| March 3, 2002 | Sunday | Zilhaj 18, 1422 |
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Lathi charge on students
Violence against Muslims in India
Abuse of discretionary powers
Faiz remembered
Phone facilities after retirement
Frustration and aggression
How long can Sharon be tolerated?
Gutter residue
Issuance of TFCs
Ban on private practice
Fake KESC inspector
Effective utilization of loans
THE present and past governments in Pakistan adopt the rhetoric of “poverty alleviation” and socio-economic uplift through various gimmicks and cosmetic measures. Unfortunately, time just goes by and the human development indicators continue to plunge downwards.
With all the sympathies for the victims of Sept 11, it has been a blessing in disguise for Pakistan. Apart from the blessing in our domestic and foreign policy changes; on the economic front, the realization has dawned on the business community that ultimately Pakistan is their home and their future. This is the time when Gen Musharraf should fire his booster rockets in creating a business friendly environment through radical reforms in all sectors related to trade and industry.
In short, the government needs to focus only on the operational industries. Find out what their problems are and remove them. We don’t need seminars and conferences to attract domestic and foreign investments. In fact, these actions become counter-productive by exposing our internal weaknesses and faults in our economic system.
So, let us set our priorities right. Give the operational industries all the practical (no lip service please) support and facilitate them so that the entrepreneurs can devote their full time and energies towards developing and promoting their industries.
In order to do this, create “Operational Industries Facilitation Cells” in all the provinces with full authority to interact with local, provincial and federal government departments. These cells should be headed by industrialists selected from the medium sector who are more aware and sensitive to the operational difficulties of SMEs.
No amount of zakat or charity will ever be enough to serve the basic needs of the growing population in our country. It is only through jobs that we can provide the confidence and self-respect to our people. This can only happen through massive industrialization of our small and medium sectors. And, this will only happen through radical and meaningful reforms as suggested by Dr Shahid H. Kardar in his recent columns in Dawn. (Mr Razak Dawood should read these words of wisdom).
Finally, an appeal to the industrialists but, before that I must pay tributes to them for being able to or trying to operate industries under the past and present adverse conditions. Please go ahead and invest in Pakistan and at the same time carry on your struggle to demolish the barriers through Unity, Faith & Discipline.
NAZIM HAJI
Karachi
Transparency demands, and the Chairman Board of Secondary Education Karachi owes, an explanation to the public in general and to the parents of the affected students in particular, about the circumstances leading to a lathi charge on students in the Board Office on Feb 28.
What Mr Aziz Ansari, chairman of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi said after the incident falls short of a responsible utterance. He said that he had directed the educational institutions to collect the admit cards of their respective students vide a communication dated Feb 23, that is, only five days before the examination was to begin.
Why the chairman could not coordinate the delivery of admit cards to respective institutions well in advance? After all, they charge examination fees also. As a chairman it is his duty to foresee things.
If everybody is true to his salt and does his duty according to the tenets of Islam there would not be loss of valuable life and Pakistan would be a better place to live.
ALI ASHRAF KHAN
Karachi
INDIA is once again in the grip of communal violence. But how can this violence be stopped when Hindu fanatics are themselves ruling India? The Ramsevaks, police and the politicians, all are in collusion with each other and often have interchangeable roles.
The Muslims are totally marginalized in the Indian society. Even with a strength of nearly 200 million, they are being systematically suppressed and have no real representation in the corridors of power. They have no political parties and no other political representation in the parliament, in the so-called largest democracy in the world.
The representation in the government, educational institutions and economic sectors is abysmal. Occasional attempts by Muslims to organize political groupings, are met with a clamp down, arrests or labels of “treason”.
The saner elements in the Indian society and the world media, can contribute positively by highlighting the political and economic suffocation of the Indian Muslims and the intolerance of the Indian society towards not only Muslims but Christians and other minorities also.
SHEHLA BUTT PETALING JAY
Malaysia
Discretionary powers have always been abused, by those in power in Pakistan. Except the Quaid-i-Azam, almost every president, prime minister, minister or head of any civil or armed bureaucratic establishment has abused his discretionary powers.
This is a word most widely misunderstood by our establishment. Perhaps it is a legacy of our colonial past where the British used land, titles and other favours to buy loyalties of saleable individuals and tribes who were willing to help them prolong their occupation in return for such favours.
Unfortunately, the institutions created by our colonial masters to protect their Raj still retain these legacies.
The trend to misuse and abuse public office and state institutions for personal reasons was allowed by everyone, without exception, todate. Ayub Khan abused his self assumed powers of discretion to destroy democratic institutions. Yahya Khan and Zia ul Haq did likewise. Ghulam Ishaq surpassed all others. Nawaz Sharif and Benazir misused their discretionary powers, but somehow they are being held accountable.
