| April 6, 2002 | Saturday | Muharram 22, 1423 |
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Advancing the clock
Officious librarians
Time to speak up
Smoke on the road
The ‘real’ referendum
A squash legend
Bad PTV policies
A question for the PCB
Blind man’s appeal
Rangers at KU
Military logic
IT is not Israeli actions which have surprised the international peace observers currently holed up within Arafat’s presidential compound.
It is the inaction of the international community that most shocks us. Inside the pock-marked building surrounded by Israeli tanks and snipers, there is one question on everyone’s mind: how many international laws does Israel need to break before the UN demands a full and immediate withdrawal?
International law absolutely forbids the building of the settlements, but 34 new settlements have been constructed in this year alone. Collective punishment is illegal. But Israel has now escalated from interrupting food shipments to completely shutting off water to the Palestinian city of Ramallah, endangering the lives of 120,000 people. The shelling of innocuous Palestinian civilian structures such as power plants, schools, and sewage facilities, is occurring at an alarming rate. Unarmed civilians are being killed practically on a daily basis.
There are also growing reports of Israeli troops raiding hospitals and firing on ambulances and journalists. These are grave breaches of international convention.
The recent experience of American newspaper correspondent, Anthony Shadid, is hardly uncommon.
First, he was shot while in a zone under full Israeli control. The area was quiet and there was no crossfire in which to be caught. Shadid was wearing the required signs on his back and front indicating that he was with the official press as he walked away from an interview in our building. Soon after Shadid arrived to the hospital, Israeli troops raided it with machine guns drawn. He was subsequently transferred for further medical treatment, and his ambulance came under fire by Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint.
Israel is making a mockery of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the founding legal document of international human rights law, and by its tacit acceptance, the UN is severely eroding its credibility in the region and beyond.
Those of us inside the presidential compound need help desperately. But not half as much as those on the outside who are facing the full brunt of the mass round-ups and house-to-house raids. The situation cannot deteriorate much further. Medical supplies have run out. Food is scarce.
Pressure from abroad is essential, even when only on a person-by-person basis. The presence of international “human shields” throughout the Occupied Territories has been very important in limiting the indiscriminate nature of Israeli military action. But nothing short of a UN demand for a full withdrawal to the 1967 UN recognized borders will succeed in restoring calm and opening the way for peace negotiations.
It is not just the Palestinians and foreigners within the compound who have been calling for a full withdrawal. Even sectors within the Israeli military have put forward this option as the only chance for peace and security for the Israeli people. In a formal “Letter of Refusal” to Sharon, several hundred Israeli soldiers, most with combat experience, advocated a full withdrawal and have stated their unwillingness to serve in the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
But Sharon does not want to listen and in the meantime we in the compound are left, not without fear, wondering whether the international community will allow the permanent expansion of the already illegal occupation and the exile if not assassination of the Palestinian leader.
NETA GOLAN & IAN URBINA
An Israeli, Mr Golan is among the 40 international peace observers at Yasser Arafat’s besieged office in Ramallah. Ian Urbina is Associate Editor of Middle East Report, a foreign policy magazine in Washington DC. He can be contacted at ian.merip@verizon.net.
CLOCKS are to be advanced by one hour on 7th. The present government actually is doing it the right way. I remember last time during Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1994 when we actually were going to switch to Daylight Savings Time (DST) in October.
At that time the plan was to add an hour during autumn. I was so glad that in the end we decided not to follow it. Somebody in the end worked it out. It is in Spring that you advance the clock one hour and in fall you actually set your clocks back. The government should get credit where credit is due.
Let’s now talk about the benefits of DST. There are no apparent benefits of DST. In a country like Pakistan, many people live in villages and their day begins with sunrise and ends with sunset. Changing the time will actually not help them. In big cities, however, people would have more time in the evenings to spend with their families in sunlight after work.
But again here is a trade-off. Some folks just love to go for a morning stroll right after sun rise. These people would really hate this conversion because now they won’t have that luxury that they used to have, before going to their offices. So there are advantages and disadvantages. Energy saving during the evenings would probably benefit the country.
America observes DST but not all states follow the changes. There is mixed opinion in the US also about DST.
SAAD Z. SIDDIQI
Overland Park, Kansas,
US
WE have been through this exercise before. During Benazir Bhutto’s tenure, the authorities concerned had actually contemplated adjusting the clock in just the opposite direction. Thank heavens, the blunder was noticed in time to prevent our nation from becoming a laughing stock. The experiment was thus quietly and promptly shelved.
Now, somebody, rather eager to take credit of importing the concept, is at it again. Hopefully, he/she will get it right this time around because there are only two choices. But the joke is that this change is not even required for our kind of geographic location. Pakistan being close to the equator gets abundance of sunlight to warrant any adjustment of the clock for summers/winters. The logic of daylight saving is generally adopted by the western countries situated at higher latitudes with low yield of sunlight particularly during winters.
In our attempt to blindly copy the west we will only be confusing the masses. If it were a one time adjustment, perhaps we could survive the confusion. But this is going to be a chaos on a six-monthly basis and that too for nothing. Given the literacy rate, most of us will for ever be guessing as to what hour we belong to.
CAPT NAEEM RAZZAK
Karachi
The clock will be advanced by one hour from April 7. This will create a strange situation because India to our east will then become half an hour behind us.
