Culture of Theft on Display at Imran's Kasur Rally

Imran Khan, who often rails against kleptocracy in Pakistan, finds himself increasingly surrounded by the kind of people he fervently denounces. A large number of chairs stolen at his Kasur rally today by attendees in broad day light are Exhibit A for his critics' case against him.



In his defense, PTI Chief Imran Khan argues that the culture of corruption in Pakistan affects all strata of society from top to bottom, and he is forced to work with people, not angels, to achieve his noble goals of clean and competent governance. What happened in Qasur only reinforces Khan's argument.

It would be wrong to dismiss the crime committed in Kasur as an isolated incident of petty theft. In my view, it is symptomatic of the much larger problems of impunity that pervade in Pakistani society. A manifestation of such problems is the widespread power theft in Pakistan which accounts for as much as 40% of the revenue losses suffered by the power sector. These financial losses are partly responsible for the crippling electricity crisis that is badly hurting the nation's economy.

The electricity theft and other forms of corruption plague Pakistan but it is generally only poorer or less influential people who are occasionally held responsible for it. Last year in March, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's night rally in Lahore, the capita of the province his party governs, was lit by power stolen by what is commonly called "kunda", a metal hook illegally connected to live wires to secure the electricity supply. In response to embarrassing media reports, the BBC reported that a low level official at the Lahore power supply company was disciplined for it.

Corruption in Pakistan is highly organized and systematic. It stems from the politics of patronage which trumps everything else. The deep dysfunction of civil and police bureaucracy and the massive red ink flowing at state-owned enterprises ranging from PIA to Pakistan Railway to Pakistan Steel are the result of political favors doled out by the ruling politicians to their corrupt and incompetent family members, friends and cronies in exchange for monetary contributions and political support. Here's how Prof Anatol Lieven, author of Pakistan-A Hard Country explains political patronage in Pakistan:

"Rather than being eaten alive by a pride of lions, or even torn apart by a flock of vultures, the fate of Pakistan's national resources more closely resembles being nibbled away by a horde of mice (and the occasional large rat). The effects on the resources, and on state's ability to do things, are just the same, but more of the results are ploughed back into the society, rather than making their way straight back to bank accounts in the West. This is an important difference between Pakistan and Nigeria, for example."

Pakistan is probably better than Nigeria in terms of corruption, but I don't see this characterization by Prof Lieven as a compliment. What Pakistan needs now is someone to lead a process of social change to fight its widespread culture of stealing. Among the choices open to the people at this juncture, Imran Khan as Mr. Clean stands out as the best choice to lead this social change to reduce the level of corruption and spur the badly needed economic and human development in the country.

Here's a video of the rush to steal chairs after PTI's rally in Kasur, Panjab:



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan's Culture of Corruption

Imran Khan's Lahore Rally

Pakistan's Politics of Patronage

Pakistani Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

Zardari Corruption Probe

NRO Amnesty Order Overturned

Transparency International Rankings 2009

Transparency International Corruption Index 2010

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Rampant corruption is believed to be a major factor impeding economic development in Pakistan and many other developing nations.

Is this corruption and lawlessness rooted in the absence of adequate law enforcement, or the lack of independent judges? Or is it a national culture of corruption that ranks such nations among the most corrupt in the world on Transparency International surveys?



A paper titled "Cultures of Corruption: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets" by Ray Fisman of Columbia University and Edward Miguel of University of California, Berkeley attempts to answer the above question by using parking violations data on international diplomats living in New York City during 1997-2005.

Since all foreign diplomats have immunity from prosecution in the host country, they do not have to pay fines for any parking violations in New York City. The authors argue that the way the diplomats from different nations behave in such a situation is entirely based on the cultural norms of the nations they represent.



The data presented by the authors shows that Pakistani diplomats with 69.4 tickets per diplomat are the tenth worst offenders, behind those from Kuwait (246.2), Egypt (139.6), Chad (124.3), Sudan (119.1), Bulgaria (117.5), Mozambique (110.7), Albania (84.5), Angola (81.7) and Senegal (79.2). The authors also report that diplomats from low corruption countries (e.g., Norway and Sweden with zero parking citations) behave remarkably well even in situations where they can get away with violations, suggesting that they bring the social norms or corruption “culture” of their home country with them to New York City. Others with no parking violations include diplomats from Oman, Turkey and UAE.

In addition to a strong correlation between number of parking tickets and TI's corruption index, Fisman and Miguel also find that officials from countries that have less favorable popular views of the United States commit significantly more parking violations, providing nonlaboratory evidence on the role that sentiment and affinity play in economic decision-making.

With 69.4 tickets for each official ranking them at number 10, Pakistani diplomats in New York are also the worst among fellow South Asian diplomats. Bangladeshi diplomats rank 28 (33 tickets), Sri Lanka ranked 40 (17.2 tickets), Nepal ranked 43 (16.5 tickets) and India ranks 79 (6.1 violations per diplomat).

Going by the highly persuasive data and arguments by Fisman and Miguel, it is hard to see how better law-enforcement and independent judiciary can solve the highly corrosive problem of widespread corruption in Pakistani society, unless it is also accompanied by a national campaign to promote a culture of honesty in the country. Such an effort must begin with open acknowledgment of the seriousness of the corruption crisis and an earnest desire to change, followed by wide-ranging ethics reforms in all spheres of life which are actively role-modeled and led by civil, social, political, business, military and religious leaders of the country.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistani Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

Zardari Corruption Probe

NRO Amnesty Order Overturned

Transparency International Rankings 2009

Transparency International Corruption Index 2010

Imran Khan Draws 500 Pakistani-Americans in Silicon Valley

"We will rid the country of corruption within the first 90 days in office...I condemned the attack on Malala within 48 hours and was the first to visit her in the hospital...Taliban have killed hundreds of ANP workers...If I condemn the Taliban, they'll kill my workers too." PTI Chief Imran Khan in San Jose, CA. Oct 28, 2012

 There were many contradictions in PTI chief Imran Khan's San Jose speech that attracted about 500 Pakistani-Americans. The attendees were quite enthusiastic in their welcome of the national cricket hero who has turned to politics with a strong anti-corruption platform. Imran was accompanied by PTI leader Fauzia Kasuri and sufi rock singer- songwriter Salman Ahmad of Junoon fame.

When Imran Khan arrived, the fundraiser-dinner quickly turned into an urban middle class rally reminiscent of the PTI events in major Pakistani cities like Lahore and Karachi. The banquet hall at Dolce Hayes Mansion came alive with slogans of "Pakistan Zindanad" and "Imran Khan Zindabad" following Pakistan's national anthem  played by Salman Ahmad.

