| November 6, 2001 | Tuesday | Shaba’an 19, 1422 |
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Unprofessional behaviour
Power tariffs
Pertinent questions
US and the Muslim world
Afghan refugees
Mossad and Black Tuesday
Who is behind anthrax scare?
US policy
Degree programmes
Celebrating every child
THE announcement made by US Defence Secretary Rums-feld that America may use small nuclear weapons in Afghanistan if its conventional bombs did not bring the required result triggered a fear in all the countries neighbouring Afghanistan in particular and other countries in general. This is indeed a very alarming announcement and shows the level of frustration in the American cabinet after three weeks of bombing on tents and caves.
When President Bush started the “war on terrorism” he claimed that this war was against terrorists and all those nations who harboured terrorists. Now can someone explain to me how America will fight this war against those countries which are harbouring terrorists when the United States itself has been training terrorists at a camp in Georgia for years. The camp is called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, or WHISC. It is based in Fort Benning, Georgia, and funded by the government.
Until January this year, WHISC was called the “School of the Americas”, or SOA. Since 1946, SOA has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers and policemen. Among its graduates are many of the continent’s most notorious torturers, mass murderers, dictators and state terrorists. As hundreds of pages of documentation compiled by the pressure group, SOA Watch, show Latin America has been ripped apart by its alumni.
The FBI defines terrorism as “violent acts... intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government, or affect the conduct of a government”, which is a precise description of the activities of SOA’s graduates. In 1996 the US government was forced to release seven of the school’s training manuals. Among other top tips for terrorists, they recommended blackmail, torture, execution and the arrest of witnesses’ relatives.
The tragic Sept 11 incident could have been prevented had the US pursued a wise foreign policy. The dilemma with common people in America is that they have no knowledge of world politics. Whatever their news media feed them they think that is right. They never get a chance to hear the other side.
Hope the hawks in the State Department and Pentagon stop the war and start dialogue in Afghanistan.
The civilian casualties caused by American pilots’ ‘misjudgment’ are now getting out of control. These Afghans are as innocent as the New Yorkers who became the victim of their government’s wrong policies.
We want to see a peaceful world. People around the world should take serious note of “the consideration of use of nuclear weapons in Afghanistan by America”. All humanity-loving people should rise up and force America to stop the war and find some other means to resolve the problems of terrorism. Terrorists are not born, they are made by the system based on injustice.
SHAH AFFAN
North York, Canada
SOME people in today’s world have the tendency to make a quick name for themselves no matter how well known they already are in their respective fields. Take the recent example of the BBC’s journalist Christina Lamb. She is a well-known name among TV viewers across the world and was in Pakistan to cover America’s war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
In the course of her professional duty, she went on to try her hand at a theatrical episode for her channel, which, if she had succeeded in executing, would not only have made an exclusive story for the BBC but earned her more name and fame overnight. Lamb booked an air ticket with Pakistan International Airlines from Quetta to Islamabad in the name of O.B. Laden to file a fabricated story with her channel saying that Osama bin Laden has sneaked into Quetta via Chaman border of Afghanistan and flown to Islamabad by air from Quetta.
To prove her story as true, she was holding the PIA ticket in O.B. Laden’s name, which she had planned to travel on and use as documentary evidence. Luck did not favour Lamb and she was caught red-handed before she could succeed in her task and generate credible evidence to make a breaking news of Osama’s fleeing from Afghanistan.
It appears that Ms Lamb overlooked a news item published in a newspaper last month in which it was reported that Pakistan International Airlines had cancelled a travel agent’s booking licence in Karachi on the pretext that the agency had booked a ticket in the name of ‘Osama bin Laden’ (not ‘O.B. Laden’). Had she read that report, Lamb would have never thought of doing what she did.
On the other hand, was it not very naive of the PIA to have dropped the axe on its own feet by cancelling the travel agent’s license whose luxurious office is located in a very posh area of the city? This means that parents who have committed the mistake of naming their child as Osama bin Laden (for whatever reason), will not have access to take their child along if they have to go from one city to another by air.
When Saddam Hussain invaded Kuwait in 1990 and gave a tough time to American forces who had landed in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries to fight aerial and ground war against Iraq, many people in Pakistan were deeply inspired by the courage of Saddam Hussain for having engaged in war with the world’s most powerful nation — America. They named their children after Saddam Hussain. Does it mean that people who have been named after Iraqi leader will not have access to travel by air? One wonders if people associated with Human Rights Commission have anything to say or take action in this regard.
If Christina Lamb had succeeded in her designs, it would have put Pakistan in a very awkward position. The western media would have blamed Pakistan for double-crossing its western allies. This adventurous and concocted report of Ms Lamb could have proved disastrous in shaping the future relationship of Pakistan and America.
