EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Dual citizenship

WITH all the back and forth about dual citizenship, it is time for some concrete legislation on the issue. The Election Commission has started asking by-election candidates to declare they have no other passports, and that is a step in the right direction. Regardless of the lack of such restrictions in many other countries, the Pakistani context is important to keep in mind. There is a general perception — and a logical one — among Pakistani voters that their elected representatives are less honest and committed than they should be because their foreign passports mean they have a limited stake in the country’s future. From time to time Pakistanis living abroad have even parachuted in to serve under certain governments, only to go back to their other country of citizenship after their terms end. Given the widespread view, and some evidence, that these convenient escape routes encourage a lack of dedication and corruption and other criminal behaviour among those in power, Pakistanis should be willing to renounce foreign citizenship if they want to be elected to parliament in this country.

The current state of the nation also argues in favour of such a restriction. Pakistan’s progress has long been held back by poor governance and dishonesty, and it needs dedicated politicians. It is also going through a particularly delicate period on the foreign policy and security fronts, matters about which confidential information is made available to many lawmakers. The same is also true of Pakistanis in other positions of authority and public responsibility who have access to sensitive information, including judges and senior bureaucrats, and there is a need to look into framing rules, or enforcing any existing ones, about dual citizenship in those positions as well.

Overseas Pakistanis and some politicians have made the argument that citizens living abroad still have stakes in Pakistan and send home remittances, and as such should be able to run for office. But as far as their right to be involved in politics at home is concerned, it can be exercised through giving them the right and facility to vote in Pakistani elections. From those in power, though, Pakistan requires a long-term commitment. Some political parties appear to be resisting such a change to keep certain parliamentarians eligible, now and in future elections. But they need to take a broader view of what the country needs: at this point in its history, and likely for the foreseeable future, anyone wishing to enjoy the prestige, responsibility and privileges of serving as a Pakistani parliamentarian should be willing to renounce any other citizenship they might have.

Terror wave in Africa

THE wave of religious extremism in large parts of Africa from the Horn to the Atlantic has assumed dangerous proportions and threatens to destabilise a number of states, including the continent’s most populous country. From Nigeria to Somalia, Islamist extremists, some of them well-armed, are on the rampage, attacking Sufi shrines, blowing up churches and bombing civilian targets. In Mali, on two successive days, religious extremists attacked shrines in Timbuktu, one of non-Arab Muslim Africa’s most prized cultural assets, and destroyed them. Armed with pickaxes, supporters of Ansar Dine, Mali’s armed Islamist movement, which controls the country’s northern part, demolished a number of mausoleums over the weekend and have vowed to destroy more. The rampage did not stop there; on Monday, there were reports that the extremists had attacked a 15th-century mosque in Timbuktu to prove wrong a legend associated with the place of worship. The Mali attacks immediately bring to mind the growing intolerance within Pakistan, which has seen extremists, subscribing to orthodox ideologies, target symbols representing the softer face of Islam and at variance with their own views.

Sufi shrines have increasingly been attacked all over the country by hardliners.

The fanatical elements among those subscribing to the Salafist movement may or may not have links with Al Qaeda. But there is no doubt that their extremist philosophy, often translating into militant movements, have sprouted across the Islamic world from Indonesia to Morocco. What is unfortunate is that efforts to tackle their bigoted stance have been piecemeal in the Muslim world. There is no wide-ranging counter-narrative to challenge the discourse that sees Islam in monolithic terms. And in its absence a narrow interpretation of religion is bound to dominate. Those countries battling militant Islam today should also realise that extremist thought cannot be countered through drone attacks or state force. In fact, these have an opposite effect and end up creating more space and sympathy for the extremists. The only response to those who advocate an extremist position on religion is greater openness and sustained democratic processes in Islamic countries where the discourse on religious tolerance and pluralism must also be encouraged.

Neglected art

IT is now the National Art Gallery’s turn to flash other, extremely worrying sides of the picture. A report in this paper says how nature and a lack of resources are combining to rob the paintings hanging at NAG of their colour and texture. There are signs of paint wearing off and a few scratches are visible — and we are not talking of the works of old masters here. The paintings in danger are relatively new, as art goes, having been done by Saeed Akhtar, Colin David and their contemporaries. If these cannot stand the environment that has been created around them, one can only pray that works going further back in time will withstand the general neglect. What makes matters more complicated is that NAG is considered to be one of the better-managed art facilities in the country. Many other galleries and studios have failed to fend off the damage that inevitably occurs when paintings are not well protected.

The standard official answer to the concern shown at this gradual crumbling of heritage routinely ends with a lament about lack of resources and other priorities. Pages after pages of appeals and warnings have gone unheeded, leading to the assumption that the government is complacent as these art works slowly die. If that is painful, the incredulous follows when a minister is next found talking about the importance of art to counter the negative tendencies in society. It is obvious that the government is not doing enough on its own to fight negligence. The latter in art preservation is proof of the gap that exists between the hollow chants of the need to promote a ‘soft image’ — as if this was an end unto itself — and the actual official thinking.