| November 3, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba’an 16, 1422 |
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The roots of terrorism
Who is a coward?
A just share for growers
Counterfeit goods menace
Quota enhancement
Why should all Afghans suffer?
Govt College of Commerce
Pharmacists in pharmacies
Public transport
Another strike call
Cases against builders
An American’s soul-searching call
Traffic rules
The concerned authorities should take note of this and, keeping in view the requirements of public health, implement the concerned law strictly.
SINCE Sept 11, Pakistani newspapers have carried a large number of articles concerning the Afghan crisis. Exhaustive commentaries have been offered with regard to what the USA and Pakistan should or should not have done.
However, there has been a conspicuous absence of similar analysis concerning the Taliban and Osama. There have been only passing remarks about the role and responsibilities of the two in the present destruction being suffered by the Afghan people.
Considering that both of them are a major part of the triangle, it is imperative that their role must also be discussed in as objective a manner as possible.
The first issue is whether or not Osama is a terrorist and whether he had a hand in the New York tragedy. Our demand of proof is countered by the opposite side with points namely
(a) If Osama is really angry about American presence in Saudi Arabia, why does he not wage his struggle against the Saudi rulers who have invited the Americans and allowing them to stay on?
(b) What for has he set up camps in Afghanistan for imparting military training to the civilian Muslim youths of other countries?
(c) Why has he been gleefully blessing the killing of innocent civilian Americans and urging his followers to kill more of them? Does Islam allow killing of women, children, the elderly and other non-combatant?
(d) If he is not guilty, why does he not surrender himself to the International Court Of Justice? Why is he afraid of not getting justice - wasn’t one of the Libyans accused of Pan Am highjacking and crash set free for lack of sufficient evidence against him?
As regards Taliban, (a) Isn’t it their moral and legal duty, as per Islamic teachings, to hold supreme the welfare of Afghans and not subject them to any more misery than they have already suffered during the last two decades?
(b) Since they claim to be the only truly Islamic state in the world, must they not present a model which attracts non-Muslims to Islam rather than repel them?
(c) Does Islam sanction sacrificing the entire polity for the sake of one person who has been accused of grave wrongdoing?
(d) Why are they protecting such a person, who is not even their own national? Didn’t Libya finally had to surrender the two Libyans, who were their own nationals?
(e) If Osama is a wise and sincere friend of the Afghans, should he not be expending all his financial resources and physical energies in their welfare (food, shelter, edu-cation, etc) rather than teaching America a lesson at their cost?
(e) What is the justification for the killing and maiming of thousands of innocent Afghans during the last six years at the hands of the Taliban themselves?
M. SADIQ SWATI
Islamabad
DURING his press conference earlier this month, President General Pervez Musharraf, while commenting on the need to eliminate terrorism, put the problem in a clear perspective. He compared the current overblown retributive attacks, the show and display of might against a puny foe to only plucking of the leaves.
And he was right, like those few sane voices inside the US, which are cautioning against the reckless use of firepower. It’s like using a howitzer to kill a mosquito. Congressperson Barbara Lee who, alone, opposed the sweeping powers being granted to the executive in the name of anti-terrorism that threaten civil liberties, rightly warned, “Blind retribution is not justice. ‘Justice can only be achieved through contemplation on how to right the wrong”.
President Musharraf advised the crusaders against terrorism on God’s earth to go to the root of the poison tree, instead of plucking the leaves or a few twigs, or cutting away even a few branches.
It is the same with all ‘isms’. You cannot root out communism by killing communists or by McCarthyism, so you cannot eliminate terrorism by simply discharging your vendetta against Osama, Taliban, Arabs, the Muslims worldwide or, even, by driving away Muslims from Christian countries, as one correspondent in the US News and World Report recently suggested.
After four weeks of continuous showers of various kinds of bombs and missiles, Osama and Omar remain safe.
On the other hand, America is drawing flak for mounting civilian casualties.
The war-planners are having second thoughts. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has changed his tone and tune. It is a welcome sign if the super-hawks, instead of trying to lynch every dissenter, including their own countrymen, appreciate the need to be realistic.
It must be borne in mind that terrorism is also an abstract thing, as was communism. There, it was a system. Here it denotes a typical conduct. Yet, it can be dealt with in the same way as communism. The recipe: find out and remove the cause and terrorism will disappear of itself.
As General Musharraf advised: Destroy the root; the tree will wither and fall.
SYED JAWAID IQBAL
Karachi
LISTENING to BBC and CNN one gets the impression that they are trying to convey the message that the Afghans are cowards because they are hiding in the caves.
