| February 6, 2002 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 22, 1422 |
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Zafrulla Khan remembered
Withdrawal of Wapda subsidy
Indo-Pakistan relations
Recognition of merit
Need for vigilance
PTA’s decision on Internet telephony
Respecting relationships
Car snatching and theft
Pressure horns
The remaining superpower
A change for the better
WITH regard to the ongoing debate about the Quaid-i-Azam’s vision, let us first be clear on the definition of secularism. Here I refer to the Qauid’s famous statement to the people of Australia in February 1948 which was also repeated to the people of the United States: “Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be run by priests with a divine mission”.
This is as clear a statement of secularism as one can get anywhere. Secularism means separation of the church (i.e. clergy, religious leadership etc) from the state (political leadership). Nobody is stopping the political leadership from being religiously pious and abstain from making laws which might infringe upon the code of Islamic law. But the principle of secularism is impartiality of the state to any religion, caste or creed as enunciated by the Quaid-i-Azam when he said: “You may belong to any religion, caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state”.
I also refer to the Quaid-i-Azam’s statement to Doon Campbell of Reuters on 21st May 1947: “The new state would be a modern democratic state with sovereignty resting in the people and the members of the new nation having equal rights of citizenship regardless of their religion, caste or creed”.
So to state that Pakistan should be a secular state is not in any way a contradiction to its demographical and ideological status as the homeland for Muslims of South Asia. In his Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Allama Iqbal suggests that a true Islamic state has to be ‘essentially secular’. In his Allahabad address in 1930, he said: “Nor should the Hindus fear that the creation of autonomous Muslim states will mean the introduction of a kind of religious rule in such states”.
YASSER LATIF HAMDANI
NJ, USA
TODAY is the 109th birth anniversary of Zafrulla Khan. His advocacy of many a colonized people, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world, in their struggle for independence will long be remembered. In thinking of him this day (Feb 6) his numerous admirers around the world can take renewed pride in a distinguished son and servant of Pakistan in the nostalgic reading of the following, still topical, editorial comment of the well-known Indian daily. ‘The Statesman’ of 8th October, 1947, very soon after partition:
“For the first time the voice of Pakistan was heard in the counsels of the United Nations on a burning topic of world-wide significance when the leader of this country’s delegation, Chaudhri Zafrulla Khan, addressed the United Nations Palestine Committee at Lake Success on Tuesday. It was a telling speech which tore into shreds the specious pleas put forward by the advocates of the partition of Palestine.
“Chaudhri Zafrulla did not merely indulge in rhetoric when he described the partition plan as ‘physically and geographically a monstrosity’, he proceeded to prove this by unassailable arguments.
“We have little doubt that the Arabs will rejoice to find the voice of Pakistan so powerfully raised in the United Nations in defence of their cause. The addition of the independent sovereign state of Pakistan to the comity of free Muslim peoples of the world is already beginning to have its effect on international affairs.”
M.J. AS’AD
Karachi
LT COL Rafi Nasim’s letter (Feb 1) depicts the frustration of the middle class.
No one can disagree with him that increasing energy rates and removing the subsidy for 1000 units and beyond show that NEPRA or whosoever is responsible for this measure, has ignored the fact that it will not increase Wapda’s revenue in the longer run. It will only breed corrupt practices even among the present lot of law abiders and will produce more defaulters.
Heavy consumers will turn to other cheaper means, thus depriving Wapda of its consumer base which will result in reduced revenue and even more surplus electricity. Power theft will flourish and to compensate consequent losses, there will be more such increases and this will continue to be an un-ending cycle.
Common marketing practices envisage all kinds of incentives to enlarge consumer base to generate more revenues.
MOHAMMAD ALI JAWAID
Karachi
AS A 21-year-old Indian, I have been deeply perplexed and dismayed by the antagonism in India-Pakistan relations, and more so by the current stand-off between the two countries.
I studied at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, which has produced a number of outstanding civil servants, a number of whom became a part of the Pakistani bureaucracy upon Partition. In recent times, Stephanians have had the opportunity to interact with several distinguished Pakistanis — Asma Jehangir, Niaz Naik, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, and the duo of Shahryar Khan and Majid Khan who were part of the Pakistani cricket contingent during their tour of India in 1999.
In the last couple of years, two separate groups of students from St Stephen’s visited Pakistan and described how they found the people extremely warm, friendly and hospitable.
Needless to mention, the discord between the two countries is largely a creation of politicians and the media. In India, unfortunately, much of the media’s perception and handling of Indo-Pak issues has been jingoistic and immature. It is my sincere belief that what Pakistanis see on ‘Indian’ channels or the BBC is the opinion of a small, urban, elitist minority. Within the average Indian — and the average Pakistani too, I think — there is a latent, inadequately tapped yearning for peace and friendly relations.
