| March 1, 2002 | Friday | Zilhaj 16, 1422 |
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Ashcroft’s remarks
Skin disease
Incident at PAC meeting
Jaswant Singh’s remarks
Comstech’s performance
Ban on private practice
Telephone charges: a clarification
Misuse of the Internet
Murder most foul
Ghalib’s ‘diwan’
Ladies’ section
Imparting information technology
THIS is with reference to the article by Air Chief Marshal Zafar A. Chaudhry (Feb 26). His comments on the navy are biased. He has advocated that our small tactical Air Force should fly into the enemy territory to hit the enemy’s vital lines of communication and supply. On the other hand, for the navy, he has recommended a rigid defensive role because sinking of ships on high seas would not have any effect on land campaign.
I do agree that with our limited resources, the navy should have a defensive strategy. However, defensive strategy must have some element of offensive tactics inbuilt for success. Our submarines are the only platform which can take the war at sea across to the enemy waters. We should have more submarines to increase the chances of success. We are bound to hunt and sink enemy men-of-war as well as merchant ships if deployed in the offensive in enemy waters.
We must not forget that one submarine of PN kept the entire Indian navy bottled up in their harbours during 1965. In 1971, our submarine sank an Indian ship and put their navy on the defensive.
The ACM has assumed that we can fight the next war on stockpiles. He thinks there will not be any need for further augmentation of oil and other supply. Such assumptions lead to retribution. Though no two wars are alike, still we must heed the lessons learnt from the last two wars with our neighbour. In both the wars, the navy was required to escort merchant ships bringing vital supplies.
Since relation with foreign countries are not static, we may have friends who would like to help us materially with supplies. These will come through ships and will need to be escorted. We will require destroyers for escort duties.
The very notion that we can fight a war with the present stockpile is wrought with danger. I agree with the ACM that the navy needs appropriate aircraft. These aircraft should be organic to the navy which means that it should be operated by naval pilots like in all other countries.
My advice is that the navy should not base its war plan on support from PAF. With their limited number of aircraft outnumbered grossly by the enemy, PAF may not be able to generate support for the navy at the correct time and place since war at sea is a fleeting business.
In fact we must have a small but balanced navy with submarines as the offensive arm along with destroyers, missile boats, aircraft and helicopters to execute the defensive strategy.
KHALID WASAY
Rear Admiral (Retd)
Karachi
THIS refers to US Attorney-General Ashcroft’s recent remarks about Islam. If one considers Mr Ashcroft’s views as unjust, biased or perverted, one should issue a rejoinder — in which the fallacy of the views of Mr Ashcroft should be pointed out in a logical discourse in polite language.
The Quran and Hadees should be quoted in support of one’s views and in negation of Mr Ashcroft’s views on Islam.
Islam is a tolerant and humane religion and I have no doubt that the rejoinder will succeed in convincing Mr Ashcroft of the fallacy of his views. The Prophet (Peace be upon him), never demanded apologies from those who rejected his preaching and spoke against Islam.
He argued with them with logic and always used sober language and pointed out to them the fallacy of their beliefs and the impropriety of their attitude. This is how he won converts.
JUSTICE (R) SALAHUDDIN MIRZA
Karachi
THE skin disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis, has now reached the districts of Larkana and Khairpur, after affecting thousands in the Dadu district. Initially, the health department was unable to handle the epidemic on the pretext of lack of funds.
One can understand from the handling of the epidemic in Dadu district, how much power has been devolved to the district level. After public demands the provincial government, released Rs 4 million to meet the medical needs of the affected population. However, despite this, the disease has not been controlled and the number of patients is increasing alarmingly. In many villages of hilly areas of Dadu district, almost all the inhabitants are affected.
It may be pertinent to mention that Dadu was already passing through one of the worst droughts, which has directly affected the quality of life. According to Asian Development Bank’s study, Dadu district is among the five districts of Sindh where 82 per cent people live on an income of less than one dollar a day.
It is high time that philanthropists, charities and doctors’ organizations came forward to rescue the people, before it is too late.
SINDHU PANHWAR
Jamshoro
THE recent storming of the parliament building by a senior leader of PML(QA) and the failure of the government to take appropriate action against the intruders need not surprise anybody. As we are living in George Orwel’s Animal Farm we cannot do anything except blame our stars.
This is how our honourable leaders pay tribute to the Father of the Nation whose name we proudly exploit.
The bureaucrats in the Public Accounts Committee who were the target of the powerful PML leader cannot escape the responsibility for the incident either. Reluctance of the mighty bureaucracy to unconditionally hand over power to the people through fair elections is partly to blame for the latest attack on the parliament building.
Thank God nobody can blame RAW or CIA for the unruly behaviour of the politician concerned. In the absence of national reconciliation we shall continue to charge and counter-charge each other till the end of time. In a country where even the Supreme court is not secure from hooliganism it is futile to expect the rule of law to make any headway. If we cannot tolerate one another, we do not deserve to live in one country. If, for example, the government and the opposition are not on talking terms, what can you expect except the law of jungle practically defined by the PML(QA) leader?
