| March 21, 2002 | Thursday | Muharram 6, 1423 |
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Fleecing productivity
Mortgaging our sovereignty
Insulting viewers’ wisdom
Brutal fanatics
Saviours of Pakistan
Malir bridge
Taxing govt servants
Bribe as a right
GST on medicines
Conversion of exchange
Religious processions
Form returned
Muslim safety
In memory of Prof Gangkovsky
AS reported in the press, customs officials shot two persons dead — a bus owner and a passenger — and seriously wounded four others, two critically, at one of the customs checkposts on GT Road near Nowshera, NWFP. Customs officials after searching a bus coming from Peshawar, wanted one of the lady passengers — a carrier according to them — to accompany them. The bus owner along with his other two brothers and few passengers rescued the lady passenger (carrier), which initiated the brawl resulting in firing by the customs officials.
Transporters and bus drivers blocked the GT Road for the rest of the day causing untold and great misery to the commuters. Their strike continued in and around Peshawar for the second day. Customs officials involved in the incidence — six of them — had been shifted to Peshawar for departmental inquiry but the transporters and the drivers are demanding registration of proper FIR against them.
This is not the first ugly instance between the bus drivers/smugglers and the customs staff en route. It is an open secret, known to all that smuggling on a very large scale — involving millions of rupees daily — takes place from the NWFP to Punjab and further down to Karachi. Who doesn’t know that all this happens with the connivance of the customs, police, Frontier Constabulary, and the Frontier Corps personnel. More than 75 per cent of the Afghan transit goods, either do not cross Torkham and Chaman borders or find their way back into Landi Kotal/Bara and Chaman/Quetta. Mr Shaukat Aziz would need a super computer to work out the loss it is causing to the national economy and industry if he has not already calculated it.
“Can it not be stopped?” Anyone saying ‘no’ better vacate his chair for some more competent person. And if they do not know, ‘how’ to do it, it’s simple. “Nip the evil in the bud”. The following formula is offered to root out the evil:
1. Abolish all customs posts en route.
2. Deploy mobile customs squads under a magistrate to check vehicles.
3. If any contraband item is found aboard a vehicle upon checking:
a. Arrest the smuggler there and then and sentence him/her summarily for 3 years RI, irrespective of the financial effect of the goods being smuggled.
b. Arrest the driver of the vehicle on the same charge of smuggling and sentence him to similar term of imprisonment.
c. Confiscate the goods, there and then.
d. The owner of the vehicle/the transporter to furnish a cash bail of one million rupees, as surety for the non-repetition of such a crime on his vehicle again.
e. In the event of finding the hidden/secret compartments in a vehicle, for hiding the contraband items, the concerned body maker of the vehicle to be charged as an accomplice for abetting the crime of smuggling.
f. Strict vigilance to be kept over the performance of the mobile custom squads. Corruption/laxity found on their part to be dealt with severely, summarily and most expeditiously (no stay orders or bails before arrest, no exception to the magistrate either).
g. A deadline of 30 days be given to all transporters, drivers, cleaners to make themselves ready for operating under the new system. No let or mercy in its ruthless implementation thereafter. A Presidential ordinance could be promulgated for the above to meet the legalities.
Is anyone ready to implement the above?
COL (R) RIAZ JAFRI
Rawalpindi
IT IS our national character that if any sector of our national economy is doing well we try to pull the rug from underneath its feet to bring it at par with the other sagging sectors.
The one blighted field is that of commercial poultry production that was a constant success story. Unfortunately, an ex-prime minister dealt a mortal blow to the thriving poultry farming sector in 1997 that resulted in minus 30 per cent retrogression in annual growth compared to 9 to 10 per cent positive growth in the preceding years.
While this sector was struggling to recover from the blow, local governments in the districts started levying scores of local taxes on one pretext or another. This was a sure recipe for disaster as the newly found powers of taxation prompted the local overlords to overreach themselves.
The impending fear of GST on poultry products is another sword of Democles hanging over the poultry sector’s head which is loaded with income tax although it is a part of agriculture that is not to be taxed.
It is about time that the authorities paid attention to the tottering poultry sector which provides 20 per cent of the total meat consumed in the country even in its asphyxiated state. Mutton would have sold at Rs300 per kg and beef at Rs150 kg if commercial poultry production had not taken root in our country.
DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
MR Ayaz Amir’s Islamabad Diary (March 1) exposes the increasing number of generals, air marshals and admirals disproportionate to our resources, requirements and fighting force. The police reforms are meant to expand the budget and the force, rather than control crime.
The notion of 26 or more governors may only satisfy a few aspirants but the provinces with broken limbs are sure to agitate. So the history of the division of Bengal by Lord Curzan and integration and dismemberment of One Unit may be repeated.
