The year in news

The Express Tribune captures Pakistan from militancy to WikiLeaks, the Karachi Literature Festival to the floods...

Militancy

A total of 2,113 militant-, insurgent- and sectarian-related terrorist attacks were reported from across the country in 2010, killing 2,913 people and injuring another 5,824 according to a report by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies. In 2010, Pakistan also witnessed an 11 per cent decrease in the number of incidents of violence and terrorism compared to the previous year, the first time that has happened since 2007, adds the report. The worst-affected region of the country was the insurgency-hit province of Balochistan, followed by the militancy-infested Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Economy

The floundering economy faced a serious setback due to the devastating floods and the ongoing war against militancy while mounting debt and rising fiscal deficit set the stage for persistently high inflation throughout the previous year. The government’s repeated attempts to implement the reformed general sales tax and broaden the tax net were met with the Opposition’s continued demands to curb corruption and reform governance. The stalemate continues…

International

For all the hullaballoo created at the release of a quarter of a million diplomatic cables, Wikileaks had little impact on international relations, but majorly propelled Julian Assange as the face of the new Left. The ongoing NATO-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan kept Pakistan in the global media limelight, for all the unflattering reasons. Meanwhile, popular riots broke out in the Middle East and North Africa, initially against rising inflation and unemployment, but evolving into revolutions calling for regime changes. President Ben Ali of Tunisia was the first casualty of the revolution followed by Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Libya’s Qaddafi and Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh are among other autocrats and monarchs of the region that continue to fight for survival.

Culture

Literature, film and art festivals enthralled culturally starved audiences and made for great photo-ops. The second Karachi Literature Festival that brought together the literati and the glitterati was extensively covered by The Express Tribune. The Aalmi Mushaira 2011 kept Urdu poets and their fans at the Expo Centre up till four in the morning, despite violence in the city, to prove that “the pen is mightier than the TT pistol”.

Floods

Beginning in late July 2010, heavy monsoon rains in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan led to floods that dragged one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area underwater, affecting 20 million people directly and leading to extensive damage to infrastructure and crops. UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon called it the worst disaster he had ever seen. The total economic impact of the flood is estimated to have come to the tune of $40 billion, while reconstruction is estimated to cost about $9 billion. The floods also brought to light Pakistan’s image deficit as international aid trickled in too little, too late

Politics

As allies walked in and out of the coalition, the government’s waltz made headlines as it tried to court new partners and woo the old ones back. The passage of the 18th and 19th Amendments was heralded as steps taken by parliament to strengthen itself as an institution. Friction with other growing institutions like the judiciary and civil society was inevitable, but major showdowns were avoided. Assassinations Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, both belonging to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, became high-profile victims of the furor over the controversial blasphemy laws that continue to polarise public opinion across the country.

Taseer’s killer, Qadri, was equally heralded as a hero and denounced for the cold-blooded murder. Meanwhile, MQM’s Imran Farooq’s murder in London baffled audiences at home and triggered a host of conspiracy theories surrounding the murder.

Plane crash

An Airblue flight flying from Karachi to Islamabad crashed into the Margalla Hills on the morning of July 28, 2010, killing all 152 passengers on board in the worst aviation disaster on Pakistani soil. A report of the accident has yet to be made public.

Earthquake

October 8, 2010 marked the fifth anniversary of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Kashmir and Northern Areas that killed 75,000 people, including 18,000 children who died in schools. Five years and $5.4 billion worth of pledges from international donors later, most of the promised reconstruction and rehabilitation has yet to see the light of the day. The Express Tribune brought together stories of unfinished projects and unfulfilled official promises to mark the anniversary.

Sports

Where Shoaib Akhtar, the formidable ‘Rawalpindi Express’, left national duty and stepped down, there was more to lament about this year’s sports news. We lost three other cricketers, and not to retirement or injury. The spot-fixing scandal scarred the Pakistan team with injuries that will remain alive for a long time to come.

But Shahid Afridi’s squad that marched tall into the cricket World Cup was a bright start to the year. And while the deadliest finishers looked for glory in football’s most prestigious tournament – Spain finished off with precision to flaunt in golden glory – it was Rafael Nadal who broke headlines by claiming his first ever US Open crown which had eluded him aplenty.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th,  2011.