The well-attended Silicon Valley event was a confirmation of the fact that PTI is essentially an urban middle class phenomenon drawing support from people who are looking for new leadership to rid the country of corruption and misrule by Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the two major political parties which have dominated Pakistani politics since 1980s.

Anti-Corruption, being the key theme of Imran's speeches, elicited a number of questions from the audience. One questioner suggested that "99% of the people are involved in some form of corruption" and asked how would Imran Khan end it? Imran responded by citing low government salaries as the main cause. He said bureaucrats like his father were not corrupt because their monthly salary was large enough to buy a car back in 1950s.  He did not elaborate as to how he would raise government employee salaries to such lofty levels in Pakistan as part of his plan to end corruption in 90 days, nor did he elaborate on the role of the elite colonial-era civil service to control the population rather than serve the people.

Continuing on the theme of low salaries,  Imran Khan mentioned that one of his brilliant classmates at Aitcheson College became a top scientist but had such "low income that he could not afford to send his children to Aitcheson College".  After hearing this answer, the first thought that ran through my mind was to compare Imran Khan with the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney who is being portrayed as "out of touch" and "disconnected" from the ordinary folks.

A woman questioner asked him how he would "end corruption in 90 days when it takes 9 months to make a baby?" In response, Imran said "I am not talking about making babies". Then he proceeded to cite an example of an "honest police superintendent" in some small town near Dera Ismail Khan who ended all crime within 90 days.  He also saw the chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar as an inspiration for ending corruption and achieving double-digit economic growth.

Addressing a question about how he intends to deal with the Taliban, Imran blamed it on the US presence in the region and the use of drones. He said dialog is the way to end it. He also said that the number of  "irreconcilable" Taliban militants was very small and could be defeated by a "small military military operation" by Pakistan Army after the US exit from the region.

Responding to a question about PTI's election strategy, Imran Khan said he did not believe in "constituency politics" and would not give his party tickets based on the notions of electability. Instead, he is counting on a PTI landslide victory similar to the 1970 elections in which Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's PPP won big in West Pakistan.

After Imran's speech, I was asked by some PTI-USA officers about what I thought of it. I told them that I felt Imran was confused when he said he condemned the Taliban after the Malala shooting but then proceeded  to ask "who will protect my workers if I condemn the Taliban".  Three of the PTI officers, including Dr. Nasrullah Khan, rose to defend their leader's remarks on the Taliban by asking me "who do you think attacked Malala?" When I said the TTP has claimed responsibility for it, they claimed it was "someone other than the Taliban". As the discussion continued, Dr. Nasrullah Khan pulled up a picture of injured Malala on his iPhone and said "I am a cardiologist and I have seen gun-shot victims" and the nature of Malala's head injury shows the "attack was staged".

It seems that Dr. Nasrullah Khan and his fellow PTI members I met are discounting the fact that the Taliban have a long track record  in both Afghanistan and Pakistan of attacking anyone, regardless of age and gender, who disagrees with their goals or tactics. They have a record of using extreme violence to silence those who dare to criticize them.

My assessment of Imran Khan after yesterday's event is that he has very enthusiastic support among young urban middle class Pakistanis who are probably participating in the political process for the first time in Pakistan's history. This augurs well for the country in the long run. However, PTI's chances of emerging with a majority of seats in Pakistani parliament in 2013 elections appear remote.

I also believe that Imran Khan is well-meaning but he appears to be naive, even disconnected from the reality, when it comes to Pakistan's current electoral politics which is based on a system of patronage.  He is also significantly underestimating the serious national threat posed by the Taliban and other militant groups and the widespread culture of corruption in the country.

Here's a brief video clip of the event:


Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Malala Moment: Pakistan's Cowardly Politicians
 
Pakistan 2013 Election Predictions

Pakistan's Culture of Corruption

Imran Khan's Lahore Rally

Pakistan's Politics of Patronage

Pakistani Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

 Culture of Corruption at Imran's Kasur Rally

 Imran Tells Obama: Leave Afghanistan

Pak Taliban Killing Spree Continues  

Appeasement in Swat

Pakistan's Growing Insurgency

Rising Intolerance in Pakistan
 
Fighting Agents of Intolerance in Pakistan

Muslim Scholars Must Fight Hate in Pakistan

South Asian Christians Celebrate Christmas in Fear

Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's Vision

Pakistan Must Defeat Agents of Intolerance 

Celebrating Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah's Birthday

Pakistanis Get the Government They Deserve?

"The people get precisely the government they deserve"
US Federal Judge James Zagel, Dec 7, 2011

The above quote is from the judge who handed 14 year prison term to ousted Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich yesterday after he was found guilty of attempting to sell President Obama's senate seat.



I have a feeling that this event will probably pass unnoticed in Pakistan where politics is characterized by a culture of corruption. But for those who have an interest in bringing some accountability to Pakistan's political class, it's an opportunity to understand the evolution of Chicago politics and its comparisons with Pakistan's.

While Chicago is a highly industrialized major city in the US state of Illinois, its politics in some ways remains essentially corrupt, sectarian and ethnic like Karachi's. Convicted Governor Rod Blagojevich is a product of the Chicago politics, as were many of his predecessors and fellow politicians found guilty of corruption before him.

The obvious difference is that, unlike their counterparts in Pakistan, the corrupt Chicago politicians are being caught, convicted and often sent to jail for their misdeeds.

The phrase "Vote early and vote often" captures the essence of corrupt Chicago politics. The phrase has often been used to describe the razor thin win of President John F. Kennedy, the first Irish Catholic president of the United States, in the 1960 presidential contest. It is attributed to vote fraud in Cooke County orchestrated by the then Chicago Mayor John Daley who was himself an Irish Catholic, and thought to have supported JFK because of his shared ethnic and religious affinity with the Kennedys. Needless to say that Mayor Daley was never indicted for anything. Kennedy's rival Richard Nixon decided not to challenge the result to spare the nation of the potential crisis from it.

It was not just Mayor Daley whose ethnic and sectarian identity was central to his behavior in 1960s. Other Chicagoans felt the same way, as described by newspaper columnist late Mike Royko of Chicago:

"There was...good reason to stay close to home and in your own neighborhood-town and ethnic state. Go that way, past the viaduct, and the wops will jump you, or chase you into Jew town. Go the other way, beyond the park, and the Polacks will stomp on you. Cross those streetcar tracks, and the Irish will shower you with confetti from the brickyards. And who can tell what the niggers might do?"

