Use of Indigenous Energy Resources -Pakistan

 

Use of Indigenous Energy Resources -Pakistan

Introduction

Utilization of indigenous energy resources is one of the key objectives of energy and power system expansion planning. This is one objective that Pakistan has failed to meet and in some areas has regressed. Use of imported sources of energy , cause balance of payment issues If a country spends its export earnings on import of fuel it cannot invest in capital plant and will therefore either stagnate of have very low economic growth rates.

A.                Coal

Local Fuel Resources

Pakistan took to coal by: installing coal power plants, super critical, based on imported coal at Sahiwal, Port Qasim and Hub Co. site; and on coal power plants based on Thar coal, first two plants are sub critical. After commission of two coal power plants and according permission to the Hub Co. plant the government has announced to cease allowing power plants based on imported fuel (this permission, however, is restricted to power plants meant for the grid, private sector captive plants continue to be based on imported coal) . LNG plants that are at various stages of completion are also based on imported fuel, the government had announced to not allow any mire plants on LNG.

Thar Development

Thar coal mining and power plant construction is going well and is on schedule. The good news is:  mining issues associated with Thar coal have been found incorrect; the issue with slope stability, in open pit mining, also proved unfounded as after the top soil which was sand , the soil below is clay , this makes sense as Thar is the ancient  route of the vanished Hakra or Saraswati River ; it seems that Thar coal after treatment could be transported , Jamshoror power plant has agreements signed for use of (partial) Thar coal . The bad news is that the underground water seams are three instead of two and the third, unlike the top two which are fossil water, is fed from a lake in Indian Thar , and therefore there will be need of continuous dewatering as long as coal mining goes on . The water seams have been successfully tackled.

Keti Bunder Development

The Thar development will face issues with water availability, which is why Sindh Government came up with the concept of moving plants to Keti Bunder and connecting Thar and Badin by means of a 300 km+ railway way line, the Keti Bunder Power plants will utilize sea water. This development needs attention.

Resettlement Issues

Thar coal will have issues with the resettlement of te local population , this is a complicated issue  firstly because the majority of the population does not have documents to property and secondly  Sindh Government is  a share holder in the Thar development and also is the environment and social watch dog , this presents a conflict of interest issue . Outside third party over sight is needed.

Cost of Power from local coal

Sindh Government participation in Thar development and the manner in which mining rights have been issued present an issue. NEPRA wishes to graduate to projects based on competitive bidding and subsequently to a open market structure, the present arrangements will present an obstacle. Already the high ROE allowance and mining structure has resulted in coal power that will be made available to Pakistan higher than similar developments elsewhere.

Domestic Coal share in energy mix

Domestic coal is beset with large problems. In -fact the whole mining sector is very poorly regulated. Mining resulted in high human losses. The cement industry utilizes high quality imported coal. Treatment plants will allow local coal to fulfill this requirement. Increase in domestic coal in total energy has to be carefully planned.

B.                Large Hydro power Projects

Background

One of the biggest water challenges for Pakistan is the fact that none of its freshwater sources originate inside its own boundaries. Pakistan relies on three tributaries of the Indus River, which flows from Tibet and through India before reaching Pakistan. The river already supports a huge mass of people, and populations in the region are growing. Additional water stress arises from increasing demand as these regional economies develop. Climate change poses additional risks as temperatures rise, rainfall patterns become increasingly variable, and floods and droughts become more severe. In 2010, Pakistan experienced floods more severe than ever before, affecting around 20 million people and causing an estimated US$5 billion in damages to the agriculture sector alone. The year 2012 also saw major flooding, affecting another 4.8 million people and destroying over a million acres in crops. Meanwhile in other regions of Pakistan, prolonged droughts continue to jeopardize smallholder agriculture. The Global Climate Risk Index by German watch found that Pakistan was the country most affected by extreme weather in 2012, both in terms of human losses and financial losses. It is, therefore, of vital importance that the country should harness the water for meeting both its future power need and, even more importantly, build large storage dams. These multi-purpose projects hold the key to Pakistan’s energy and water future.

Recent Experience of Hydropower Projects Development

The share of hydropower in the total power generation mix is on the decline. The three high-head HPPs and Tarbela extension project that were recently completed underwent excessive delays in reaching commissioning stage (see Table). In case of the still incomplete[1] 969 MW Neelum Jhelum HPP (recently partly commissioned), the huge time delays are accompanied by an order of magnitude increase in the total project cost.  .  The delays in completion of projects is invariably accompanied by increases in their cost and thus the country suffers in two ways – economic loss due to power from the plant not becoming available and incurring of additional expense above the original cost estimate.  

Table : Delays in recent public sector hydropower projects

S.No	Name of Project	Capacity (MW)	Commencement Date*	Targeted Completion Date*	Actual Completion Date**	Commencement to Completion (Months)
1	Khan Khwar	72	July 2003	June 2010	July 2012	108
2	Allai Khwar	121	June 2003	Dec. 2011	March 2013	117
3	Duber Khwar	130	July 2003	Dec. 2011	March 2014	123
4	Jinnah	96	July 2006	June 2011	May 2013	82
5	Neelum Jhelum	969	Dec 2007	Nov. 2015	Under constr.	95

* Source: FODP Report (2010)

** Source: WAPDA annual report 2015-16

Obstacles in Development of Hydropower

 An assessment of the energy sector in Pakistan reveals that since 2009 the self reliance objective has not been achieved and at the way plans are finalized by 2023 there would be little movement towards achieving the objective of reliance related to indigenous energy. One aspect of this is the failure to increase the share of hydropower in the energy mix.

1.      Share of hydropower in energy and power mix. Energy and power data suggest that hydropower share in total mix has stagnated and this trend is likely to continue to 2023 , in fact in 2023 hydropower share will decrease slightly  compared to 2017 .There are several reasons for this . the last many  hydropower plants added to the system  in the public sector have faced inordinate delays ( Golen Gol, Allai Khwar, Khan Khwar, Nelumn Jhelum , Jinnah, Gomal Dam, Punjab and KP Low heads and Tarbela extension ) have also registered significant  cost escalation .Insufficient studies, mismanaged resettlement and land  acquisition,  , indifferent contract management, and funding woes triggered these delays . The unresolved issue of the (‘profits on hydroelectric power generation ‘) royalty also creates indirect hurdles in development of hydropower. Friction between KP and the centre on this issue has starved KPs hydroelectric power potential to be severely underutilized, in evidence the better utilization of AJ&K hydropower potential as compared to KPs potential (KP hydropower potential is generally more economic to AJ&Ks mainly due to superior geology. Large hydro’s take more than 5 years to complete therefore the government which has a mandate for 5 years is not interested in projects that will complete after its tenure completion. There is very little coordination between Provincial/local governments and Federal governments related to execution of hydropower plants. Land acquisition and resettlement issues are poorly tackled. Preconstruction facilities and infrastructure for construction receives insufficient attention, these all emanate from indifferent feasibility studies that are poorly monitored and controlled. HEPO has been weakened, underfunded and its ability to provide guidance in hydropower issues has been compromised. Capacity building has not received much attention. KP has faced issues with transmission lines, there have been instances where   power plants were ready but transmission lines were not. Rules on who has responsibility to construct lines and methodology of resolving transmission issues are not available. KP has now called for building two 500 kV lines for evacuation of power from Chitral. They neither have the financial capability nor the technical capability to perform this task. Small hydropower plants are having issues with approvals, CPPA now wishes to offer: pay what you take basis for contracting capacity; this is the result of faulty planning. Small plants also have trouble getting approval of DISCOs to connect their plant to the distribution system.

