8 Religion And Politics In Afghanistan

40 Emporium Current Essays W*!*-F'^ COTS In Pakistan for us these must be reflection times. Much like a pack of wolves hounding their prey, the international lending agencies hound their clients. Especially when clients violate agreements. Pakistan falling in this category, can not be ignored by the IMF. In December 1995 when the government signed the 600 million dollar Standby Loan Agreement with IMF it made commitments. Now the .IMF demands immediate reforms to reduce the deficit. Cut back*^expenditure is on the way. Cut back defence spending is one way, one popular with most multilateral and bilateral donors. Those who disagree with the IMF argue why the IMF does not ask for harsher measures to clean up the stinking stables where power wielders reside. Why should they? It is not their job to find the easy exit point, the easy bail-out when confronted with a borderline case of a defaulting nation? To the donors the government's public response has been 'no, it's about our national security'. Privately however, among different sections of society there are questions about our 'high' defence spending. The assumption of this crisis are that Pakistan army's addiction to weapons prompts this high spending, that Pakistan contributes to the arms race and most importantly, low defence spending will ensure more spending on the social sectors, leading to improvement of health and education standards of the people. Also there is crisis of the 'luxuries' that the army leadership is entitled to. Interestingly, the public representatives have no idea of what goes under defence spending. Spending on defence is defined more by the power the- institution enjoys, less by genuine national needs. There may be validity to more of this criticism. However, the issue of defence spending calls for a serious dialogue among responsible sections in society. For one, the assumption that reduced defence spending will amount to higher levels of social sector services there is the question of management of resources, the Emporium Current Essays 41 nuality of personnel and their professional commitment, plus the corruption factor.

These arguments are reminiscent of the anti-nuclear lobby in Pakistan which argues, remaining oblivious of other problems of governance, that abandoning the nuclear option will bring progress and prosperity to Pakistan. All this docs not take away from the fact that the defence budget must be scrutinised. Today the resource crunch, the need to be professional and cost-effective and accountable to the tax-payer and to deliver a decent quality ot life to the average Pakistani forces upon us the need to re-orient the state's spending pattern. Loud condemnations of the civilian bureaucracy's and the politicians' corruption and their unjustified legalised perks find space in the print media. On the military front there is either disquieting silence or near blanket condemnation by peace links and concerned development people of the high defence spending. What is the issue of defence spending? Foremost in defence spending, weapons systems and manning levels unfortunately must be determined by our security environment. With our on-going cold war with India, heating up occasionally over Kashmir, and with India's increase in defence spendings, Pakistan cannot afford to be lax. However, there is a question of non-development expenditure of the defence budget, including senior staff maintenance, procurement procedures. There are also questions about efficient and costeffective running of institutions like Kamra, POP Wah, etc. The defence budget must be reviewed also by mature, honest and competent public representatives. Interestingly, army sources maintain that despite an offer by army leadership to made a presentation in the Parliament about defence spending and threat perception, there was no such presentation called for by the facts, it is noteworthy that politicians have never at any sustained level called for review of defence spending, even if in-camera. <W^J Reasons for this are two. One, political leaders have often banked upon the army for their career sustenance. They see the army's goodwill as indispensable to their own survival and fear 'displeasure' of these benefactors if question about defence budget are raised. Two and more significantly, there has often been an inability of politicians to both comprehend and critique the security environment with any amount of depth themselves. Few if any politicians other than someone like Mushahid Hussain of PML (N) would actually be42 Emporium Current Essays discussing the issue .of defence expenditure. Only behind closed doors they have talked naively about high defence spending. However, how there is need to have an open discourse. Cut out the extra fat, the unnecessary perks off al institution, civilian and military. The present is radically different from the past. In the past, courtesy" relatively greater material resources, inflow of foreign aid, a smaller and a less demanding population and more operative state control pressures governments had a greater margin of error or rather indulgence available to them.

The pressures of the present allow no margins of error to any Pakistani government. Together the state institutions have to work out blueprints for not only Pakistan's survival but also what people most richly deserve, a contextual approach to generating and spending national revenues is indispensable. Neither a four-star General nor a Federal Secretary can today 'go it alone.' Today survival and progress of a nation in this competitive cut-throat world coupled with people's rising expectations can be ensured only through competence and integrity. Compartmentalised approach dedicated to outsmarting each other to national progress is a nonstarter. In Pakistan the army and the politicians have to remain subservient to the operative reality of shrinking resources and the rejection of a ruling culture which breeds vulgar ostentatious lifestyle supported by both legal and illegal means but paid for by tax-payers money. There ca be no holy cows or any favourite villains in our efforts to streamline our budgetary spending. Unfortunately for as long as our ruling classes are infested by incompetence and corruption, these streamlining efforts by default will fall in the laps of the IMF and the World Bank 'experts'. in a position to discuss with a degree of seriousness, national security issues with the anm. Thus ignorance and dependency together have left the politician not responsibly