Bahawalpur tragedy

THE horrific killing of the innocent Christians in a Bahawalpur church during a Sunday service on Oct 28 is the most heinous and condemnable act of terrorism, which no Muslim can even think of.

Muslims and Christians have been living happily and cordially side by side ever since the inception of Pakistan and much before that.

Never was such a horrendous act ever attempted in Pakistan. Regrettably, the same cannot be said for across the border where apart from numerous such mass killings a visiting pastor from Australia was burnt alive along with his wife and children by zealot Hindus.

The laudable role played by our Christian brethren in the nation-building activities is second to none. They excel meritoriously in the fields of education, healthcare, hospices and hospitals. In fact, most of the prime educational institutions and hospitals in the country owe their existence to the Christian missionaries.

And let me add here that not a single Muslim till date has been converted to Christianity by any of the great institutions. That alone speaks for their noble spirit of tolerance and respect for the Muslims’ beliefs and faith.

Having said that, let’s examine the real cause of this great tragedy. The very timing and nature of the crime smacks of a foreign hidden hand. It is just not a sheer coincidence that it all happened during the visit of the German Chancellor to Pakistan. The enemy has very cleverly chosen an opportune time to get the maximum coverage of the incident and thus cause damage to the image of Pakistan by projecting it as a terrorist state to the entire world.

Bahawalpur mayhem has also been timed when the entire world media men are gathered in Pakistan. One hopes that the world media will see through the game and project the truth.

COL (R) RIAZ JAFRI

Rawalpindi

I am shocked to read about the massacre of innocent Christians attending their peaceful Sunday prayers in a Bahawalpur Church on Oct 28. What is wrong with us Muslims? Is this Jihad? To me, Jihad means an honest struggle in the way of God. So how does murdering innocent people who were praying to God be considered Jihad?

Islam is the last religion and encompasses all that came before it. It is a religion of truth, love and peace by its very meaning. We should wake up to its enemies that are actually within. No force from the outside can destroy Islam if we live our lives according to the Will of God.

Count the number of times the words ‘In the name of God, the most Merciful the most Beneficent’ appears in the Holy Quran. If that is the nature of God, then why are we so distant from Him?

NADIRA HAKIM

Mosman, NSW, Australia

Defence division

THIS is with reference to the news item published in Dawn titled “Defense division tops list of corrupt department”. Finally the cat has come out of the bag.

What had been hushed up for years and had been contemplated in whispers is now in the open.

For the last 54 years, civilians had been maligned and accused for all kinds of wrongdoings. They were held guilty for all modes of corruption, they were painted dark and their governments were removed, dismissed and overthrown on the basis of these accusations. But it is also surprising to note that during every formal inquiry, nothing concrete could be established beyond speculation.

The news that the maximum number of corruption cases pertains to the Defense division, lends support to the argument that all is not well with what had been attributed to the army as an organization. The first disclosure was the Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission report, which exposed the army in front of the commoners.

Then came Shahid Javed Burki revelations, who had been most critical of the economic policies of the democratic governments. After a decade, he admits that yes money came in plenty during the Zia-ul-Haq’s regime.

May I know where the money that came in the name of the Pakistani people has gone? Did the common man get any benefit?

Certainly not, but he was certainly the recipient of the miseries that the Afghan war brought on our society. The news is an eye-opener for those who had always pinned hopes on the armed forces as the saviour and deliverer of the country.

This also reminds one about the President himself, saying in the press conference that there is no corruption in the army. If we want to put our country in the right direction, and bring some order in our rank and file then it is in the interest of everyone that the army should go back to the barracks and once for all let the people rule the country.

FAUZIA WAHAB

Karachi

Influx of Afghan refugees

WE have millions of Afghan refugees yet international aid agencies are insisting that Pakistan open its borders to receive more. According to some estimates, if this is done six to seven million people might cross the border to enter Pakistan.

Why is it that only Pakistan is being pressurized to accept this multitude of refugees ? It is the duty of the global community, fighting the war against terrorism, to share the burden of refugees, particularly those who need immediate medical aid.

Why do not the US, Australia and Canada accommodate them ? The refugees would return to Afghanistan when the situation becomes normal.

M.A. RAOOF

Sharjah

War during Ramazan

IT IS quite regrettable that the US has refused to give any assurance for the stoppage of the so-called war against terrorism in the month of Ramazan. Mr Rumsfeld has gone one step further by saying that history is full of wars being fought in this holy month, even among the Muslims themselves.

I am sure Mr Rumsfeld must have been under extreme pressure from some quarters when he said this. But the Americans should respect other people’s religious sensitivities and stop this senseless war which has achieved nothing during the several weeks of severe bombings.

