Archive for category Environment

Dr. Manzer Durrani

As a US helicopter pilot I have had a chance to meet new people

I’m a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot with Task Force Denali, a US Army aviation battalion sent from Alaska to provide flood relief to Northern Pakistan. I blogged about my first impressions of Pakistan nearly two months ago, and I’d like to share some more thoughts about my new friends here.

Surrounding our barracks and the control tower, hangars, airfield, and base itself are Pakistani military guards and commandos – tough, well-trained men armed with assault rifles and pistols tasked with maintaining security 24 hours a day.

I didn’t know what to make of these guys when I first saw them. Take, for example, the sturdily built sergeant (whom I now know as Ishaq) with a graying beard and long mustache whose appearance alone made him perfect to work for security.

“Where is your card?” He demanded one night as I waited by the control tower. I had ventured outside without my security badge affixed to my jacket. “Kidr ja rahe ho? (Where are you going?)” He continued sternly. “Here, sit down. Speak to my officer.” He motioned toward a chair and a gentleman wearing civilian clothes.

I produced the card from one of my cargo pockets, thankfully, and was able to excuse myself to the barracks, but Ishaq had made an impression. I vowed never to go anywhere without my security badge prominently displayed.

I mentioned the incident to some of my fellows, and they shared similar stories of this tough-looking sergeant. So the next time I saw him, I gave him some distance. Surprisingly, Ishaq called out to me. “How are you?” he asked, smiling, and we made small talk for a few minutes. The time after that, he gave me a hug and a handshake, and we chatted as if we were old friends. Within a few days, I had progressed from stranger to brother.

Working closely with Pakistanis for the past three months, I have seen that gestures of friendship like Ishaq’s are commonplace. They usually stand when someone enters the room, hug him, shake his hand, and offer chai. They love conversation and want to hear about each other’s families and speak about their own. Even people in far-flung villages will ply us with tea and food, inviting us to try our best at Urdu. This interaction is called “gupshup”, and as another commando friend told me today, “Zindagee sirf gupshup hay.” Life is just chitchat.

As I am writing this, I hear my American friends bantering outside the barracks. Some are playing a spirited game of dominoes. Others are telling jokes and laughing. Gupshup is not unique to Pakistan, but somehow Pakistan’s gupshup is unique. It’s in-your-face. I find myself unable to maintain a demure affect because everyone is so curious and welcoming. “Bockmann!” I hear as I walk to the washroom or hangar. “Assalamu aleikum! Keah hal hay? (Peace be with you! How are you?)”

Suffice to say, there is practically no way to go anywhere without saying hello to everyone, once they know you. I call it the “Gauntlet of Goodwill.” Friends, strangers, soldiers, and civilians – everyone greets us warmly. My friend Naeem calls me “brother” and asks how our family in America is doing. This makes me feel at home.

I hardly imagined Pakistanis would treat us so well! They are often critical of our government and society – as well as their own – but they see the good as well, and they are among the most courteous, genuine, and caring people I have ever met.

My American friends and colleagues can attest to this. Fellow pilots CW2 Denoncour, CPT Powers, and even our battalion commander, LTC Knightstep, have shared plenty of “doodh patii” (milk tea) with our hosts. CW2 Jenkins and PFC Mahadeo are regulars in the afternoon cricket matches. Several Pakistani friends have brought gifts for our families, as we bring stuffed animals for children in the villages. We have celebrated Eid and comforted each other in times of loss. Surely, this is not just flood relief but friendship.

Henry David Thoreau insisted that “No exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another,” but I disagree. I’m glad we travelled from America to fly our humanitarian missions here because not only are we filling a profound need, but meaningful friendships are being made. Indeed, our gupshup and chai have brought minds “much nearer to one another” on topics ranging from politics and cricket to religion and movies.

After three months in Pakistan, I have come to appreciate this country for its breathtaking landscape and mouth-watering food. But more than these, I love it for its people, my friends: Ishaq, Naeem, and all the rest of the “Gauntlet of Goodwill”.

A US pilot’s tale: The gauntlet of goodwill

23-Nov-2010

Ref

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Dear Reader:

Pakistan is the last habitat of a beautiful bird, called Houbara Bustard. This bird’s meat is considered as an aprodisiac, by the rulers of UAE. This has lead to near extinction of this bird in Pakistan in the provinces of Balochistan and southern Sindh.. Pakistan is ruled by a corrupt government lead by Asif Zardari, who has a home in UAE and has stashed over $2 billion in UAE banks. Zardari is close friends with UAE rulers and invites them to hunt in the province of Sindh, where the natural habitat of this poor and helpless bird, the Houbara Bustard exists. Asif Zardari has issued new hunting licences to the UAE rulers to hunt the Houbara Bustard. This action will be the final step in the extinction of this bird.

Houbara Bustard (photo by Jim Bleak)

The people of South Asia and the World must protest against this mass killing of nature’s helpless creature. This creature belongs to all humanity. We are all responsible for its existence.

