| December 2, 2001 | Sunday | Ramazan 16, 1422 |
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Detained Pakistanis
Massacre in Afghanistan
Installation of new KESC meters
Recovery of looted wealth
Estate office procedures
Bank clarifies
Unhygienic water supply
Price of medicines
Students’ dilemma
Rohri bypass
NLC tankers on the roads
Injustice to pensioners
EVERY Muslim in the category of a ‘have not’, wherever he may be in the arc of crescent, is imbued with the belief that but for his rulers not following the right path, his lot would be very good.
This is being persistently sharpened by the continuous harangue y the ulema, most of whom are ignorant of the historical perspective. To his simple mind the golden period ended not because of corruption and intrigues inherent in empire building of the successive Muslim rulers but due to the machinations of the Christians (now western powers) and their own rulers adopting the ways of Christians and not following the style of governance of the early Islamic rulers.
Consequently, if his lot is to be improved he argues, it is necessary that the previous style of governance be re-imposed. This is the message, which is broadcast from every pulpit in the Muslim world by the Ulema who are becoming more and more belligerent as the incumbent rulers of Muslim world, most of them self appointed, shun the Ulema and struggle to keep their heads above water in the present day and age when technology and management techniques and not simplistic notions count.
This then is the universal message of the orthodox of which “Talibanism” is a euphemism, which in the post-colonial era was for the first time put into practice in Afghanistan in its strictest form, particularly in its misogynic zeal. When this happened, since it was not inimical to Pakistan, our ruling establishment welcomed it because it gave them “strategic depth”, whatever that means, while the rest of the world just ignored it, because after the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan was of little strategic importance.
The initial success of the Taliban in consolidating their power and for once giving a stable government to Afghanistan went generally unnoticed but attracted the zealots from every corner of Islamic world because of the possibility of it being used as a base for their so-called revolutionary activities. But then the movement over-reached itself by supporting Osama bin Laden and 11th September happened.
Indeed in the resulting war the Talibans’ ‘mythical sword’, howsoever fanatic the thrust, was no match for the B-52 of the Christians (Western powers) and the Talibans were vanquished and some of their pan-Islamic supporters met their tragic end in the shameful Mazar-e-Sharif massacre. But the question arises whether with the death of Talibans did “Talibanism” die too, which in fact was the secret agenda of the Western world, when they launched their blitz on this hapless land? Alas, no! Talibanism survives and lives on in the hearts of every ‘have not’ Muslim and the deeply religious elements because of the sheer poignancy and the tragic manner in which the Taliban have met their end.
The Taliban are dead but not Talibanism. The idea will live on and surface yet again at some other time and place perhaps within Afghanistan itself with ever greater ferocity. One hopes the Western world in their attempt to eradicate terrorism have not stirred up a hornets’ nest.
Insofar as Pakistan is concerned, the danger or resurgence of Talibanism will always loom on the horizon, but for the moment it is in full retreat. Nevertheless, we are likely to remain centre stage for quite some time because of destabilization of the Central Asian region in the aftermath of the war in Afghanistan. This holds tremendous possibilities for Pakistan and can catapult us into the role of leadership in the Muslim world but only if we can harness our newly found resources of international goodwill and incoming aid effectively and are able to introduce a system of social justice in our polity in the shortest possible time.
M. SHAIQ USMANI
Karachi
AFTER the Sept 11 events, many Pakistanis have been detained on the charges of overstaying illegally in the US, and are subject to interrogation by the law enforcement agencies to ascertain if they are in any way involved in the terrorist attacks.
But the fact is that after Sept 11, Pakistanis in the US, whether staying legally or illegally, are having a difficult time, mainly because of the hate crimes.
The other day a list of 70 Pakistani nationals prepared by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington was published in newspapers. The efforts of the embassy are commendable, but still the job of the ambassador will not be over until each and every Pakistani detained by the US law enforcement agencies is set free.
The American Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlain should also use her good offices to determine the time the US law enforcement agencies will take to interrogate the detained Pakistanis. Unnecessary detention of Pakistanis is causing undue stress to the family members of detained Pakistanis at home, who want to talk on the phone to know the welfare of their near and dear ones, being kept in different jails in the US.
The American Embassy should provide information to the relatives of the detained Pakistanis about the charges levied against them so that legal assistance could be arranged for their early release.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
THE war against Afghanistan has no moral justification as the Afghan people had no hand in the attack of 11th September. Noted American Professor Noam Chomsky has termed the attack on Afghanistan “merely an act of establishing the power and credibility of America and its allies. Even bombing Taliban fighters was a crime, an illegal act and sheer exercise of power.” Therefore, it constitutes a blatant violation of international law.