AMBASSADOR (R) B.A. MALIK
Islamabad
INDIAN External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh says that the cause of tension between India and Pakistan is not the Kashmir issue, but Pakistan’s anti-India policy. He asks Pakistan to decide what kind of long-term relations it wants with India.
But if Kashmir is not the focal point of tension between the two countries then why is there reluctance on the Indian part to implement the UN resolutions? Why do the Indians forget they went to the United Nations on January 1, 1948? It is their responsibility to implement the UN resolutions.
Why does India shy away from the pledges of its first prime minister, who on more than one occasion promised a plebiscite in Kashmir? Why have not the human rights organizations, the international media and UN peacekeepers been allowed to visit the Indian-held Kashmir when there are more than 700,000 Indian troops in the valley?
Yes, it is time for India and Pakistan to decide what kind of ties they want in the new century. But it is more up to India. President Pervez Musharraf has made it repeatedly clear that Pakistan wants friendly ties with India. He wants the biggest hurdle — Kashmir — to be removed peacefully.
Unfortunately, the Indians have been belligerent, and prisoners of the status quo. They are more worried about domestic politics than the regional situation. Knotting domestic politics with international policies is a common practice, but taking it to the borders is a dangerous game.
Even at the height of tension, Pakistan’s message has been of peace, but India has not withdrawn its troops, as war hysteria is bound to help the BJP government in the continuing provincial polls.
It is the people like Jaswant Singh and Advani in the Indian cabinet who will have to ponder and decide what kind of ties they want with Pakistan.
MOMINA RAZA ZAHID
Karachi
REFERENCE the editorial of Feb 19, entitled “The way forward”. Most facts mentioned and the statements referred to are correct and certainly merit serious consideration.
However, you refer to Comstech as “a largely moribund institution that ritually comes alive twice a year when the science ministers of the Muslim countries assemble, only to return to their accustomed deep slumber and apathy”.
This is totally incorrect and based on your not being familiar with the programmes and activities of Comstech during the last two years. In the special supplement that Dawn published on Feb 16 2002, the achievements of Comstech are listed on the first page.
As someone who has been associated with Comstech as Adviser, Science, since July 1996, I very strongly feel that in spite of serious financial constraints Comstech has achieved a great deal of success.
DR ANWAR NASIM
Adviser, Science,
Islamabad
I wish to congratulate the NWFP government for having banned private practice of doctors in government service. I hope that the other provinces will follow suit.
At this time when cost of living is increasing by the minute, and all classes of people are finding it impossible to make both the ends meet, it is essential to safeguard the interests of the general populace. Any doctor desirous of doing private practice should have the courage to take the risk of setting up a private practice without the crutches of government service.
If the government prosecutes quacks and streamlines the pharmaceutical industry, it will win further accolades. Over the counter sale of medicines should be checked and only qualified pharmacy professionals should also be allowed to run medical stores.
The unholy liaison between doctors and the pharmaceutical companies should be checked. The hospitals should also be monitored closely to discourage non-professional attitudes and overcharging practices.
DR JAMAL NASIR MEMON
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a news item appearing in a section of the press, saying that the Pakistan Telecommunication Company was pursuing a highly inequitable formula for charging their subscribers, under which landline telephone users have to pay more when they make telephone calls to mobile phones, than the mobile phone users who make calls from mobile phones to a fixed telephone.
It is clarified that the fixed line users have to pay a higher charge for their mobile calls compared with fixed to fixed calls according to the principle being followed in the case of Calling Party Pay (CPP) tariff, which was introduced in December 2000. However, when a mobile subscriber calls to a fixed line number he not only pays PTCL charges @ Rs 2.01 per 5 minutes but also the airtime charge of Rs 6.25 per minute depending on the subscribed Tariff package. A 5-minute call would therefore cost Rs 33.26 (without C.E.D).
When the CPP tariff system was introduced, all possible options were adopted to ensure a tariff which was fair and equitable for all parties including the landline to mobile phone consumers, after carrying out detailed analysis and surveys through public forums at Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, besides opinion solicitation through PTA website.
The Authority feels that the overall arrangements are quite appropriate and reasonable as the industry has started turning around mainly due to the introduction of the CPP. The subscribers’ base of all the four mobile operating companies has grown to over 850,000 users from a meagre 300,000 in just one year and the overall cost to the mobile users has also declined.
In a bid to provide relief to the subscribers, the Authority continues to review the tariff package and has also recently announced reduction in tariff under CPP regime, which has become effective from Feb 20.
Nevertheless PTA will review current CPP regime and would certainly incorporate needed improvements which will reduce the burden on the subscribers.
