Politics of non issues

We are really good at making issues out of non issues. Latest on the list is the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the 18th amendment. Over the last couple of weeks, politicians, media, civil society and of course the universities' teachers and students are harping on only one subject – HEC should be devolved to the provinces or kept as a federal entity. Irrespective of the fact if the people have adequate information about the controversy, everybody is taking part in the raging debate as a religious duty, which further muddies the issue. Be it our rabid TV talk show hosts, versatile columnists who can deliberate upon anything under the sun, or journalists who mould information on the basis of their biases, HEC remained the 'hot topic'. But interestingly all this is happening about a decision which presumably should have been discussed threadbare first by the 27-member Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) and then the Parliamentary Commission on the implementation of the 18th amendment. One wonders what the PCCR had been discussing during its some 80 plus formal meetings if the issues related to the provincial autonomy, mainstay of the much lauded 18th amendment, remained unsolved. Political parties and media had endorsed the passage of the 18th amendment. All members of the PCCR this year on the eve of Pakistan Day have been bestowed with the highest civil award — Nishan-e-Pakistan — for cleansing the constitution of 1973 of aberrations introduced by military dictators. But to the surprise of many, all hell broke loose the moment the government announced formal devolution of federal ministries and divisions under the amendment, including the HEC. So much so some of the political parties, which were part of the landmark constitutional amendment, also joined the bandwagon. They obviously taking a cue from public response, largely in favour of keeping HEC as a federal body, have started opposing the commission's devolution. Concerns are also being raised over transferring women and culture divisions to the provinces by pointing out lack of capacity at provincial level to handle them. But the issue is not that a certain federal department should be run in Islamabad or managed by the provincial governments. It is the ruckus over the issue despite the fact that first the PCCR, which had 27 experienced politicians of all hues as its members, and an equally important eight-member bipartisan Parliamentary Commission on the 18th amendment implementation had discussed to ensure smooth completion of the devolution process. In both cases, Senator Raza Rabbani of the PPP was given the leading role. Looking at the controversy, it is difficult to understand if the subject was discussed in detail during the PCCR meetings. And if it had been discussed in detail, both by the committee and the commission, and subsequently all political parties had given their consent to wrap up HEC, why all this commotion? Weren't the two main opposition political parties in the National Assembly in picture of what they explained as dire consequences if the HEC is transferred to the provinces? Or they are only playing to the gallery as described by Senator Rabbani during his hard hitting remarks in the National Assembly in the defence of HEC devolution. Mr Rabbani billed the ongoing controversy "a storm in a teacup". But many believe it is not. Even the fiercest critics of the HEC's performance had supported its existence. Vice chancellors' committee, a body of heads of 130 degree awarding institutions both from private and public sectors, have also opposed its devolution. Not getting into the argument whether the HEC has been given protection in the 18th amendment, what was the fun in announcing transfer of a department which is to be replaced by another similar government body? It would have been better if Senator Rabbani had sat with the HEC officials and discussed setting up of new Standards of Higher Education Commission to replace the commission. However, like many politicians, he kept on sending his point of view on the subject through media. According to media reports, it was on the HEC officials' repeated requests the senator spared some time to listen their concerns. Ideally, this discussion, taking into account all concerns, should have been taken place at the level of the implementation commission. Lastly, if a public sector body is needed to oversee 'standardisation' of higher education, as announced by Senator Rabbani, the government should have brought in required changes in the existing set up, instead of opening a Pandora's box, which has virtually taken the country by storm.