| January 3, 2002 | Thursday | Shawwal 18, 1422 |
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Compulsory primary education
Taj Company investors
Foundation for peace
Property transaction
Denial
Travel restrictions
Increment test for BEd / Med
Medical education
Indian channels
New faces in politics
Increase in IBA fees
Stating the facts
IN this latest dispute, Pakistan is once again proving inept at countering Indian propaganda. International news media is flooded with Indian rhetoric, whereas there is almost no meaningful representation of the Pakistani point of view. As a result, India is successfully maligning Pakistan to the best of its ability, and the world which will judge this matter on the basis of what it gets from the media will once again pass its verdict in favour of India.
Given this state of affairs, the need for an aggressive response to this propaganda cannot be overemphasised. I’ve had enough of doddering retired bureaucrats who stumble on every question and never get to the point. We need a slick campaign of our own that gets the Pakistani point across in clear and concise terms, and which is will prepared to counter all the dirt that India tries to shovel on us.
It’s a cliche, but let’s face it, this is the information age, and we will get absolutely nowhere without some media savvy. Has anybody ever paid attention to the US State Department press conferences? The whole affair is a superbly directed media production with one aim: to get the point across. The current spokesman Ari Fliesher and Clinton’s Jack Rubin were picked not because they were experienced diplomats, but because they are good at speaking and handling difficult questions.
My suggestion is simple, our senior diplomats and military spokesmen should realize that they don’t need to burden themselves with appearing as commentator and staving off hawkish reporters when they are not good at it. Recruit people with excellent verbal skills specifically for the task, preferably young, good-looking and of both genders. Rehearse them, polish their skills and make sure that every time anybody wants Pakistani representation at any media event these people are the only candidates.
There is no shortage of great speakers in Pakistan, even a casual glance at college level debate contests would confirm that. But it’s up to the present government to make use of these resources and do something to improve our image in the world.
SYED ALI ATHAR
Boston, USA
THE promulgation of an ordinance by the Sindh governor making primary education compulsory for all the kids is commendable.
This should be a precedent for the other provinces to follow. It would be more pertinent if the central government declares a policy outline to furnish every young boy and girl with, at least, primary education.
However, I do not agree with the decision of the Sindh government to impose a fine of Rs 50 on the student who fails to turn up in school.
This can be another blow to the already suffering poor people of Sindh.
Instead of the threat of a fine, the government could have come up with an incentive to provide the school attending kids with some sort of supporting kits or the study material, quite free.
Such experiment has been a success in some Afghan refugees camps in Pakistan. According to BBC, some foreign NGO has set up a school and offered a package of 5kg cooking oil to any female student who attends school regularly. The school attendance is high because of this.
We have so many non-governmental Organizations in Pakistan who can be invited to play their role in this respect.
ZIA AHMED
Multan
I WANT to thank President General Pervez Musharraf on behalf of all the investors of the Taj Company Limited for declaring in his nationwide speech on August 14, 2001, that all would be paid the full amount soon. This had created great excitement among the investors all over the country because they were hearing this from the president himself, after losing all hopes over the past many years.
The good news was later confirmed by the National Accountability Bureau authorities on television when they declared that they would be working on this, soon after making final payments to the investors of the cooperatives societies.
Since then all investors of the Taj Company have been eagerly looking forward to the cheques.
But regretfully nothing yet has come out of these announcements although several months have elapsed.
It is suggested that these repayments to the investors may be made from any Welfare Fund and the amount can be reimbursed to that Fund after recovery from the Taj Company assets and from the assets of all the Managing Directors and Directors of the Taj Company.
I request the President to personally intervene to ensure prompt payment and to prevent the National Accountability Bureau from compelling the investors to receive bonds or shares instead of cash.
A.H. MALIK
Karachi
THE South Asia Foundation, a non-official organization for promoting regional cooperation, is deeply concerned about the escalating war-like tension between the Governments of India and Pakistan as its disastrous consequences would further aggravate not only the suffering of their own people but of the poverty-stricken masses in other South Asian countries.
War could hardly penalize the terrorists for their dastardly attack on India’s parliament. On the contrary, horrors of wars are terrorism’s ultimate reward. All terrorists are warmongers no matter the causes or ideologies they propound.
At this critical crossroads of history, the people of South Asia either continue to follow the politicians and military dictators with archaic mindset who are misleading them in the direction of fratricidal conflicts and nuclear holocaust, or go the way of Gandhi by taking the peaceful path of communal harmony and regional cooperation (as recently reiterated by the Foundation at its conference in Kathmandu on the eve of the 11th SAARC summit).
