Revisiting priorities: Senator rues shift from welfare-driven state

Babar voices concern over country’s drift towards security-centric state

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition senators on Thursday expressed concerns over the country’s drift from welfare state – as enshrined in the constitution – to a security-centric state over the years.

The house debated the report on the Observance and Implementation of Principles of Policy, an annual write-up on the progress of implementing the Principles of Policy (PoP) in the country which is submitted to both houses of parliament for review.

Taking part in the discussion, Senator Farhatullah Babar said the principles contained in Articles 29 to 40 of the Constitution stipulated Pakistan to be welfare-driven state, but over the past six decades it has fast drifted towards a security-driven one.



“[Due to] the deliberately crafted narrative woven around national security, the state today is guided only by considerations of security rather than welfare of the people”, he said.

Babar said whether it is a decision about the allocation of national resources, or the missing persons, or reforms in Fata, or a debate on the functioning of the security agencies, it should all be rooted in legislation instead of executive orders.

The changed narrative enhanced a peculiar concept of security rather than promoting human rights and public wellbeing, he added.

“For instance, in 1999, Nawaz Sharif’s far-reaching regional peace initiative by inviting [Indian] Prime Minister Vajpayee was subverted through Kargil misadventure,” the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) technocrat explained.

He said the country needs to revisit the theories of national security along with all stakeholders and make a realistic assessment of the threat perceptions.

The opposition lawmaker said the security-driven state doctrine has led to a violation of human rights, particularly for the minorities who became the ultimate target of such violations at large.

Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, who represents the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) in the upper house, opined that the Constitution guarantees rights to minorities but their rights are being violated and incidents of violence against non-Muslims are on the rise.

Meanwhile, MQM’s Nasreen Jalil raised the issue of barring of women from voting through Jirgas in district Diamir of Gilgit-Baltistan during the last general elections.

She alleged that during the general elections, candidates of different parties including PTI, PPP and JUI-F colluded in this regard. Later, Mushahid Hussain Syed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) proposed an oversight parliamentary committee for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Rajwana’s appointment

Senators across party lines appreciated the government’s decision to appoint Senator Rafiq Rajwana as governor of Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2015.