| March 9, 2002 | Saturday | Zilhaj 24, 1422 |
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Let us look at ourselves
Condition for assembly members
Commuted pension
Wake up, PMA
Tobacco industry’s strange logic
Railway clarification
Election manifestos
Israel’s barbarity
Muzaffargarh PTCL exchange
Nadra’s efficiency
Under-age drivers
Car theft menace
Role of PMDC
WHAT has been happening in India is an outrage that defies words. It is more shocking when viewed in the background of the present government’s litany about secularism and democracy. Impartial observers will be reminded of New Delhi’s feverish efforts to have Pakistan declared a ‘terrorist’ state.
Minorities in India have been subject to waves of violence from majority community zealots. Muslims are not the only ones. Christians, too, have been targeted. The elements engaged in the current carnage represent the hard core constituency of the ruling party. They have the support and protection of the pervasive “Ram Mandir” umbrella.
Mr L.K. Advani, the present Home Minister, led the charge on the Babri Mosque. Right now he is the top policeman of India. No wonder the police have stood by as nonchalant spectators when not participating in the ‘action’. During the carnage in the wake of the attack on the Babri Mosque ten years ago, the police and rioters stood on the same side. Around 3,000 were killed.
This tendency is particularly strong in western of India, the bastion of power of the present rulers of the country. This is also the home of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence. The killer of the Mahatma was also from this region. The saint of non-violence and his killer rose from the same soil.
For us this is not the time to feel self-righteous. Instead of putting on a ‘holier than thou’ act, let us take a hard look at ourselves. We may have a right to denounce the present violence in India. More important, we have a duty to note the streak of intolerance within our own society. Watching what is happening in India should strengthen our resolve to curb and defeat the demon lurking in our ranks.
Fools fail to learn from their own errors. The wise learn from the mistakes of others. Now we have both facilities: mistakes of others and our own. Recall what happened the other day in a Rawalpindi mosque. What is the difference between religious intolerance in India and the same tendency in Pakistan? None.
On a political and state level, some difference does exist. First, the people in Pakistan has never voted religious extremists to state power. India presents the reverse of this. Second, the government in Pakistan has moved to curb extremism. In India, the government is the product of the extremists. Hence also subservient to zealots gone wild.
We have Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee to thank for the pointblank statement that the latest wave of killings and desolation is “a disgrace for India.” If something similar happens in Pakistan, it will not do us proud. Would it?
Finally the warning from Allama Iqbal: Deen-i-mullah fee sabilillah fisad.
A.B.S. JAFRI
Karachi
WHAT has been happening in India is an outrage that defies words. It is more shocking when viewed in the background of the present government’s litany about secularism and democracy. Impartial observers will be reminded of New Delhi’s feverish efforts to have Pakistan declared a ‘terrorist’ state.
Minorities in India have been subject to waves of violence from majority community zealots. Muslims are not the only ones. Christians, too, have been targeted. The elements engaged in the current carnage represent the hard core constituency of the ruling party. They have the support and protection of the pervasive “Ram Mandir” umbrella.
Mr L.K. Advani, the present Home Minister, led the charge on the Babri Mosque. Right now he is the top policeman of India. No wonder the police have stood by as nonchalant spectators when not participating in the ‘action’. During the carnage in the wake of the attack on the Babri Mosque ten years ago, the police and rioters stood on the same side. Around 3,000 were killed.
This tendency is particularly strong in western of India, the bastion of power of the present rulers of the country. This is also the home of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence. The killer of the Mahatma was also from this region. The saint of non-violence and his killer rose from the same soil.
For us this is not the time to feel self-righteous. Instead of putting on a ‘holier than thou’ act, let us take a hard look at ourselves. We may have a right to denounce the present violence in India. More important, we have a duty to note the streak of intolerance within our own society. Watching what is happening in India should strengthen our resolve to curb and defeat the demon lurking in our ranks.
Fools fail to learn from their own errors. The wise learn from the mistakes of others. Now we have both facilities: mistakes of others and our own. Recall what happened the other day in a Rawalpindi mosque. What is the difference between religious intolerance in India and the same tendency in Pakistan? None.
On a political and state level, some difference does exist. First, the people in Pakistan has never voted religious extremists to state power. India presents the reverse of this. Second, the government in Pakistan has moved to curb extremism. In India, the government is the product of the extremists. Hence also subservient to zealots gone wild.
We have Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee to thank for the pointblank statement that the latest wave of killings and desolation is “a disgrace for India.” If something similar happens in Pakistan, it will not do us proud. Would it?
Finally the warning from Allama Iqbal: Deen-i-mullah fee sabilillah fisad.
A.B.S. JAFRI
Karachi
THE government’s decision to allow only those to contest elections to the legislative assemblies who are graduates (BA or equivalent) is praiseworthy. Much has been written on this issue in the previous weeks, both for and against. I am firmly of the view that it is a step in the right direction and would urge the government to remain steadfast on the issue.
Nevertheless, I would like to suggest that Article 63 (l)(k) of the Constitution should be amended in order to allow thousand of educated and experienced people to contest the elections. This article states: “a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as and from being, a member of the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament), if he has been in the service of Pakistan or of any statutory body or any body which is owned or controlled by the government or in which the government has a controlling share or interest, unless a period of two years has elapsed since he ceased to be in such service.”
Since we do face a dearth of educated and qualified people (if the condition of graduation is adhered to), it would be beneficial for the country if those qualified individuals/technocrats are allowed to contest the elections who have retired or left government service during the past two years.
If this change is not brought about, then thousands of qualified and experienced people, who otherwise would qualify to contest the elections, would be debarred from this process.
I hope that the government would look into the possibility of bringing about this change in the national interest.
M.N. CHAUDHRY
Lahore
The withdrawal of the benefit of the restoration of the commuted portion of pension w.e.f. Dec 1, 2001, irrespective of the pensioners date of retirement is not only unjustified but it also amounts to the confiscation of the sanctioned standing rights of those who retired upto Nov 30, 2001.
As a matter of principle as well as of practice in the past, amendments in service rules always take effect from the date of its promulgation without adversely affecting the rights of those civil servants who retired prior to it.
Before sanction of the restoration benefit, the commutation facility was scarcely availed of by the then retiring civil servants. But after its grant with effect from July 1, 1985, a large number of retiring personnel began to commute 50 per cent of their pension willingly, on the understanding that the surrendered amount of pension will be restored on the completion of the number of years purchased.
The demand for the cance