Grovelling hypocrisy

Permits issued to hunt Houbara bustard not only violate international commitments but also breach local hunting laws

The hypocrisy of our masters knows no bounds as the Houbara bustard — an endangered species that has the misfortune to transit Pakistan on its migratory travels — is about to find out. At least 29 special permits to hunt these birds have been issued to members of prominent — indeed royal — families of Gulf states and from the Arabian peninsula. This flies in the face of an undertaking last year to have a moratorium on the hunting of Houbara bustards in order to allow their numbers to recover from the slaughter of 2013. Arabs hunt the Houbara bustard not for its meat but for its aphrodisiac qualities, which may bring them disappointment as it has been closely analysed and found to have no aphrodisiac qualities whatsoever.

Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species as has been noted in these columns on several occasions. International treaties and their adherence matter not a jot or tittle when it comes to sweetening the hunting experiences of the states that are among the very few friends we have left in the world. Not only do the permits, as issued, violate international commitments, they are in breach of local hunting laws as well. The moratorium was notified at the end of the last hunting season, but for reasons unknown, the prime minister gave his approval; and the deputy chief of protocol at the Foreign Office issued the permits on November 1. We can only speculate that there were pleading phone calls between the office of the prime minister and the hunting fraternity, following which probity went out of the door with the kitchen waste and the Houbara bustard population was destined to shrink yet again. This is shameless and wanton hypocrisy and does nothing for our standing in the eyes of the rest of the world. The birds will now be hunted across Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (for the first time). The permits are carte blanche and without caveat. Kill as many birds as you like, there is no ‘bag limit’. Be ashamed, government of Pakistan. Be very ashamed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.

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