Indians and Pakistanis should strive for an ideal situation wherein there is free movement and intermingling of people from both countries and greater economic interaction, such as through the establishment of a free trade zone. At the same time, the two countries must respect each other’s sovereignty.
Such an ideal may be a figment of imagination in these troubled times, but not impossible to achieve. This calls for politicians on both sides of the border to adopt conciliatory and pragmatic attitudes — especially in influencing public opinion. In remaining obsessed with the past, both countries have lost immensely, especially in the sphere of economic development.
VENKAT RAMANUJAM RAMANI
Coimbatore, India
THIS refers to the President’s award giving ceremony held at Islamabad Jan 28, in which certificates and cash awards were given to the distinguished students of secondary and higher secondary classes. The cash awards ranged from Rs 50,000 to Rs 200,000.
It is for the first time in the history of Pakistan that a head of state has recognized the efforts of brilliant students and given due recognition to merit. Now, this recognition should not stop here. It should be implemented in all spheres of life. If it is not done so, a time will come when the whole country will be full of mediocre people in all the sectors of the society.
Appointments to jobs in government or government controlled commercial undertakings must also be made strictly on the basis of merit. In the past, hordes of people were inducted in public sector ventures like the PIA and the Steel Mill on political considerations. The result was that the performance of these undertakings were badly affected.
Another extremely important issue which should be tackled by the present government, is the quota system. It is allowed to prevail not only in appointments to government jobs but also in admissions to professional educational institutions. The result is that we are producing a certain percentage of incompetent doctors and engineers who got admission merely because of the quota system.
The sooner we get rid of it, the better for the country. Merit and merit alone should be the criterion for all such purposes.
AIR CDR (R) AZFAR A KHAN
Rawalpindi
REPORTEDLY aircraft and contingents of the US-led coalition troops have started using the facilities at Terminal 2 of Karachi Airport as staging post for onward transportation of personnel and supplies to Afghanistan.
The Sindh police chief is stated to be working out a strategy to provide them security. After the attack on American Centre, Kolkata, on Jan 22 it is imperative that we meticulously plan and provide full security to the allied forces. Look at the Indian security agencies, they produced a guinea pig swiftly, extracted information of their choice and destroyed that.
I regret the incident of March 1995, where masked terrorists targeted and killed for the first time in broad daylight two Americans belonging to the US Consulate and injured the third at a busy intersection on Sharah-i-Faisal, Karachi. Again, on Nov 12, 1997, unidentified gunmen killed four American officials and their Pakistani driver on the equally busy M.T. Khan Road, Karachi.
There is no limit to killing Pakistani citizens including intellectuals. There was the mysterious fire in Islamabad that gutted the 16-story Federal Secretariat complex on Jan 15th evening. Latest in the series is the abduction of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl on or about Jan 23.
The nation as a whole must exercise vigilance. Let us jointly do away with all prejudices and forge unity to eradicate terrorism.
LT COL (R) SYED AHMED
Karachi
THE decision of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to put a stop to Internet phone communication (Feb 2) reflects the backward looking and repressive thinking of our state institutions. The rationale for this decision is to enable the Pakistan Telecommunications Company (PTCL) to increase its shrinking revenue from overseas calls.
Putting a restriction on Internet phone communication will, no doubt, increase PTCL’s revenue from overseas calls in the short run at the expense of the consumer. The PTCL wants to do something very simple: it wants to get rid of the competition and become the only player in the long distance market, thus, make more money. The question is that does the PTCL really need to restrict the use of Internet telephony in order to increase its long distance revenues?
Consider an alternative where the PTCL actually embraces Internet telephony and starts facilitating it. The PTCL can perhaps make alliances with leading companies providing Internet telephony like net2phone and get, say, one cent of the ten cents per minute rate that net2 phone charges for calls to the US. They can make such contracts with one or two companies in the Internet telephony business and give them an increased access to the Pakistani market.
The PTCL can even set up a service through which they would accept funds in rupees from people who want to make calls over the Internet. The PTCL can then make money by charging consumers a transaction fee for using the service. Consumers will benefit from this since they won’t have to make payments in dollars or buy expensive pre-paid Internet telephony calling cards from the market. The PTCL can also strive to improve the services that its ISP, Paknet, provides.
A fast connection is important to ensure good voice quality when one makes an Internet to phone call. If people know that Paknet offers them the best connection speeds, competitive rates, and excellent customer service, they will want to use that ISP when they make Internet phone calls. Paknet can thus make more money as more people will then log on to its service just to make Internet calls.