In "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi", the author Steve Inskeep draws parallels between the Chicago of 1950s and 1960s and the rapidly growing cities in the developing world like Mumbai (India), Karachi (Pakistan) and Port Harcourt (Nigeria) in the following words:

"Karachi was one of many growing cities made turbulent by ethnic politics. In recent years an ethnic political party has controlled Mumbai, India, imposing a regional language on the government of an aspiring world city. In the growing oil city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Internet cafes and churches line the commercial streets, while ethnic militias rule the backstreets and set neighborhoods on fire. None of this will surprise people who study the history of American cities. Chicago, for example, grew explosively from the 1830s onward--it was an instant city in its time--newcomers clustered defensively in their various neighborhoods. As late as the 1950s, immigrants and their children drew battle lines along major streets or railroad tracks.."

It does help to put in historical context the growing pains that Pakistan, and its largest city Karachi, are experiencing now. But it's also important to learn lessons from the way the political leadership is being held accountable for their actions in the United States to help Illinois, and its largest city Chicago, move forward. Let's hope that Pakistan's growing urban middle class will rise to the occasion to meet the challenge of ending the culture of corruption by forcing transparency and accountability at all levels of government in the country. Pakistanis can only expect to have a good government if they truly deserve it.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pay to Play is the Norm in Washington

Anti-Corruption Day, Blagojevich and Zardari

Gangster Politicians of Karachi

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Pakistani Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

Zardari Corruption Probe

NRO Amnesty Order Overturned

Karachi: The Urban Frontier

Per Capita Income, Corruption and Religiosity

Guest Post By Mohammad Asghar Aboobaker

Riaz Haq recently published a post on his blog about the culture of corruption in Pakistan.



Riaz's post reminded me of a Pew Survey I saw a few years ago which asked people from many countries the following question: How important is religion as part of your daily life? The survey results are shown here in a bar graph.


The original corruption index was shown between 1-10 with 1 being the most corrupt. I changed that to make it easier to see. I plotted 10 minus corruption index (higher number representing higher corruption) against the importance of religion by country (Chart 1). I was expecting that it will not show much of a trend but it showed some interesting insight. If you draw a best fit linear line to this data, it shows an upward slope, meaning that the countries with lower importance of religion are less corrupt. More interesting was how the high importance of religion and high corruption had many data points clumped together in the top right hand corner.


chart 2

One would think that corruption maybe related to per capita income of a country. Sure enough, when you plot GNI per capita adjusted for buying power, the lower income was related to higher corruption. (Chart 2)


chart 3


The analysis would not be complete if I did not plot importance of religion with per capita income. (Chart 3). If nothing else, it proves Marx to be correct to some extent that the religion is opium for (poor) masses.

This maybe just different insight and one can extract different conclusions that I have drawn. The data is from 2009 and 2010.

The author of this post, M. Asghar Aboobaker, is the founder, chairman and treasurer of Pakistani-American Cultural Center in Silicon Valley, CA. He has worked in high tech industry for more than 30 years as a business manager as well as engineering manager at companies like Intel Corporation. Currently he is the managing director of a venture fund, K2 Ventures. He has also run businesses as CEO and is on board of startups. He has been on board of directors of more than 3 non-profit organizations in last 20 years. Asghar has Masters of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and BSEE from NED in Karachi.

Source: MotherJones

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

The Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Pakistani Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

Deeply Religious People Profoundly Ignorant About Religion?
Zardari Corruption Probe

Infections Cause Low IQ in Africa, South Asia?
NRO Amnesty Order Overturned

Transparency International Rankings 2009

Transparency International Corruption Index 2010

TI Study Finds India Most Corrupt Country in Asia

A Transparency International (TI) study of 16 Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, has found that India has the highest bribery rate.  69% of survey respondents in India said they have paid a bribe, given a gift or done a favor to receive government services like education and health care. Vietnam follows with 65%, Thailand 41% and Pakistan 40%. China reported a much lower 26%.

Corruption in Asia. Source: Transparency International 2017

The Transparency International study released in March 2017 is part of a regional series for the Global Corruption Barometer.  22,000 people participated in the survey to answer questions about their recent experiences with corruption in 16 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region.

The study found that Japan has the lowest incidence of bribery at 0.2 per cent. South Korea and Australia recorded 3% each, Hong Kong 2% and Taiwan 6%. While 46% to 60% of Indians say they paid bribes for various public services, including in public schools and hospitals and for getting IDs, voter cards and permits and accessing utilities and the police, 31% to 45% said they paid bribes for court services as well.

Unlike the rest of Asia, the poorest people are the biggest victims of corruption in India (73%), Pakistan (64%) and Thailand (46%).

Poor vs Rich Victims of Corruption in Asia. Source: TI

Pakistan fares worse than India in terms of bribes paid to police and courts but better in access to schools and health facilities.

The TI report said that "police top the list of public services most often demanding a bribe. Just under a third of people who had come into contact with a police officer in the last 12 months said they paid a bribe. Overall, 38 per cent of the poorest people surveyed said they paid a bribe, which is the highest proportion of any income group".

Although this report suggests Pakistan is doing better than its neighbor India, the corruption levels in Pakistan remain very high relative to more developed Asian economies. The worst part of it is that the poorest people who can least afford to pay bribes are the biggest victims of such corrupt practices. Fighting corruption requires a broad-based effort. The mass media need to play a role in exposing it; the lawyers and the judges need to do their part to address it. And the civil society at large needs to speak up whenever and wherever they see it.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Panama Leaks, Musharraf and Sharifs

Pakistani Leaders in London After Panama Leaks

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Zardari Corruption Probe

President Pervez Musharraf's Legacy

We Hang Petty Thieves and Appoint Great Ones to High Offices

Capitalism's Achilles Heel by Raymond Baker

NRO, Corruption and Democracy in South Asia

Indian and Pakistani democracies have a lot in common. Both systems of governance are a legacy of the British Raj; both have failed to deliver basic necessities, good governance, rule of law and speedy justice to the vast majority of their people; both have been marred by a close nexus between crime and politics; both have many criminals, including violent felons, as members of the legislature and the executive. But the big difference is in the top leadership; the Indian democracy is led by Dr. Manmohan Singh, also known as Mr. Clean; Pakistani democracy has Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, often labeled as Mr. Ten Percent, as its top leader.

The culture of rampant political corruption has come in sharp focus for Pakistanis with the recent release of the names of the beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a euphemism for the 2007 US-sponsored amnesty decree by former President Musharraf. There are 34 prominent politicians, including President Asif Ali Zardari and his close associates, topping the NRO beneficiaries list of about 8000 people accused of corruption.