The Qur’an Majeed states that man has dominion over animals: “He (God) it is Who made you vicegerents on earth.” (Qur’an 35:39), but makes clear that this responsibility is not unconditional and states what happens to those who misuse their freedom of choice and fail to conform to the conditions that limit this responsibility: “then We reduce him (to the status of) the lowest of the low.” (Qur’an 95:4,5) “…they are those whom Allah has rejected and whom He has condemned….because they served evil” (Qur’an 5:63). “…they have hearts wherewith they fail to comprehend, and eyes wherewith they fail to see, and ears wherewith they fail to hear….Such (humans) are far astray from the right path. (Qur’an 7:179).

There are…people who take the concept of man’s dominion over animals as a licentious freedom to break all the established moral rules designed to protect animal rights. The Hazrat Ali R.A. has this to say about (those who misuse their authority over the weak): “A savage and ferocious beast is better than a wicked and tyrant ruler.” (Maxims, see Ref. No. 4, pp. 203, 381).

Again, the Qur’an Majeed urges in remonstrance: “And be not like those who say, ‘we have heard’, while they do not hearken. Verily, the vilest of all creatures, in the sight of Allah, are those deaf and dumb ones who do not use their rationality.” (Qur’an 8:21,22).

The Bible actually has much to say in regard to animal abuse. In the beginning, God created the earth and all the creatures on it to be under the authority of humanity. He entrusted these beautiful elements of His creation to our care (Genesis 1:26). Our sinful nature causes us to abuse the animal kingdom, sometimes without even realizing it. Yet, God expects the Christian, above all others, to be sensitive to all of His creation, knowing that exploiting or abusing it shows a disrespect for God Himself. Abuse of anything that God made is not the character of God, but rather of the Evil One.

The Talmud tells the story of a great rabbi, Judah Ha-Nasi, who was punished with years of kidney stones and other painful ailments because he was insensitive to the fear of a calf being led to slaughter; he was relieved years later when he showed kindness to animals. (Talmud Baba Metzia 85a)

In the Torah, humanity is given dominion over animals (Gen. 1:26), which gives us the right to use animals for legitimate needs. Animal flesh can be consumed for food; animal skins can be used for clothing. The Torah itself must be written on parchment (animal hides), as must the scrolls for mezuzot and tefillin, and tefillin must be made out of leather.

However, dominion does not give us the right to cause indiscriminate pain and destruction. We are permitted to use animals in this way only when there is a genuine, legitimate need, and we must do so in the manner that causes the animal the least suffering. Kosher slaughtering is designed to be as fast and painless as possible, and if anything occurs that might cause pain (such as a nick in the slaughtering knife or a delay in the cutting), the flesh may not be consumed. Hunting for sport is strictly prohibited, and hunting and trapping for legitimate needs is permissible only when it is done in the least painful way possible.

“One is dearest to God who has no enemies among the living beings, who is nonviolent to all creatures.”Bhagavad Gita,

Big-game hunting is banned in Pakistan by government regulations, except community-controlled areas with an existing limitation on exact kinds and numbers of species as well as countries they can be exported in. There is decline in such species as cranes, geese, storks, pelicans, and houbara bustards – and these are just migratory birds. The illegal hunting is leading to the continuous loss, fragmentation and degradation of natural habitats that include forests, rangelands, and freshwater and marine ecosystem. Some species in Pakistan are already extinct, and many are internationally threatened. The 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals classifies 37 species and 14 sub-species of mammals that occur in Pakistan as internationally threatened or near-threatened. The Red List is based upon field data that is more than 20 years old and needs to be reassessed. One can only imagine how the situation with endangered species has changed during these years. The country also provides critical habitat to 25 internationally threatened bird species and 10 internationally threatened reptiles.

Houbara Hunt in Balochistan There are a lot of organizations that were formed to protest the illegal hunting and preserve the wildlife. This includes National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW), established in 1974 and supported by the UN, which breaks into three groups:

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES),
Convention on Wetland of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar) and
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Some of other organizations not mentioned that play important roles in fighting against illegal hunting are WWF-Pakistan, Torghar Conservation Project (TCP), DAWN independent newspaper, and National Avian Research Center and Houbara Foundation in Pakistan. Also, the Pakistani government enacted the Wildlife Conservation and Preservation Act of 1975, ratified the Convention of Biological Diversity, and in 1994 has also prepared a Biodiversity Action Plan.