GHULAM QADIR KHAN
Director Public Relations, PTA,
Islamabad
A few days ago I went to more than six Internet clubs in Peshawar to check my mail and found that they were full of Internet users. I feel very proud that in Peshawar the usage of Internet has increased so much and the new generation is taking full advantage of it.
But what is worrying is that among the users, there were 90% young boys. I asked myself as to why these boys are in the Internet club at the time when they should be in their study rooms. Then I found out that the boys come mostly for watching indecent films and the parents are not aware of it.
It is the need of the hour that the government should take remedial steps in this regard.
RIZWAN ALI
Peshawar
APROPOS of the editorial under the above caption (Feb 23), we have been desensitized by the news of innocent and brutal killings in Pakistan. Hundreds of people belonging to a particular sect have been victims of barbaric killings in Pakistan in the last few years. About hundred young doctors have been killed in targeted shootings.
The extremist religious parties supported militant groups like “Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi” who are well known for such horrendous crimes.
Young doctors, lawyers and intellectuals have been brutally murdered in their clinics and offices. Their crime was that they belonged to a particular sect. Hundreds of mourning families are left without any justice or compensation. A doctor was murdered just two weeks ago. In the last three weeks more than a dozen people have been murdered in Pakistan.
Complaints being made to Amnesty International, United Nations, Organization of Islamic Conference, the Government of Pakistan including the President and the Interior Minister fell on deaf ears. No one was ever convicted or punished.
Daniel Pearl’s family was lucky in the sense that some arrests have been made and the whole world knows about his murder. In doctors’ killings nobody cared, some cases even did not even make news.
When Christians were murdered in Pakistan, immediate compensation was announced. But the victim’s families of Karachi did not get a dime.
We hope Daniel’s blood will not go in vain and killings in the streets of Pakistan will be halted.
ALI RAZA VAZIR
Karachi
This is with reference to the ‘Lahore literary scene’ (Feb 23). I happened to browse the much publicized “Nuskha-i-Khawja” in a bookshop the other day. Dr Moeen-ur-Rehman says in his introduction that “A handwritten manuscript of Urdu diwan of Ghalib came my way, which was calligraphed before August 1852 ...”.
It is strange that a man of Dr Moeen-ur-Rehman’s stature should have failed to mention when, where and how he came across the manuscript and on what terms, if any, he obtained it from the owner.
I am afraid that ever since its publication in 1998, and despite the criticism it has drawn so far, Dr Moeen-ur-Rehman has not been able to explain his position in regard to this “discovery”. Until he does so, the controversy will not cease. As it appeared to be unauthentic, I did not buy it.
QAMAR ZAMAN
Lahore
DESPITE repeated instructions from the provincial Ombudsman, the traffic police department has not cared to ensure that the ladies compartments in mini-buses and coaches are not occupied by male commuters. It seems that even the Ombudsman is helpless against the collusion of police department with the transport mafia.
RAIHAN LODHI
Karachi
WITH reference to Kh. Tajammul Hussain’s letter on information technology (Feb 26), I as District Officer Education (Colleges) would like to clarify some points raised in the letter. First of all, to impart information technology as a subject at the Intermediate level has not decided by the local directorate, rather it was decided by the Sindh government.
As for the working of the programme is concerned, it is implemented very systematically. A walk-in-interview was conducted for five days in the Government National College off Shaheed-e-Millat Road, Karachi. For the walk-in-interview, advertisements were placed in the leading newspapers for two consecutive days.
Eight teams, each headed by a principal and one subject specialist, interviewed the candidates aspiring to teach IT in colleges. The minimum qualification was a master’s degree in any discipline with a degree or a diploma from a recognized institute in information technology / computer science. It may be astonishing that more than 100 M.C.S. appeared for the interview. At the moment, in each Government college IT is being taught by competent teachers.
As far as the training of teachers is concerned, it is the policy of the Sindh education department to make all teachers computer-literate irrespective of their subject of teaching so that they can use the computer for improving their knowledge through the Internet. The intention of the training was never to produce teachers of information technology overnight.
At the moment, there are fully equipped computer labs in more than 50 colleges.
It was decided right in the beginning of the academic year that this time the exam for IT shall be held in 2003. However, the First year theory classes have already been started and now more than 50,000 students of different government colleges are studying IT under competent teachers. The performance of these IT teachers are monitored by the principal of the college as of other faculty members.
The job continuation of contract IT teachers totally depends on the satisfaction of the students and the principal of the concerned college. Although the exam will not be held this year, still in all colleges where labs are ready, practicals are being conducted on a regular basis.
A plan is under way to utilize the computer labs in the free time for computer short course recognized by the Sindh Technical Board on very nominal charges.
I invite anybody from the public or press to visit the government colleges and see for themselves how the ordinary people are becoming computer literate. There is no doubt that many private institutions which are minting money by exploiting the poor masses in the name of information technology are not happy as computer literacy is being provided at a cost of about Rs 85 per month and on the latest brand of computers.
PROF (DR) M.M.A. FEEROZE
Karachi
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