This is by no means a complete list of all the corrupt politicians in Pakistan; it's mainly a list of politicians and bureaucrats included in the "NRO" deal struck between President Musharraf and late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto under pressure from Washington. The PML politicians have been explicitly excluded from the pardon under the deal. For example, it does not include the Sharif brothers, who have had serious charges of crime and corruption leveled against them, as recently brought out by the affidavits of the PML leader Ishaq Dar, that implicated both of the Sharif brothers in money laundering. The NRO list is probably just the tip of a much larger iceberg threatening Pakistan's national security, current stability and future prospects.

Of the 278 current Indian MPs for whom records are obtainable, 63 have criminal backgrounds. Of those, 11 have been charged with murder and two stand accused of dacoity (banditry). Other alleged misdemeanors range from fraud to kidnapping, according to data collected by National Election Watch, the campaign group that has put together the data. Fortunately for India, none of these criminal politicians occupy the top leadership positions in New Delhi. The honest leaders at the top, leaders like Dr. Manmohan Singh, set a good example of honest, selfless public service for the rest of Indian society.

Unfortunately, the criminal justice system in South Asia is incapable of speedy resolution when the rich and powerful are accused of crimes. “The speed of the Indian judicial system means it can take 30 years to complete a case – easily long enough to live out a full political career,” Mr Himanshu Jha, of India's National Social Watch Coalition, told the Times Online recently. If the NRO were to be allowed to lapse on November 28 as expected, the politicians in Pakistan can easily avoid accountability by filing appeals after appeals in a slow-moving justice system, where it's easy to pay the lawyers and the judges to push out the trial dates, or to make deals to get the charges dismissed altogether.

Predictably, the PML party members led by Nawaz Sharif, who are waiting in the wings to grab power, are playing up the PPP corruption issue for their own benefit. At the same time, many pro-PPP advocates for democracy in Pakistan are counseling patience in the interest of "national security" and "political stability".

The fact is that these “democratic" leaders are so thoroughly corrupt that they can be bought for a fistful of dollars by any body, including the sworn enemies of Pakistan. The kind of stability that will come from these people will only encourage more crime by politicians and growing cynicism among the suffering people of Pakistan, as born out by a recent British Council survey that shows 80% of Pakistani youth are pessimistic about their future.

Rampant corruption by the top leaders is highly corrosive for the entire society. Ignoring the crimes and corruption of top leaders will neither boost national security nor political stability. In fact, it will do just the opposite, by eating away at Pakistan's guts from within. It will make Pakistan more vulnerable to complete failure and ultimate collapse without help from of any external enemies.

To pave the way for a more responsive, better governed, and modern industrialized democracy, the model that is most likely to deliver what Pakistanis need now in terms of political stability and economic opportunity is the ASEAN model, adopted by Suharto of Indonesia, Mahathir of Malaysia and Lee Kuan Yu of Singapore. These three benevolent, relatively honest and competent dictators of ASEAN, who were repressive and ruthless at times, transformed their nations from poor and backward agrarian societies to powerful, industrialized and democratic Asian tigers.

Given its large size, the Indonesian development model under Suharto should be of particular interest to Pakistanis. During Suharto’s three decades in power, Indonesia’s economy grew an average of 7 percent annually, and living standards rose substantially for the bulk of the population. Education and mass literacy programs were used to promote the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, and to unify the country’s disparate ethnic groups and scattered islands. While Suharto used unfettered dictatorial powers and his own family benefited greatly from Indonesia's crony capitalism and its rapid economic growth, the nation reaped huge benefits as well, and eventually, the significantly enlarged, educated and prosperous Indonesian middle class asserted itself and brought democracy to Indonesia after forcing Suharto out in 1998.

Here is an interesting video clip of a Pakistani minister's frank admission of the PPP involvement in bribery. Listen to Mr. Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, Federal Minister for Defense Production, proclaiming that it is the “political right” of every politician to do corruption: “yaar, karrapshun pay humara haq nahiN hai, aur unn ka hai!”:



Here's a video clip on India's massive corruption:



Related Links:

Musharraf's Legacy

ASEAN Model

Challenges For Indian Democracy

Zardari Corruption Probe

Pakistan's Feudal Democracy

Blackwater Bribing in Pakistan

The Politics of NRO

Suharto's New Order

Money Laundering Charges Against Sharifs

The NRO Beneficiaries List

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry Should Resign

For six long months, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry of Pakistan knew that his son was on the take from a notorious property baron Malik Riaz Husain, and yet he did nothing to stop his son's illegal activities. Earlier in 2007, President Musharraf's reference filed against Mr. Chaudhry was based on his abuse of power to help his son. Mr. Chaudhry was too busy waging a much-needed jihad against corruption by other powerful individuals through his suo moto actions.

 Mr. Chaudhry finally acted against his son after the allegations became public in Pakistani media. His action appears to be self-serving to try and salvage his own reputation. Malik Riaz Husain, CEO of Bahria Town, has now offered detailed evidence and documentation to back up his charges against Chaudhry's son Arsalan Iftikhar of accepting bribes worth $3.7 million (Pak Rs. 340 million).

Predictably, Mr. Chaudhry's fellow judges are trying to silence the accuser by initiating contempt proceedings against him, a favorite tool of the current serving judges of the highest court in Pakistan to chill dissent. Other Chaudhry supporters are in denial. They are crying "conspiracy" to try and absolve him of a very serious lapse.

Judge Chaudhry's failure to act when he first learned about his son's corruption charges has put a harsh spotlight on Pakistan's Supreme Court as an institution. It has put at risk the noble efforts of Mr. Chaudhry to rid Pakistan of corruption at the highest levels of government. What's most important now is to try and restore confidence in Pakistan's higher judiciary as an institution.

Mr. Chaudhry must resign as a first step toward rebuilding trust in the institution. Other senior judges must then step in to order a thorough investigation into the activities of Mr. Malik Riaz Husain, and they should let the evidence lead them wherever it goes, including many powerful individuals in government, legislatures, military, political parties, lawyers' community and mass media who are alleged to have accepted illegal payments from him in return for lucrative contracts and other favors to Bahria Town.

The culture of corruption must end for Pakistan to offer hope to its people for their future.

Here's the video of a recent TV interview on this subject I participated in:

 

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Pak Judges' Jihad Against Corruption

Chaudhry is No Angel

Justice Chaudhry's Address to New York Bar

Incompetence and Corruption in Pakistan

Zardari Corruption Probe

NRO Amnesty Order Overturned

Transparency International Rankings 2011

Jakarta Diary

Guest Post by Athar Javaid

Concluding a fairly involved and busy schedule at a trade conference and Green Technology show in Seoul South Korea, Jakarta some 3,200 miles south west of Seoul hardly seemed like a detour of choice on my way back home. But my fascination with this huge archipelago of 17508 islands that has long been simmering took over. Besides its fascinating geography and world’s second largest collection of plant species, Indonesia is world’s largest Muslim country (230m) sharing land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia. More importantly Indonesia is a republic with an elected legislature and president – A democratic society that has a history of having successfully integrated a host of human races with diverse ethnicity, cultures and religious beliefs.