Due to corruption a lot of the programs are not enforced the way that they should be. One important issue today is the slow disappearance of the houbara bustard, a migratory bird that flies to Pakistan from former Soviet territory. The bird had been hunted in the Middle East to the point of near-extinction by the nineteen-sixties, and by 1975 it was declared an endangered species in Pakistan. In 1983 at an international wildlife symposium in Peshawar, Pakistan, it was agreed that Pakistan’s migratory houbara population was numbered somewhere between twenty and twenty-five thousand birds and a more recent data gathered by the DAWN newspaper showed that in 2002 it was around thirty thousand birds. The legal hunting on houbara bustards implies purchasing a permit license, the amount of which differs throughout the regions of Pakistan. According to independent Dawn newspaper, the Punjab wildlife department along with banning hunting of houbara bustard requires “to pay Rs5,000 (approximately $90.5 as of Dec.4 2003 rate) for each bird as a compensatory amount, besides paying as much and surrendering hunting equipment and vehicles”. (http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/26/local29.htm 12/01/2003).

However, according to the same article, this rule has been relaxed by the Department itself recently to accommodate Arab dignitaries, who set up fourteen hunting camps in this part of the country. The bird is widely popular among Arab hunters due to traditional beliefs, starting with the old customs and traditions and ending with houbara’s meat qualities, which Arabs consider to be aphrodisiac while in reality it is diuretic. This outrageous instance, however, was ignored by Houbara foundation, one of the most resourceful NGOs in the country aimed to protect the prey bird and, moreover, the local police even arranged security camps for the protection of�foreign hunters. When asked for the reason of the license cancellation for Arab hunters the department officials told that they were given “the fee equivalent to the sum submitted by local hunters in the province against the cancellation of their permits.” (http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/26/local29.htm12/01/2003).

The corruption and inability of government to regulate legal hunting makes the preservation methods ineffective and increases the incentive from local people for illegal hunting. There are a lot of occurrences when there is no reliable data on both legal and illegal hunting, which makes it hard to assess the progress made so far by these programs. According to conservation officials, Arab hunting parties are bagging at least six thousand birds a year, not taking the smuggling into account, which is estimated to be around four thousand birds a year. (http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/15/nat26.htm 12/01/2003).

To meet the Arabian demand for houbara bustards seven thousand live birds enter the UAE illegally and because of bad conditions of detention and containment many of them die during the journey from Pakistan, Iran and Central Asia.

According to researchers from the Abu Dhabi based, National Avian Research Center (NARC) the decline in population of houbara bustard is viewed not only as a result of hunting, but also as a destruction of their wintering and breeding habitat. On the 28th of February 1995 the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the first country in the world to have tracked houbara bustard through satellite techniques both on their northerly and southerly migrations. The research was done through fitting a tiny satellite transmitter onto the back of the bird and observing the route through the data processing computer in France. The observation helped researchers to find out the different routes of these birds and lead to an international agreement between UAE and Kazakhstan, which allowed NARC researchers to travel to Kazakhstan in the springs of both 1995 and 1996 during the houbara breeding season.(http://www.datadubai.com/satbus.htm 12/02/2003).

Despite of the disappointment with short battery life that limited the ability to observe birds, the researchers hoped this study would help to detect the migratory route of houbara bustards that in its turn would add to conservation effort. Knowing the exact location of houbara’s migration will help to establish local programs related to preserving these birds, more specifically, these efforts could include diminishing farming and eliminating hunting for houbara.

Due to the large amounts of money involved, there is conflict between conservationists and officials. According to unofficial estimates, Arab sheikhs spend about ten to twenty million dollars per hunt on houbara bustards. One of the excuses Pakistani government uses is that sheikhs contribute to the local infrastructure development, which could be contradicted by the private airports that are useless for the local population and beneficial for sheikhs themselves, not to mention mosques that no one uses anyway. Adding to that is the destruction of the local ecosystem due to the massive killings of animals, as sheikhs have to support their regular 300-people camps. (Weaver, Mary Anne. “Hunting with the Sheikhs.” The New Yorker 14 Dec. 1992. Vol.68, Issue 43, p51).

Many birds and animal species are experiencing population decline because of illegal hunting for sport, meat & trade. There is a strong tradition of hunting in Pakistan and the impact of hunters has increased with the spread of modern weapons and great mobility. Virtually all-large mammals have declined in number and their range has been reduced. And if Pakistan wants to preserve its rich biodiversity, it must enforce some conservation and management.

In 1975 Pakistani government enacted the Wildlife Conservation and Preservation Act. After that it also ratified the Convention of Biological Diversity, and in 1994 it has also prepared the Biodeviersity Action Plan.

In 1974 there was an establishmet of National Council for Consevation of Wildlife (NCCW), which is supported by the UN and implemented three UN Conventions: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention on Wetland of International Importance Especiall as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar), and Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Pakistan prohibits exports of most species and puts export limits on some. There is a limit on exporting houbara bustards from Pakistan, it is 200 birds per hunting party, which comes to 4800 birds annually.

Unofficial numbers show that Arab sheikhs spend from 10 to 20 million dollars per hunt. Average annual income in Pakistan is $470, which is good basis for the corruption as country’s standards of living are low. Hunting is included into agriculture sector in the Pakistani GDP where it accounts for 25-27%.