Rectification of Hydropower Share in Total mix

Share of hydropower in energy mix has stagnated; this has impacts upon the self reliance target and also on the share of clean energy in the total energy mix. . To rectify this there is need to take the following steps:

1.                  Provincial inputs in policy and plan formulation. The 18 th. Amendment of the constitution has altered the role of Federal and Provincial Governments with respect to energy in general and hydropower in particular. This needs that the decision making process is amended to cater to this changed constitutional provision. It is suggested that a policy and planning committee on power be constituted with representation from the Provinces. There is also need to periodically refer the policy and plan formulations of this committee to the CCI. Hydropower potential in AJ&K has been utilized in a much better and smoother fashion than that in KP. The primary reason for that is that hydropower falls under the AJ&K Council which has declared that hydropower potential above 50 MWs will be dealt with by PPIB whereas the potential below 50 MWs will be dealt by the AJ&K Hydroelectric Board. KP wishes to deal with all hydropower potential except that on Main Rivers for multipurpose use. KP provincial PPC has also not performed well seems there is a message to KP Government in this statement.

2.                  Preparation and monitoring of feasibility studies. Feasibility studies need inputs from a set of varied technical disciplines, there is need to: monitor and control the development of feasibility studies by an experts panels that is fully empowered; assess risk mitigation and identify the residual risk that needs to be controlled during the construction stage, like tunnel geological risk in the feasibility study.

3.                  Capacity Building. There is currently little attention paid to capacity building in the hydropower sector. ; organization engaged in development of hydropower ( HEPO/WAPDA, PEDO, AJ&K Electricity Board; Provincial Energy departments and organizations , and GB Energy departments) do not have in place a human resource enhancement program related to hydropower . Presently the Centre for Excellence in Water Resources (CoEWR) carries out a MSc. program in hydropower; there is also a hydropower training center in Mangla Dam. It is proposed that: short courses related to various aspects of hydropower (like hydrology, geology, seismicity; economics; mechanical, electrical, mechanical, turbines, financial, resettlement, environmental etc.) should regularly be arranged through the CoEWR and other institutions; funding should be provided to send candidates to the MSc. Course in the CoEWR.

4.                  EPC Contracts.  The organizations involved in hydropower sector development are not familiar with the working of the EPC contracts. There is need to provide capacity building opportunities to professional engaged in contract management of EPC contracts. EPC contracts in the IPP mode also present an issue. Sponsors engage EPC contractors that are very closely related to the main sponsor , the EPPC bidding is not transparent and is questionable, it is proposed that a third part evaluation of cost must be carried out to verify the lowest EPC bid veracity and authenticity ..

5.                  ToRs of Feasibility Studies. ToRs (terms of Reference) of feasibility studies need to be amended to reflect the concerns with identification of preconstruction activities. Delays in completion of hydropower plants partly result due to inadequate provision for pre construction facilities.

6.                  Resettlement and Environmental Issues.-Pakistani agencies have struggled with resettlement land acquisition issues. Land acquisition costs have risen sharply in areas where large infrastructure projects have been or are implemented.

7.                  BASHA, KALABAGH-Construction of Bhasha dam. Kalabagh dam could not be built due to internal political differences and Bhasha dam could not be built because of external factors. We should go on our own. This should be initiated without any further delay. Dasu has been stalled, in any case Dasu would only provide electricity, and water scarcity has become an equally important factor if not the most important factor in our development priority. Construction of Kalabgah Dam could be initiated at the earliest possible as it would be acceptable to both WB and ADB, we however need to achieve consensus amongst ourselves.

8.                  Transmission interconnection-WAPDA has complained that NTDC have not been able to add evacuation lines in time and have sought control over NTDC, this has correctly been disallowed by the government. The issue, however, needs to be resolved. In recent times NTDC have failed to add transmission lines associated with both public and private power plants in time. It is proposed that the penalty that is imposed upon IPPs for completion after due date should have also compensation for NTDC, provided, however, the transmission lines have been completed. WAPDA under construction hydropower plants also need their PPA’s altered to include to include penalty to be paid by WAPDA in case of delayed completion of power plant and a provision in this is to be made for compensation to NRDC for non-utilization of completed transmission lines   and penalty to be paid by NTDC to WAPDA in case of delayed completion of transmission lines associated with the project .

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Future Prospects

The progress on development of large-scale hydropower projects is extremely slow. No major headway is seen on large reservoir-based hydropower projects as, for example the arrangements for the highest priority Diamer-Bhasha HPP are yet to materialize. It’s important that clarity is reached at the earliest on the time-line and planned financing arrangements for this mega-project as it is vital for Pakistan. The long-term power sector planning needs to, more than ever, take into consideration the risk posed due to impending greater shortages of water in the country. The major water storage dams that are planned to be built in the coming years are facing delays due mainly to a lack of financing arrangements for them (Table). As a consequence, dependence on imported fuels for power generation will continue and, in parallel, the water shortages are expected to continue rising at an accelerating rate of growth.

Table-8: WAPDA’s List of Major Water Storage Dams in Coming Years

Project	River	Location	Capacity (MW)	Storage (MAF) Gross/Live
Diamer-Bhasha	Indus	GB	4500	8.1/6.4
Munda	Swat	FATA/KP	740	1.3/0.7
Dasu	Indus	KP	4320	1.15/?

Source: FODP Report on Water Sector (2012)

There is a strong need for developing a framework that will facilitate building institutional knowledge and relationships between water and energy infrastructure. Knowledge gained from shared systems understanding can be used to promote energy and water efficiency innovations by strategically identifying technology development needs and forming a basis for targeted investments in R&D. For this, logistical barriers to institutional collaboration between entities in the water and energy sectors should be addressed. Universities can play an important role in conducting research and providing education regarding the water-energy nexus. University researchers can perform research to build understanding of the behavior of the coupled water-energy system.