If the US continues the war in this holy month, then they would only be helping the fundamentalists and other anti-US elements in this country to capitalize on this fact and to gain more support from the masses. President Pervez Musharraf had, in his interview to the CNN, also expressed the same fear.

It is hoped that the US will respond positively.

MEMONA REHMAN

Karachi

Pakistan N-arms in safe hands

QUOTING serving and retired US officials as sources, Seymour Hersh has stated in the magazine “New Yorker” in its latest weekly issue (Tahir Mirza’s report in Dawn of Oct 29) that “A US force was training in the United States with members of Israeli Unit 262, a commando team that has engaged in behind-the-lines operations including thefts and assassinations.

The US unit concerned specializes in slipping undetected into foreign countries to find and, if necessary, disarm nuclear weapons”. The aim is “to take out Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in case of a coup against President Pervez Musharraf”.

Pakistani scientists and engineers, solely on their own and in spite of intensive counter efforts by America and other countries of the West, test-exploded their weapon-oriented nuclear devices on May 28 and 30, 1998.

If Prime Minister Vajpayee and the top men of BJP had not test-exploded their nuclear devices a fortnight earlier on the mistaken notion, based on India’s usually poor intelligence services, that Pakistan’s nuclear cupboards have only skeletons, Pakistan wouldn’t have test-exploded its devices. Thanks to Vajpayee and his inner cabinet, India and the world community now know that Pakistan does have nuclear weapons in its cupboards.

The Indians took ten years or so before coming up with their first nuclear test-explosion in 1974 falsely claiming that it was for peaceful purposes. Thus India needed thirty years to come up with its latest test-explosions. Pakistan needed hardly a fraction of that between the start and its first tests in May 1998. Besides, foreign experts found Pakistan’s devices qualitatively better than those of India.

The proficiency demonstrated by President Musharraf and his team makes one feel sure that there are no dissident fundamentalists within Pakistan’s military. That the fundamentalist politicians secured hardly 5 per cent votes in any of the Pakistani elections is proof, if proof is needed, that they can ever reach the corridors of power like the BJP extremists did in India.

American and other experts better worry about India’s command and control over its nuclear warheads than about Pakistan’s.

JALAL AHMED

Karachi

Strikes serve no purpose

THE religious parties have again decided to get all business closed on November 9. The strike would be successful as before. But one fails to understand the purpose of the strike call. Who will benefit from not doing anything for another day? Is it the only way to register protest?

The economic loss to an already sick economy would certainly add to the sufferings of the poor people of Pakistan. This self-inflicted damage is no service to Islam and the nation.

SHAHID ANWAR

Toba Tek Singh

Civilian casualties

THE heart-rending pictures of two boys brutally killed along with their mother during US air raids on Kabul make one shudder to consider the meaning of collateral damage. It appears that the so-called surgical strikes on Afghan cities are resulting in large-scale civilian casualties which is unpardonable.

If the US blames the terrorists for killing unarmed civilians, it is doing the same by killing the unarmed and poor people of Afghanistan. Two wrongs do not make one right.

If the air attacks by the US cannot distinguish between army installations and civilian houses, such operations ought to be discontinued as apart from arousing sympathy for poor Afghans in the Muslim world it is resulting in a stream of hapless refugees flowing into Pakistan.

The most powerful nation in the world killing small children and women of a war ravaged destitute country does not show the US in good light. Where are the Christian virtues of charity and compassion and tolerance?

A reckless reaction by the US in the wake of the September 11 carnage would be counterproductive. Pakistan would be taking the heat, being a frontline state which must not be lost sight of by the coalition partners against terrorism.

DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI

Lahore

NDFC depositors

BOTH the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan had promised the release of deposits of Rs500,000 in the third week of October, 2001, well before the merger of the NDFC with the National Bank of Pakistan. But no directives have been issued as yet for the release of the hard earned money of the NDFC depositors.

The holy month of Ramazan is approaching. During this month, everyone has to spend more on food, and some intend to perform the Umrah. For all this every one, including the NDFC account holders, need more money.

It is, therefore, requested that the promised action be taken without further delay.

A. RAZZAQUE

Karachi

The issue of colour blindness

GOING through the news item under the caption: “Colour blindness: SC upholds NED decision” (Oct 30) I lamented the student’s sheer bad luck.

Many luminaries owe their success in their chosen fields simply to the fact of not being born in environs such as ours. Imagine Dr Stephen Hawking — dean of the faculty of Mathematics at the Cambridge University and the author of “A brief history of time” — possibly the greatest physicist of our time, who is a victim of a wasting disease and cannot even talk. He has to use a wheelchair for moving about and uses computer to communicate where needed.