The 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals classifies 37 species and 14 sub-species of mammals that occur in Pakistan as internationally threatened or near-threatened. Pakistan also provides habitat for 25 internationally bird species and 10 internationally threatened reptiles. By nineteen-sixties houbara bustard was hunted to the point of near-extinction in the Middle East, and by 1975 it was declared an endangered species in Pakistan. Besides houbara, other major projects for bio-diversity conservation in Pakistan are: Chilgoza Forests and Suleman Markhor, Ibex of the Bar Valley, Wetlands, migratory birds of Chitral, and Khunjerab National Park.

According to the National Avian Research Centre in Abu Dhabi, with houbara’s birth rate of 5 per cent a year and if number of houbara keeps decreasing at the same rate with more than 6,000 being bagged by hunting parties and more than 4000 smuggled out of country, the worst scenario is that the houbara bustard would disappear as the species by 2015.

Houbara hunting is deeply ingrained into Arab culture and they have been fascinated by it for hundreds of years. According towww.alshindagah.com, the descriptions of the houbara hunting date as far back as seven hundred years ago.

Dr. Manzer Durrani

The cost of pleasing our Arab overlords —Shahid Saeed

Brotherly relations and good financial compensation to better serve wildlife conservation are pathetic excuses to allow such outrageous exploitation of our eco-system and destruction of our wildlife populations

The provincial bird of Balochistan is under attack yet again. The federal government has granted 27 licenses to various Arab monarchs, princes and sheikhs to hunt the endangered Houbara Bustard, locally known as tiloor. This not the first time since last year 28 licenses were granted to the Arab royals like previous years. Some people, not just locals, are above the law in our country and allowed to damage the fragile eco-system and hunt a bird to extinction.

The Houbara Bustard is a small shy bird that is listed as vulnerable globally and is endangered in our country. Only in the Nag Valley does a local breed of the Houbara exist and the majority population migrates from Central Asia in the winters and likes to live in semi-desert and arid areas. It was declared an endangered species in 1912 and a permanent ban on hunting the bird was imposed in 1972. After hunting the bird to extinction in their own region, the Arabs turned their sights towards our rich land and since the 70s they have mercilessly hunted the bird in our country. Although a ban already existed, another ban was imposed on hunting in 1992 — albeit with the provision of “special temporary licenses” for Arab royals. This was struck down by the Sindh High Court on August 16, 1992, but the practice continued unabated. Year after year, Arab royals are allowed to come and spend time in their virtual fiefdoms and their palatial mansions to hunt the already threatened bird. Why do they do it, besides for fun? Because they believe it has mythical aphrodisiac qualities.

The licenses issued this year allow for a 100 bag limit for hunting in Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, D G Khan, Khushab, Jhang, Mianwali, Sargodha, Rajanpur, Sukkur, Ghotki, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Khairpur, Zhob, Ormara, Gwadar, Pasni, Panjgur, Washuk, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Nushki, Dera Bugti, Dera Murad Jamali, Chaghai and Sibi. In short, they are allowed to hunt across any area in the country where the bird exists. Over the years, conservationists have realised that their calls for a complete ban on hunting the bird will never be respected. Since then, they have constantly asked that hunting be allowed only in small regions so that the bird can breed and its population remains stable. However, year after year, the licensees violate the bag limit, time duration and regions allowed for hunting. What can a lowly wildlife department do if the Amir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia or the president of the UAE goes into a region that is prohibited for hunting or crosses his bag limit? In 2007, when 31 licensees were allowed a limit of 200 hunts, we can estimate safely that a minimum of 6,200 birds were killed or trapped. In this highly depressing and deplorable state of affairs, the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) remains a silent spectator and does little to resist this outrageous behaviour. The Arab princes dole out some bags of money for the national exchequer and big gifts for state officials for paving the way for them to flout our laws and rape our wildlife. The Houbara Foundation, established in 1995 after an agreement between the UAE and wildlife organisations, has established the Houbara Research and Rehabilitation Centre in Rahim Yar Khan and another one in the Nag Valley but breeding at one place cannot match the numbers that are killed every year.

Such is the viciousness of the hunters that they bring trained falcons to kill the poor bird. Sitting in their air-conditioned SUVs, the hunters like to see a falcon attack and kill the helpless Houbara. Some years ago, 10 of the hunters were allowed to bring 470 falcons. The poor, exhausted and frightened Houbara has a defensive mechanism whereby it squirts a green slime to temporarily blind predators but it does not work against a hunter as sharp as a falcon. Locals, who are heavily monetarily compensated, capture and trap these birds for their Arab customers too in violation of all laws and add to the factors that have led to the rapid decline of the Houbara population. There have been reports (especially in Badin) that locals are given Rs 150-250 to catch a bird, and then these are smuggled to the Middle East where they are sold for exorbitant prices.

