It has become an annual ritual for the concerned citizens to raise protest voices against liberal issuance of permits to Arab princes, sheikhs and wealthy businessmen for hunting the houbara bustard- on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 'Red List' of endangered species-and for the government to ignore them. The issue reverberated in last Monday's meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment. An irate Chairman of the committee, Senator Mir Mohammad Yousuf Badini, grumbled: "we are not allowed to go to our lands, because a sheikh is hunting [there], adding "possibly the one who wrote the letter to the SC" is currently hunting in Bhakkar.
Senator Badini had guessed it right. The same prince who wrote the famous letter to the Supreme Court in support of our Prime Minister's case in the Panama Papers corruption scandal has descended on this country along with a large party to hunt the houbara bustard. In fact, it's an open season for members of royal families and their hangers-on from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and, of course, Qatar although just last year the federal government had announced a moratorium on hunting the bird. They have been allocated different areas in all the four provinces, each with a permit to kill 100 birds. The hunting limit has kept rising with a rising demand. Until 2013, it was 25 birds per permit, the next year it went up to 100. This though is a mere formality. The game wardens and forest officers are expected to look the other way as these people go about their business. Those who think they have a duty to report on violations can do so at their own risk, like the divisional forest officer in Chagai area of Baluchistan who thought he was doing his job when two years ago he reported that a Saudi Prince's party had killed as many as 2,100 birds. Instead of getting a pat on the back he got punished for having the temerity to keep a check on a royal visitor's transgression. He was immediately transferred from Chagai to Washuk and then farther on to Sibbi.
Then there is the 2010 example when the Sindh Wildlife Department personnel posted at the Karachi Airport, during a routine check, asked a brother of the ruler of Dubai for legal permit and fee receipt for the two falcons -used for houbara hunting - he was carrying. A phone call was enough to stir the provincial government into action, and order the entire wildlife staff -posted there to prevent the smuggling of a rare falcon species-out of the airport. The then provincial conservator too was handed marching orders from Karachi to Sukkur. The action did not stop there. On the direction of then president Asif Ali Zardari the relevant rule in the Sindh Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was amended to free his Gulf friends from the hassle of producing documents for whichever variety of falcons they liked to take home.
Notably, last year the Supreme Court had upheld the Baluchistan High Court's decision to cancel all permits issued to royal visitors and ordered the federal and provincial government not to issue fresh permits, observing that the country's laws are not a "saleable commodity." However, the SC later lifted the ban on a review petition filed by the federal government. What may have convinced the court to revert its own verdict, apparently, was the Additional Attorney General's plea that the issue pertained to external affairs hence the judiciary was expected to defer to the executive branch's judgement. But the AAG's other arguments to allow decimation of houbara population betrayed the government's total disregard for its obligations towards environmental protection. Falconry, he said, is not merely a sport for the Arabs, it is their most cherished custom, and that "UNESCO recognises it as a cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Therefore allowing the Arab dignitaries to hunt would be pivotal in restoring Pakistan's deteriorating ties with their respective countries." In other words, Pakistan needed to make up to the GCC countries for not complying with their unreasonable demand for troops to win their war for them against Yemen - Arab world's poorest country - by letting them pursue their 'most cherished custom' and cause irreparable damage to its already delicate ecosystem.
Using hunting facilities as a foreign policy tool may be a good thing, but to do so at the cost of the environment is a recipe for disaster. Houbara bustard and thousands of the other migratory birds that come to their wintering grounds here help maintain this country's ecological balance. Their natural habitats are already shrinking due to climate change and human activities, such as deforestation and encroachments. As per the ICUN estimates, the world-wide population of houbura has already dwindled down to fewer than 97,000 birds. They have disappeared from some of their traditional habitats. It may not be long before they disappear from this country as well if we keep letting them be killed by our rulers' rich and powerful Arab friends.
Another preposterous argument, repeated in the Senate committee by Law Minister Zahid Hamid who holds the additional charge of climate change ministry, is that these wealthy hunters make economic contribution to the local communities' welfare. That is the responsibility of our federal and provincial governments rather than foreigners. The more likely reason behind this reckless behaviour is our rulers' urge to curry favour with the high and mighty of Arab countries where they have their own economic interests to protect and promote. These dignitaries can surely understand if they are explained the perils their passion for houbara hunting poses to the longer term health of our environment. That though can happen only if our rulers are prepared to put the country's interest before their own. [email protected]
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