common citizens and their organisations to debate national issues,
including over the issue of a new Constitution genuinely based on the
principles of Federalism, Democracy, Justice and Peace.
7. Transparency of all economic activities of various para-statal
organisations including those owned and operated by the armed services.
_______________
#2.
The Week
14 November 1999

INTERVIEW: MURLI MANOHAR JOSHI, HRD MINISTER
My critics are academic fascists
By Sachidananda Murthy and Debashish Mukerji

Critics of the BJP and the RSS have a field day with Murli Manohar
Joshi. He is their favourite punching bag. The two other BJP
heavyweights, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K.
Advani, have in varying degrees sought to distance themselves from the
RSS and its ideology and identify with the NDA, but Joshi is not in the
least defensive about his RSS lineage. Indeed, it is widely held that
Joshi has been allotted the Human Resource Development portfolio because
of the importance the RSS attaches to influencing the minds of the young
through education.
In his first term Joshi stirred a hornet's nest when he sought to
inaugurate a conference of state education ministers with a singing of
Saraswati Vandana. The leftwing lobby in leading academic and research
institutions bristled at his 'interference'. But Joshi has by no means
been cowed down. Starting his new term in the old ministry, he has again
been quick off the mark, making a spate of controversial appointments in
the first week itself.
[http://www.the-week.com/99nov14/events3.htm]
________________
#3.
New York Times
November 7, 1999

NO FARE
New York's Cabbies Show How Multi-Colored Racism Can Be
By THOMAS J. LUECK

It may be the most blatant form of racism in New York City: a cab driver
refusing to pick up someone who is black.

It happens to blacks all the time. Former Mayor David N. Dinkins says it
has even happened to him. And now the actor Danny Glover, who last week
went public over what he described as a string of such slights in different
areas of Manhattan one night last month.

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

New York cabs whizzing by: People of color are being passed up by people
of color.

"I was so angry," Glover told a news conference, recounting how several
empty cabs had refused to stop for him, his college-age daughter and her
roommate. Later, when one finally did, the driver refused the 6-foot-4
"Lethal Weapon" star access to the front seat even though he has a bad hip
and is entitled under taxi industry rules to stretch out in front.

A simple case of traditional American racism? Perhaps. But in New York
such incidents often have the distinct flavor of the melting pot: In this
case the driver was nonwhite, too-apparently from southern Asia, Glover
said.

And so the actor's experience may illustrate not just continuing American
racism, but one way its character is subtly changing with demographics: As
recent immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa come to dominate
the taxi industry, they are bringing with them new strains of bigotry.

Most often, according to people in the taxi industry, racism is
perpetuated by cabbies whose attitudes have roots not only in colonial rule
and the strict social stratification of their native lands, but also in the
more recent distorted images of the global media.

"Racist images flow throughout the world," said Bhairavi Desai, a native
of India and the staff director of the Taxi Workers Alliance, a
2,000-member drivers' group. Because of the impact of movies, television
and rap music, she said, part of the baggage of some new immigrants is an
established, and sometimes deeply flawed, attitude toward race.

Among immigrant cabbies from some nations, including India, she said,
"many of the attitudes stem from a history of colonialism, and from a sense
of competing for bread crumbs with other poor people."

Although no precise breakdown is available, from 60 percent to 70 percent
of the city's yellow cab drivers are now immigrants from India, Pakistan
and Bangladesh, according to Allan J. Fromberg, spokesman for the Taxi and
Limousine Commission. Among the other drivers, people born in the United
States or western Europe comprise a tiny minority compared with the large
number of immigrants from countries like Russia, Korea and the Sudan.

As always, the taxi industry provides a grueling point of entry to the
Amercian work force, and episodes of rudeness and discrimination sometimes
result from a drive to keep the fare box running.

"Some drivers really don't want to pick up minorities because they think
it will mean ending up in neighborhoods where they won't be able to find
another fare," said Edward Rogoff, a Baruch College professor and longtime
taxi industry analyst.

And many cabbies, acutely aware of their high vulnerability to robbery and
attack, undoubtedly take note of higher rates of crime among lower-income
blacks and in certain areas of the city.

Still, few seem to doubt the bigotry factor. Industry executives note that
they are trying to inculculate racial sensitivity among new immigrant
drivers.

But the lawyer who accompanied Glover at his press conference, Randolph
Scott-McLaughlin, said such efforts should be broadened.

In an interview, McLaughlin, a 20-year veteran of civil rights litigation
and a professor at Pace Law School, said drivers like the one who
antagonized Glover "have adopted the same patterns of racial profiling that
emerged when most drivers were were Irish, Italian-Americans, or from
somewhere else in Europe."

Acts of racial discrimination by cabbies are illegal, punishable by a fine
or the revocation of the offender's taxi-driver license.

But Scott-McLaughlin, who himself is black, said Glover did not intend to
pursue a formal complaint with the Taxi and Limousine Commission because he
had no interest in punishing a single driver. (The driver remains
unidentified.) Instead, the actor spoke out last week to focus fresh
attention on racism in the taxi industry.

"No one is educating these people that we are not dangerous criminals,"
said Scott-McLaughlin.
________________
#4.
South Asians and the Dowry Problem
Edited by Werner Menski (Vistaar <New Delhi>, Rs 250)
Detailed overview of causes of dowry-related violence in middle-class
and affluent South Asian households and how to restrict these.

______________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.