Short Notes on Poverty and Terrorism

Poverty:

The head of the World Bank James Wolfensohn said in Tokyo that solving Asian’s grappling economic crisis required not just financial rescues packages but wholesale social development. The president of the World Bank has rightly maintained that the need in Asian is to pay particular attention to the social development, whose profile is low particularly South Asia as a whole. The observations of the President merit attention of governments in India and Pakistan.

I am reminded of late Dr. Mahboob ul Haq’s two classic reports on Human development in South Asia 1987, 1988. He emphasized the need for promoting human resource development, though his realization dawned on him when his trickle downs these justifying the creation of income inequalities to achieve high growth rate, yielded frustration to him. The over emphasis placed on growth led to a woeful neglect of the social sectors in Pakistan. The sense of remorse itched him which is reflected in his later book “Poverty Curtain”. He becomes a staunch advocate of social sectors including education. The trend is reflected in both the reports and the ground dismal realities attract the attention of reader. It is in the fitness of things that a resume of the reports is presented to acquaint the general reader with the gruesome realities.

Terrorism:

Some scattered incidents of blood-letting sabotage, terrorism and chaos have accompanied the New Year in Pakistan. Not at all in unfamiliar ways have people including children in imam bargahs, mosque, trains, and on frequented roads been targeted. Mounting deaths inevitably proliferate fear. The unprecedented January 3 attempt on the prime Minister’s life has merely underscope both vulnerability and reach the vulnerability of people at all levels and the reach of those engineering sabotage and terrorism.

The distressing murder of twenty citizens at a Muzaffargarh imam bargah and the Raiwind bomb explosion merely reiterated the cyclic curse of terrorism that appears to have found root in Pakistan. In 1998 over 700 were killed in Punjab and over 500 in Karachi. The question therefore that Pakistani citizen must inevitably ask is whether they are now fated to periodic terrorism? Whether the government is competently and resolutely dealing with the problem of terrorism?

Along the way weak minded and string armed military men remained on the loose perpetuating the quick-fix brand of politics. True to general Zia-ul-Haq’s tradition, they continued to deploy men and weapons to fix’ errant politicians. All together they cooked a witch’s broth. Today deadly terrorism oozes from this broth.