If TV journalists like Christina Lamb can create fictitious evidence against Osama while executing their professional duties on Pakistani soil, what credibility does the evidence of George W. Bush and Tony Blair hold against Osama bin Laden’s involvement in the Sept 11 bombings in New York and Washington? And those of Anthrax, of course!
M. RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
I fully endorse the views expressed by Shah N. Khan (Oct 26). The hapless electri-city consumers have again been made to suffer by
NEPRA which has allowed WAPDA/KESC to raise power tariffs for the fourth time this year.
The irony is that the latest increase has taken place despite the fact that the price of crude oil has fallen by 30 per cent during the last two months in the international market.
Is it not a blatant contradiction to the stated official pronouncements that power consumers will be given due relief in the event of a fall in the price of crude oil?
True that the government is not answerable to anybody but its policies and decisions, which are certainly a source of great discontent for the people, are bringing a bad name to it.
I, being at the receiving end, can only hope that better sense prevails in the official hierarchy and that it adopts a judicious course of action in the future.
SH AMJAD HASAN
Lahore
THE US bombing on Afgha-nistan consequent to the catastrophic events of September 11 have entered the fifth week but with no outcome except that it has added to the miseries of innocent Afghans. The following questions will be pertinent here:
(a) How long will the Americans continue to pound Afgha-nistan?
(b) Bombing of civilian populations is not allowed under international law. It is counter-productive. Where are the human rights activists?
(c) If the Allied forces fail to find Osama bin Laden, what will happen? Who shall be suspected and punished then?
(d) If Kabul does fall and some kind of government is established, in all probability the remaining Afghanistan shall continue to be under the warlords or the Taliban as the case may be. In that case would it not prolong American presence in the area with graver implication for Pakistan?
(e) People have a great fear that America may resort to chemical warfare in case it is unable to break the will of the Taliban. If that happens, what shall be the reaction in Pakistan?
Will some one answer these questions?
WAQAS HAIDER
Lahore
ORIGINALLY from Pakistan, I am a Muslim and offer the following that may be an explanation concerning President Bush’s expression of amazement as to why there is so much hatred in the Muslim world against the Americans for “we are so good.”
I do believe that the American people are generally good and amiable. The deep resentment towards the Americans in the Muslim and the Third World is the direct consequence of the American policies of two-tier justice, blindness to see this and the arrogance with which its political, economical and military power is used and imposed.
Whatever the reasons and justification for the American policies, the Muslim world sees the following picture which, rightly or wrongly, shapes the opinion of the Muslim masses:
UN Security Council resolutions favouring Muslims are blocked, principally by the USA, or held in abeyance. They concern Arab territories occupied by Israel and Kashmir.
UN Security Council resolutions against the Muslim countries are implemented forthwith, be they Iraq or Afghanistan.
When local military authorities cancel democratic elections where non-Muslim parties are in the lead, the West clamours for democratic values to be upheld. Burma is an example.
When local military authorities cancel democratic elections or dismiss democratically elected governments, as happened in Algeria and in Turkey respectively, the West remains silent.
The Bank of Credit & Commerce International (BCCI), an Arab bank, is banned and disbanded by the American authorities because it was implicated in money laundering. Many other western banks, especially those in Switzerland and Monaco, which are reported to do the same are not touched.
America admits that Afghanistan did not carry out the terrorist attacks in the USA; the country is being attacked because it harbours the prime suspect, Osama bin Laden. If this is sufficient ground to bombard a country, would France be given the right to bombard the United Kingdom which did not extradite the terrorist Ramza, wanted in France?
Nobody would accept the encomium that America and the West are fighting for democracy and a free world.
DR MUSTAYEEN AHMED KHAN
Angers, France
IT IS surprising that the US, UK, EU and the UN are pressurising Pakistan to open its borders and accept millions of Afghan refugees. Where were these countries when Australia refused to accept a few hundred stranded Afghan asylum- seekers, only a few months ago?
Pakistan must strongly resist the move to impose upon it a fresh wave of refgees from Afghanista. It should accept only as many Afghan refugees as the US, the UK and the EU may each be willing to accept themselves. Transporting these refugees to their new abodes in the highly ‘civilized’ society will cost only a fraction of the cost of a couple of B-52 bombers or a dozen cruise missiles.
IJTABA HUSSAIN
Karachi
IN 1963, Jack Ruby, a Jew who claimed to be a great fan of President John Kennedy, shot dead Lee Oswald undergoing trial for the alleged assassination of the President. This happened when Oswald was being brought out of the court after a hearing and right in front of the telecameras which were providing live coverage.