C.                 Renewable Energy

Background

Modern renewable energy (wind, solar and bagasse) projects have been inducted in the system during the last three years. The pace of development is much slower than being seen in rest of the world, and even in the region. At present, hydropower generation from large hydropower projects and renewable energy contribute about 25% and 4% of the total electricity generation, respectively. In terms of consumption, RE is meeting less than 3% of the total electricity consumption. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Pakistan’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint, the new Electricity Policy[2] lays strong emphasis on promoting the use of RE and deployment of large-scale hydropower projects. Accordingly, the share of RE is slated to increase to 10% in 2023 and 20% in 2030. The share of large hydropower generation will also be increased from 25 % to 35%. To achieve these objectives, following are the key provisions that are being made in the new Policy:

      i.          There will be no cap on the quantum of intermittent electricity to be absorbed by the NTDC/DISCOs up to 2030.

    ii.          New RE Zones will be identified on or near major grid nodes and points of interconnection and it will be mandatory for government to provide connectivity within RE Zones and/or within a certain radius of network.

  iii.          Distributed Solar Power projects – both stand-alone type and those based on Off-Grid applications – will be promoted.

  iv.          Planning and construction of Large Hydro Power Plants will get priority over the fossil fuel based thermal plants.

    v.          Substitution of subsidized electricity in agriculture and domestic sector with consumption below 300 KWh per month, supplied through grid, with solar based electricity generation schemes on concessional terms.

  vi.          Innovative financing schemes for upscaling use of RE in industry (e.g. through wheeling) and agriculture (e.g. solar tube-wells) etc. will be prepared.

vii.          Wind resource assessment will be carried out for new prospective sites and collection of data for bankable projects will be done through appropriate agencies.

viii.          A database will be set up for all the new possible avenues and of the operating renewable energy projects freely accessible to general public, researchers, academia, project developers and financiers to promote evolution of new RE projects.

Steps for conversion of tube-wells to solar power (in Baluchistan), conversion to biomass (in Sindh and Punjab) and solar roof-top installations hold the key to a clean energy sector and should, therefore, receive adequate focus in future plans.

Inadequate exploration of oil and gas and off Shore oil and gas potential of Pakistan

THE upstream oil and gas exploration sector in Pakistan is significantly off the radar for oil majors. Oil majors are not playing any significant role in the country despite its impressive geology and prospectively. In fact, over the decades,   companies such as Exxon and BP selling off assets and pulling out of Pakistan.

Considering the nature of hydrocarbon exploration, and the mettle of oil and gas executives worldwide, the argument that companies are leaving Pakistan because of the security situation does not make sense, given that oil majors continue to operate in countries like Nigeria (Boko Haram), Iraq (ISIS), Mexico (drug cartels) and central Asian states.

If it were so, one also would not see oil majors making a beeline for frontier oil provinces such as Papua New Guinea and much smaller West African states. Frontier provinces, volatile security and political environments have not tended to deter oil and gas majors from pursuing hydrocarbon reservoirs and riches. However, the bitter truth is that despite amazing geology, Pakistan has pretty much failed to market its upstream sector and is seriously short of both oil and gas while seeking imported oil, natural gas and LNG to satisfy domestic demand.

Key reason for lack of adequate exploration is the fact that half of the natural gas production in Pakistan is undertaken by the two large public sector corporations, OGDCL (Oil & Gas Development Corporation Limited) and PPL (Pakistan Petroleum Limited). These two companies also hold the majority of the exploration leases. Unfortunately, neither OGDCL nor PPL has the project management and technology expertise to rapidly exploit and develop its leases. In this regard, the government should advertise the sale of 26 percent of PPL’s equity to an overseas company boasting the management expertise and technological know-how to explore and rapidly develop Pakistan’s tight and shale gas and oil resources. A strategic investor with 26 percent shareholding in, and management control over, PPL would have the incentive to rapidly increase PPL’s hydrocarbon production. PPL is a “compact” company originally owned by the multinational Burmah group of the United Kingdom, and for this reason it is easier to take over in a privatization move. If the divestment experience of PPL is successful, then the government should consider a similar strategic divestment of the larger public sector company, OGDCL,

Exploration Issues

Reasons for decrease in production of oil and gas

1.      Absence if large discoveries

2.      97BCF  average discoveries between 1992 to 2014

3.      Only 12 discoveries of larger than 1 TCF

4.      Crude average 3,4 MMBBL

5.      5 reservoirs of 10 MMBBL or more

6.      Higher finding and developing cost per barrel of oil , these have grown approximately 74% in 2010-14 against 2005-09 due to decline in average discovery size

7.      Concentration of exploration in Potwar and Lower / Middle Sindh. KP and Baluchistan are ignored due to security concerns

8.       inappropriate wellhead pricing structure of indigenous gas

9.      Law and order situation hampering the exploration activities

10.  Shortage of drilling rigs Causing low exploration and development possibilities  and prospect generation,  whereas lack of economies of scale make the international bidder non-competitive

11.  Non-development of dormant gas reserves  because of slow evaluation and appraisal process, litigation , low BTU gas of marginal reserves

12.  Lack of proper monitoring system to review the progress on blocks already awarded for exploration

13.  Highly volatile process if the international market

14.  Inefficient and obsolete refining operation and sub standard oil products

15.  Slow exploration activates in off-shore areas due to high cost , present  off shore density is one well per 1000 sq. km compared to world, average of 9.5 wells per 1000 sq km 

Offshore hydrocarbon prospectively  

Sedimentary basins cover 827, 000km2 including both onshore and offshore, which to date remain under-explored, especially the offshore basins. According to Pakistan Basin Study of 2009, the country has six onshore and two offshore basins; offshore basins being the Indus basin and the Makran basin.  Almost the entire land mass and the offshore areas can possibly have high potential hydrocarbon plays, especially the Abyssal Fan system of the Indus offshore basin.

Abyssal or submarine fan systems constitute underwater structures having huge sedimentary deposition systems over geologic time and are a result of sediment transportation and deposition from continental shelf down on to continental slopes. They are also referred to as turbidity currents and their effects can be amplified through tectonic activity. Abyssal fans are the largest systems through which organic matter, rocks, minerals gets transported from land to sea and possess huge potential for hydrocarbon and gold exploration. Given this context, the Indus offshore basin, primarily a rift basin, is the second largest submarine fan system in the world after the Bay of Bengal and ought to contain various high probability hydrocarbon plays based on analogues. Tthe oil producing Mississippi fan (Gulf of Mexico), Amazon fan (offshore Brazil), Niger fan (offshore West Africa), Congo fan (offshore Angola) among others are prolific producers and analogous to offshore Pakistan being primarily Abyssal or Submarine fan systems, though much smaller in size.

The total recoverable reserves of natural gas as per brochure on Ministry of Petroleum website are given at 53.354TCF (trillion cubic feet), while remaining reserves are stated as 23.18TCF. The Economic Survey 2013-14 and Economic Survey 2014-15 state current gas reserves at 492bn cubic meters translating in to gas reserves of 17.3TCF (excluding shale).

As a contrast, the potential of submarine fan systems can be gauged from the fact that in place resource at the deepwater block in Bengal fan that contains the Dhirubhai discoveries initially stood at 25 TCF, essentially indicating that one find in the largest submarine fan in the world (Bengal) has a resource base greater than all remaining conventional gas reserves of Pakistan. This should get some bells ringing both at regulatory and commercial levels. The potential for hydrocarbon exploration and discoveries in the Indus offshore basin is huge, however, given the huge size of the basin itself, this will require intensive evaluation and commitment of capital. The 12 or so odd wells that have been drilled so far in Indus basin do not do justice to the hydrocarbon potential within this frontier basin. From a technical perspective, we should also be open to encountering high pressure, high temperature formations.