If the PTCL just keeps on trying to block Internet telephony, it’ll get stuck in a cat and mouse game. People will find new ways to get past PTCL’s restrictive measures. On the other hand, by embracing Internet telephony, the PTCL can make money and also keep consumers happy. In an age characterized by the “death of distance” our telecom company should embrace the future and should come up with innovative ways to increase its revenues. It should not keep on postponing the inevitable - change is long overdue.
ZAHID AMIN
Karachi
I AM surprised at the careless handling of family relationships in the TV ads. A woman reminds the shopkeeper: “I am a mother and not a mother-in-law. Give me pure ghee.”
Is a mother-in-law not a mother too?
I think we must not ridicule such delicate relationships on the mass media. Such relationships should be respected and honoured.
UZMA ABOYA
Karachi
CAR snatching has now become a menace of this city in particular and the country in general.
The only apparent solution to deliver instant result is by ensuring that a few heads roll (through dismissal) right from the SSP to the SHO of the area concerned.
FARID SIDDIQI
Karachi
OUR kids often complain of earache. The ENT specialist said that it was the curse of pressure horns which was bothering our kids. School van drivers take the kids around at whirlwind speed through the streets with blaring pressure horns. By the time they reach school they are shaken.
Pressure horns have made it back in a big way after a brief break. It could not be any other way in the land of the pure.
EJAZ AHMED
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Anwar Syed’s opinion piece, “The hatred of America”.
Mr Syed has lived in the US for 40 years and must be familiar with its foreign policy. It would be no exaggeration to say that he is misleading the reader when he says: “That as the only remaining ‘superpower,’ it is America’s duty to set the world right.”
This is a classic approach of turning the whole argument upside down. Nobody asked the US to “set the world right.” What others want the US to do is to leave them alone, to stay out of their internal affairs, and to let them use their own natural resources.
He goes on to say: “... Why would American officials go out of their way to foment a rebellion against an apparently stable, and friendly, (Saudi Arabian) government and in the process invite worldwide condemnation for acting as revolutionary, if not insane, disrupters of the international order?”
Since when has the US started caring for “worldwide condemnation” of its policies? The United Nations resolutions denouncing Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians has been regularly vetoed by the US.
Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Salvador Allende, Mohammad Mossadegh, Daniel Ortega, Fidel Castro are just a few of the victims.
BADRUDDIN R. GOWANI
Los Angeles, US
THIS refers to the Islamabad diary (Feb 1). Ayaz Amir is in a state of frenzy over what he sees happening these days in Pakistan. His knowledge of history books and literature refuels his critical faculties and reinforces his intellectual prowess in an almost regular exercise in castigating the government headed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf for, as he perceives, reviving, among other evils, the “ghosts of Trujillo and the other legendary Central American dictators”.
He is certain with an almost iron-clad conviction that neither society nor the economy or the hopes for a genuine democratic set-up in Pakistan are going to receive a positive impetus out of the situation which is emerging on our national horizon.
In my view, for writing a critique on the nature, direction and dimension of the (fundamental) change that is sweeping this region, it is not at all important to register trivial gestures or “style” or stray verbal expressions on the part of the individuals in authority in finding fault with their short as well as long term policies in the name of national dignity, destiny or honour.
May be what Gen Musharraf or his colleagues or somebody in the press or somebody else said or did on a certain time of day could be expressed or done in a different and better manner.
May be the presence of Americans or their coalition partners on this or the other airport or base raises some questions pertaining to national security and sovereignty. Or, may be one likes or does not like (I don’t know why) the American Ambassador being quoted or projected in the media in connection with issues of mutual concern to us.
But do these things really matter, when the whole world, which happily includes a large number of Pakistanis, sees Pakistan getting out of a catastrophic and cancerous situation that condemned us all to a state of complete isolation from the world community?
As things are, the policies of the rulers of the day do not pose any serious threat to our national aspiration. For nobody can close the doors of change in as far as openings to a democratic order and more viable, productive and progressive social and economic system is concerned. However, these doors merely promise openings. How far can we move out in the open and hold on to ourselves as a rational (which is essentially democratic) entity would in the first place depend on the nature of working equation between the army and the politicians (the names are not important). But more than anything else, it is the direction, the path that we follow in our efforts to redefine our life view as part of the world that matters.
What is happening in Pakistan today could lift us beyond mere survival into a national condition where economic progress and social growth are mutually inclusive and complementary. Its phenomenal significance in the days to come can only be seen in a historical and global context.
Indeed, it is this change which should matter for us and not a set of names, an inventory of everyday gestures on the part of state functionaries or the schedule of a particular election or an administrative exercise.
Democracy and its attending virtues shall come. Let us be clear about the path and get on with the journey. Out there, a whole new universe awaits us.
JAVED MAHMUD
Islamabad
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