Trophy hunting of the national animal, Markhor, and Ibex have been carried out sustainably and have provided the wildlife departments with the financial resources to continue conservation efforts. The Houbara’s hunting is nowhere near sustainable. Out of the 20-25,000 birds that come to the country in the winters, a minimum of four to six thousand do not return. Unlike Pakistan, various Indian states have not allowed the Arab princes to hunt the bird in their regions. While hundreds of falcons used in hunting the Houbaras are illegally captured and smuggled to the Middle East, in 2005 the government granted 15 licenses for capturing peregrine and rarer Saker Falcons. How many more ‘licenses’ are issued that are not reported is anybody’s guess. Can we protect our fragile eco-system from the Arab overlords?

However, it is not just the Arabs but the locals too who hunt the bird in violation of laws and kill other endangered species. Various national parks and forests are constantly being cut down by the notorious timber mafia in a country with an already extremely low forest cover. Such is the state of environmental conservation in the country that in 2006, the Pakistan Air Force had demanded a massive 80,000 acres of land for weapons testing in Lasbela, out of which 23,000 was in the limits of the Hingol National Park. The status of that request is unknown but now it seems that the federal government is handing out 70,000 acres of land to various Arab sheikhs in district Lasbela. The land will be used as a hunting preserve so that your highnesses do not require even the distinctly illegal hunting licenses issued to them annually. Besides aggravating the sense of deprivation and disconnect of the province from the federation amongst the Baloch, it is inflaming their feeling of being always used for their resources without being compensated. It is utterly wrong to hand over such a massive tract of land in the name of brotherly relations. Before handing over the keys to the Hingol National Park, the rulers should sell the heartless city of Islamabad first.

Brotherly relations and good financial compensation to better serve wildlife conservation are pathetic excuses to allow such outrageous exploitation of our eco-system and destruction of our wildlife populations. The late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had set up a special Environmental Protection Council in 1995 to oversee environmental and wildlife conservation projects. It was headed by none other than then federal minister for environment and current president, Asif Ali Zardari. May I request Mr President to take a notice of the issue and rescind the licenses granted that threaten the ecology of the country?

The writer is interested in history and public policy. He can be reached at [email protected]

Sultans, Sheikhs, and the Houbara Bustard: Politics and Polarity in Conservation – Part 1

I am always amazed about the polarity seen in conservation practices as they range across nations, cultures, and even individuals. One country might be “saving” a species, decimating it, or both. Recent news articles depict these seemingly contradictory actions.

For instance, a recent account reported that the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum released 170 captive-bred Asian Houbara bustards at the Al Maha desert sanctuary in the emirate. Across the Gulf of Oman in Pakistan, humans are hunting this species, whose flesh is considered an aphrodisiac. “Sheikhs and princes..flock to Pakistan each year to hunt the houbara bustard bird with falcons, arriving by private charter jet from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Their wildly extravagant parties are allotted private hunting grounds in Sindh, Baluchistan and Punjab provinces by the Pakistani government, which is scheduled to receive 222 million dollars in aid this financial year from Saudi Arabia.” Yet Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also protect this species. “A major conservation and breeding project is based near Agadir, Morocco and Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan. The International Foundation for Conservation and Development of Wildlife is a not-for-profit foundation funded by Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The project breeds Houbaras using artificial insemination, and the offspring are released to the wild.”

It’s difficult to make sense of our own species sometimes, and hence to come up with regional conservation strategies that transcend political and class boundaries. I believe it can be done. Indeed, it must be for the sake of all life. One approach is to see conflict in terms of actions, and not in values. Each of the players impacting the bustards value their relationship to the birds – in what exact ways I cannot say for I have not studied the ethno-ornithological aspects of these cultures and these species. Whatever the specifics are, if we seek to understand how people value their birds, and how their values impact behavior, and do so without any judgment of the worth of the human, we may indeed find a way to empower transnational conservation practices through our shared appreciation of these birds, who are not inglorious bustards any more than we humans are inglorious __________.

KARACHI: At least 25 special permits have been issued to dignitaries belonging to the Arabian peninsula allowing them to hunt the internationally protected houbara bustard during the hunting season 2011-2012, it was learnt on Saturday.

Sources said almost half of the 25 permits — 12 to be precise — had been issued to men from the United Arab Emirates.

Hunters from the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain received seven and five permits, respectively.

However, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest and the richest country in the region, received just one permit as against the usual two that it used to get earlier, the sources said.

The permit holders include at least three rulers, many crown princes, and other members of royal families. A few commoners have also been granted the special hunting permits.

Only the person specified in the permit could hunt the houbara for 10 days through falconry only and the bag limit being 100 birds, says the code of conduct issued with the hunting permits by the foreign ministry.

The houbara bustard is a very shy bird species and inhabits arid areas away from human population, but at least one of the permit holders, belonging to Qatar, has been allocated the city of Dadu in Sindh for hunting.

