| February 11, 2002 | Monday | Ziqa’ad 27, 1422 |
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Marine pollution
The Quaid’s vision
Amendments to the Constitution
PTCL and Internet telephony
Inability to meet power needs
Mediation to resolve disputes
Recognizing merit
Unsatisfactory work
Steps against bonded labour
Neglect of amenity plot
Chatting on the Internet
Study of law
India’s missile programme
CNG use in vehicles
Abolition of university syndicates
a) Keeping our past record in view, the results of elections held under any political government will never be accepted by the opposition parties. Hence, to avoid instability in the future there is a need that, following the example of Bangladesh, we must carry out an amendment to the Constitution under which a political government resigns 75 days before the elections which are then held under the judiciary, assisted by the army.
THIS refers to the letter by M. Zafar, in EBR (Jan., 7-13) which reflects an evident basis against the management of the Pakistan Steel. The writer has again come up with the preconceived notion that the accident was caused by the use of some below specification material. He has described the use of material with deviation from specification as something unusual, particularly in this case, whereas it is a routine practice governed by a very well laid down procedure, which has been in vogue even when Mr Zafar was working at the purchase department.
Therefore, there arises no point in hanging the purchasers, the C&F department, inspectors, technical evaluators, storekeepers and end-users as desired by Mr Zafar in his letter. It is only to eliminate any sort of apprehensions created y lobbies with vested interest that a 2nd enquiry has been initiated.
According to the first enquiry the contents of which have already been published the nature of accident was such that no specified reason for the accident could be determined. So far as the effects of the reduction in duties on steel imports on the sale of Pakistan Steel products are concerned that has been widely discussed in the Press.
Some of the proposals forwarded to the MOI&P to rectify the situation particularly with regard to import of secondaries have been given due consideration by the ministry. It may, however, be mentioned here that the steel industry is facing an over all recession. Large steel works are closing down in countries like US and Korea. It may also e mentioned here that in spite of the fact that India has given substantial protection to her steel industry of upto 63 percent import duty on the import of steel products as compared to 30 percent and 10 percent in Pakistan, the Steel Authority of India is facing persistent losses in billions for the last two years.
In this backdrop the Pakistan Steel which earned profit last year may e having a difficult situation to face in the current financial year. However, ways and means are being found to reduce the cost of production and to improve the productivity to cope with the new challenges.
As for repair and maintenance except for the plans which have been affected by the developments at International level, like postponement of the capital repairs of Blast Furnace No.2, the Oxygen Plant and Boiler No.2 of the Steel making plant, the other repair jobs are in full swing. The capital repairs of Slab Caster No.2 have been concluded recently. The capital repairs of the dry quenching chamber are in the last stage. The capital repairs of the mixer have been started and that of Billet Caster shall start by the end of this month.
ANWAR SHAHID KHAN, (PR) PS
Karachi
IN MY article “Marine pollution along coastline” dated 14-01-02, it was misreported inadvertently that Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1972 Convention of Prevention of Marine Pollution by dumping of waste and other material. The oversight is regretted.
AMIR KABIR
Karachi
IN the words of Stanley Wolpert: “Few individuals significantly change the course of history, still a few come to modify the map of the world, but hardly any one can be credited for creating a nation-state; Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all the three”. Of course, he did all the three and still he had plans to do much more for Pakistan, but unfortunately died within a year of its establishment. He had envisaged Pakistan to be a moderate Islamic State.
After his death the country has been the subject of many political, economic and social experiments. It passed through the parliamentary democracy, martial laws, basic democracies, autocratic socialism sanctioned through universal suffrage, so-called Islamization, controlled democracy and finally a new shape of martial law with democratic norms and values.
Despite the long chain of administrative experiments and observations the country couldn’t even reach the horizons of the Quaid’s proposed way of governance. His golden motto and statements like: “Unity, Faith and Discipline,” that “religion has nothing to do with the affairs of the state” and “the new state would be a modern democratic state with the sovereignty resting in the people with equal rights of citizenship irrespective of their religion, caste and creed” clearly manifested the future system of governance. But unfortunately, all this was forgotten.
