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A leadership crisis
By Arif Nizami
March 28, 2020
Half measures will not do
“A true leader is one who knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way.” I came across this quote from John C Maxwell, a distinguished best-selling writer in an article praising New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s staller performance in the face of the crisis faced by the state as a result of corona pandemic.
More than 45,000 residents of the state of New York are affected by the pandemic. According to a CNN correspondent, respected commentators are noting the contrast between Trump’s lengthy and often rambling appearances at his daily briefings and Cuomo’s straight-talking approach.
The same parallel can be drawn with the one step forward two steps back mushy approach adopted by our federal government in the face of an existential crisis facing the nation. In sharp contrast, the chief minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has won kudos for taking decisive and focused action in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The proactive approach adopted by Shah shines even more in comparison to the hitherto lacklustre performance of the prime minister and his handpicked chief minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar. It was perhaps inevitable, given Punjab’s higher population and response to the pandemic of its administration, that confirmed cases there have surpassed that of Sindh.
The ruling PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf) tentative approach towards a national lockdown to stem the swift spread of the virus has come under sharp criticism. The prime minister claims that he is against a total lockdown as it would adversely affect the 25 percent poor of the country who would be rendered jobless and without food.
It seems Khan’s approach towards tackling COVID 19 pandemic-despite the gravity of the crisis- is more ego driven rather than based on stark ground realities. The Sindh chief minister took the lead by taking a timely decision for a province-wise lockdown, which has been further strengthened since.
Punjab and other provinces belatedly did the same. But Khan refuses to admit that it is a lockdown. Some informed sources claim, it was the security establishment that persuaded him to go ahead with the lockdown.
As it is, most of the daily wagers and poorer sections of the society have been rendered jobless. That is why the federal government and the provincial governments are struggling to provide them with a safety net from their meagre resources.
The Sindh government is co-opting various NGOs (non-government organizations) to create a supply chain to provide for the poorer and the needy. The prime minister owing to an inbuilt scepticism about the role of NGOs has announced creation of a special youth force ‘Corona Relief Tigers’, for this purpose.
Had a complete lockdown been such a bad idea, 1.3 billion people of India would not have been rendered under it by one stroke of pen by prime minister Narendera Modi. Incidentally, an estimated 276 million Indians are under the poverty line earning less than 1.25 dollars a day. This is more than the entire population of Pakistan.
By most estimates the worst is yet to come. For example, in Britain prime minister Boris Johnson and at least one of his cabinet colleagues have already been infected. According to latest figures the number of Britons infected doubles every third or fourth day.
Hence, in the case of Pakistan, it is not a question of if but when. And judging in the backdrop of our woefully inadequate resources it’s an Armageddon waiting to happen.
The question of banning prayer congregations in mosques is another case in point. Here also the federal government and the PTI led governments failed to take decisive and bold decisions in real time.
In the wake of a fatwa issued by Islam’s premier seat of learning, Al Azhar, permitting suspension of congregational prayers to contain spread of the disease, the government was simply unable to take a clear-cut decision. As a result of half-baked delayed measures, the suspension was only partially implemented. Here too, Sindh government took the lead, not waiting for any fatwa and imposing a ban well in time to reap its full benefit.
This is not good enough for a responsible state. There is a perennial propensity to be led by various pressure groups rather than to lead.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia earlier suspended Umrah. Now it has intimated Islamabad about possible suspension of Hajj. The last time it was cancelled was around three centuries ago.
Another case of the government’s gross mishandling is the Taftan border with Iran. An initial surge of the majority of those infected can be traced to the pilgrims returning from Iran.
Owing to squalid conditions at the so-called quarantine camp at Taftan, the infection spread like wild fire. When the Sindh government rechecked those destined towards the province, released from quarantine, most of them were infected. The pilgrims from Iran also spread out in other parts of the country. Proliferating the virus in the process.
The prime minister has proffered a lame excuse for this serious lapse in judgement, blandly saying that they were Pakistanis that we had to take back. Part of the reason for their premature releases was the fact that setting up a proper quarantine facility was beyond the capacity and capabilities of the Balochistan government.
The Islamabad High Court has been moved to form an independent commission to probe the spread of coronavirus in the country. The petition filed on behalf of the civil society has issued notices to the prime minister’s principal secretary Azam Khan and special assistant Zulfi Bukhari.
Mr Bukhari’s name has cropped up several times in the controversy surrounding the release of infected pilgrims from Taftan despite his strong denials. The gentleman is reputedly very close to the prime minister.
The matter should be thoroughly probed. The government can hardly afford such scandals at a juncture when all its energies should be focused upon meeting the mega threat of COVID 19.
The last straw is the Punjab government allowing the Tablighi Jamaat congregation to take place at Raiwind. The Punjab government in its signature ham-handed style only shut the stable doors after the horse had bolted.
The government has suspended the congregation post facto. But the damage has already been done. Several villages especially in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and in the suburbs of Islamabad have been reportedly infected by the Tablighis.
The federal minister for science and technology Fawad Chaudhry has only partly spoken the truth by claiming that coronavirus has spread owing to ignorance of the conservative religious class.
It would have spread in any case. But not at such a fast rate. The minister who distinguishes himself in speaking home truths contrary to the party line, should have acknowledged his own government’s incompetence in the matter.
Khan stubbornly refuses to play ball with the opposition even in a time of crisis. He should take a leaf out of the book of the reviled Jewish state.