The names of the permit holders and the areas allocated to them are:

Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi: Areas allocated to him in Punjab include districts of Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan; in Sindh districts of Sukkur, Ghotki, Nawabshah, Sanghar and in Balochistan districts of Zhob, Ormara, Gwadar, Jhal Magsi (excluding subdivision Gandava), Pasni, Kharan (excluding Nag Dara breeding area), Panjgur and Washuk.

Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the UAE, has been allocated Khairpur district including Kot Digi (not across Nara Canal) in Sindh.

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, has been allowed to go hunting in Tehsil Lehri of Sibi district (Domki area only) in Balochistan.

Ruler’s representative in the western region of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan: Tehsil Lehri of Sibi district (excluding Domki area), Old Katchi and Sani Shoran of district Bolan in Balochistan; and Tehsils Khairpur Nathan Shah, Ghaibi
Dero, Shahdadkot, Khairpur (area across Nara canal), Johi and Union council Fareedabad in Dadu district in Sindh.

A member of the ruling family, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan: Qila Saifullah district, including Kar Khurassan (excluding sub division Muslim Bagh) in Balochistan.

Dubai

UAE Vice President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Khuzdar and Lasbella districts in Balochistan and Muzaffargarh district in Punjab.

Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Bhakhar district in Punjab and Jamshoro district in Sindh.

Dubai Deputy Ruler and Finance Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Bahawalpur district, including Tehsil Fort Abbas of Bahawalnagar district in Punjab.

Deputy chief of police and general security of Dubai and member of ruling family Major General Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: Districts of Umerkot and Tharparkar, including Mithi and Nagarparkar (excluding protected area).

A member of the royal family, Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Maktoum: District Badin, Jung Shahi in Thatta district and Dhabeji in district Malir.

Major General Sheikh Al-Mur bin Maktoum Al- Maktoum: District Jhang in Punjab.

Nasir Abdullah Lootah has been allocated District Thatta (excluding tehsils Shah Bander and Jung Shahi).

Qatar

Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani: Bahawalnagar (excluding Fort Abbas tehsil) in Punjab.

Heir apparent of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: Jacobabad district in Sindh.

Ex-heir apparent of Qatar Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani: Barkhan district in Balochistan.

Prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani: Muslimbagh subdivision of Qila
Saifullah district in Balochistan.

Brother of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani: Loralai district (excluding Duki area) in Balochistan.

A member of the royal family, Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani: Layyah district in Punjab and Dadu city in Sindh.

A member of the supreme council of the royal family of Qatar, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Thani Al-Thani: Turbat district in Balochistan.

Bahrain

Uncle of the King of Bahrain Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa: Mastung district in Balochistan.

Bahrain Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Marshal Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa: Gandava subdivision of Jhal Magsi district in Balochistan.

Adviser to the king on defence affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al Khalifa: Jati tehsil of Thatta district in Sindh.

A member of the royal family, Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Al Khalifa: Hyderabad district with Matiari in Sindh.

Another member the royal family, Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad Al Khalifa: Malir district (excluding Malir cantonment and Dhabeji areas).

Saudi Arabia

Brother of Khadim Harmain Al-Sharifain Crown Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who is interior minister, has been allocated districts of Chaghai, Noshki (excluding Noshki city), Dera Bugti, Dera Murad Jamali, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Awaran and Duki in Loralai district in Balochistan and Khushab, Vehari, Multan (Shujabad tehsil), Mianwali and Sargodha districts in Punjab.

The Corrupt Tyrants of the Gulf Close Circles The Qatari regime, and its voice heard through al Jazeera (owned by the royal family), has supported the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt but has stayed silent if not opposed similar protests in Bahrain, Oman and now Saudi Arabia.

al Jazeera, while strongly supporting the demonstrators in Tunisia and Egypt, has avoided extensive coverage to Bahrain and scant mention of the other oil-rich neighbors. And Qatar sent its foreign minister to actually express support for the corrupt, authoritarian and sectarian Bahraini Emir.

The Gulf nations have made it clear that they’ll close ranks and see to it that the Arab revolution wave started in Tunisia does not wash away their regimes. Democracy is all well in good in north Africa and Arab republics, but the royal families rule (in this minds) almost by divine rite and do not have time for democracy. They are keen to stop Arab revolutions at their border and to outlive or crush internal dissent.

Saudi Arabia is already rounding up newly confident dissidents, including a Shia’ cleric, and the man behind a Facebook calling for a “day of rage” akin to Egypt’s January 25th revolutionary start has actually been shot and killed. The regime is preparing its security forces for a brutal crackdown if Saudis go ahead with a planned March 11 demonstrations.

Bahrain’s king initially ordered the army to open fire, but seems now to be adopting a ostensibly conciliatory course promising reform, but it is a farce. He offered his proposal after meeting the king of Saudi Arabia, and if you think the king of Saudi Arabia would ever be a voice for respecting popular aspirations and reform then I got a oil well to sell you. The Bahraini monarch only seeks interminable negotiations designed to exhaust the opposition and demoralize them so as to turn their protest into nothing more than an abeyance from forced subservience.