Being a young, energetic and devoted Pakistani, I usually become sentimental when I recall successive governments’ attempts at introducing mediocre schemes in order to win popularity among the masses, ignoring the Quaid’s plan of “modern welfare state”.
A handful of religious groups who even opposed the creation of Pakistan and later failed to win a significant support of the people are among the vehement opponents of the Quaid’s vision.
The Quaid never imagined that there would be the sectarian violence in the country. What he imagined was fraternity, equality and social justice.
The move of the Musharraf government to translate the Quaid’s vision into reality has been greatly welcomed. His bold steps taken after Sept 11, are not under any external pressure as projected by his critics but purely in the interest of Pakistan to convert it into a moderate and progressive Muslim state, in accordance with the Founder’s wishes.
HAKIM BANGLANI
Islamabad
BY re-introducing the joint electorate system and increasing the number of national assembly seats, the government has demonstrated its intentions to carry out necessary amendments to the Constitution on the authority of a Supreme Court verdict. That being the case, the following amendments must be included in its package of constitutional reforms:
b) The 1973 Constitution lays down that high court judges shall be appointed from the high court bars as well as from district and sessions judges. However, at least in Punjab, great injustice is being done to the sessions judges as appointments are mainly made from among the lawyers. The reasons are simple, the lawyers, have effective pressure groups which the sessions judges lack because they are government servants.
Moreover, political governments find it better to appoint their own loyalists as high court judges from among the lawyers.
I think that the majority of the district and sessions judges are honest, competent and perform their duties with dedication and sincerity.
In order to utilize their experience, honesty and dedication as well as to remove the gross injustice being done to the middle rung judiciary, there is a strong case that constitutional guarantees be introduced so that at least 50 per cent (if not more) appointments of high court judges are from the district and sessions judges. The above constitutional amendments are necessary.
However, no political government is likely to do so. Hence the present government must step in.
LT-COL (R) MUHAMMAD ASLAM WARRIACH
Sargodha
THE PTCL has complained to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority regarding the loss of revenue due to an ever growing use of Internet for telephony. This is not true. In fact, the loss is due to bad planning, defective tariff structure, extravagance, overstaffing, the employment of a large number of consultants and meaningless expensive advertising.
How can you stop the flow of the Information Technology and impose restrictions on facilities which are the hallmark of modern technology?
For argument’s sake, if the loss is really due to Internet telephony, then why ignore the extensive use of the e-mail facility through the Internet which has brought almost to a total elimination of the usage of fax machines and teleprinters ?
In any case, the PTCL monopoly is going to be over by the end of this year. This is all the more reason why the PTCL should not be allowed to harass the public by imposing restrictions.
COL M.A. BUTT
Karachi
A NEWS item on this subject (Feb 4) says that the KESC is finding it difficult to meet the power requirements, specially for those commercial areas which were originally planned as residential areas. According to this news item the KESC finds it difficult to change the infrastructure accordingly, even if by some miracle the money becomes available.
Now the question is, where has all-money gone which the KESC has collected from the public in their recent campaign conducted with the help of the army personnel in which it received millions of rupees on account of system development charges and additional security deposit.
M. RAFIQUE KASSIM
Karachi
INDIA and Pakistan can go on talking to each other till hell freezes over and yet they will be no nearer a solution to the Kashmir problem than they are today. Their positions are such that unless one or the other makes an abject retreat, matters will stand where they are as of now.
Tony Blair and George Bush are the last two persons in the world to have the foggiest idea what the problem actually is and how intractable it is. They are just groping in the dark, just to be seen as playing their dutiful role between the two countries. Their successors will still be doing this ten years hence.
After the horrors of September 11, the international community has no choice but to take the bull by the horns. They must impose mediation, under the auspices of the United Nations, wherever there are accusations and counter-accusations of terrorism. Be it Israel/Palestine, India/Pakistan or wherever. If this had been done in Afghanistan, the war would not have been necessary unless, of course, there were other reasons for it.