The Makran Offshore basin has a different geology than the Indus with both separated by the Murray ridge. Makran offshore is an oceanic and continental crust subduction zone with deepwater trenches and volcanic activity. The basin comprises oceanic crust and periodic emergence of temporary mud islands along the coast is strong evidence of huge hydrocarbon deposits. These temporary islands may imply improper sealing mechanisms but do ask for exploration laterally and of adjacent areas.

Makran basin is also a frontier basin with negligible exploration activity, though, a few wells have been drilled which encountered high pressure formations and a blowout in 1956. Analogs to Makran offshore include Cook Inlet, Alaska with a billion barrel oil equivalent reserve profile.

Hydrocarbon exploration has always been a high risk venture, however, given the geology that underlies offshore Pakistan, there is reason to believe in the prospectivity of the region. Based on analogous evidence, one can assume that offshore Pakistan is probably sitting on huge hydrocarbon deposits.

In view of the above discussion, and fiscal regime issues, it is imperative that Pakistani NOCs aggressively, and with an entrepreneurial spirit, start exploring for hydrocarbons in the Indus and Makran basins.

The National Oil Companies (NOCs) will have to take the lead and a strategic stake in offshore Pakistan, before any global oil major shows interest, given the particular business dynamics of the region and opening up of Iranian upstream sector to international market.

 LNG IMPORTS AND THE OIL and GAS POTENTAIL OF PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN has emerged on the international scene as a significant importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). As of 2017, Pakistan was the sixth largest LNG market in Asia with imports of 4.6 million tonnes accounting for 1.6 per cent of global imports. Moreover, Pakistan added one out of five re-gasification terminals commissioned internationally by adding a floating storage re-gasification unit (FSRU) to its supply chain. The nation has opted for imported LNG to plug energy gaps despite being host to the second largest submarine basin in the world with potentially huge but undiscovered oil and gas reservoirs. It makes sense to gain some perspective on the LNG industry to enable optimized decision-making locally. The details of the off shore potential are discussed above.  Over the last couple of decades, three main markets for LNG have emerged: Asia Pacific, Europe and North America/Atlantic. Asia Pacific is the largest LNG market with Japan, China and South Korea among the largest importers. Proper commercial structuring, at both export and import stages, is extremely critical and underpins the success of any LNG project over the long term. To put things in perspective, approximate costs of Chevron`s Gorgon project and Inpex`s Ichthys project are $54 billion and $35bn, respectively. Over the years, three basic commercial structures have evolved in LNG trade with hybrids in between.These main structures are integrated, tolling and merchant structures and apply to both liquefaction and re-gasification facilities. As Pakistan has opted for LNG imports to meet energy shortages exacerbated due to a lack of timely action on our part, it would make sense to see what resource potential Pakistan has in a region that consti-tutes the largest LNG market in the world (73pc global share). Natural gas constitutes approximately 25pc of global primary energy demand and is growing as the world moves towards cleaner fuels. Moreover, Pakistan has the second largest submarine fan system in the world (Indus basin) with up to 10 kilometers of sediment accumulation. Such accumulations are recognized for huge offshore oil and gas reservoirs worldwide. Pakistan is also blessed with the Makran offshore basin, which is an oceanic and continental crust subduction zone with deep water trenches and volcanic activity. Therefore, we can assume with a high degree of probability that Pakistan potentially has huge offshore oil and gas deposits waiting to be discovered. We are also closer to main LNG markets than Qatar, which happens to be the largest LNG exporter in the world with 27pc market share.  Perhaps the LNG imports could be stop gap measures and in the breathing sace provided by these imports we put our house in order and attempt o discover oil and gas indicated in the off shore potential indicated above.  However, this is a long-term endeavor, potentially spread over the next 20 years or so, fraught with financial and commercial risks, requiring new thought paradigms and a changed risk perspective. But big oil and gas was never a business for the risk averse. A small first step towards realizing this vision could be revisiting the fiscal and regulatory regime for the upstream exploration and production sector in view of changing energy markets.    NEW OIL AND GAS FINDS AROUND THE CORNER   ExxonMobil has indicated that it is close to hitting huge oil reserves near the Pak-Iran border, which could be even bigger than the Kuwaiti reserves. Addressing business leaders at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the minister said that ExxonMobil — an American multinational oil and gas company — has so far drilled up to 5,000 meters close to the Iranian border and is optimistic about the oil find.

Facilitiating renewable energy projects

The cost of wind based power projects on upfront tariff basis, which was USD 14.7 cents in 2011, now stands at USD 6.75 cents per kWh.) For solar projects the QAU plant that was commissioned in 2015 was priced at USD 14.15 cents/kwh but for the more recent plants, e.g. Harappa Solar, the tariff is USD 11.53 cents/kwh. In comparison, cost of fossil fuels based power generation is high and volatile and hence unpredictable. In addition, fuel supply and cooling infrastructure has to be built in support of them at a huge capital cost whereas wind/solar do not need such auxiliary equipment. In spite of their attractive prices, renewable energy projects did not take-off largely due to system stability concerns and need for transmission system connections. To address these concerns, a study was carried out by USAID in 2015 which reached the following conclusions:

·         Up to 2,200 MW of wind and solar projects can be integrated into the national system by FY 2017.  The actual projects commissioned by end of FY 2018 amount to less than 1,200 MW.

·         By adding new transmission infrastructure, a total of 4,060 MW of wind and solar projects can be integrated by end of FY 2020.

·         By FY 2022, up to 9,400 MW wind and solar projects can be integrated into the national grid but it would require major reinforcement in the grid involving the addition of new EHV (500, 220 and 132 kV) transmission lines and up gradation of grid stations.

Based on this confirmation, the WASP run carried out as part of the Electricity Plan (under preparation) confirms the addition of corresponding amounts of new wind and solar based power by 2030 on a “must take” basis.  

Zoning of RE projects

As part of integrated planning process and due to the need to build transmission infrastructure and other arrangements, the zoning of renewable energy projects should be undertaken. For large scale projects to be built in wind corridors viz. Gharo/Jhimpir and solar parks viz. Cholistan desert, EHV transmission lines need to be developed on a priority basis. DISCOs should define their own zones in which projects will be set up. The zoning plans should make provisions for land and other facilities which will be the shared responsibility of federal and provincial governments. The creation of jobs in these zones will lead to economic activity and result in building of roads and other civic facilities for the local population.

Distributed RE

To bring about a fast-pace growth in distributed renewable energy generation and mini/micro grids, an enabling environment for private sector’s entry into this business will need to be created. Vocational training programs to improve the technical skills of workers should be launched under a joint program of federal and provincial governments. The weaknesses in existing regulation for wheeling of electricity should be removed to facilitate free trade/exchange of electricity, which is also in harmony with the efforts being made towards developing Wholesale electricity market.