Given the three and a half centuries of Dutch colonial rule followed by Independence after World War II and three decades of authoritarian rule by Suharto ending in 1998, Indonesians have come a long way in attaining a careful political balance between sociopolitical norms and emerging forces in Indonesian society. Balancing is some what iconic to Indonesian way of life. Balancing Culture and Religion, Islamism and Secularism, Regional autonomy and Centralized rule, Capitalism and Welfare state, all seem second nature to the Indonesians.

Despite its distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, Indonesia has developed a shared identity defined by its national motto,” Bhenneka Tunggal Ika” meaning “Many Yet One” or Unity in Diversity.

The Arabs notably Arabs of Yemeni origin played a dominant role in South East Asian trade and Islamization since the fifteenth century. As I sat in a Jakarta city tour bus listening to the guide and wondering about this monumental accomplishment of early Yemeni settlers in Indonesia and slow peaceful penetration of Islam over centuries that ultimately resulted in World’s largest Muslim state and pondering over the fact that from the 14th century to the end of the 19th century the region saw almost no organized Muslim missionary activity, it was easy to see that the key element of this grandeur accomplishment was the posture of the settler’s accommodating to and integrating with local beliefs and customs. This combined with the less rigid structure of Indonesian traditional society, including the active role of women in public life made it even more conducive. The resulting Indonesian Islam is tolerant, inclusive and inherently compatible with democratic ideals.

Despite their traditional role of the Yemenis as money sharks, these early settlers while earning money and economic clout in an alien society and culture nevertheless stimulated wide spread acceptance for Islam. Yemeni settlers whole heatedly respected and embraced the culture of the locale they lived in and adapted many cultural practices while subtly propagating the richness of thought and ideology fostered by Islam. This was further evidenced by several museum artifacts dating back to 17th century that represented their holistic approach to life striking a well carved balance within the boundaries of culture and religion.

The early Yemeni settlers in Indonesia have been an oasis of soft change without use of force or their economic clout. Yemeni hospitality, an icon of Yemeni culture must have been a definite plus in shaping their behavior in an alien society. However, at home, this hospitality is often “amiably armed” as evident by its deep expression in the 16th century in rescuing, feeding, housing and forcibly circumcising British soldiers when their naval ship wrecked off the Yemeni coast of Red Sea.

Today Indonesia continues to soft paddle the cultural differences sustaining and reinforcing the social fabric with an all inclusive approach to its diverse ethnicity. A recent example is the expression of inclusively towards Indonesians of Chinese descent. Since 1960 the Indonesians have removed a ban on Chinese characters in publications, and advertisements, a ban on celebrating the Chinese New Year, Chinese Cultural events and even declared Chinese New Year a public holiday. Mohamed Cheng Hoo Mosque – first mosque in Indonesia with Chinese architecture is indeed a clear statement of Islam’s compatibility with cultural diversity and a display of its dynamism – Dynamic enough to appeal to 17,508 islands – each one with its own character, culture and artistic ancestry.

Though grappling with day to day mundane issues ranging from land slides to typhoons, earthquakes, traffic jams and capsized ferries to political rivalries, Indonesia is finally on the right track. On the economic and social front Indonesia continues its path to emancipation combined with spiritual flamboyancy. Indonesia is world’s largest producer of palm oil, manufacturer of cars including automotive parts and one hundred percent use of bio fuel while exporting diesel fuel. A recent move to scrap duties on imports of machinery and raw material for seven vital industries is a welcome boost for business and commerce.

On the political front Indonesia appears to have mustered the capacity to deal with issues as diverse as corruption to ethnic discrimination and violence. Barely one month into his second term, President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono appeared to meet the test of his credibility facing a serious challenge created by a conflict between National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

That said, even a country like Indonesia with such a strong track record of social, cultural and religious harmony and stable political system of governance is not immune to the wrath of radical Islam. July 09 bombing of the Ritz Carleton Hotels in Jakarta, the 2003 Marriott hotel bombing and 2002 Bali night club bombings are all perhaps indicative of more terror attacks waiting in the wings to unfold on the slightest trigger of religious or sectarian conflicts. It remains to be seen whether Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country is likely to experience its own process of religious extremism and radicalization.

Some uprising of armed paramilitaries after Suharto’s overthrow and with recent bombings seemed to suggest that Muslim politics even in this tolerant society is being radicalized. However Giora Eliraz, Robert, W. Hefner and many western scholars have provided a more thoughtful and ultimately hopeful prognosis showing the main stream of the Muslim community remains unswervingly moderate. The elections of June 1999 showed that most voters favored secular or moderate Islamist political parties, in fact by a larger majority than in the only other free and open general elections, held in 1955, when about 16 percent of the vote went to parties advocating conservative Islamic programs as opposed to more than 40 percent in 1955. Be that as it may! These self proclaimed soldiers of God and Mujahideens, hell bent on enforcing their brand of Islam through terror tactics could perhaps just look back and be thankful to those responsible for wide spread acceptance of Islam over 17,508 islands following the basic tenets of Islam and cultivating a good will culminating in integration of diverse cultures and communities that will remain exemplary for many centuries to come.

Indonesia with its solid balancing approach to resolve conflicting and debilitating issues is likely to lead the way for the rest of the Muslim world in combating and abating Islamic radicalism and ultimately upholding the basic Islamic values of “ Moderation” and Huqooq Al Ibad” denouncing radicalism and terror tactics in forcing piety.

“Bhenneka Tunggal Ika” “Many Yet One” or Unity in Diversity.

Athar Javaid is an NEDian currently serving as a Vice President of an IT Consulting Firm in Washington DC area.

Related Links:

ASEAN Architect Suharto Passes On

Pakistan's NRO and Corrupt Democracy

FinCEN Files: UK is Global Center For Money Laundering and Pakistan Among its Top 3 Sources

The latest leaks of US FinCEN (Financial Crime Enforcement Network) files show that the United Kingdom (UK) is the biggest global center for money laundering. An earlier report issued by the British Crime Agency put Pakistan among the world's top sources of money laundering in the United Kingdom. The latest FinCEN leaks represent just the tip of an iceberg. The leaked 2,100 FinCEN files covering $2 trillion worth of transactions that ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) and Buzzfeed reporters got their hands on represent just a small sliver of the roughly 12 million SARs FinCEN has received since 2011. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly raised the issue of the West's inaction in stopping the illicit flows of hard currencies from developing nations to the developed world. Money laundering and other financial crimes affect the economic roots of a nation like Pakistan and slow down its human and socioeconomic development.