No country should be allowed to say ‘no’ to mediation and still moan and groan to the whole world about terrorism. The argument that the problem will be solved bilaterally has worn very thin over 54 years. The UN Security Council should be empowered to do the needful.
The important thing is to tackle the acrimonies between any two countries so that the presence of foreign troops (Saudi Arabia) can be taken care of. You cannot have sovereign countries being protected by foreign troops. About time the world of protectorates was over.
KHRUSHID ANWER
Lahore
THIS is for Muniba Zafar who was not recognized by the Sindh government for her brilliant results.
There is nothing unusual about what has happened to you. You are fortunate enough to have scored the highest marks that you deserved for your hard work, but many are denied even that kind of reward for their good work.
Even after standing second in the whole of Punjab in the Final Professional Examination of MBBS, I was not given a job in a teaching hospital which I should have got by merit. Instead, I was posted in a remote healthcare centre. Of course, students who were sleeping throughout the year ended up working wherever they wanted.
When was merit the standard in Pakistan? Because of the discrimination I faced at each step I left the country to find a fairer system in the West. Who wants to leave one’s homeland if one receives the credit one deserves? I can only hope that someone has the courage to change this system.
DR AZRA MAHMUD
Dublin, Ireland
THE country boasts of several institutes, academies and universities which have chairs dedicated to research and propagation of the message and significance in South Asian history of Iqbal and the Quaid-i-Azam. In spite of millions of rupees spent on these chairs what have they produced?
The answer is: nothing. No work or journal, article or thesis of international repute stands to their credit. Instead, it is foreign authors who enlighten us on new aspects of the life and work of Iqbal and the Quaid.
The federal ministry of education which allocates funds for these chairs has a duty to monitor their working.
RIAZ HUSSAIN
Lahore
I DRAW attention to the editorial captioned “Bonded labour’s plight”, (Feb 5) showing concern about the bonded labour situation in Sindh in the context of private jails and agriculture sector.
The government, being cognizant of the problem of bonded labour in certain parts of the country, has recently announced a National Policy and Plan of Action for Abolition of Bonded Labour. Earlier in 1992, a law namely the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992 was enacted. A survey to assess the quantum of bonded labour is being undertaken.
Earlier surveys carried by the Inspector General, Rangers and by a judge of Sindh High Court indicated that the report about the presence of private jails and bonded labour were somewhat exaggerated.
The government, however, is fully committed to eradicating the problem in whatsoever form it persists. A national committee has been established to review the implementation of the law and action plan and to monitor the working of the District Vigilance Committees which have been re-constituted to make them functional.
In order to create awareness about the issue, two national level seminars were held last year, one at Hyderabad to address the issues of haris in the Sindh and the other in Lahore to address the issue of bonded labour in brick-kiln industry in Punjab, further provincial governments have been asked to strictly enforce the Bonded Labour Act.
A fund of Rs 100 million has been set up for the rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers. A project for rehabilitation of haris living in camps in Sindh has been prepared by the Sindh government to be financed by the fund which will be launched soon in consultation with the Government of Sindh.
There is no apathy on the part of the government in dealing with the issue of bonded labour. The government has with full sincerity, adopted a proactive strategy for the eradication of bonded labour from the society.
Since the issue is steeped in history, it will take time to eradicate the menace.
M.S. JAMAL
Labour, Manpower & Overseas Pakistanis, Division,
Islamabad
AN amenity plot which was earmarked for park/recreation purposes, near Darul-Uloom Rahmania in Sector 15-A/5, Buffer Zone, North Karachi, has been barren for long. Some portion of this land has been allotted for construction of a mosque.
The residents of this area, including old men, women and children, have to walk a long way to parks which are located in other sectors, for relaxation. Time and again, this matter has been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned who depute someone to visit the area, to make enquiries but the matter remains unresolved.
Will the authorities concerned take some positive action to restore this plot of land to the status for which it was earmarked.
ATAUR REHMAN KHAN
Karachi
TODAY, chatting on the Internet has become very common, particularly among the young men and women.