Net Metering

NEPRA approved the Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations in 2015 to put into effect net-metering. Subsequently, amendments in the regulations were made in December 2017. Recently, the term of agreement between consumer and DISCO was increased from three years to seven years. The license issuance period by NEPRA has been reduced to seven days and determined tariff would remain valid for term of the Agreement/License. While these are needed steps for promoting roof-top solar installation, there is still a huge room for improvement in the regulatory and promotion regime for the development of RE. Especially, given that the  rules for net-metering and distributed generation are not resulting in the realization of their full potential (until June 2018, less than 5 MW of Net-Metering connections were given and those too in two DISCOs only), a fresh review of the bottlenecks in the growth of net-metering is urgently required.

The major reason for slow off-take of Net-Metering program is the high up-front cost that is involved which acts as a barrier for a vast majority of customers. There is  insufficient knowledge among customers to enable them to make choices about the equipment specifications nor is there an understanding about the investment potential of solar systems. These barriers can be overcome through a wide-scale customer education, especially by disseminating information about successful case studies. To increase awareness regarding Net-Metering among the communities, focused seminars/workshops may be held at the professional level. For general public, the importance of renewable energy option should be an integral part of academic curricula starting from secondary schools up to university level, across genders covering all strata of the civil society.

Net-Metering should be adopted as a national level goal as it would reduce the power shortages, cut down on transmission/distribution losses and reduce dependence on imported fuel based generation. To up-scale the installation of solar panels as a business idea, companies who want to come up with corporate based models to integrate several roof-tops and collectively provide net metered electricity besides meeting customers’ own needs will have to be encouraged.  There is a need to devise new, innovative financing schemes with active participation of the banking sector and international financiers to enable the companies and individual customers to address the issue of high front-end costs. The channeling of international clean energy funds as a source of financing of such projects could give a boost to investors’ appetite to make a venture into this line of business.

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[1] As of June 2018, two out of four turbines of NJHP Project have been commissioned

[2] The draft of new Power Policy is presently under review by the Government of Pakistan

Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim: Democracy and Islam

Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim: Democracy and Islam

Introduction

Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959) was a reputed thinker, philosopher and poet who authored twelve books and translated four from English and German. As a thinker he presented Allam Iqbal’s thoughts admirably in his works as well as Mirza Ghalib’s intellectual legacy. Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was also his special area of interest not only for his doctorate from Heidelberg University but also for Hakim’s several books and articles. His spiritual association with Hafiz Shirazi is interesting. The subject of his writings was varied with special interests in Islamic ideology and its implications for contemporary issues.

Life and works

In 1918 Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim was appointed one of the founder Professors of Osmania University Hyderabad Deccan. He retired in 1949 as Head of the Philosophy Department and Dean Faculty of Arts. From 1943-46 he served on deputation at Srinagar Kashmir as Principal Amarsingh College and Director of Education. From 1949-59 he was founder Director Institute of Islamic Culture. During this period his and colleagues’ written scholarship promoted the cause of progressive and universal values of Islam. During these years he was awarded and Honorary degree of LL.D by University of the Punjab Lahore. He toured extensively for lectures in the USA and attended several national and international conferences. His contribution towards Muslim Family Laws Commission, Zakat Commission, promotion of Urdu Litertaure and as an official language are recognised. Two doctoral theses as well as two Masters level theses are devoted to his life and work.

Ever year a Memorial lecture is organized in collaboration with the Institute of Islamic Culture where scholars present lectures related to religious, literary and philosophical themes. Among Dr Hakim' several literary contemporaries are Allama Iqbal, Ahmad Shah Bokhari (Patras), Dr Raziuddin Siddiqui, Prof Hamed Ahmad Khan, Prof Yusuf Hussain Khan, Syed Mohammad Abdulla and Sarojni Naido.

He wrote over 350 books in Urdu, Persian and English apart from penning poetry. He translated Gita in Urdu. I (Muslim Saleem)    He was appointed Assistant Prof of Philosophy 1919 Osmania University Hyderabad Deccan. In 1925, he did his PhD from Heidelberg University, Germany (paid for by his salary and a loan from the University); the same year (1925) he became, Head of Department Philosophy of Osmainia University Deccan. He became Principal of Amar Singh College 1943-47 Srinagar, Kashmir and Director Education on Deputation. One again, he was appointed as Dean Faculty of Arts 1948-49 Osmaina University Hyderabad Deccan; He was awarded LLD (Honoris Causa) by the Punjab University Lahore 1957. He penned hundreds of books in Urdu, English and Persian and translated many an epic from Persian. He also translated Gita in Urdu in poetic form, which has been published by Haryana Urdu Academy and Bharti Vidhya Bhavan, Mumbai. His book Fikr-e-Iqbal is taught in higher Urdu classes. Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim was also the Founder Director, Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore (1949-1959).

 Islam and Democracy
 (quoted in original, unedited)

THE things that concern man most vitally are the most difficult to define. Who has ever succeeded to offer a definition of religion that would satisfy all creeds and all sects and all philosophers of religion? The difficulty is not less in every single religion, great or small. The hundreds of Christian sects would define Christianity differently - everyone considering some one or more traits as essential constituents of it, while the others would regard them either un-Christian or of secondary importance.
Islam is proverbially reputed to have seventy-two sects, though it would be difficult for any research scholar to count more than a dozen. Hinduism is a completely indefinable entity and it is now agreed, only for the sake of consensus, that whoever calls himself a Hindu is a Hindu, irrespective of his beliefs or practices. Besides the division of sects, individuals within the pale of the same creed have widely different views and angles of vision about what actually constitutes the essence of religion.

I do not expect that the view of religion (or Islam in particular) as presented in this book would be universally accepted. However, I may substantiate it by the authority of the Qur'an and the Sunnah [the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h.]. My like-minded co-religionists would hold it to be true, but whoever cares to differ may interpret the same verses differently or quote others to contradict my interpretation. \

The subject of the relation of Islam to democracy would present further difficulties, because democracy seems to have become as indefinable as religion or love. From the beginning of democracy, in any part of the world, up to the present times, (when it almost seems to have taken the place of religion as an ideal or a way of life) opinions about its nature and value have been divergent and contradictory. \

Western political historians usually start with Greek democracies, paying special attention to Athenian democracy as a typical institution. Some lovers of Greek culture praise it as much today as Pericles did when he called it the high water mark of civilization. But the most famous of the Greek political philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, considered it to be an irrational and disgraceful institution. The last one having the biggest world-conquering monarch as his glorious disciple.

Let me quote a sentence from Aristotle's Politics (Book V, Ch. I, Sec. 2). He says: "Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely." He did not believe in any fundamental equality of mankind. He has asserted that Nature creates some human beings for slavery, and so slavery is a natural institution. The whole of Plato's' Republic is a monumental and elaborate thesis against Athenian democracy and the whole concept of democ racy in general.

The teacher and the disciple desired the creation and perpetuation of a rigid caste system in which the majority of superficially free citizens should have nothing to do with the making of laws or the executive government. They too, like Aristotle, considered it just that the majority should consist of virtual or actual slaves. Plutarch says about Lycurgas that to a man who demanded the establishment of democracy in Sparta, he replied: "Go thou and first establish democracy in thy household."