Instead of giving state land to the homeless and destitute citizens, it is customary to allot them to civil and khaki bureaucrats. Discretionary powers are used to give prize jobs to unqualified persons, instead of giving them to the better educated.
In a country where such rules like making it mandatory for parliamentarians to be graduates are being discussed, state owned corporations like WAPDA, PIA etc, appoint non-graduates to senior executive posts in violation of all rules. Even technical engineering departments are headed by those who are not qualified engineers. It is because of this curse that we witness a brain drain from our country.
I hope we, as a nation, take steps to curb this menace and abuse of discretionary powers before everything is lost.
M. TABISH ALAMGIR
Lahore
REFERENCE Ariel’s literary notes in Dawn. The interview published in Qaumi Digest appears to be based on some misunderstanding of what Faiz might or would have said.The fact was that there was no such service as British India’s Foreign Service. Till the last moment British India’s foreign relations were governed from London and that was understandable.
There could be only one integrated foreign policy and one Foreign Service of “The Empire on which the sun never set. “The highest post occupied by an “Indian,” that of minister, and not Ambassador, was held by Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai at Washington during World War II.
While going through old records during my posting, my first, at Kabul from January to March 1951, I was surprised to see how even for matters which seemed not too significant the government of India had to refer to London.
The Indian and Pakistan Foreign Services were set up only after independence, till almost August 1947 the British Mission at Kabul was a Legation which is headed by a Minister.
So the Khan Bahadur, Faiz’s father, could not have been sent as Ambassador in a non-existent embassy.
The only exception, of a “native’s” posting in a senior position was the late Col. A.S.B Shah’s as counsellor, but even in his case when the British Minister Sir Giles Squire proceeded on leave the Government of India sent a joint secretary from the external affair department in New Delhi Mr Creighton to take charge of the ligation.
However all this is absolutely no reason for not remembering Faiz’s unique gift as a lyrical poet and particularly remarkable ability to impart new and contemporary meaning to old symbols.
His many qualities of head and heart cannot be taken away from him, in spite of, if I may say so, the attempts to — no irreverence intended — to canonize him as saint Faiz.
S. IRTIZA HUSAIN
Karachi
FREE telephone facility is provided to the PTCL officers of grade B-20 and above, even after their retirement. But why is it so? Why is this facility not given to all?
It may be mentioned that PTCL officials of grades B-1 to B-15 enjoy the facility of 100 free calls per month during service. However, officers of grades B-16 to B-19 have been ignored. This is an injustice.
The Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Ataur Rahman, is requested to kindly look into this anomaly and allow some limited calls to officers of B-16 to B-19 also, after their retirement.
M.U. FAROOQ
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item “Cop kills seven, commits suicide” (Feb 26).
Every human being has certain objectives which he wishes to achieve by legitimate means if provided by the society in which he lives. Normal human beings set achievable goals. They are emotionally balanced. The normal people have high tolerance levels if they suffer any setback.
Constable Noor Muhammad Panhwar felt frustrated and killed people around him. This is a typical case study of emotional instability that has resulted in aggressive outlet. The experts like Freud say aggression is part of human life but this should be within reasonable limits.
All this is due to the diseased state of our society, which spreads frustrating viruses. The community seams to be in no position to help people out of their dangerous inner conditions. The result is that many are turning out to be anti-life.
AYAZ ALI MUGHAL
Hyderabad
I refer to Mahir Ali’s article, “How long can Sharon be tolerated” (Feb 27).
When Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995, I remember some people in Pakistan distributing sweets and singing songs. The same was happening in Palestine and probably many other Muslim countries. Perhaps those celebrating, did not know that a Jewish extremist named Yigal Amir killed Rabin because the latter endorsed an Israeli agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) over the handing over of certain territories to Palestinian control.
Six years later Ariel Sharon became the prime minister,and the Muslim world witnessed the deal he gave the Palestinians. Perhaps some who celebrated Rabin’s death realized their mistake.
The recent peace proposal made by the Saudi Arabian government to the state of Israel — and prime minister Sharon’s acceptance of that proposal — is perhaps one of the most significant events in the for Israeli-Arab relations during the past decade.
The two parties should accept the existence of each other and make genuine efforts to enforce peace.
If this opportunity is lost, the future would be all the more terrible.
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah must be praised for taking this bold step. The Holy Quran fully endorses peace with the enemy (8:62 and 49:11).
For this reason I consider Yitzhak Rabin a martyr for peace — just the same as any Muslim martyr in Palestine. His death, and of so many others, must not go down in vain.
