| November 27, 2001 | Tuesday | Ramazan 11, 1422 |
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Ethics of game in cricket
Colour bias
Basic reforms before electoral process
Defining terrorism
Denationalization of colleges
Improving PTV news coverage
Shadan Lund incident
National highway
Tragedy at Mazar-i-Sharif
Homegrown terrorism
French course fees
Bus fares
BA question papers
Naukot Fort
Harassment of Pakistanis
Intellectual Property Rights Authority
AS a Pakistani cricket fan, I am amused and it gives me immense pleasure to see the much needed slap on ICC’s face for its double standard. It would be most interesting to see from Pakistan’s perspective as to how it reacts against India and South Africa for brushing ICC aside.
South Africa inflicted more wounds by siding with India to protect its own interest rather than siding with ICC, by deciding to play against India on Indian term and by leaving out match referee Mike Denness, without caring about the consequences.
Pakistan has suffered the most at the hands of ICC, only recently it was pleading to them that the cancellation of India’s tour to Pakistan would be a very costly affair for its cricket board, but their plea went unheard and ICC kept mum watching like a lame spectator.
The only reason for South African to play India was to protect its cricket board financial loss of $ 5 million, whereas the cancellation of Indian tour to Pakistan incurred financial loss of over $ 20 million to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
ICC’s biggest blunder can be judged with their bias and quick decision to award third Test and valuable points to South Africa, despite violation committed by the South African’s for not honouring ICC’s decision to stand their nominated match referee. While Pakistan was neither compensated for its loss nor valuable points were awarded to them, whereas India was never penalized.
Although, it is hard to believe that a man of Tendulkar’s stature was tampering with the ball, a very similar situation for which Pakistani bowlers have always been accused of, only on their foreign trips.
It is quite natural that when one holds something in his hand, he often fiddles with it. Unless it is practiced frequently i.e., ball is tampered.
ASAD RIZWI
Karachi
IT seems that the cricket knowing people of India including the top hierarchy of the game have strongly reacted to the ball-tampering sanctions imposed by Mike Dennis of England on Sachin Tendulkar, more because the reputation of the legendary cricketer has been slighted than on the merit of the case. The irony of the issue is that Sachin is not a front-line regular bowler.
Sanctions were also imposed on our Waqar Younis a year back under similar circumstances and there is lot of substance in Waqar’s contention when he says how can the match referee through television footage impose sanctions when the two field umpires, who frequently examine the ball cannot find any sign of tampering to warrant disciplinary action. This is most unfair.
Ball-tampering, excessive appealing and taunting remarks in the field or for that matter even match-fixing etc. etc. all fall within the purview of ethics of the game, which have been thrown to wood by the players and officials alike, ever since cricket has ceased to be a gentleman’s game.
Hence the need of the neutral umpires, third (TV) umpire and the match referee. But the role of the auxiliary umpires — the third umpire and the match referee — should be strictly advisory to the field umpires whose decisions should be final, because they are the men on the spot.
The prerogatives of the field umpires should not be undermined. Similar to the case of ball-tampering in the case of bowling action. The field umpires find nothing wrong in bowling action but as an after-thought the match referee finds the action was wrong. This appears to be contradictory — since you have not punished the defaulter on time nor can you take any action retrospectively, you punish him for the future.
So, in the case of bowling action if the field umpires have not no-balled any bowler for this offence, the bowler may be deemed to have bowled perfectly and no one, including the match referee should have any right to object.
The cricket playing countries should evolve a consensus on ethics of the game to be followed by all in the light of the above suggestions.
A.M. SAYIED
Karachi
CRICKET lovers around the world must have seen the telecast of the second Test between India and South Africa at Port Elizabeth. What do they say about the two atrocious decisions given by an umpire against the South African players?
Was he in the pay of the Indians or some bookmakers? It is strange that the ICC has taken no notice of it while our God-fearing Javed Akhtar is being blamed for something which he could never dream of doing. Is it only because Javed Akhtar is not as fairskinned as the offending umpire?
ASHFAQUE NAQVI
Lahore
THE editorial “Staying on” (Nov 25) is full of contradictions and, therefore, confusing. On the one hand you suggest “some kind of legitimacy” but at the same time you rightly scorn at “Ayub Khan’s use of an electoral college of Basic Democrats to Ziaul Haq’s patently bogus referendum and subsequent eighth amendment.” At least, we now have a man who is straight forward and is calling “a spade, a spade; instead of beating about the bush.”