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to form a unity government with his arch rival and nemesis Benny Gantz after being urged to put politics aside to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Incidentally, Gantz had pledged never to sit in a government headed by Netanyahu who faces criminal charges for corruption.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/03/28/a-leadership-crisis/
By Arif Nizami
March 28, 2020
Half measures will not do
“A true leader is one who knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way.” I came across this quote from John C Maxwell, a distinguished best-selling writer in an article praising New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s staller performance in the face of the crisis faced by the state as a result of corona pandemic.
More than 45,000 residents of the state of New York are affected by the pandemic. According to a CNN correspondent, respected commentators are noting the contrast between Trump’s lengthy and often rambling appearances at his daily briefings and Cuomo’s straight-talking approach.
The same parallel can be drawn with the one step forward two steps back mushy approach adopted by our federal government in the face of an existential crisis facing the nation. In sharp contrast, the chief minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has won kudos for taking decisive and focused action in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The proactive approach adopted by Shah shines even more in comparison to the hitherto lacklustre performance of the prime minister and his handpicked chief minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar. It was perhaps inevitable, given Punjab’s higher population and response to the pandemic of its administration, that confirmed cases there have surpassed that of Sindh.
The ruling PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf) tentative approach towards a national lockdown to stem the swift spread of the virus has come under sharp criticism. The prime minister claims that he is against a total lockdown as it would adversely affect the 25 percent poor of the country who would be rendered jobless and without food.
It seems Khan’s approach towards tackling COVID 19 pandemic-despite the gravity of the crisis- is more ego driven rather than based on stark ground realities. The Sindh chief minister took the lead by taking a timely decision for a province-wise lockdown, which has been further strengthened since.
Punjab and other provinces belatedly did the same. But Khan refuses to admit that it is a lockdown. Some informed sources claim, it was the security establishment that persuaded him to go ahead with the lockdown.
As it is, most of the daily wagers and poorer sections of the society have been rendered jobless. That is why the federal government and the provincial governments are struggling to provide them with a safety net from their meagre resources.
The Sindh government is co-opting various NGOs (non-government organizations) to create a supply chain to provide for the poorer and the needy. The prime minister owing to an inbuilt scepticism about the role of NGOs has announced creation of a special youth force ‘Corona Relief Tigers’, for this purpose.
Had a complete lockdown been such a bad idea, 1.3 billion people of India would not have been rendered under it by one stroke of pen by prime minister Narendera Modi. Incidentally, an estimated 276 million Indians are under the poverty line earning less than 1.25 dollars a day. This is more than the entire population of Pakistan.
By most estimates the worst is yet to come. For example, in Britain prime minister Boris Johnson and at least one of his cabinet colleagues have already been infected. According to latest figures the number of Britons infected doubles every third or fourth day.
Hence, in the case of Pakistan, it is not a question of if but when. And judging in the backdrop of our woefully inadequate resources it’s an Armageddon waiting to happen.
The question of banning prayer congregations in mosques is another case in point. Here also the federal government and the PTI led governments failed to take decisive and bold decisions in real time.
In the wake of a fatwa issued by Islam’s premier seat of learning, Al Azhar, permitting suspension of congregational prayers to contain spread of the disease, the government was simply unable to take a clear-cut decision. As a result of half-baked delayed measures, the suspension was only partially implemented. Here too, Sindh government took the lead, not waiting for any fatwa and imposing a ban well in time to reap its full benefit.
This is not good enough for a responsible state. There is a perennial propensity to be led by various pressure groups rather than to lead.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia earlier suspended Umrah. Now it has intimated Islamabad about possible suspension of Hajj. The last time it was cancelled was around three centuries ago.
Another case of the government’s gross mishandling is the Taftan border with Iran. An initial surge of the majority of those infected can be traced to the pilgrims returning from Iran.
Owing to squalid conditions at the so-called quarantine camp at Taftan, the infection spread like wild fire. When the Sindh government rechecked those destined towards the province, released from quarantine, most of them were infected. The pilgrims from Iran also spread out in other parts of the country. Proliferating the virus in the process.
The prime minister has proffered a lame excuse for this serious lapse in judgement, blandly saying that they were Pakistanis that we had to take back. Part of the reason for their premature releases was the fact that setting up a proper quarantine facility was beyond the capacity and capabilities of the Balochistan government.
The Islamabad High Court has been moved to form an independent commission to probe the spread of coronavirus in the country. The petition filed on behalf of the civil society has issued notices to the prime minister’s principal secretary Azam Khan and special assistant Zulfi Bukhari.
Mr Bukhari’s name has cropped up several times in the controversy surrounding the release of infected pilgrims from Taftan despite his strong denials. The gentleman is reputedly very close to the prime minister.
The matter should be thoroughly probed. The government can hardly afford such scandals at a juncture when all its energies should be focused upon meeting the mega threat of COVID 19.
The last straw is the Punjab government allowing the Tablighi Jamaat congregation to take place at Raiwind. The Punjab government in its signature ham-handed style only shut the stable doors after the horse had bolted.
The government has suspended the congregation post facto. But the damage has already been done. Several villages especially in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and in the suburbs of Islamabad have been reportedly infected by the Tablighis.
The federal minister for science and technology Fawad Chaudhry has only partly spoken the truth by claiming that coronavirus has spread owing to ignorance of the conservative religious class.
It would have spread in any case. But not at such a fast rate. The minister who distinguishes himself in speaking home truths contrary to the party line, should have acknowledged his own government’s incompetence in the matter.
Khan stubbornly refuses to play ball with the opposition even in a time of crisis. He should take a leaf out of the book of the reviled Jewish state.
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to form a unity government with his arch rival and nemesis Benny Gantz after being urged to put politics aside to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Incidentally, Gantz had pledged never to sit in a government headed by Netanyahu who faces criminal charges for corruption.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/03/28/a-leadership-crisis/