The Foundation of which the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh is the founder, proposes to step up the campaign against the sentiment for war.
Among the measures taken, the biannual “UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence” has now been raised to US$ 100,000 from the previous amount of US$ 40,000. The prize was established to mark the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi by the UNESCO Executive Board at its 146th session at Paris and Fez on 16th May and 4th June, 1995. The 1998 award was jointly won by Indian and Pakistani anti-nuclear activists (Mr Narayan Desai and his Shanti Sena — Peace Brigade) for promoting education and youth training camps and Ms Shahtaj Kizilbash of the Joint Action Committee, representing thirty NGOs in Pakistan that are working against all odds for women’s rights and religious tolerance.
SOUTH ASIA FOUNDATION
Paris Office, France
PROPERTY transaction, more particularly after the survey of properties, has decreased as people are reluctant to buy properties due to the fear that they will be questioned by the relevant authorities about their income and the money spent on buying a property.
One of the reasons for the property owners not registering properties with registrars is to avoid unnecessary harassment by tax officials and in most of the cases either the properties are kept “benami” or purchased on power of attorneys, so as to avoid the stamp duty and registration charges and at the same time the property can be re-sold by the owners in the open market on much inflated prices.
The government has been considering different possibilities from time to time for increasing recovery of revenues by introducing various valuation tables for urban and rural properties, but this has all gone in vain, as there are so many ways to manipulate the actual amount spent on the purchase of a property. Now the Sindh government is considering abolishing the use of power of attorney on property transaction and is expected to give a 20 per cent relief in property valuation for recovering stamp duty. Such a decision will further affect property transaction in the province, as this will not streamline the “benami” properties and will also create hardships for those property owners who do not live in the country but want to sell their properties through their attorneys.
If the government wants to increase its revenues then proper leverage should be given to property buyers and sellers by considerably slashing the valuation tables rates in urban and rural areas, as well as lowering the rate of stamp duty, so that property owners should state the actual price of their property to the registrar.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
THIS refers to the news item by your Islamabad Staff Reporter (Dec 29).
The news item refers to a statement by a PPP spokesman regarding new appointments to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In this news item, specific reference has been made to some statements made to me by Justice Fakir Muhammad Khokhar, at present Federal Law Secretary. I may inform you that Justice Khokhar never made any such statements to me nor did I give any interview to any representative of the PPP or any other person or newspaper to that effect. Statements attributed to me are totally untrue. I may add that during my tenure as Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Khokhar never called on me.
NASIR ASLAM ZAHID
Justice (Rtd) Supreme Court of Pakistan,
Islamabad
DUBAI, which had stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals, has now decided to oblige us provided we travel business class by Emirates Airlines only and make a deposit of Rs100,000, refundable upon return. Furthermore, the air ticket must be non-refundable.
Certainly, very few can afford to visit Dubai under such severe conditions.
Saudi Arabia, too, has made Umra very difficult by creating a lot of hurdles. Their new regulations do not apply to the Egyptians and Turks because their governments have refused to accept the new Saudi regulations.
Our government must take up these issues with the respective regimes, with whom we apparently have very good relations, to facilitate our travel to these countries.
Such restrictions from brotherly Muslim countries is indeed painful.
SALIM D. DADABHOY
Karachi
I FULLY support the government policy regarding tests for awarding advance increments to the teachers who are demanding the same after passing university examinations. These examinations are conducted by the university according to the rules. Regular classes are conducted by the university every Sunday by experienced teachers. When the University is an examination body, there is no need for this test.
I further request the Sindh Education Department to exempt the teachers who have passed the written test for the posts of PST/JST/HST after having acquired the qualification of BEd / MEd before appearing SPSC written test in the interest of justice.
The Education Secretary has warned the Heads of schools / colleges about their results of IX to XII Classes. This is only possible when sanctioned strength of teaching staff and the Heads are posted in the high schools and Higher Secondary schools.
Eleven high schools and five higher secondary schools were upgraded in Sanghar District but these have not yet been provided teaching staff. Half of the year has passed. The budget of these institutions has not yet been sanctioned with posts by the Government of Sindh Education / Finance Department to make their payment of salaries.
The Department of Education may very kindly post the teaching staff and Heads in all newly opened High Schools / Higher Secondary schools and provide all the facilities of furniture and science equipment etc to complete the course then above worthy Secretary Education may talk of results and explanations.
A.H. SOOMRO
Sanghar
THE other day at a JPMC seminar on diabetes, speakers emphasized the need for educating general practitioners in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. The same is the fate of tuberculosis control in Pakistan.