Having accepted the “reality” that President Musharraf is staying on, you then go on to advise him that “He must now work single-mindedly to ensure that free and fair elections are held on schedule. He must feel confident enough to trust the representatives of the people to carry on with the complex task of governing Pakistan”. May I ask when was the last time we had “free and fair” elections in Pakistan and, are such elections possible in the future (keeping in mind the feudal mindset of our past political leaders - both rural and urban).
Before Musharraf can develop his confidence in elected representatives, wouldn’t you agree that the people of Pakistan must have confidence in them, first. I for one, have no faith in our elected representatives and have valid reasons to say so.
One, their past record (can’t say much about our past military dictatorships either); two, our flawed and manipulative electoral process and, three, please advise me which political party has an organizational structure based on a semblance of democracy, a tinge of integrity and has been reasonably successful in past elections!
It is my considered opinion that unless we carry out the much needed fundamental reforms to cleanse the electoral process, I am afraid we will be heading once again into, what you rightly call, the vicious cycle of military interventions and withdrawals. I fully agree that it is time to break this cycle but, surely this can only be ensured by not rushing into democracy for the sake of democracy alone and ignoring good governance altogether.
Having said what I have, lest that I am misunderstood, I must clarify that I do not wish to be branded as a supporter of a military dictatorship nor of a corrupt and incompetent civilian set-up. All I wish to see in Pakistan is a good government and that can only happen with good people in it. How does one achieve this objective is for the intellectuals and thinkers to ponder, based on pragmatism and ground realities.
Concluding, may I suggest that Dawn initiate a national debate on good government in the context of the forthcoming elections around October 2002. By doing so, you will be providing a great national service and will truly live up to your pride of being founded by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
NAZIM HAJI
Karachi
WHAT has emerged so stridently after of Sept 11 is the gruesome hydra of many tentacles of terrorism.
Today a large representative group of UN member-states, as a first juristic step to eradicate this evil, is wrestling with the task of agreeing on a definition. Self-evidently no movement in this direction can be made unless the world, eschewing subjectivity, first clarifies for itself as to what it seeks to eradicate.
In the understandable mayhem surrounding this complex issue, made more complex by hidden agendas, it should be taken as our good fortune that the UN Charter and its many people-oriented conventions provide the broadest affirmed consensus in the way of guiding principles and standards. Bearing these standards in mind I am hazarding a comprehensive, but a layman’s definition of terrorism:
‘Any threat or act of violence, coercion, harassment or intimidation, verbal, physical, overt or covert, engaged in or abetted, by any individual, group or state, against innocent unarmed individuals, or groups, anywhere in the world, violative of the purposes, principles and procedures provided for in the UN Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights, relevant attendant UN conventions, instruments and norms of international law, so determined by appointed UN agencies, shall constitute an act of terrorism’.
M.J. AS’AD
Karachi
THIS refers to the decision of the Sindh Cabinet to transfer educational institutions which were nationalized in 1973 to their original owners or their genuine successors under certain conditions, inter alia, the terms of service of staff. The nationalized institutions were mostly run by missionaries and citizens’ trusts and had the reputation of imparting quality education.
The decision of the government has been received with mixed reaction. A section of college teachers is not happy with the policy criteria for the return and denationalization of colleges and they strongly oppose it, as in their view, it would badly affect their interests. I believe the teachers’ apprehensions are unfounded. Their rights have been protected under the agreement.
The D.J. College has a unique and distinctive place as an institute of tertiary studies in science since its birth about 125 years ago in this city of Karachi. Its alumni is a long and illustrious list of professionals, academics, scientists and businessmen who brought their tested professional expertise and vocational skill into the Alumni Foundation. They plan to convert the D.J. into a centre of excellence for education and research. The alumni have to play their role in the service of the alma mater and the country.
CHAGHTAI MIRZA EIJAZUDDIN,
Chairman, D.J. College Alumni Foundation,
Karachi.
THERE are now more viewers of news channels after the Sept 11 events. Significant coverage of the US-led “war against terrorism” is being given by the news agencies worldwide. News giants like BBC and CNN are trying to communicate their version of the events to the whole world while a very small television station by the name of Al Jazeera is gaining prominence by telling the other side of the story.
Our national electronic media, on the other hand, is still covering these events in its old stereotyped manner. The pathetic presentation of the news and political talk shows is enough to make even the staunchest government supporter switch to other channels. The bland presentation of the talk shows on PTV and the presence of mostly those persons who share the government’s point of view deteriorate its credibility even further.
If Al Jazeera can muster up courage to broadcast independent and uncensored news, why cannot we?