And now the Gulf Cooperative Council has proposed, get this, a Marshall Plan for Bahrain and Oman (two already oil-rich nations) in order to buy off dissent. Saudi Arabia has already proposes its own internal $36billion cash flood (A footnote: note that none of these corrupt regimes awash with oil wealth [Saudi Arabia alone has reserves of over $400billion and has no foreign aid budget] have bothered to offer assistance to either Tunisia and Egypt, both nations which could greatly use development aid now but instead of using funds to aid newly won democracies they are putting together a budget of malice to fund repression in already wealthy nations. The bastards! This is why Arab brotherhood will never exist when such regimes continue to exist. Their selfishness is another reason for overthrow. And then all Arabs can work together in the name of freedom and prosperity).

The GCC is an American-backed order among Arab oil rich nations designed to, really, divide and conquer Arabs and to create an idea of regionalism more in league with American Empire.

And now this body is making it clear that it will do what is necessary (including force) to stop democracy in its bloc. What the aid will mean is not clear since the demonstrators in the Gulf are already mostly well-off and are not asking for aid but dignity and a voice.

But tyrants never learn and think they can buy off their people. Let them learn that their people are not cheap so enough!

Dr. Manzer Durrani

It has been a venerable and established speculation among political experts that the world’s future wars will be fought over water, not oil. Where the whole world is fortunately lagging a bit behind for entering into this ill-fated era of ‘hydrological warfare’, it clearly seems that the subcontinent has perhaps surpassed the rest of the world with Indian courtesy. Now it has expediently forced again the region to slip into a new kind of fracas. Experts say it would be the era in which rivers, lakes and aquifers become national security assets to be fought over, or controlled through surrogate armies and client states.
At its eastern border India has started decanting the rivers irrigating the Bangladeshi plains and deltas. India devices to divert huge quantities of water from major rivers, including the Ganges and Brahmaputra, blocking that water from reaching Bangladesh where it is essential for the rice crop, upon which 80 percent of farmers depend for survival (also mark the current global rice shortage). It will also lead to the drying out of the Sunderbans and consequent destruction of all its rich biodiversity. This water aggression has left the country of rivers with no option but to seek the UN intervention and creation of international water laws to avert this catastrophe it may face in future.
Coming to West, Pakistan has become the victim of Indian hydrological warfare to arrogate its rivers. The construction of Uri Todiam Dam on River Poonch and Kishan Ganga Dam on river Neelum, two tributaries of River Jhelum are about to hit its final stage. Many other small hydel projects had also been completed while paper work has been on track for construction of five more dams; most of them are to be constructed on Pakistani rivers. The work pace on several of these projects prognosticate their completion by 2012 and at that very instant India will be in a position to close down both of these rivers. Consequently, the closure of these rivers would play havoc with Pakistan’s agriculture and industry. Furthermore, the inhabitants of these areas inside Pakistan will have to spar the drinking water paucity.
India has also commenced the building of major dam at Kargil on River Indus and it has disbursed $ 200 billion for this purpose. The scenario for Pakistan gets grimmer with further construction of 12 dams on tributaries of River Indus. India was using water of Indus River through a tunnel since long, which also amounts to major water aggression. Interestingly, it has persuaded Afghanistan to originate a water reservoir on the River Kabul, another tributary river of the Indus.
Afghanistan at present utilizes just a fraction of Kabul waters to irrigate about 12,000 acres of land. It plans to construct a dam on the Kabul River and set up the Kama Hydroelectric Project to utilize 0.5 MAF water to irrigate additional 14,000 acres. In connivance with the Jewish lobby India has been maneuvering in war-ravaged Afghanistan where about known 4,000 plus technical workers have been posted in the name of reconstruction. This employs the well-established notion that it has been committing a silent strategic water offence against Pakistan not only from inside but from other neighboring countries.
The Indian water belligerence started when despite signing the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, it invited a bid for the development of a barrage namely Tulbul Navigational Project in 1985. The barrage was to be constructed on the River Jhelum, below the Wullar Lake near Sopore, 25 km north of Srinagar.
For Pakistan, the geo-strategic significance of the site lies in the fact that its protectorate endows India with the means to browbeat Pakistan. A dam on that site has the prospective to devastate the intact system of the triple canal project within Pakistan namely, the Upper Jhelum Canal, Upper Chenab Canal and the Lower Bari Doab Canal.
While India started work on the Wullar Barrage initially, Kashmiri freedom fighters launched their operations that wrecked the machinery and the under-construction dam, which led to India calling off work on the dam and was subsequently resumed at a later stage. It seems that the construction work pertaining to the Wullar Barrage has entered a decisive phase. After this, the Indian government brushed aside five main objections raised by Pakistan relating to the construction of the Baglihar Dam and commenced construction work. The construction of this controversial project violated not only the Indus Water Treaty but robbed Pakistan of its precious Chenab water. New Delhi also opposed any alteration in the design, as recommended by its neighbor.
Pakistanis believe that the height of the dam at 470 feet is disproportionate and will create a reservoir in excess of the power generation needs. The new reservoir potentially could block the flow of the river for 26-28 days during the low season (January-February). It is also contended that a drop of 7,000 cubic feet per second per day in the river’s flow to Pakistan will come to pass during this period. The Baglihar Dam together with Dul Hasti and other dams can plainly diminish the flow of Chenab during the vital Rabi crop-sowing season (January and February). The dried crop could spell a disaster to Pakistan’s agricultural economy. It has feared that India might also be diverting water to some canals near Akhnor in Kashmir and storing the water in the Salal Dam in Jammu.