The district governments are in office to meet the grassroots needs of the electorate. The major function of the assemblies remains legislation. Increasing the number of seats may only satisfy the lust of the aristocracy. Whom will the additional women and technocrats represent? Perhaps the Gulberg culture or the power that nominates them.
If we don’t give any relief to the poor, we must not break their back with extra expenditure on the perks and emoluments of additional legislators.
We must stand on our own feet by tailoring our budgets independent of foreign debt. Let us learn from history. Let us not mortgage our sovereignty. Let us seek guidance from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah while formulating our foreign policy. It is a matter of shame rather than pride, a measure of failure rather than success of a state begging for loans.
ABDUR RASHID
Lahore
THE government banned Indian channels on the pretext that they were dishing out propaganda against Pakistan. Now, in order to substantiate its claim that India is a country where minorities are not safe, virtually everyday the state-run PTV shows clips from the same ‘banned’ channels with their logos atop.
The PTV selects the visuals or comments in which India’s own intelligentsia and ordinary people are shown criticizing the ruling BJP or extremist elements. That is exactly what interested the viewers most, before the arbitrary ban was slapped. But isn’t it an obnoxious attempt to spoon-feed sensible viewers? The government chooses what, when and how much from the ‘banned’ Indian media should be prescribed for the Pakistani viewers to watch.
Pakistani people are sensible enough to differentiate between malicious, baseless propaganda and hard facts. We are Pakistanis and we know our country better. If some myopic advisor to the government thinks that a talk show on Zee TV or a documentary on Star TV will change our national perspective, they are insulting us.
For better or for worse, we are living in the most action-packed times of modern history and any attempt to deprive us of our participation in watching history being made, can only be called unfair.
ALTAMASH KHAN
Karachi
SUNDAY’s massacre at a church in Islamabad and the slaughter of 14 people in an Imambargah of Rawalpindi are a complete come down from what the Quaid-i-Azam had envisaged for the nation. On August 11, 1947, in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, he said: “You are free: you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques, or any other place of worship in the State of Pakistan.”
These incidents serve as a wake-up call to our conscience. Such things have happened in the federal capital, under the pervasive protection of the intelligence agencies. If such lapses can occur in Islamabad, what can one expect in distant places like Karachi.
First, we witnessed the murder of Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Pearl. In the follow-up of the conspiracy, Shias are being ruthlessly targeted in Karachi, Rawalpindi and elsewhere in Pakistan. And now there have been the killings in the church. In a country created in the name of Islam, Muslims subscribing to the Shia creed and the members of the Christian minority are being attacked and killed.
Even in undivided India, the Hindus despite their hatred for the Muslims never entered a mosque or Imambargah to kill the worshippers.
M. AZIZ HAJI DOSSA
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Mr Ayaz Amir’s article, ‘Saviours of Pakistan’.
Comparing past military regimes with the present one, he concludes that President Musharraf’s policies would also lead to disaster. My question is, what options do we have?
Democracy, elections and a just government, these are the demands generally made by the public. But, what would we get out of these processes? A bunch of hypocrites from the PPP or the Muslim League. Or may be, the Jamaat, which has done nothing so far but encourage the spread of fundamentalism.
It is easy to write to fill a page but to do what Musharraf is doing requires more than playing with words.
Pakistan cannot be transformed into a developed nation overnight. We must give Musharraf a chance to show his sincerity and ability. He has done a lot in such a little time, by pulling the nation out of a difficult and hostile situation. Let us hope that he continues to move towards the goals that he has set for himself.
BABAR SULTAN HASAN
Karachi
A NUMBER of major accidents have occurred on the Malir bridge on the main National Highway, and a number of lives have been lost. Yet no proper repairing or upgrading of the bridge has been carried out.
The condition of the bridge is highly unsatisfactory. Its joints have developed large gaps making it dangerous for vehicles. On the other hand, the traffic on the bridge has increased manifold over the years.
An urgent action is needed.
M. SHAFIQUE KHAN
Karachi
THIS refers to a recent report in Dawn about the proposed imposition of income tax on the salaries of government servants. It may be mentioned here that government servants are a major source of tax revenue in Pakistan. They already pay a reasonable amount of their salaries in income tax.
The government has found this novel way of increasing revenues by imposing even a higher income tax on the salaried class just because it has failed to tax the business community. It is easy for the government to squeeze the salaried class just because it cannot take to the streets to protest.
This news comes at a time when the President and the sacred cows of the judiciary have been given a more than 100 per cent raise in their salaries. The government should mend its ways and if it really wants development, then it should facilitate government servants rather than making their lives miserable.