FinCEN Leaks Represent Tip of Iceberg

FinCEN Leaks:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is an arm of the U.S. Treasury Department responsible for keeping tabs on and combating money laundering. All banks are required by US Law to file SARS (Suspicious Activity Reports) of transactions involving unclear sources and beneficiaries, or those connected to jurisdictions with a history of financial crime. 

Banks file about 2.2 million such transactions each year. Very few of these are actually reviewed or investigated by the US government. Recently, journalists at Buzzfeed and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have announced they have obtained 2,100 FinCEN files covering $2 trillion worth of transactions that  represent just a small sliver of the roughly 12 million SARs FinCEN has received since 2011. Some of the biggest western banks, including HSBC, JP Morgan, Barclays and Standard Charter Bank are named among the institutions reporting SARS. 

Pakistani Banks:

There are six Pakistani banks named among those filing suspicious activity reports with FinCEN. The banks named are Allied Bank, United Bank (UBL), Habib Metropolitan Bank, Bank Alfalah, Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, and Habib Bank (HBL). According to the data revealed by ICIJ, 29 such suspicious transactions from and to Pakistan were flagged. Of those, the ‘received’ transactions amounted to $1,942,560, while the ‘sent’ transaction was $452,000. 

FinCEN leaks show suspicious activity of a Dubai-registered company linked to Altaf Khanani of Pakistan through accounts at Danske Bank. “There can only be one reason why money has been moved out of Danske Bank and into his trading companies - and that is money laundering. Because that was the only thing that happened in those companies,” says Richard Grant, the former head of the Australian intelligence service told DR, a Danish news platform. 

Pakistan Among Top 3 Sources:

British National Crime Agency (NCA) has identified Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia as the top source countries for money laundering in the United Kingdom, according to British media reports. The NCA report says the UK is a prime destination for foreign corrupt and politically exposed people (politicians and their families) to launder money. 

In its annual assessment of serious and organized crime, the NCA says: “Investment in UK property, particularly in London, continues to be an attractive mechanism to launder funds....As the UK moves towards exiting the EU in March 2019, UK-based businesses may look to increase the amount of trade they have with non-EU countries....We judge this will increase the likelihood that UK businesses will come into contact with corrupt markets, particularly in the developing world, raising the risk they will be drawn into corrupt practices.”

Here are some of the key excerpts of the UK NCA report titled "National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organized Crime 2018":

1. "The UK is a prime destination for foreign corrupt PEPs (politically exposed persons, a euphemism for politicians and their family member) to launder the proceeds of corruption. Investment in UK property, particularly in London, continues to be an attractive mechanism to launder funds. The true scale of PEPs investment in the UK is not known, however the source countries that are most commonly seen are Russia, Nigeria and Pakistan".

2. "The overseas jurisdictions that have the most enduring impact on the UK across the majority of the different money laundering threats are: Russia, China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Some of these jurisdictions have large financial sectors which also make them attractive as destinations or transit points for the proceeds of crime."

Politicians Dominate Panama Papers

Panama Papers Leak:

The NCA report says there are "professional enablers from the banking, accounting and legal world" who  facilitate the legitimization of criminal finances and are perpetuate the problem by refinancing further criminality.

In fact, there is an entire industry made up of lawyers and accountants that offers its services to help hide illicit wealth. Mossack Fonseca, the law firm that made headlines with "Panama Leaks", is just one example of companies in this industry.

Mossack Fonseca's 11.5 million leaked internal files contained information on more than 214,000 offshore entities tied to 12 current or former heads of state, 140 politicians, including Pakistan's now ex Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family.  Icelandic Prime Minister resigned voluntarily and Pakistani Prime Minister was forced out by the country's Supreme Court.

The Panama list included showbiz and sports celebrities, lawyers, entrepreneurs,  businessmen, journalists and other occupations but it was heavily dominated by politicians.

Pakistani Names in Panama Leaks:

Pakistani politicians and their supporters use allegations of corruption in Pakistani military to distract attention from their own well-documented corruption. Just a quick look at the names in leaked Panama Papers shows that politicians, not generals, dominate these lists. Pakistani names included in Panama Papers are those of several politicians and business people, but no generals, according to media reports.

 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is linked to 9 companies connected to his family name. Those involved are:  Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz, Relatives of Punjab Chief Minister and brother of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif are linked to 7 companies. They are: Samina Durrani and Ilyas Meraj.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was linked to one company. Her relatives and associates are linked to others: Nephew Hassan Ali Jaffery Javed Pasha, Close friend of Asif Ali Zardari (4 companies), PPP Senator Rehman Malik (1 company), PPP Senator Osman Saifullah’s family (34 companies), Anwar Saifullah, Salim Saifullah, Humayun Saifullah, Iqbal Saifullah, Javed Saifullah, Jehangir Saifullah. The Chaudharies of Gujrat have not been linked personally but other relatives have including: Waseem Gulzar Zain Sukhera (co-accused with former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s son in the Hajj scandal).

Pakistani Businessmen in Panama Leaks: Real Estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain’s son (Bahria Town) Ahmad Ali Riaz (1 company), Chairman ABM Group of Companies Azam Sultan (5 companies), Pizza Hut owner Aqeel Hussain and family (1 company), Brother Tanwir Hassan Chairman Soorty Enterprise Abdul Rashid Soorty and family, Sultan Ali Allana, Chairman of Habib Bank Limited (1 company), Khawaja Iqbal Hassan, former NIB bank President (1 company), Bashir Ahmed and Javed Shakoor of Buxly Paints (1 company), Mehmood Ahmed of Berger Paints (1 company), Hotel tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani and family (3 companies), Murtaza Haswani Owner of Hilton Pharma, Shehbaz Yasin Malik and family (1 company), The Hussain Dawood family (2 companies), Shahzada Dawood Abdul Samad Dawood Partner Saad Raja, The Abdullah family of Sapphire Textiles (5 companies), Yousuf Abdullah and his wife, Muhammad Abdullah and his wife, Shahid Abdullah and his family, Nadeem Abdullah and family, Amer Abdullah and family, Gul Muhammad Tabba of Lucky Textiles, Shahid Nazir, CEO of Masood Textile Mills (1 company), Partner Naziya Nazir Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani, from Lakson Group and owner of Colgate-Palmolive, Tetley Clover and Clover Pakistan (1 company) and Zulfiqar Paracha and family of Universal Corporation (1 company).

Pakistani Judges in Panama Leaks: Serving Lahore High Court Judge Justice Farrukh Irfan, Retired Judge Malik Qayyum, Pakistani Media personnel in Panama Leaks: Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman of GEO-Jang Media Group (1 company).