In the modern era of open communication it is impossible to hide facts from the general public as a wide variety of information sources are available to them. The satellite TV and Internet have opened new vistas of information to the whole world.
The only reason why our President was able to achieve a diplomatic success at Agra was because his outspoken and candid views were relayed on the Indian channels unedited. If PTV was given exclusive opportunity to cover his Indian trip, then the result would have been different.
I therefore urge the government to learn from the past and free the television form the clutches of bureaucracy. I am sure this will not only improve the credibility of the national news but also win public support for government decisions.
AMER
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter of Akhtar Hayat Lalika, Superintendent of Police (traffic), Dera Ghazi Khan (Nov 21) on the Shadan Lund incident in which four persons died after police opened indiscriminate firing on a mob near Dera Ghazi Khan.
To put the record straight, I feel that the reporting in Dawn was balanced and was based on the canons of journalism except (a) the mention of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DG Khan and (b) SSP, slapping a person, which was mis-reported. However, the police department has the right to differ and present its own point of view. But there is also a difference between “holding negotiation in a mosque” and being held “hostage”.
And it is also a matter of record that the Senior Superintendent of the Police D.G. Khan was nowhere near the site of action when “hostages” were being held on the pretext of “negotiations”.
It is important to point out that the families of the victims in particular and the residents of Shadan Lund in general have refused to cooperate with the investigation committee headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Multan Region, Multan. Their lack of trust in the Police Departmental Inquiry Committee calls for a judicial probe. The Nazim of District D.G. Khan has already requested the government to appoint a judge of the High Court to probe in to the unfortunate incident at Shadan Lund.
It is not appropriate for the Zila Nazim to go into the details of the incident at this stage as their revelations might caste undue influence on the progress of investigation. But somebody must be made accountable for this incidence or else the Shadan Lund police will repeat this cycle at some other place and time.
Shadan Lund is a small quiet town on the Indus Highway and this incident has shattered its peace. Much water will flow under the Ghazi Ghat Bridge on the Indus before normalcy returns.
PERSONAL STAFF OFFICER TO ZILA NAZIM,
D.G. Khan
STARTING May this year, I have travelled six times to Badin. The road is in miserable shape. The vehicle rattles and bumps, the worst part being between Gaggar railway crossing and Dhabeji.
There are three to four bridges, none with a span of more than 100 feet, which are being reconstructed by NHA through its contractors. This job has subjected the people travelling on the diversion to great discomfort. The diversions being of 4 to 5 km are themselves worse than a kutcha road.
The pace of work on these projects is very slow. Being a professional engineer, I know there are several time-saving techniques which can be incorporated if the project is planned properly.
This is an age of prefabricated structures. All the ground work should be completed in advance. Different structures can be brought on the site for assembly and only then the traffic should be interrupted for a few weeks to give the final touches to the job.
NHA should have mercy on the voiceless people using their highways and try to complete the job within a reasonable time.
ENGR DILAWAR HUSAIN
Karachi
OF the several thousand of Pakistani jihadis who went to Afghanistan to fight the Western forces and to protect the Taliban, about 900 were holding ground in a double-storeyed school building in Mazar-i-Sharif. On Tuesday, Nov 20, the Taliban fled the city without intimating their escape plan to this Pakistani garrison.
Left to their own, the Pakistanis had to face the invading onslaught which resulted in the killing of hundreds of them and the remaining were taken prisoner.
It is a tragic irony of fate that these Pakistanis, who had gone to Afghanistan with a mission, were killed by fellow Muslims.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to Nasreen Jalil’s letter (Nov 20).
On November 25, this newspaper carried on its front page the headline: ‘US a terrorist state: Chomsky’.
Now, it is for the British to decide whether the acts of Altaf (Bhai) Hussain fall within the ambit of ‘terrorism’ or not.
Luckily for Pakistan, all our super-leaders — Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Bhai — are out of the country. The people of Pakistan can only wish the best of luck to the nations which have so generously given them safe harbour.
Karl Marx was never rated as a ‘terrorist’. He went to England and lived there in poverty in a small, dingy Soho flat. He did not live off his followers. He never sought, nor did Palmerston grant him, asylum in Britain.
ARDESHIR COWASJEE
Karachi
THIS refers to a report about the fee for French courses. (Metropolitan, Nov 22).
The information regarding an 18-fold increase in the fees of French courses within two years is completely baseless. In fact, the University department of French is the only place where the fees charged are quite nominal with respect to the fees charged for language classes elsewhere.