In this series of water robberies of its own kind, next comes the Kishan Ganga project on the Neelum River. It enters Azad Kashmir from the Occupied Kashmir at a distance of about 200 kilometers east of Muzaffarabad and travels in a general westward direction. Near Muzaffarabad, the river turns sharply towards south and joins the Jhelum River. This location has been the focus of studies for past three decades for development of power potential of the Neelum River for Pakistan.
A 963 MW hydropower can be developed if the Neelum and the Jhelum rivers were interlinked by constructing a 32 kilometers long tunnel. Blueprints and technical stipulations were finalized in 1997 and Wapda selected this project in 2001 for execution under its Vision 2025. But again knowing the fact that Pakistan has been contemplating a dam on this site, India also started pursuing a plan to divert the Neelum water for its own hydropower generation.
With the apprehension that the Indian plan may ultimately reduce the Neelum water flowing into Azad Kashmir, Pakistan now intends to expedite the implementation of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power (NJHP). By completing the NJHP before the Indian diversion plan, it is hoped India and the international community can be persuaded to accept Pakistan’s historic right on the unexpurgated water of the Neelum as offered in the Indus Basin Water Treaty.
With all these hydro-atrocities India is double-dealing by alluring Pakistan in discussion and recommencing with the construction of these dams in tandem. India’s scheme is to sway the Kashmiris that by persistently juxtaposing the building of dams in Kashmir, the Pakistani government was negating their right to progress, which is totally against facts. How can the world move towards a future of cooperation rather than conflict on water? One believes that there must be implied some rules internationally to avoid the water conflicts.
Countries must avoid unilateralism in building water reservoirs. Any major upstream alteration in a river system, or increase in use of shared groundwater, should be negotiated, not imposed as in case of Indian water aggression on its neighbors. Governments in the Subcontinent should look beyond national borders to basin-wide cooperation. Building strong river-basin institutions could provide a framework for identifying and exploiting opportunities for cooperation.
In trans-national water disputes, upstream nation is more powerful than the downstream and therefore more cavalier about taking into account downstream needs? That is exactly what the situation is in the Subcontinent. One must also realize the fact that two countries of the region are nuclear powers. And one of them is being kept water stressed by the other. This invites the attention of the keepers of the world to ponder over the situation.

Canal System of Pakistan

Irrigation is the man-made supply of water to the land to encourage vegetation. It is a substitute for inadequate or erratic rainfall and is extremely essential for arid regions where there are no rivers and also in humid regions to improve crop output. In Pakistan, 75% of the agricultural land is under irrigation. Three major water sources in Pakistan are rain water, ground water and rivers.

Irrigation system is not something new. Since olden days, people had devised various methods to water their fields. Some traditional methods of irrigation are Persian Wheel, Charsa and Shaduf. Karez is another traditional irrigation system practiced in Baluchistan only. Karez is a horizontal canal located mainly on the foot hills and it brings the under ground water to the surface. Modern advancements in the irrigation system are the perennial canals and tube wells.
Pakistan is basically a dry country with the River Indus and its tributaries being the main source of water supply. Dams both large and small and barrages have been built on the Indus and its tributaries. Large dams such as Tarbela Dam and Mangla Dam are multipurpose projects which not only store water, irrigate lands but also generate hydro electricity. Small dams like Khanpur Dam, Rawal Dam and Hub Dam supply water for agriculture, industrial and domestic purpose and act as a reservoir as well. A hilly terrain is required to build a dam. Barrages on the other hand are built on flat surfaces they also supply water for irrigation purpose and industrial and domestic use. Some barrages are Sukkur Barrage, Guddu Barrage, Kotri Barrage, and Chashma Barrage.

Canals are taken out from rivers, dams and barrages. Pakistan has one of the largest canal irrigation systems in the world. The Inundation canals are taken from rivers and they receive water only when the water level in the rivers is high such as during floods. The perennial canals are taken from dams and barrages and supply water to the fields through out the year. In Pakistan there are 3 large dams, 85 small dams, 19 barrages, 12 inter link canals, 45 canals and 0.7 million tube wells to meet the commercial, domestic and irrigational needs of the country.

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