The broadest definition of democracy is that given by Abraham Lincoln, that "it is a government of the people, by the people and for the people," which Daniel Webster put in other words as the people's government made for the people, made by the people and answerable to the people. As I have said already, democracy has now in many ways taken the place of religion. It is inevitable, therefore, that like religion it should become vague and assume different shapes among different nations, due to [a] difference of temperament and history. The British are proud to have developed representative institutions; and the British Parliament is considered to be the mother of parliaments. But the Magna Carta which John was forced to sign was not a charter of rights for the people since a political entity did not exist. It was the landed aristocracy, the feudal barons, who wanted to share power with the king and the right to defend what they believed to be their rights or vested interests. The people received no protection against the exploitation and tyranny of the feudal lords. The British, during a long process of political evolution, curtailed and ultimately annihilated the power of the king, threatening to behead him if he was too refractory [insubordinate] and self-willed, but [the] aristocracy continued to be the actual ruling power till the recent emasculation of the House of Lords where the aristocrats with denuded power and pelf [derog. wealth] are allowed to debate but not to decide, just as the king is allowed to reign but not to rule. A century ago, during the time of Macaulay, the franchise was still very restricted and the common man wielded no effectual power. But he proudly said: "Our democracy was from an early period the most aristocratic and our aristocracy the most democratic." Like many of Macaulay's verdicts, the assertion is more rhetorical than historical.

How many different and diametrically opposed systems have claimed to be democratic in recent history? I had au opportunity of discussing the suppression of democracy with Dr Schacht when he was removed by Hitler from the control of finance. At that time he could not dare to denounce the Nazis and, supporting the system, he said that the Jews were suppressed (he did not acknowledge persecution) in the name of German democracy and Hitler was elected by an overwhelming free democratic vote. On the other hand, Communism claimed to be [a] real democracy run by workers and peasants who have little power in a capitalist regime.

The Western democracies collectively have assumed the dignified title of the "free world" implying that the communist world is an enslaved world where people are equal only in the sense of enjoying equality of rightlessness [lack of rights]. The Italian Fascists also believed themselves to be true democrats wielding power for the glory of the people. France, during the French Revolution, raised the slogan of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality, and then Napoleon, the Caesar of Caesars, was the outcome of it. After that, having lost her political hegemony [supremacy].

In Europe, France started or intensified her colonial ventures, defeated in many regions by the British, but still holding fast to the rest. Having been defeated, debased and ousted from a part of Indo-China and retaining the rest by the support of the so-called free democracies, France entered on a campaign of genocide in Algeria claiming Algeria to be French because of the exploiting French minority there. This is her practical application of the creed of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality which sounded even better than Abraham Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people and for the people". The Union of South Africa too, is a part of the so-called free world. It took [an] active part in defeating Hitler's Nazism and Mussolini's Fascism, but is actively and violently engaged in preaching and practising the creed of racial segregation and disenfranchisement of the native population and the coloured people within its realm. This too is democracy. Democracy, O Democracy, what crimes are committed in thy name!

Democracy, through its long and chequered history, has assumed many forms and shall in all probability assume many more forms in the future. We have to discuss here democracy in relation to the religion of Islam. Muslims in general believe Islam to be a democratic creed, but it is a curious phenomenon that neither Arabic nor any other Muslim language has any word that could be called an exact equivalent of the word 'democracy.' The word Jamhnr'iyat derived from Jamhur, meaning 'the people,' is a twentieth-century translation which is now adopted in many Muslim languages. The Socialist Party in Iran is called Tudeh Party; the original meaning of tudeh is a mass or a heap. The movement claiming to be the protagonist of the masses adopted the word tudeh, meaning mass. When even the word did not exist, the presumption is that democracy, as understood in the West, neither existed in ideology nor as an institution.

Dealing with Islam, the question is not difficult to answer. According to the Islamic faith, sovereignty belongs to God and not to the people either as a whole or as a majority. As God is the Creator and the Law-giver of the universe, so all authority in human affairs ultimately vests [is vested] in God. The phrase 'sovereignty of the people' would be considered heretical or blasphemous. Whoever rules among the Ummah [community] rules only by delegated authority.

The real problem is to whom this sovereignty or authority is delegated. If there were an organised Church in Islam, with a hierarchy of ordained priests, this body would claim to be the viceregent of God on earth. as the Catholic Church holds power in the name of Christ with an infallible pontiff at the apex of the ecclesiastical pyramid deriving his infallibility directly from Jesus himself. It is as if Jesus himself were the executive head of the institution. But as original Islam abolished monarchy and feudalism by abolishing primogeniture [an exclusive right of inheritance belonging to the eldest son], so it categorically abolished priesthood. The Prophet handed over the preservation, propagation and implementation of the faith to the entire community of the faithful advising them to choose their leader from among themselves on the basis of all-round fitness, irrespective of tribe, race or wealth. He said; "Follow your leader even if he is a negro with tangled hair."

It should be kept in mind that in this book we are dealing with Islam and not with the types of States and societies in which Muslims have lived through these [last] fourteen centuries. Islam should not be confused with the social or political organisation of various Muslim communities (or nations) in different epochs and different climes. As Christianity, as lived through the ages, should not be identified with the original outlook of Jesus, or [for] what he desired humanity to be.

Islam, as taught in the Qur'an, and preached and practised by the Prophet; and a short time afterwards by those on whom his mantel [shadow?] fell, very soon lost its idealism by what may be called a counterrevolution. It became diluted with Arab imperialism which spoilt a good deal of its original egalitarian ideology. When wealth undreamt of by the dwellers of the desert poured in, it accumulated in the hands of a minority [and] all the economic ills and moral weaknesses followed in its wake. From Mu'awiyah onwards, who converted the democratic republic of Islam into a hereditary monarchy, the self-styled successors of the Prophet, assuming the dignified title of Khalifahs, combined in themselves the powers a Caesar and a Pope. The whole wealth of an extensive realm became their private purse.

Courtiers and aristocracy sprang up so much so that they began to prefer the accumulation of taxes to the propagation of faith. Revenue collectors reported to an exceptionally pious Khalifah, 'Umar ibn 'Abdul 'Aziz, that the revenues of the realm were declining and all was not well with the State exchequer because those who became Muslims did not pay the poll tax. He said that the State should be pleased because it was not the aim of Islam to collect taxes but to propagate the faith.

Such a man among the later Khalifahs was an exception. The ruling junta got rid of him by poisoning [him]. Theology, with [a] few honourable exceptions, became the handmaiden of monarchical power. Nobody raised a voice against these Caesars who sat in the seat of a Prophet who lived in a mud hut, swept his floor, mended his shoes and milked his goats, living for days together on a handful of dates with or without a cup of camel's milk.

The Prophet has said:

"Henceforth there shall be no Caesars and God hates most the man who is called an emperor or king of kings."

How could the world believe that there was anything democratic in Islam when the common man had no say in the working of the State and had no power to assert his rights? Among the people only a nostalgic memory was left of the type of State and society which was brought into being by the implementation of Islam for about three decades. They called this shortlived experiment Khilafat Rashidah, the rightly-guided Caliphate, implying thereby that the rulers that followed were misguided. The glory of Harun al-Rashid, the magnificence of Sulaiman the Magnificent, and the splendour of Shah Jahan who sat in the jewelled Peacock Throne, costing half the revenue of his entire kingdom, was not the glory of Islam or the furtherance of its ideology but quite the opposite of it.