Ruby must have pre-planned the murder before he left his home. Otherwise, why would he have carried his gun when he went to the court? What was his motive? Presumably, he was part of the conspiracy hatched by Mossad which must have feared that strong-willed John Kennedy would not play ball for Jewish interests and hoped that his successor Lyndon Johnson would. The conspirators must have feared that Oswald would spill the beans exposing Tel Aviv’s hand in the assassination of Kennedy.
Mossad’s agents have been capturing Naziz hiding in different parts of the world for fear of Jewish revenge against the holocaust in Europe carried out at the bidding of Hitler. It was the Mossad that had meticulously planned the destruction of the under-construction nuclear plant in Iraq. The Jewish secret service is an expert at such dirty work.
It is highly probable that the people who perished with the crews and passengers of the four hijacked planes on Black Tuesday were a misguided lot, not knowing that the planers could have been the Mossad. The motive could have been to widen the gulf between the Muslims and the Americans.
JALAL AHMED
Karachi
MINUTES after the second aeroplane hit the World Trade Centre, the prime suspect had been pinpointed and within days the offensive was launched against Afghanistan. The blame for the anthrax scare is yet to be ascertained even after the lapse of four weeks since the first case was reported.
Evidence is mounting that this might be the work of the rightwing hate groups within the US, as the investigating authorities have failed to provide credible links to foreign sources. The US might succeed in capturing Osama bin Laden by bombing Afghanistan, but can it use even an iota of that force to counter the threat that exists within its boundaries?
MANSURA MINHAS
Maryland,
USA
THERE is a general consensus that Osama bin Laden’s elimination cannot help eradicate terrorism. What is going on in Afghanistan will serve nothing except add fuel to the fire in the shape of recurrent attempts of terrorism in the United States.
So I would urge Mr Bush to change his present policy.
AMIR SAUD
Kamoke
THE secretary, Affiliation Committee of Karachi Univer-sity, has issued a statement in some leading newspapers (Oct 25) that there has been a mushroom growth of institutions in the city imparting BBA and BCS degree programmes, duly approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC). He has further clarified that these institution are operating unlawfully because the UGC is not empowered to grant permission or affiliation to any educational institution in the private sector.
But this clarification is not the actual remedy or compensation for the losses sustained by students and their parents. What is required is a ban on all unlawful educational institutions. The provincial education department should publish the names of such institutions so that the intending students may not fall in to their trap.
YOUTH ALLIANCE ORGANIZATION
Karachi
I HAVE been working in Pakistan for nearly a year-and-a-half now. Recently I attended a school function and felt so sad when I could not get answers for some fundamental questions. Parents were entertained with a Shakespeare play and nice songs, but one flaw — only select students could participate, those who excelled. Where are the others? I asked a teacher. “Oh they are down there in their classes. We cannot allow them to come this way. They are a nuisance,” she told me. My heart froze. I could not bring myself to talk to any of the other teachers.
I thought back to parents’ days that I had attended when I had lived in Kenya. They were always based on the principle of participation, not one of excellence. Each child played a part in it, each child was celebrated. So some did really well, and others did not, they presented what they could according to their own capacity. But each child did something for their parents and was on stage — participation was important, not excellence. And the numbers were much higher, how they managed to ensure that 400-500 children were able to participate in something or the other in 3-4 hours programme, I could not figure out. Perhaps through a focus on doing things as a group rather than as individuals.
Here even the exhibitions were limited to those who excelled; work of the rest of the students was not displayed. Even those parents were greeted well whose children would be at the top of their class; for the rest they had no time. I was never so sad as I was that day, sitting on the side and observing what was going on around me.
I kept thinking about different approaches, and about society. Here is a society which has been ‘civilized’ for hundreds of years. Even when Europe was going through the dark ages, South Asia was a developed social system. A rich culture has developed over the last few centuries, literature in Urdu and other languages of the region is deep and advanced, it has been a seat of philosophical thought, and so on.
What has happened to this society with such a rich cultural heritage? What kind of education are we imparting that creates such divides in people, where the few are celebrated and the rest are meant to conform. How are we going to develop this society and culture when our education systems are so oppressive, when the systems subdue rather than encourage and guide independent thought, when only one side of the picture is shown to the rest of the world and when the average person is treated as dirt? Who is going to transform society when the education system is designed to encourage conformity?
Africa is generally treated is an uncivilized part of the world. But in my 20 years of stay there, I have learnt that children are loved in Africa, they are never a nuisance, stepmothers and mothers alike love the children. People organize themselves when they sit together, and they listen to the person speaking and do not interrupt like they do here. Group activity for common good can be found in every little village. One feels the love and caring. I do not deny the levels of crime and poverty and corruption, all that exist too as it does here. But in Africa humanity still exists at the personal level. Who then is civilized?
SHAHANA S. AHMED
Islamabad
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