The actual fee for the French course is Rs 3,000 and three years ago it used to be Rs 2,000 and not Rs 250 as reported. No doubt, there was a time when the fee was Rs 250 for the course but that was during the 80s.
MS SALEHA NAZEER
Chairman, Department of French, Punjab University,
Lahore.
THE Provincial Transport Authority, which is always prompt in accepting the demand of transporters to raise bus fares, is not listening to the request of commuters to revise the fares, because the fuel charges have gone down by as much as 24 per cent since the last month.
Will the Governor of Sindh and the Transport Minister please look into this?
SIRAJUDDIN
Hyderabad
THE examinations of B.A. and BSc are being held in Karachi University for the academic year 2000-01. The syllabus for the English Advance B.A. Part I has three books: 1: Gulliver’s Travels 2: Heart of Darkness 3: Book of Poems I
In the question paper a compulsory question of 25 marks was held, “Write about the Tragedies of Shakespeare.” Since there was no play or drama of Shakespeare in the syllabus the said question was unfair.
The department of Islamic History changed the syllabus of B.A. II without informing anyone. Three months before the exams, a book on Ottoman Empire was published in Urdu.
Those students who answered the B.A. Part II paper in English faced immense difficulty translating the whole book.
Those students who were not informed about the change of course and had prepared themselves from the previous syllabus left the answer paper blank.
If any change is to be made it should be in the beginning of the session.
(MRS) FARIDA ANIS
Karachi
NAUKOT Fort is an important archaeological site in Sindh. This fort was built in 1812 by Karam Ali Khan to strengthen his hold on Thar and other areas.
It is located 63 km south east of Mirpurkhas and has been constructed on a vantage point, the crossroads of Islamkot, Umerkot and neighbouring states of Jodhpur and Bahawalpur. I have visited this fort thrice in the last four years and I always found it in a deplorable condition. The fort building remains, on the whole, in very bad shape.
Such archaeological sites are our national heritage and must be protected and looked after. I suggest that the archaeological department should pay proper attention to it and carry out necessary repairs and maintenance work, so as to attract tourists.
AZIZ-UR-REHMAN MIAN
Karachi
ONE consequence of the September 11 incidents is that Pakistani citizens legally visiting other countries are being harassed to the extreme. And our government, true to its salt, does nothing about it.
In Mali, all the 29 Pakistanis staying there, were arrested simply because they were Pakistanis. Nigeria, too, is rounding up Pakistanis, just because they are Pakistanis (Dawn, Nov 18).
The least that our government could do is to call the representatives of these governments in Islamabad, and tell them that if such uncalled for actions are not stopped immediately, this country would also take similar action against their countrymen in Pakistan.
A.S. NIZAMANI
Kuala Lumpur
IT is a good and encouraging sign that responsible quarters in the Ministry of Commerce have started studying various models adopted in other countries for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in order to set up an “Intellectual Property Rights Authority” in the country.
All economic activities in the developed world are regulated and secured by strict observation of intellectual property rights. But unfortunately, the situation in the Third World is quite the opposite where relevant laws are either half-baked or non-existent.
And even if they do exist, the same are flouted without any fear.
According to media reports, a mission of World Intellectual Property Rights Organization experts, in its recent study on Pakistan, has painted a very dismal and discouraging picture regarding IPR in the country.
With every passing day, the practice of counterfeit trade and adulteration of food item is increasing.
Local markets are flooded with counterfeit and substandard products and fake consumer items like cosmetics, medicines, recycled plastic goods, juices, toothpaste, spices, wheat flour, cigarettes, tea, etc., are available on comparatively low prices.
This state of affairs is highly embarrassing especially for the multinational companies. The Afghan war and subsequent closure of various mega-projects of multinational companies in Pakistan, has further aggravated the market situation and encouraged the counterfeit trade mafia to inject into the market substandard products on a massive scale to bridge the gap between demand and supply.
Now, foreign investors are sitting with crossed fingers as they still find no way out to protect their mega-projects which are facing huge financial losses. These losses can be gauged from the fact that the government is losing a revenue of Rs 2 billion per annum because of continued counterfeiting of cigarettes alone.
Though a number of legislations and control organizations like Board of Registration, Quality Control Board, Agricultural Prices Commission, Patents and Designs Act 1911, Pure Food Ordinance 1960, do exist, the result is literally zero.
Market experts strongly believe that if the Intellectual Property Authority is established, it can go a long way in restoring the confidence of the investors.
S. R. BHATTI
Islamabad
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