Let us summarise the type of State and society which Islam envisaged as an ideal pattern and which it tried to realise within the limitation of an early era, and the reliefs which it was based upon:

(1) Sovereignty belongs to God alone Whose chief attributes are Wisdom, Justice and Love. He desires human beings to assimilate these attributes in their thoughts, words and deeds.

(2) Though ultimately God moulds destinies, He has endowed man with free-will so that he may freely attune his will to the will and purpose of God.

(3) In matters of faith, God has compelled nobody to believe; the ways of righteousness and their opposites have been clearly indicated. Anyone may believe or disbelieve and bear the consequences. There must not be any compulsion, in the matter of faith. An imposed faith is no faith at all. Everybody should be free to follow his own way of life, either because of personal preference or because of his belonging to a community, provided his conduct is not subversive of fundamental morality or disruptive of the peace of the realm or does not trespass on the legitimate freedom of others.

(4) An Islamic State is not theocratic but ideological. The rights and duties of its citizens shall be determined by the extent to which they identify themselves with this ideology.

(5) Non-Muslims can live peacefully as citizens of a Muslim realm. They are free to not take part in the defence of the State, and in lieu of this exemption pay a poll tax which shall entitle them to complete protection of life, property and liberty in the practice of their faith. If they are prepared to defend the realm as loyal citizens, they shall be exempt from this tax.

(6) There shall be no racial discrimination within a Muslim realm. People become high or low only because of their character.

(7) All avenues of economic exploitation must be blocked so that wealth does not circulate only in the hands of the few.

(8) A person shall be free to earn as much as he can by legitimate means, without exploitation or fraud. But wealth, even legitimately acquired beyond a certain minimum, shall be subject to a tax on capital. This shall be an inalienable part of a Muslim polity [state].

(9) Women shall enjoy an independent economic status. All their inherited wealth and their personal earnings shall be their own property which they can dispose of as they please.

(10) A truly Islamic State cannot be a monarchical state. It must be a democratic republic in which the president is elected by a free vote of the community on the basis of his capacity and character.

(11) It is incumbent on the ruler to have a council of advisers and consultants for purposes of legislation or major decisions. They shall be chosen on grounds of their wisdom, experience and integrity. The mode of their selection is left to circumstances. In matters not pertaining to faith, non-Muslims are not debarred from consultation.

(12) There shall be no special class of priests in an Islamic society, though persons leading [a] better religious life and possessing [a] better knowledge of religious affairs have a legitimate claim to honour. They shall enjoy no special privileges, legal or economic.

(13) There shall be perfect equality of opportunity and equality before [the] law. The law shall make no distinction between a Muslim and a non-Muslim either in civil or [in] criminal cases. Every citizen shall have the right to seek a judicial decision - even against the head of the state.

There were many instances of this in early Islam. The Khalifah 'Umar appeared in the Court as a party in a suit and the judge stood up as a matter of respect, at which the Khalifah said that he had started with an unjust act honouring one party more than the other; how could the other party have confidence in his sense of justice?

(14) The judiciary was made independent of the executive. In periods of monarchical absolutism, when the judiciary began to be influenced by the men in power, the great jurist Imam Abu Hanifah preferred to be whipped and sent to prison [rather] than accept the post of a judge. He was imbued with the original spirit of Islam which desired uncorrupted justice between man and man. "Do not refrain from justice even if it goes against you" (Qur'an 4:136); "Let not the hostility of a party tend to make you unjust towards it."

These are the fundamentals of an Islamic constitution that are unalterable. No ruler or no majority possesses any right to tamper with them or alter them. This is eternal Islam rooted in the ideals of a God-centred humanity.

An Islamic democracy could differ in its pattern from some of the modern democracies. It is un-Islamic that parliamentary government should run on a party basis."My party, right or wrong," is morally as vicious as "My country, right or wrong." Once a haughty imperialist British viceroy of India had the audacity to say in a public utterance that Indians are liars. Chesterton, the famous British author, hearing this, said that the atmosphere in India must be chokingly false [in] that a party politician like Curzon should feel the stink of it, because a party politician's life is based on hypocrisy and falsehood. The chief aim in party politics is not the welfare of the state or the weal of the commonwealth, but to strengthen the position of the party or weaken the position of its opponents. When a party gets into power by [either] fair or foul means, it very often forgets all the promises and does the very same things against which it raised a hue and cry and accused the opponents. The reductio ad absurdum [reduction to absurdity] of this system is the French Chamber of Deputies, which makes it impossible to have a stable government even for a few months. Every day persons and parties come together or separate to dislodge others. No division on the basis of principles is involved.

Government of the people and by the people has led logically to adult franchise [voice] even in nations where the majority are illiterate and utterly incapable of understanding the complicated economic and political issues of modern life. This kind of political democracy was demanded and furthered by exploiting [the] bourgeoisie in every country who were certain of getting the votes of helpless workers and peasants and dependent women.

People must have equality of opportunity and equality before [the] law, but equality before [the] law does not necessarily mean equality of wisdom and capacity to make laws. As Socrates said in Plato's Republic, it is curious that one would not entrust the work of making shoes to one who has not spent a good part of his life in acquiring this skill, but legislation and political decisions are considered to be safe in the hands of those who do not know the elements of statecraft and are devoid of the knowledge of human nature and human destiny. And how right Aristotle was in observing what we have quoted already that democracy means that if people are equal in some respects, they are equal in all respects!

The extension of franchise should go hand in hand with the extension of a right type of education and economic freedom of the common man whether he is a wage earner or a peasant. Even when these conditions are realised, representatives should be chosen on the basis of knowledge and integrity; the possession of wealth playing no part in it.

Some nations experimented with democracy in the past and many more are experimenting with it in the present. It is not difficult to understand why it has so general an appeal. It appeals to the common man because it appeals to his sense of dignity and self-respect making him feel that, in however a humble way, he too counts. He appreciates the idea that everyone is to count as one and nobody more than one. [Immanuel] Kant defined the ethical imperative as meaning that every human being is to be treated as an end in himself and not as a means for the furtherance of ends [that are] extraneous to him.

Throughout the history of civilisation, the majority of individuals in a nation or an empire were treated merely as a means to promote the end of a monarchy or an oligarchy or a plutocracy. The governments of the past were devices for maintaining in perpetuity the place and position of certain privileged classes. The democratic ideal is to devise a machinery for protecting the rights of the people, and the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes. A democrat rightly believes that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people and the system of state and society should be such as makes it possible for every human being to achieve whatever worth he is capable of achieving. The democratic idea is a religious idea in so far as its starting point is the postulate that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain natural rights; and for the protection of these natural rights, all men are to be treated as equal.