I have been advocating for the involvement of GPs in the national TB control programme for decades. While I was in government service, the general cadre medical officers had to be taught and told about special programmes like EPI, ARI, ORS and even malaria eradication.
This reflects sadly on the medical curricula being followed in our medical colleges. The irony is that while we scream about the need to convert our medical colleges into universities, there is no liaison between medical institutions and general health services/programmes at any level. The teaching staff itself is not aware of these programmes, what to talk of teaching undergraduates or postgraduates.
I request the Ministry of Health and our political leaders to revise the medical curricula as soon as possible and attend to other ills in the medical education.
DR ABDULLAH JAN PATHAN
Hyderabad
AT least some good has come out of the present crisis between India and Pakistan. The government has banned cable providers from showing Indian channels.
This might be a blessing in disguise.
The never-ending plays presented on these channels are often shallow and meaningless. These plays project only human weaknesses, breeding suspicion and causing domestic unrest.
Perhaps women and children will now look for some alternative activity and, may be, take to reading — which even for myself had proved to be a difficult task.
ZAIN MANKANI
Karachi
AFTER attending court proceedings at Attock Jail, Asif Zardari, while talking to the press, lamented that fresh blood was not coming into the politics of Pakistan and as such the image of democracy in Pakistan has been impaired.
Pakistan has already experienced fresh blood when Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and the like entered politics and got more than one chance to govern the country. But the way they governed was simply deplorable. Instead of leading the country to progress and prosperity, they sucked its blood. They emptied the national exchequer and piled up their personal wealth beyond the wildest imagination.
But it is not the end of the world. We now have fresh blood like Omer Asghar Khan and Imran Khan. They are educated, sincere, courageous and honest to the core. If they happen to get the reins of the country in their hands, one can hope that Pakistan would progress.
LAL ZADA KHAN
Peshawar
THE Institute of Business Administration has decided to increase the fees of the new entrants as well as of those already studying.
The case of the latter is tantamount to increasing the fare mid journey.
M.M. KHAN
Karachi
THIS refers to the Dateline D.G. Khan (Dec 27). The correspondent has given only half-baked stories giving the impression that ‘a band of bureaucrats’ is responsible for the straying sense of direction in the District Development Committee (DDC).
It is true that the ‘Dug Well Scheme’ for mountainous tribal area of D.G. Khan was discussed in the DDC. It was proposed by the Soil Conservation Department and supported by other technical members. The scheme was dropped when I raised serious objections based on my limited knowledge of hydrology and enough understanding of topography and the tribal way of life.
Last year, while working as Political Agent in the tribal mountains of D.G. Khan, I remained camped for five days at the top of Bail Pather (8000 ft) which is the highest point in the Punjab and drank muddy green water from a nearby pond along with our horses. This happened before the dawn of new era, when the bureaucracy had more breathing space and apart from my duties as Commandant, Border Military Police, I was involved in social services as a medical doctor.
The pond is the only source of water for the area and is a blessing for both, humans as well as animals, even in drought seasons. It is called ‘Sahab Terai’ after the memory of a colonial PA Saheb who remained camped at the top for weeks, to personally supervise the construction of a pond for a humanitarian cause, 80 years before my visit.
The DDC in its meeting held on Dec 11 had accepted my proposal for the construction of Katcha ponds at the top of the mountains, sinking handpumps in the valleys instead of technically superior but extremely costly and useless water supply schemes of Public Health Department and building ‘guttas’ (small check dams) on minor hill torrents. The local tribesmen had already being motivated to contribute in these scheme by providing either free labour or bear 20% cost of the projects. The Drought Emergency Recovery Assistance (DERA) programme had been carefully planned with the help and support of District Coordination Officer, another bureaucrat, and the young and energetic Zila Nazim, who had the vision to understand the problems and needs of his area.
As regards the Kadka Road Project, it was proposed and pursued by me last year as Political Assistant Tribal Area, D.G. Khan, even when such development work was not within the ambit of my competency. This jeepable road would have formal vital link between Taunsa Town and our tribal area with Drug and Moosa Khail towns of Balochistan. The Kadka project was dropped by DDC in March this year, due to stubborn resistance from engineers of Highway Department on flimsy technical grounds, which even the monitoring teams could not overrule.
Similarly, the Manka Canal Project, was taken up by Mr Saeed Ahmad Alvi, the last Commissioner, of D.G. Khan. He pursued this scheme as a single point personal agenda, only to be defeated at the highest level on technical grounds by the Irrigation Department.
DR RAHEAL AHMAD SIDDIQUI
Executive District Officer, (Finance & Planning),
Dera Ghazi Khan
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