Can one imagine his university going to the court to stop him from doing what he likes to do best — that is physics — and, instead, being advised to go for, say, ‘textile designing’ or ‘architecture?’ Would he have to face courts simply because he is handicapped?

How can one be sure that tomorrow there won’t be a software that tackles the problem of colour blindness? Is it not possible that this local student may himself develop this software — knowing the constraints he faces?

I would suggest to the student to seek admission abroad, if he can do so, and show his mettle.

AMIR ALI ESMAIL

Karachi

Nation-building plan

THE terrain in Afghanistan is rocky and arid, winter temperatures rival arctic levels. This is a land that is hostile to all life. The common man here is poor, illiterate and unsettled. Society is divided into multiple tribes headed by usually rapacious chieftains who, due to scarce resources, are always fighting among themselves but can suddenly unite against a common foreign aggressor.

For centuries, the major powers have used this country as a buffer against one another and always left suddenly after meeting their strategic ends here, leaving its people miserable and the country in ruins.

Such an unstable country is a great obstacle to the achievement of world peace.

The big powers are, therefore, requested in their own interest to take pity on the people of this region and formulate a long-term nation-building plan for Afghanistan.

M. ALI

Muzaffargarh

Question for Qazi Sahib

THIS is with reference to the letter about Qazi Hussein Ahmed’s call (Oct 29) for boycott of United States products. It is very interesting to note that members of his own family are US citizens and he is telling people to boycott US goods.

The role of religious leaders at this point should be to bring the Muslims together and not to instigate them, creating more hatred.

N. HUSSEIN

Florida, US

An appeal

MY son, Adnan Abid, 23, was a final year student in the Medical Academy of Bishkaka City, Kyrgyzstan.

On August 25, he was murdered by terrorists there. Adnan was my only son and was the hope for my old age. The death of my son has broken my back.

I request the president of Kyrgyzstan to bring the terrorists who killed my son to book.

ABID HUSSAIN

Gujranwala

USML-qualified doctors

HARD luck has befallen the poor doctors who have passed their USMLE examinations and were awaiting their visas for the United States. The USMLE is one of the toughest medical examinations in the world and those who pass are considered exceptional in their profession. The last date for securing medical residencies in the United States is January 15, 2002.

No Pakistani doctor has ever been involved in any kind of subversive activities because such highly educated personnel are always well-disciplined and have a cosmopolitan outlook. Pakistani doctors already working in America are contributing a great deal to the US economy.

The ambassador of the United States in Pakistan is requested to urgently grant visas to the USML-qualified Pakistani doctors.

AHMAD JUNIAD

Muzaffargarh

Terrorism

ARIEL Sharon is on a killing spree of Palestinians and Mr. Bush is killing innocent Afghan civilians, including 100 Afghans killed as a result of American bombing on a hospital.

The Indian army is killing innocent Kashmiris.

All the three are part of the civilized world and claim not to be indulging in terrorism.

LT COL (R) IRFAN HAIDER

Hyderabad

Dealing with economic crisis

THE Afghan crisis has sparked violent protests in the country. The result: investors are feeling concerned about the future of their businesses and daily wage-earners are lying on footpaths of cities staring into the heaven. The crisis, the experts of economy say, will cause loss of billions to the foreign trade.

The managers of the economy are busy in their efforts to minimize this loss to the national exchequer by requesting the allies to write off the country’s debt and increase the import quota of Pakistani products. And the strategic partners are responding positively to help the country stay firm in the war against terrorism.

As if this is not enough, some vested interests have opened another front of war to make the matters worse: some traders have flooded the markets with fake items of daily use. The tobacco industry has claimed that the mafia, by selling fake cigarettes in the market, inflicts Rs 200 million of annual loss to the national exchequer in terms of tax evasion. There was also a news report (Oct 19) about firms involved in selling substandard edible oil and ghee in the market.

The counterfeiters are on the rampage deceiving citizens, corporate interests and the law-enforcing agencies of the country and there are no signs whether they will stop their ugly practice. They are shattering the confidence of the consumers as well as the industrialists in the government’s ability to defend their legitimate interests as taxpayers. It is also a manifestation of the inability of the government to collect lawful taxes and make their best use.

One wonders as to which direction we are heading. Where protesters have swarmed the streets shouting slogans, our industry confronts faceless enemies, and the law-enforcing agencies are sitting cross-legged. Should we continue relying on foreign aid as we did in the past or wage war on the enemies, within to utilize our own resources for our own benefit? I think it is the best time to answer this question.

RIAZ MISSEN

Islamabad