The world must be made safe for democracy if humanity as a whole has to develop the eternal intrinsic values of human life, which a theistic religion believes to originate in the nature of God. Implementation of these values may change but in themselves they arc eternal. This verse o. the Qur'an supports this conviction: "The nature of God, on which He moulded the nature of man ; the laws of God's creation, are inalterable - this is the right religion." (Qur'an 30:30)

Again, the democratic ideal may be compared with religion in this respect that, like religion, so much human perversity and collective egoism of classes and vested interests masquerade in the garb of democracy. Perverse forms of religion have rightly been blamed for the worst types of tyranny. Crusades and unholy wars were waged in the name of God. But all the perversities and aberrations of religion have not made the genuinely religious man despair of it.

Theistic religion offers the highest kind of idealism, which alone can guarantee the spiritual advance of man, making him approximate more and more to the image of God and realise that nature which is rooted in the Divine. Cynics as well as lovers of mankind have looked with horror at some of the things done in the name of democracy.

Burke, in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, says that a perfect democracy is the most shameless thing in the world, and Benjamin Disraeli called a representative government a fatal drollery [joke]. Even a spiritual writer like Emerson looked at perverted democracy as a government of bullies tempered by editors. The Conservative Dean of St Paul, W.R. Inge, who as a good Christian should have believed that Christ established the eternal value of every individual, notes with satisfaction that the democracy of the ballot box has few worshippers any longer except in America. Longfellow called envy the vice of republics; and Bertrand Russell, himself a socialist, has endorsed it by saying that envy is the basis of democracy (The Conquest of Happiness, p. 83).

If religious as well as secular thinkers continue to decry [criticize] democracy, what is the alternative that they propose? Unfortunately, there is no other alternative which, on the whole, would produce more good than any democratic system. Benevolent monarchy or wise dictatorship, that could escape the intoxication of power, could achieve beneficial results in a shorter period in comparison with hesitant and slow-footed democracies. But you cannot have a succession of benevolent monarchs to which the history of all monarchies bears evidence. As to dictatorship, it is always established by ruthless violence and cannot continue without it. The ideal of Socrates and Plato of kings becoming philosophers, or philosophers becoming kings, is only a pattern in heaven.

The Islamic democratic pattern of a republic of free citizens could not last very long because power intoxicated Arab imperialism gave it a fatal blow. Imperialism and democracy cannot go together and any alliance between them is superficial, transient and hypocritical. Islam's original vision, which the best Muslim minds have never ceased to cherish even under most adverse circumstances, was democratic.

The Prophet as the recipient of revelation, and as an exemplar in the embodiment of what he taught, had an exalted and privileged position, but he did not consider himself to be above [the] law. He told his beloved daughter that she should bear in mind that if she stole anything she would receive the same dire punishment as any common thief. He never built a palace or even a middle class house for himself. He identified himself with the poorest citizen of the realm - neither eating nor dressing better than the humble folk. He left no material legacy for his family for he possessed nothing. His illustrious saintly successor testified after the death of the Prophet that he had heard him say that the prophets inherit nothing and nobody inherits anything from them. They are only entitled to the use of things without any claim of ownership.

Jesus had the same attitude towards material goods and considered it a great impediment in spiritual life that a soul should be encumbered with unnecessary wealth. Jesus was perfectly right in his observation that it would be more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. (It is said that a very small window in the city gate through which a person could pass in a bent position with great difficulty was called the eye of the needle because of its extreme narrowness.)

Islam is a practical religion, so it does not prescribe for all such a spiritualised ideal existence in which nobody should own anything. This is only the characteristic of those who have reached a very high state which is beyond the common run of humanity. But this ideal condition defines the direction in which the principle of social justice should move. People should not sit on unnecessary wealth, however acquired. The have-nots have a right to share it. Does not all humanitarian socialism tend towards it, not curbing the initiative of earning as much as one can by legitimate motives? It enjoins to devise a system in which wealth as the life-blood of the social organism should circulate in every part of it. Concentration in any one organ would injure the greedy self centred organ besides having a deleterious effect on the whole organism.

There is a verse in the Qur'an in which a question put to the Prophet is answered in only one pregnant word which sums up the whole ideology of socialism: "They ask you what they should give away (for charity or common wefare); tell them they should part with whatever is 'surplus' " (Qur'an 2:219). The "surplus" is the answer of the Qur'an. Socialistic States are now devising all possible means to take away these surpluses by heavy progressive taxation amounting almost to confiscation when wealth reaches a very high level, and by death duties. They are moving in the direction of the Qur'an. The conservative Dean Inge is indignant about it because it would impoverish British aristocracy and make it impossible for them to maintain their magnificent country houses. He calls it the robbing of an innocent minority by a predatory majority of do-nothing have-nots.

Islam could not give an eternally valid chart of the details of execution and implementation but did give in unmistakable terms the fundamentals of a humanitarian democracy. True Islam in action could harbour no privileged classes and would not tolerate any type of hereditary monarchy. The hereditary principle is bad for the State and does not hold good even in the realm of the spirit. Even a prophet may have a degenerate son and ignoble progeny. There could be no hereditary apostolic succession. Nobody in the Islamic State would have the audacity to proclaim, like Louis XIV, "I am the State."

Islam recognises neither kings nor their divine right. Feudalism or big landlordism also could not develop in a polity which is truly Islamic. As already stated, the law of primogeniture was the bedrock on which feudalism of castles and serfs was based. The Islamic law of inheritance definitely prohibits it. Even if a person has acquired large tracts of land by legitimates means (which is very seldom) they shall be cut up in small peasant proprietorships within one or two generations. And if surpluses are heavily taxed, capitalism, in the old sense, shall have no legs to stand upon.

In an ideal Islamic State there could be no kings, no feudal lords and no capitalists with a plethora of wealth. It will be a society of good middle-class people who are the backbone of every healthy society.

Shall it differ very much from a Communist State of the Russian type? The answer is yes, for the following reasons:

(1) It derives the fundamentals of life from the great spiritual leaders of humanity who taught that the ideals of human life are spiritual and Divine.

(2) It shall not subscribe to the creed of dialectical or historical materialism, which for Communism, is the only eternal truth, if it believes at all in any eternal truth.

(3) It shall be based on the firm belief in the liberty and dignity of the individual. The State is not an end but a means for promoting the maximum welfare of the individual. As the Qur'an says: "You shall be responsible to God as individuals." The personal and private life of every individual must be secure.

(4) This necessitates absolute freedom of conscience which the Qur'an proclaims to the world in the emphatic injunction that there shall be no compulsion about religious beliefs and practices (2:256). No one shall enjoy any privilege or suffer any disability because of belonging to any particular group. There shall be no ruling party enjoying any special privilege or power.

(5) Religious communities shall enjoy the maximum of freedom to the extent that, apart from the general laws of the realm necessary for the common weal - general security and protection of fundamental rights of the individual - they shall have the right to be governed by their personal laws. The Qur'an and the Prophet granted that right to all religious communities which cannot be taken away by any legislation.

There are only two points of agreement between Communism and Islam. Both are against racial discrimination and both desire to do away with economic systems that tend to concentrate wealth in a few hands. One vital question remains to be answered which arises necessarily out of the relation of Islam to democracy and that is: 'How far is an Islamic society free to make laws for itself if a comprehensive code is already prescribed?'