FinCEN vs Panama Leaks: 

FinCEN leaks differ from previous bank leaks such as the Panama Papers in a crucial way: They are a snapshot into financial crime that banks are openly reporting to the authorities. 

These files mean, on a basic level, the reporting system is functioning. But the same leaks also show that banks frequently filed a SAR months after the transaction had taken place, and sometimes multiple times on the same client without anyone seemingly taking any action. 

West's Inaction Hurts Poor Nations:

Speaking to the 75th plenary session pf the United Nations General Assembly (UNGS), Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the issue of the West's inaction is stopping the illicit flows of hard currencies from developing nations to the developed world. He said:"Every year billions of dollars leave poor countries & go to rich countries. Billions of dollars siphoned by corrupt politicians to tax havens ,expensive properties bought in western capitals. It is devastating to the developing world".  

Pakistanis see the United Kingdom as the "Money Laundering Capital of the World" where corrupt leaders from developing nations use wealth looted from their people to buy expensive real estate and other assets. Private individuals and businesses from poor nations also park money in the west and other off-shore tax havens to hide their incomes and assets from the tax authorities in their countries of residence.

The multi-trillion dollar massive net outflow of money from the poor to the rich countries has been documented by the US-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI). This flow of capital has been described as "aid in reverse". It has made big headlines in Pakistan and elsewhere since the release of the Panama Papers and the Paradise Leaks which revealed true owners of offshore assets held by anonymous shell companies. Bloomberg has reported that Pakistanis alone own as much as $150 billion worth of undeclared assets offshore.

Summary:

The latest FinCEM leaks and previous Panama Papers as well as British crime agency reports confirm that the UK has attracted vast sums of illicit wealth from Pakistan and other emerging economies. Speaking to the 75th plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGS), Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the issue of the West's inaction is stopping the illicit flows of hard currencies from developing nations to the developed world. He said:"Every year billions of dollars leave poor countries & go to rich countries. Billions of dollars siphoned by corrupt politicians to tax havens ,expensive properties bought in western capitals. It is devastating to the developing world".  Money laundering and other financial crimes affect the economic roots of a nation like Pakistan and slow down its human and socioeconomic development.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

The West Enables Corruption in Developing Nations

Did Musharraf Steal Pakistani People's Money?

Pakistan Economy Hobbled By Underinvestment

Raymond Baker on Corruption in Pakistan

Nawaz Sharif Disqualified

Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

US Investigating Microsoft Bribery in Pakistan

Zardari's Corruption Probe in Switzerland

Politics of Patronage in Pakistan

Why is PIA Losing Money Amid Pakistan Aviation Boom?

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

PakAlumni Social Network

Pay-to-Play is the Norm in Washington

“This town (Washington) is full of people who call themselves ambassadors, and all they did was pay $200,000 or $300,000 to the Republican or Democratic Party,” says the well-known criminal defense lawyer Robert Bennett, referring to a passage in the criminal complaint filed against the Illinois governor suggesting that Mr. Blagojevich was interested in an ambassadorial appointment in return for the Senate seat. “You have to wonder, How much of this guy’s problem was his language, rather than what he really did?” Gov Blagojevich was reportedly wire-tapped by the FBI as saying, "I've got this thing (the senate seat) and it's f------ golden, and uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f------ nothing."

According to the New York Times, Mr. Bennett says that the Illinois Governor Blagojevich's corruption case raised some potentially thorny issues about political corruption.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the US prosecutor who has charged Gov Blagojevich, believes that the governor has crossed the line between political horsetrading and corruption. “We’re not trying to criminalize people making political horse trades on policies or that sort of thing,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “But it is criminal when people are doing it for their personal enrichment. And they’re doing it in a way that is, in this case, clearly criminal.”

It seems to me that political campaign contributions routinely buy favors such as favorable legislative votes or policy decisions or significant political appointments by elected officials. However, this is done in a manner that avoids the explicit mention of quid pro quo in any conversations or writings. A nod and a wink is often sufficient for such a transaction to keep the prosecutors away. If what the prosecutors claim Balgojevich did is proven in a jury trial as criminal violations of the law, it would be because of how Blagojevich chose to do it rather than the substance of what he really did.

As the recent CBS 60 Minutes segment explained, "In retrospect, giving Wall Street immunity from state gambling laws and legalizing activity that had been banned for most of the 20th century should have given lawmakers pause, but on the last day and the last vote of the lame duck 106th Congress, Wall Street got what it wanted when the Senate passed the bill unanimously." Though CNN has only picked Senator Phil Gramm as one its top 10 Culprits of Collapse, the entire senate is responsible for it.

Political corruption in Washington is believed to be the root cause of the current international financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression that started in 1929 and lasted through the 1930s. Clearly, the unanimous Senate passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 demonstrated the power of Wall Street over both Republicans and Democrats. In fact, the data of the financial services industry's recent campaign contributions shows that two of the top three recipients of the largess from Wall street are Democrats Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. John McCain is in a distant third position. Overall, Sen Obama's campaign is awash with record, massive cash contributions.

Since the current financial crisis has its roots in easy, plentiful mortgages and the housing bubble facilitated by the Democrats' unabashed and reckless support for home ownership via Fannie and Freddie and community re-investment legislation, a larger share of the blame for the current crisis should be assigned to the Congressional Democrats such as Barny Frank and Chris Dodd. Both Fannie and Freddie have been major campaign contributors to key politicians in Washington.

If Blagojevich is convicted and jailed, it would simply offer a lesson for other politicians to be wiser about how they exchange favors for campaign money rather than deter them from engaging in the rampant pay-to-play political corruption in America. As far as campaign money is concerned, the rules for how it can be used by politicians are loose enough that it amounts to personal enrichment for maintaining power and expensive lifestyles. If the Blagojevich case goes to trial, it may help bring the spotlight on the culture of political corruption in America.

In terms of government corruption, the US is currently ranked at number 20 on a list of 179 nations by Transparency International, worse than most of the countries of Western Europe and Japan. If the American politicians' common practices are redefined as criminal rather than mere political horse trades, then the US corruption ranking will likely slip further.

Here's a video clip on US campaign contributions:

Is Haiti's Tragic Disaster Entirely Natural?

As a long time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area living near a major fault, I am quite conscious of the potentially devastating impact of "The Big One" forecast to to hit California at some unknown date in the future. A 1906 San Francisco earthquake, measuring about 7.9 on the Richter scale, caused widespread damage and claimed at least 700 lives. A similar sized earthquake centered in Kashmir, measuring about 7.6 on Richter scale, hit northern and western Pakistan in 2005 and claimed 75,000 lives.