NASIM AHMAD
Karachi
THE gutters in our area, Allama Iqbal Colony, Mehmoodabad Gate, Karachi have been cleaned but the residue is lying outside on the road, hence putting everybody in the area at danger of contracting cholera, dysentery and jaundice, diseases that are in the air these days.
When asked the gutter cleaners say it is the duty of the road sweeper to remove the residue. The road sweeper says it is the job of the “people who clean the gutters” to clean the filth away as well.
Have the Nazim Mr Aurangzeb and the Naib Nazim Mr Sayed Ghani not identified the gutter cleaners’ and the sweepers’ duties to them? Why do they wait for us to tell them to clean the filth when it is something understood that has to be done? Why do they not inspect the lanes of the constituency to see if their subordinates are doing their work properly or not?
MS. PARVEEN K. FAHIM
Karachi
IN order to enable the companies to generate funds from the public, the authorities concerned have become very liberal. Recently, the intending companies have been permitted to issue Term Finance Certificates.
As no security is offered to the investors in case of default by the company or its bankruptcy, the intending investors should be ready to face another scam in the name of TFCs, like that of the defunct private investment companies and cooperative societies, etc.
TAJAMMUL HUSSAIN
Karachi
AT a press conference held at PMA house on Feb 26, secretary-general of the PMA criticized the governments of NWFP and Punjab for imposing a ban on private practice of faculty members of government-run hospitals and termed it detrimental.
May I point out that in 1993/94 when I was posted as medical superintendent of LMCH, a professor and head of ENT department operated upon a young girl of 19 years, under general anaesthesia administered by a senior anaesthetist but immediately after operation they both left during working hours to perform another operation in a private hospital, leaving the patient unattended and she died. Other such examples can also be quoted.
In the interest of the poor masses, the government should immediately put a complete ban on the outside practice of doctors. It should also pass an ordinance to regulate the private hospitals which are nothing but commercial concerns where poor patients are treated as merchandise.
Dr ABDULLAH JAN PATHAN
Hyderabad
ABOUT two weeks back, a young man turned up in our locality. He showed a service ID Card of the KESC to the chowkidars in the KDA Scheme No 1. His name, as mentioned on the KESC ID Card, was Nadeem and his designation, Assistant Foreman, Maintenance. He had a helper with him.
He had all the gadgets needed by an electrician. He got the meter closets opened by the chowkidar and manipulated the original wiring of the meters. He opened the wiring of my meter also and harassed my wife in my absence, saying that electricity was being stolen through my meter. He disturbed the original wiring and, after collecting some money, reconnected the cables.
It happened so suddenly that the residents, mainly ladies, got panicky. Later, on investigation it was found to be a case of impersonification.
The KESC, too, is requested to give advance information regarding a visit by their team to the consumers.
A.B. KHAN
Karachi
THE Asian Development Bank will provide $650 million for four new uplift projects during 2002. Sources said at Islamabad on Feb 12 that the ADB had initially finalized funding for four development schemes, which included capital market follow-up loan ($250m), Sindh rural development loan ($50m), devolution support programme loan ($250m), and districts schools management loan ($100m).
The ADB has increased funding for development projects in Pakistan from $900 million in 2001 to $1000 million for 2002, due largely to measures taken by the present government for improvement of the economy and the appeal by the president on Jan 21 at a conference to the donors for generous loans for removing poverty.
The best way to appreciate the ADB gesture is to streamline the process of submission of development projects and their effective implementation as well as by removing all weaknesses pointed out by the ADB in this regard.
Pakistan is already heavily indebted and we have to be extra-careful in additional borrowing and the actual implementation of the development projects. The following proposals might assist the concerned authorities in this process:
Development projects may be screened internally before these are presented to the ADB for possible assistance. In each area, top three projects may be shortlisted on merit. Projects needing only rupee funding may preferably be financed through local currency loans.
Project directors and the concerned implementation agencies may be associated in early stages with the ADB for technical discussion or formal loan negotiation. They will know what is expected of them by the ADB and in what timeframe. Policy changes with potential adverse reactions may be sorted out first before these are made part of official documentation.
The ADB and the World Bank have indicated weaknesses to the Pakistani authorities in the utilization of loan and other funds. The reasons for these weaknesses need to be removed by the concerned government authorities through remedial measures in respect of ongoing projects and by streamlining the process for fresh development projects.
Procurement of land and materials for implementing the development projects are crucial. The government can avoid waste of resources by appointing the best team and the project director on timely basis and if need be by providing training and technical assistance covering the whole process. Transparency and merit need to be ensured. With efficient use, even smaller resources may yield better results.
Engagement of external consultants may be considered for taking stock of the existing projects at federal and provincial levels and for suggesting ways and means to improve management of the projects portfolio.
MUHAMMAD BASHIR CHAUDHRY
Karachi
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