I do not think chatting is something bad. In our ‘off line’ daily lives too, we spend a lot of time in chatting which often helps in developing our thoughts and in solving our problems.
But net chatting is different. Many chatters become romantic. Most of them give wrong information about their sex, age and other details.
What I want to impress upon the chatters is that why don’t they use this facility for a good purpose?
People from different countries are in the chat room. Why don’t they talk about ways to advance peace in the world and how we can make our planet more beautiful and a better place to live in?
HUMERA GYADEER ALI KHAN
Karachi
THERE is no other requirement, save graduation, to get admission to a law college. No consideration is given to the individual’s aptitude or skills.
Law colleges are, therefore, overcrowded and except for a few colleges, classes are not held regularly. The Commission on National Education was of the view that the decline in the standard of legal education is largely due to an unfettered growth of law colleges and the influx of students, accelerated by an indiscriminate system of admissions merely for increasing the revenue of the colleges through tuition fees.
Obviously, if only the memorizing of a few skeletons of legal norms is considered enough to entitle one to a degree in law, then there is little chance of producing men with mental agility and legal acumen.
With the changing times, it has now become necessary to bring about changes in the curriculum of the degree courses in law. Obsolete subjects should be dropped and new subjects related to the present day society, should be introduced.
Students should be made to cultivate the habit of reading standard text-books. The cheap and spurious books and guides which give only the outlines of the subject, ought to be banned.
The Commission had further observed that we were now producing more graduates than the legal profession can absorb reasonably, and even the suitability of those it did absorb, is questionable.
IMDAD ALI SOOMRO
Karachi
IF the international community does not put pressure on New Delhi and take cognizance of its missile programme, would that not force Pakistan to take tit-for-tat action as it did on May 28, 1998? Pakistan is in the same position as it faced in 1989 and in May, 1998.
Now it is up to Gen Pervez Musharraf to use his sagacity, discretion and power to successfully decentralize the government that could ensure real democracy on the one hand and strengthen long-term relations with the world powers on the other.
AZHAR SULEHRI
Lahore
THE problem of environmental pollution may be reduced to a considerable extent with the use of CNG (compressed natural gas), as it would reduce the discharge of carbon dioxide by about 25 per cent, unburnt hydrocarbons by 50 per cent, carbon monoxide by 90 per cent, particulate by 98 per cent and lead by 100 per cent, as compared to petrol.
The above figures show that the use of CNG will obviously improve our environment or at least the harm done would be less. So I would like to ask the authorities to look into this matter and promote CNG use in Hyderabad and other cities of Pakistan.
QAZI NAZIM NAEEM
Hyderabad
IT is amazing to observe the recommendations of the Task Force on the Improvement of Higher Education suggesting the replacement of the university syndicates and senates with “strong and independent governing boards” (Feb 2).
Reasons advanced by the Task Force are the largeness of their size and politicization of these bodies. It is relevant to point out that all over the civilized world universities are run by their teachers and alumni who are represented on their governing bodies besides some experts and eminent citizens.
It may be mentioned that the Punjab University Act 1904 enacted during the heydays of the colonial empire which remained in force till 1954 provided an elected syndicate with only two ex-officio members i.e. Vice chancellor and Director Public Instruction. The senate too had elected fellows besides some ex-officio members.
In those days, university administration was fairly efficient and clean. The standard of discipline was also at a higher level. Campuses were peaceful and disturbance were rare.
The deterioration started when the government’s interference in the affairs of the universities increased and the governing bodies were packed with the government nominees. The chancellor who used to be the titular head of the universities was made all powerful and the appointing authority for the vice chancellor and senior officers. Under the old pre-independence act, the senate was the appointing authority for the office of the vice chancellor.
The autonomy of the universities and the independence of the judiciary have always been an eyesore to the totalitarian regimes. So they have always been their target. The recommendations of the task force seems to be a link in the same chain. If the existing syndicates are considered unwieldy due to the largeness of their size, the remedy lies in the reasonable reduction in it instead of abolishing them all together.
R.R. ALVI
Lahore
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