Opinion Immobile Pakistan

On Eid morning,August 20,Daily Times reported: “Warning that the country was under grave threat of terrorism on Eid-ul-Fitr,Interior Minister Rehman Malik said… mobile phone services may remain suspended in some parts of the country… Malik said the reason behind cellular suspension was that terrorists could strike on the occasion of Eid in some areas of Punjab,Sindh,Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa….” Dawn added that Malik had hidden an “Eid surprise”: “The minister said it could not be said at what specific time the mobile service would be suspended due to security reasons. ‘The cellular service would be suspended in a surprise manner in the sensitive parts of the country,however,timeframe could not be given,’ he said. He has apologised to the people for any inconvenience this could cause them.”

Mobiles services,both cellular and data,became inactive in Islamabad,Lahore,Karachi,Multan and Quetta on Sunday night,the eve of Eid. Popularly known as chaand raat in the subcontinent,the night before Eid is when people usually wish each other and is the busiest in terms of last-minute shopping and the bazaars are carnival-like. This becomes the perfect setting for extremists.

Losses on Eid

WHILE this measure was taken to safeguard national security,it was expected to impact the business sector. Daily Times reported on August 23: “Cellular phone companies have incurred millions of rupees losses due to suspension of their services for 10 to 12 hours from Chaand raat till after Eid-ul-Fitr’s namaaz — a high traffic event for calls and SMS when Muslims greet their dear ones.” The freight industry,which depends upon mobile networks for not just verbal connectivity but also GPS services,suffered as a result. The News reported on August 24: “Around 200,000 vehicle users remained disconnected from the tracker companies’ network following suspension of mobile phone services on the eve of Eid,according to data on Thursday… Other than domestic vehicles,cargo containers were also halted for 14 hours….”

Statecraft

THE debate on the creation of new provinces has been dragging for many years now.The Express Tribune reported on August 24 that the federal government has moved towards a feasibility study for new provinces: “The government took another step towards the formation of a new province on Thursday. A commission for the creation of new provinces in Punjab was constituted by National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza… on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari. Earlier,the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly had approved the resolutions for the establishment of new provinces in Punjab with an overwhelming majority.” For now,new provinces are set to be carved out of Punjab only.