The stories of brutalities of American-supported Northern Alliance are coming to light every day. They massacred 520 local and foreign Taliban supporters in a school in Mazar-i-Sharif. Another 160 Taliban POWs were made to stand in a long queue with their hands tied behind their backs and five or six American-supported fighters used light machineguns for killing them near Takhta Pul in southern Afghanistan.
Now there have been killings at Qala-i-Jangi. It is reported that US planes flew 30 sorties to provide support to dozens of American and Northern Alliance soldiers operating on the ground in Qala-i-Jangi. These soldiers massacred hundreds of Taliban prisoners at the fort.
Now, when the UN has proved ineffective, the Muslims demand of the OIC to discharge its responsibility as the guardian of the Ummah by constituting an international Islamic war tribunal at Tehran or Kuala Lumpur to bring to book those responsible for the genocide in Afghanistan.
ALI ASHRAF KHAN
Karachi
WITHOUT thinking of the waste of time and money, the KESC has ordered that all electric meters be removed from the consumer’s house and fixed outside the premises or on the nearby electric pole. The interesting point is that the new meters are being fixed in already rusted tin boxes. The meter itself is tied up in the box with thin wires.
The new meters, made in Pakistan, are neither accurate nor tested. There have already been complaints that, like the rickshaw and taxi meters, they run faster than the prescribed speed and are causing the bills to inflate. It is not understood as to why the existing meters are not being used even where these have not been tampered with.
Can the KESC explain why this change was necessary and why millions are being spent on new meters and rusted tin boxes? And what will happen to the old meters? Who is going to make millions from them? Is all this expenditure necessary when KESC and WAPDA go on increasing electric charges every two or three months?
A. REHMAN
Hyderabad
THE justification for the military takeover was that the ruling politicians had indulged in corruption and allowed all government institutions, high-level officers, businessmen, industrialists to loot the national wealth and take it out of the country.
Even former president Farooq Leghari has been saying that at least $ 35 billion of the national money is now in the personal accounts of the Pakistanis in the US and European banks. In spite of the National Accountability Bureau’s strenuous efforts, there is no success in bringing back the money to Pakistan. Now President Musharraf is not even mentioning this issue and there is no effort to recover the loot and use the money to service our national debt.
The finance ministry has its own strategy to have breathing space by achieving a long-term rescheduling of loans. And there is no provision to recover this huge amount of money to pay back our national debt.
It is time the government informed the nation about the looted national wealth. Is there any looted money abroad or not? If there is, then how much? And what is the government’s strategy to bring it back? How long it will take? Who are the main plunderers of the national wealth?
ENGR S.T. HUSSAIN
Lahore
THE present system of hiring accommodation for government employees through the Estate Office is loaded with so many annoying procedures and documentation that it is virtually impossible to get a house without giving bribes.
Even then it takes almost a year to have the formalities completed and the cheque issued. No owner is willing to wait that long. So the government employee has to pay a year’s advance from his own pocket if he wants to occupy the house. As there is a plethora of outdated and irrelevant performas to be filled in by the owner of the house as well as the tenant, most owners refuse to rent out the house.
It seem that the government does not consider housing a serious problem for its employees and has never bothered to provide some relief in this regard. The salary is so low that it is next to impossible to make ends meet. What little benefits are there, are so difficult to get that many just drop the idea of even trying for them, the hiring of house being one. If the government simply pay whatever the entitlement of an employee is, along with the salary, the life of public servants can become a bit easier.
It will be relevant to point out that the present set-up of Estate Office is totally useless; it is only making life miserable for those who need a hired accommodation. It would be better if it is wound up.
I urge the Minister for Housing to look into the matter and do the needful.
SARFRAZ AHMAD
Lahore
THIS refers to the news item entitled, “PIBL not making payments: customers” (Nov 29).
It is clarified for the public at large and the customers of Prudential Investment Bank Ltd in particular that the investment bank is paying up-to-date profits to the customers. Moreover, premature encashments of COIs are also entertained.
The amount mentioned in the news item regarding the total deposit by the people in the NWFP is incorrect.
In case of any delay, customers are advised to inform the Chief Executive at the central office of the bank in Karachi.
FOR PRUDENTIAL INVESTMENT BANK LTD.,
Karachi
THE Nazim, Union Council, Sita Road Town, Dadu, has complained about the supply of unhygienic drinking water (Nov 28) because of sewerage water mixing with drinking water in the distribution pipelines.
The situation elsewhere in Pakistan is no different. In October, a water quality survey by the PCRWR for Islamabad / Rawalpindi has shown 75 per cent and 83 per cent contamination respectively in the drinking water. What disappoints one, is the indifferent attitude of the Nazim / Naib Nazim of this area who have not raised this issue at the proper forum.
According to a USAID report, ‘Lessons learned in water sanitation and health, 1993’: “Of the 37 major diseases in the developing countries, 21 are water and sanitation related”.