Let us look at the issue closely and without bias. No doubt the attack on the trade centre on the Sept 11 was a grave act of terrorism but to carry out bombing on innocent and defenceless people of Afghanistan is an unforgivable and unpardonable act. To kill the Afghans in this fashion is not only cowardice but mean.
If the US wants to remain a superpower for some time, it should behave in a just and fair manner.
DR M.R. MIRZA
Islamabad
THE textile industry does earn enough foreign exchange to meet the country’s requirements. But still it has been pampered at the cost of the cultivators who are given extremely low prices for their raw cotton.
The result is that whereas our current account deficit has never been bridged, the textile mill owners have been growing fatter while the tiller, the common man, has been getting steadily poorer. Most of the foreign exchange earned by the textile magnates is deposited abroad anyway.
The government is requested not to follow the Western policy of keeping raw material prices low, but to give the growers their due.
SHAKEEL AHMAD
Muzaffargarh
THE negative and harmful impact of trade in fake and counterfeit goods in economic and financial terms is widely discussed by our press. The menace is generally looked at from economic and commercial point of view. Not much is thought or discussed about extremely dangerous psycho-social consequences of this evil. These include erosion of state credibility, anxiety among consumers, free hand to counterfeit mafia and despondency among the general public.
It is in fact an organized economic terrorism. The consumer pays for a genuine product and gets a fake one. He feels that he has been cheated. This creates a mistrust and lack of confidence between him and the retailers. Besides, a consumer who is deceived feels helpless and thus it creates a sort of anxiety in his mind. His belief in fair dealing and the prevailing system weakens and may be even shattered. Thus the credibility or efficiency of government institutions is also eroded.
A case in point is the widespread sale of counterfeit cigarettes in Pakistani markets. This malpractice is nothing but commercial terrorism. The consumer is cheated. Besides, the manufacturers of genuine cigarettes suffer huge financial losses. As a result the government is also deprived of taxes.
NAWAB ALI KHAN
Mardan
I HIGHLY appreciate the effort made by the Minister of Commerce, A. Razzak Dawood, and his team for the fantastic job done by getting quota enhancement and abolishment of duty. This will help create jobs for skilled and semi-skilled workers. I had attended a meeting of exporters called by the EPB and addressed by the commerce minister in which he suggested to distribute enhanced quota to new exporters and companies who go into a joint venture.
I am not against new exporters. But I disagree with the minister’s suggestion to distribute the enhanced quota to joint ventures. This will create a lot of ill-feeling towards medium and small-size exporters. Only the big exporters or those who already have a joint venture will be able to take the advantage of quota enhancement.
If newcomers want to come in to export business, they should buy quota from the auction. This way, neither the small exporters nor any other exporters will harbour ill-feeling.
IQBAL DOSSA
Karachi
SOON after the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on Sept 11, the American President declared war on terrorism for which purpose Osama bin Laden was singled out as the prime suspect and targeted even before conducting a probe to establish who was behind the attack. So far no concrete evidence has been found to establish without a shadow of a doubt that Osama had engineered the attacks on Sept 11.
The main purpose of the war against Afghanistan has been to get hold of the prime suspect of Sept 11 events, viz. Osama bin Laden. Since he is seeking asylum in Afghanistan which is ruled by the Taliban government, its head Mullah Umar has been labelled the ‘chief abettor’ and hence sought after as target number two.
But for these two persons, Osama and Mullah Umar, the people of Afghanistan should not be made to suffer indefinitely. So it is imperative that America should declare in unequivocal terms the timeframe of its strikes on Afghanistan, which seems to be deviating from the original programme of getting Osama, dead or alive.
Pakistan is passing through tremendous stress and strain of internal opposition and external threats; as such President Musharraf should tell the American President, during the former’s coming meeting with the latter in New York, that there is a need for change in policy.
There should be total and unconditional ceasefire with the advent of the holy month of Ramazan.
Thereafter the alliance should seek diplomatic channel to achieve what is desired to be achieved. By now wisdom should dawn on the warlords of the alliance that merely dropping bombs on Afghanistan will never achieve the target.
A. M. SAYIED
Karachi
APROPOS of the letter of the President COMMECS (Oct 24), the credibility of the statement and the tall claims made in the letter can well be judged from just one fact. It has been claimed that the teaching staff of the college has extended full support to the privatization move, while it is a matter of record that all the faculty members have made a joint representation duly signed by each member, to the Governor of Sindh vehemently opposing the move.