Another big tremor struck the Bay Area in 1989 which I personally experienced. The 7.0 Loma Prieta shaker in 1989 caused 63 deaths. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Early Red Cross estimates indicate that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died. Haiti quake's aftermath is not entirely a natural disaster story. This is a story of abject poverty caused by years of corruption and mismanagement. It’s a story about shoddy construction, bad infrastructure and poor public services.

How poor is Haiti? The best way to answer this question is to describe dirt cookies consumed by a very large population in Haiti. These cookies are literally made from dirt with a small amount of flour and sugar mixed in to make them relatively palatable. While these dirt cookies do fill the hungry stomachs of the poor, there is very little nutrition in them. Why is Haiti so poor and underdeveloped? Well, it does have a history of oppression, slavery and colonialism. Post-independence Haiti has endured bad governance, corruption and foreign invasions. Others, like Barbados and Dominican Republic which shares the island Hispaniola with Haiti, have done much better than Haiti in spite of similar problems.

There are very few place where people are poorer or hungrier than Haiti, with the exception of Bangladesh and some states in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to Bangladesh and the nations of sub Saharan Africa, the Indian states of Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are worse off than Haiti, according to India's State Hunger Index (ISHI) survey report. Gujarat is often projected as a success story by the right-wing Indian media. The economy of Gujarat is sustaining an overall growth rate of eight percentage points, but the incidence of rural poverty declined at the annual rate of 0.23 per cent, which is the worst Human Development Index (HDI) improvement record among all Indian states. From 1996 to 2006, Gujarat slipped one rank each in education and health indices to eight and tenth positions, respectively, as compared to 20 other states. In improvement in Infant Mortality Rate, it ranked 13th. The state ranked 14th in Child Mortality Rate, 13th in TMR, 17th in stunted children and ninth in underweight children. What it says is that economic growth alone can not solve the problems of poverty and malnutrition in Gujarat, or India, or the rest of the world. Economic growth has to be accompanied with progressive policies to uplift the most vulnerable populations in society.

Obviously, the first order of business for all of the peoples and the governments of the world is to provide emergency aid and comfort to the survivors of the monumental tragedy unfolding in Haiti. We should all donate time, money and other resources that each of us can to our Haitian brothers and sisters in humanity in their most difficult hour. Most major international relief organizations such as Red Cross, UNICF, Islamic Relief, Hidaya Foundation, Edhi Foundation and others have online portals for aiding Haitians in dire need of immediate assistance.

There are soldiers and rescuers helping the relief effort from across the world, including Pakistani soldiers wearing blue UN helmets deployed in Haiti. Relief supplies are flown in by the American military to the only airport with just on runway in Port-au-Prince.

Beyond immediate help, it's important for the world to find ways of alleviating the abject poverty, recurring hunger and deprivation of the Haitian people and other victims of poverty and hunger in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing poverty and hunger and improving governance in these parts of the world can help reduce their everyday suffering and prevent the repeat of at least the man-made contribution to massive tragedies resulting from natural disasters in the future.

Here is an interesting Op Ed by David Brooks in the New York Times discussing Haiti and the problems of reducing poverty in developing nations:

On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.

This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story. It’s a story about poorly constructed buildings, bad infrastructure and terrible public services. On Thursday, President Obama told the people of Haiti: “You will not be forsaken; you will not be forgotten.” If he is going to remain faithful to that vow then he is going to have to use this tragedy as an occasion to rethink our approach to global poverty. He’s going to have to acknowledge a few difficult truths.

The first of those truths is that we don’t know how to use aid to reduce poverty. Over the past few decades, the world has spent trillions of dollars to generate growth in the developing world. The countries that have not received much aid, like China, have seen tremendous growth and tremendous poverty reductions. The countries that have received aid, like Haiti, have not.

In the recent anthology “What Works in Development?,” a group of economists try to sort out what we’ve learned. The picture is grim. There are no policy levers that consistently correlate to increased growth. There is nearly zero correlation between how a developing economy does one decade and how it does the next. There is no consistently proven way to reduce corruption. Even improving governing institutions doesn’t seem to produce the expected results.

The chastened tone of these essays is captured by the economist Abhijit Banerjee: “It is not clear to us that the best way to get growth is to do growth policy of any form. Perhaps making growth happen is ultimately beyond our control.”

The second hard truth is that micro-aid is vital but insufficient. Given the failures of macrodevelopment, aid organizations often focus on microprojects. More than 10,000 organizations perform missions of this sort in Haiti. By some estimates, Haiti has more nongovernmental organizations per capita than any other place on earth. They are doing the Lord’s work, especially these days, but even a blizzard of these efforts does not seem to add up to comprehensive change.

Third, it is time to put the thorny issue of culture at the center of efforts to tackle global poverty. Why is Haiti so poor? Well, it has a history of oppression, slavery and colonialism. But so does Barbados, and Barbados is doing pretty well. Haiti has endured ruthless dictators, corruption and foreign invasions. But so has the Dominican Republic, and the D.R. is in much better shape. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island and the same basic environment, yet the border between the two societies offers one of the starkest contrasts on earth — with trees and progress on one side, and deforestation and poverty and early death on the other.

As Lawrence E. Harrison explained in his book “The Central Liberal Truth,” Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh retribution when kids hit 9 or 10.

We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.

Fourth, it’s time to promote locally led paternalism. In this country, we first tried to tackle poverty by throwing money at it, just as we did abroad. Then we tried microcommunity efforts, just as we did abroad. But the programs that really work involve intrusive paternalism.

These programs, like the Harlem Children’s Zone and the No Excuses schools, are led by people who figure they don’t understand all the factors that have contributed to poverty, but they don’t care. They are going to replace parts of the local culture with a highly demanding, highly intensive culture of achievement — involving everything from new child-rearing practices to stricter schools to better job performance.

It’s time to take that approach abroad, too. It’s time to find self-confident local leaders who will create No Excuses countercultures in places like Haiti, surrounding people — maybe just in a neighborhood or a school — with middle-class assumptions, an achievement ethos and tough, measurable demands.

The late political scientist Samuel P. Huntington used to acknowledge that cultural change is hard, but cultures do change after major traumas. This earthquake is certainly a trauma. The only question is whether the outside world continues with the same old, same old.

Related Links:

Aid, Trade, Investments and Remittances

Poverty in Pakistan

Haitian Dirt Cookies

The Underlying Tragedy

India State Hunger Index

Grinding Poverty in Resurgent India

Can Congress Deliver in India?

Food, Clothing and Shelter in India and Pakistan

What Works in Development? By Jessica Cohen, William Easterly