The concerned authorities are requested to take necessary action.
M. JAHANGIR
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to Salahuddin Mirza’s letter, “Price of medicines” (Nov 24). His concern that the price of VIOXX is enormously higher in Pakistan (Rs 80 per tablet) than in India (Rs 4) is valid and needs to be addressed. Not only the patent duration is less in India but also patented medicines are generally registered at lower prices.
The reality is that multinationals have been successful in getting high prices for their medicines and this will perhaps continue as long as the country is economically dependent on foreign aid and self-reliance is unlikely to be achieved unless we learn to live within our means.
However, high prices can only be justified here, if the multinationals invest in research to strengthen academic institutions. Multinationals would agree to support the academia, provided our government encourages them and designs a transparent mechanism. A simple way could be an endowment of professorship and/or training of at least one PhD abroad, with registration of each patented medicine. This should not be a burden when compared with the huge profit earned.
Our physicians have also a role to play. Indian physicians prefer to prescribe local substitutes. Multinationals there have no other choice but to compete by offering their medicines at a low price. Unethical marketing is on the rise here and the general impression is that physicians, who enjoy industry-sponsored trips abroad, tend to overprescribe.
Patients also sometimes influence the prescribing habits of doctors and decisions of the government. Unfortunately, there is a class of consumers here, who like expensive prescriptions and tend to underrate the physicians who prescribe cheaper substitutes or who avoid prescribing unnecessary medicine. Perhaps there is a need to emphasize the ethics issue in our medical curriculum and educating the public that new expensive medicines are not always better.
Some misconception among the public also exists that medicines of local manufacturers are of low quality without realizing that the local industry has grown up to an extent that some multinationals now get their medicines manufactured there and use their brand name for marketing purposes. Price control can be best achieved if patients, doctors and the government are all at the same wavelength and work in tandem towards fulfilling the objective.
DR ANWAR GILANI
Karachi
THE Karachi University had permitted the Shipowners College to enrol 50 students for B.Com examination.
But the college got around 150 students in their B.Com programme.
Now that the B.Com examinations are going to start from December 22, the remaining hundred students, could not get their registration.
These students are, naturally worried because they do not know if they will be able to appear in the examinations.
The authorities concerned should look into the matter immediately.
SYED HASAN RAZA
Karachi
THE Rohri bypass road leading to Sukkur, has developed potholes on both sides of the overhead railway bridge. This poor condition of the road has become a nuisance for the motorists. I request the concerned authority to immediately carry out road repair.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki
THE oversized NLC oil-cum-water tankers are just monsters on the road. Most of them are leaking and turn the road slippery, making them dangerous for the two-wheelers. These vehicles are made for the highways. The load-bearing capacity of an average city road is not sufficient to sustain the regular movement of long heavy vehicles.
If the NLC finds the business of supplying water very lucrative then it should invest some money and acquire the medium-sized water tankers fit for plying on city roads. But they must ensure that these vehicles do not leak.
RASHID QURESHI
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter “Injustice to pensioners” (Nov 25), which mentions that under the new rules (i) the benefit of restoration of commuted value has been withdrawn from Dec 1, 2001 irrespective of an employee’s date of retirement, and (ii) that all pensioners who retired during December 1, 1986 and November 30, 2001 will not be allowed restoration of commuted pensions.
It is all right if the system of commutation has been done away with and will not operate in the future, but the new rule does not seem to be fair to those who had pledged half of their pension in the past. A government servant generally lives hand to mouth during his service. When he retires after rendering about 35 to 40 years’ service he receives the pension, which is only a part of his salary. His salary is already low on the scale of the market value. Even then he looks towards his retirement and the system of commutation of pension as a redeeming feature for payment of old debts that accumulate for various reasons or towards fulfilling of a dream like building a house. He faces a bleak future of rising prices but prepares himself to cut off his daily meals to half by accepting only half of the pension and in lieu thereof to receive a lump sum payment.
In the past, the retiree had accepted the agreement the government provided him for the restoration of his pension to full after a certain period. Had the retiree known that the promise would not be kept he might not have opted for commutation, and instead enjoyed his full pension.
The period of commutation is ten years. Therefore, the restoration should, in principle, be made after ten years, but it is done after fifteen years. The pension of this intervening period is thus charged by the government, in my opinion, as interest, from its ex-employee by advancing him his own pension money. So far so good.
But under what moral principle or legal authority the government can deprive him of his half-pension when it becomes due? In Pakistan, superannuation occurs at the age of 60. How many of the retirees live after the age of 75? Only a few. So, how much money the government would make in this manner? It cannot be called good governance that the people, when they are in the most vulnerable state and at the waning stage of their life, are deprived of their own earnings.
SYED OSMAN SHER
Toronto, Canada
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