The allegations about the falling standards of the college are far from the truth. Despite all the odds it has been able to maintain its academic and administrative standards and still remains one of the most prestigious institutions for all classes of talented students. Had the Government of Sindh relinquished the hold of administration on Government College of Commerce & Economics, a large number of meritorious students would have been deprived of the opportunity to pursue their talents being unable to afford the fat fees charged by the so called champions ‘serving’ the cause of education.
If at all the cause of education is so dear to them and they are the only ones who can run exemplary institutions, why can’t they establish a new college which the city badly needs and serve the cause of education better? Why are they after an established and well functioning college? Do they have to settle some score or have their eye on something else at VVIP location which they dare not speak out?
The addition of a new college will not only consume the energies of the devoted Sir Syeds of the day but also relieve pressure from the existing institutions enabling them to further improve their performance.
We would therefore urge upon the authorities not to be taken in by the tall claims and the undue influence that is being exerted and keep the interest of the student community above any other consideration and continue to maintain the status quo.
ALL FACULTY MEMBERS
Govt College of Commerce & Economics
Karachi
SOBIA ZAREEN
Karachi
I WANT to draw the attention of the Sindh governor to the increasing fares of public transport in the city. Every day a large number of people, mostly those belonging to the middle class, travel by public transport.
In spite of charging high fares, the buses are in a very bad condition. Secondly, the drivers and conductors do not behave properly with the passengers. It is an ordeal to travel by bus, especially for the women.
I hope the governor would direct the relevant authorities to take necessary measures.
AQSA HAFEEZ
Karachi
THE religious parties have again decided to get the shops closed on November 9. The strike would be successful as before. But one fails to understand the purpose of the strike.
Who will benefit from not doing anything for another day? Is it the only way to register any protest?
Expected economic loss to an already sick economy of Pakistan would certainly add to the sufferings of the poor. This self-inflicted damage is no service to Islam or to Pakistan.
SHAHID ANWAR
Toba Tek Singh
I REFER to Syed A. Mateen’s letter captioned ‘Court cases against builders’ (Oct 7). I fully agree with his contention that taking these cases to the courts now will only make the middle class and lower middle class people who had invested in these building projects, suffer.
Almost all builders have recovered with profit, the amount invested in land and construction. Mr Mateen has correctly criticised SHEHRI’s policy of delayed action. He has correctly asked why the cases were not taken to court when violations of building rules were being committed by the builders.
As a matter of fact, if the courts decide for demolition of the buildings, it will only bring suffering to the small investors and their families who were counting days in expectation of receiving possession of their flats. It will also be loss of national wealth as tons of cement, steel and other materials such as floor tiles, paints, and also labour will go down the drain.
I would suggest that SHEHRI should keep a watch on construction of commercial projects. As soon as any wrongdoing is observed, they should inform the KBCA and if they are so authorized, the KBCA should initiate legal action.
MOHAMMAD RAFI
Karachi
WE live worlds apart and we wonder why we cannot see eye to eye. Through the years we have let our ignorance breed contempt within ourselves and in the hearts of our children. We claim our cause to be just in our quest to defend and protect ourselves. We stand tall as a nation of democracy, yet the grim reality has been it has been more a nation of hypocrisy. We hide our faces from the bitter truths and neglect to look within our own hearts.
It was not long ago that we ourselves were the ones to sow hatred and prejudice because of the colour of a man’s skin. Our own children fight in the streets, because we have failed them as parents. They so desperately search for a sense of belonging and purpose, because their needs were not met at home.
We have become a society that takes all that is given and still craves more. What a man once did with pride for an honest day’s wages is now done with the speed and ease of a machine. The secret vows of marriage are now easily destroyed with an easily obtained divorce that leaves children helpless. Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters turn against one another in our court of law and forsake their ties that bind.
Is it any wonder that we have found enemies along the way? Still we seem so amazed that any culture could despise our existence and all that we believe to be fair and righteous. How is it that we can claim to be less blameworthy than our enemy? If we are sowing hatred and contempt, it is only right that we will eventually reap it. There are times that we can barely live amongst ourselves in this “great nation.” Do we really expect other countries and cultures to admire our way of life?
We do not have to share the same skin colour or worship God the same way to understand that we are brothers and sisters in the human race. There comes a time and a place where we have to look within our own heart and soul for the answers. We can no longer continue to point the finger, because none of us is without transgression. An ounce of understanding is more powerful than our weapons of destruction and kind words have been known to carry more weight than hatred and self-righteousness.
It is a tragedy when we turn against one another in the human race and project injustice in the name of justice. We let our pain turn into anger and rage and fail to ponder what the end result of our actions will be. How many more lives will b