OMAR MALIK
Lahore
ONE of the dilemmas that our society faces even today is that of police corruption. The department that was created to serve people and to control crimes has itself become a cause of increasing crime rate in the country.
Bribery is taken to be a right by our police. Now, they have resorted to a more severe version of bribery called ‘extortion’. The Islamabad police is heavily involved in extortion, from vans and buses. In case of refusal, they challan the vehicles, creating trouble for the general public. Everyone is aware of such criminal acts but nobody is willing to take action.
Our heads of the government always talk about tackling corruption and facilitating the public, but nobody takes any initiative in implementing their words.
FAKHAR-UD-DIN MUGHAL
Islamabad
THERE have been reports in the press stating that the government intends to levy 15 per cent GST on all kinds of medicines from April 1. Recently, charges on gas, electricity, petrol and other utilities have risen several times, while there has been no increase in the wages.
The majority of the population is already impoverished and suffers from various ailments due to congestion, food adulteration etc. Access to basic health care is still far away. The proposed GST on medicines will make it further difficult for the masses to afford medicines.
It is, therefore, requested that medicines be exempted from GST as the present costs of medicines are already out of the reach of the majority.
DR SALIM AHMED
Karachi
UNTIL a month ago, there were two telephone exchanges working in Muzaffargarh; one digital and another non-digital. But since then the non-digital one has been converted to the digital mode and its 1,100 connections have been merged into the already existing digital exchange with the initial dialling number of 42, thus overburdening its capacity and seriously impairing its performance.
The result is that all the connections have developed a crackling sound, heard in the telephone tone which is disastrous for the highly sensitive internet connection. Now each internet number gets disconnected after a few minutes of use, logging dozens of extra telephone calls daily in the users’ accounts.
This seems to be a highly technical glitch, bankrupting the internet users of Muzaffargarh, which appears to be beyond the capacity of the local engineers to set right.
Therefore, the higher authorities are requested to take pity on the people here and get this fault corrected as early as possible.
MUHAMMAD AMJAD
Muzaffargarh
THIS is with reference to letters published in Dawn regarding processions. Some of these particularly mentioned the processions taken out on Ashura Day, the day the Holy Prophet’s grandson was martyred.
I must point out that most of these people have indicated public inconvenience as the biggest problem faced due to Muharram processions. But what all of them seem to have forgotten is that the 10th of Muharram is, and would remain in the foreseeable future, a public holiday.
So, there is no question of any inconvenience.
SALMAN
Karachi
MY Nadra application form, deposited in May 2001, was returned to me early this week. Reason? It’s been filled out in English.
Is someone out there trying to tell us something? Perhaps someone at the NADRA Public Relations department could care to enlighten us? Are data entry clerks selected only on the basis of not being able to read English?
Ten months later I am back to square one.
KARIM YUSUF
Karachi
THE Hindu Indian government is unable to protect Muslims from Hindu fanatics, whereas the Muslim Pakistani government is unable to protect Muslims from Muslim fanatics. This triggers a question: where are Muslims safe?
SHAHAB TAHZEEB
Karachi
A Prominent historian and orientalist, Prof Yory V. Gangkovsky, who died in Moscow on Sept 7, 2001, was considered the most authoritative Russian scholar of Pakistan affairs both in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. Three of his books were translated into English and published in Pakistan. These were: History of Pakistan (1972), People of Pakistan — main stages of ethnic history (1972), and Three Constitutions of Pakistan (1978). He also edited a book entitled Soviet scholars’ view of South Asia, which was published in 1975.
I had the good fortune of having met him and exchanged views with him extensively on two occasions, once during a seminar organized by Prof Dr Hafeez Malik at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, in 1992 which I attended as a delegate and he as one of the main speakers, and again at another seminar in Villanova University with Dr Malik in 1997.
I found him to be a profoundly knowledgeable scholar, a charming, soft spoken man and a good friend of Pakistan. I vividly recall a conversation at Dr Malik’s house in 1992 during which he predicted that the Central Asian Republics would eventually be involved in some sort of a commonwealth with Russia. This came true subsequently in the form of CIS.
Prof Gangkovsky’s special relationship with Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that he remained vice president/president of the Soviet-Pakistan Friendship Society from 1966 to 1998 and thereafter president of the Pakistan-Russian Friendship Society upto 1999. He was also president of the Institute of Afghan Studies since 1989. His illustrious academic career included Head of Department, Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR/Russian Academy of Sciences, and Professor of higher education at various educational institutions of Moscow.
During the few days for which we came together, I found that among many other interests both of us equally shared our admiration for Faiz Ahmad Faiz. For me, this short lived acquaintance with Prof Gangkovsky would always remain a cherished and memorable experience, especially as our respective wives hit it off rather well too.
SYED ABID ALI
Islamabad
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