A R KAZIMI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letter by Mr Mehmood Aziz concerning the Liaquat National Library (March 29). Reading his letter, one gets a picture of the state of our libraries and education.
Can we ever claim to be a civilized society when we treat books with such contempt?
I have just come to the USA, and the two things which have immediately struck me are the bookshops and the libraries. How I wish we had such reading havens in our country. No one asks you a question when you go to a library here. They are happy that a person has taken time out to visit their library to read. They make your time in the library as pleasant as possible. Considering my own experiences with librarians in our country, who act as if they own the library, the attitudes of the librarians over here are a revelation for me.
Go to any bookshop in Pakistan and while you are taking a look at a book wondering if it is worth your money, you will have the owner or someone tapping your shoulder, asking you to either buy it or leave it. Here in the USA, you can spend a whole day if you like in a book shop, reading the whole book if you want to and no one will say a word.
Why can’t we do something about it?
RAJA SOHAIL ABBAS
Bowie, US
I read the letter of Dr Shershah Syed under the caption ‘Killing of doctors: who is to be blamed?’ (March 14) and fully agree with him. The general apathy, absence of concern and non-expression of solidarity, shown by the doctors themselves to the bereaved families of their own friends, colleagues and fellow-doctors, and at the same time the disinterestedness exhibited in attending meetings for condolences and protests at such brutal killings, is a matter of grave concern.
Dr Shershah has rightly said that the doctors are also to be blamed and as citizens, notwithstanding having different vocations and stations in life, we all are responsible in various measures and degrees for not uniting and exerting ourselves and for allowing the cold-blooded murders, killings or sectarian revenges taking place openly and in full view of the public.
And after such unfortunate occurrences and tragedies, we simply pay lip service and issue routine and hackneyed press statements and blame the government, the judiciary, the police and various civic and law enforcement agencies and feel most contended that with the blessings of God Almighty we are safe and so need not worry.
In this context, I however wish to draw the attention of the worthy readers in general and learned doctors and eminent persons from other professions in particular of what Pastor Martin Niemoller, an outspoken critic of Hitler and his fascist regime, who spent years in concentration camps in Germany, said on his release in 1945: “In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
SYED IQBAL AHMAD
Karachi
I AM a frequent traveller on Peshawar Road. While travelling especially from Taxila up to Tarnol, the loaded trucks move at a snail’s pace, often trying to overtake each other and blocking the traffic behind them.
This might have been bearable but what makes the whole situation unbearable is the fact that the traffic crawling behind these trucks is enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke. Not only does visibility become poor, even breathing becomes a problem. This inhaled vehicle smoke is also a cause of cancer as is regularly advertised by the traffic police.
When will the traffic police do their job and not check the movement of these smoke-belching vehicles?
FAROOQ SAEED
Rawalpindi
AN official spokesman, reacting to the statements of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Pakistan Bar Council office bearers, has said that the people of Pakistan alone have the right to accept or reject the referendum. Only the people, according to him, had the prerogative to make any decision in this regard.
One can hardly differ with the views of the unnamed spokesman. The people’s choice should reign supreme in any country. However, having become a touchy issue, the referendum should be dealt with carefully. I have a suggestion in this regard.
Instead of holding a referendum to get elected as president of Pakistan for five years, would it not be judicious to hold first another referendum to seek the opinion of the people that whether the president of the Islamic Republic should be elected through the (back door channel of) referendum or through the procedure laid down in the Constitution.
The opinion of the people in such a referendum would decide the fate of the one being currently contemplated by the military government.
SAIRA TARIQ
Muzaffarabad
A SHORT report about Hashim Khan, one of the greatest names in squash history, has appeared in the April 3 issue of Dawn. It is a great pleasure to learn that Mr Hashim Khan is not only living but also in good health at the age of 87 and taking part in an international competition in London for players over sixty years of age.
How many of us still remember this great sportsman of our country who brought international fame to Pakistan? It may be a matter of interest and surprise for the readers to know that the winner of seven British open titles in the 1950s was not even once officially sponsored by government and that his all achievements were due to his own personal efforts.
I wonder if some of those who are below forty years of age even know who he was and what he did for Pakistan. It’s sad to forget our heroes just like that. He was beyond doubt the greatest of the greatest.
ANWAR KHALIL SHEIKH
Lahore
I TOTALLY agree with a previous letter in these columns regarding PTV programmes. The excessive use of religious sayings and the quality of the reporters need to be reviewed. The other major area of concern is the poor quality of technical support.
It is especially irritating to see the person making a statement on the screen but hearing the commentary from an inept reporter. It is so much credible and forceful to hear this from the news anchor or presenter directly.
Also, why do our woman newscasters wear a dupatta, perching it on a part of head? It’s a remnant from the Zia era that does not fulfil any religious or cultural requirement and should be abandoned. It is about time that people of Pakistan are given freedom to choose and think independently of some religious or bureaucratic body.
PTV can fulfil its role in nation building if it follows its viewers wishes and aspirations and takes bold and innovative steps to bring us in sync with the civilized world order.
SANOBER HAIDER
Princeton,
US
I AM a 22-year-old sports enthusiast. Like many other people in Hyderabad, I want to ask the Pakistan Cricket Board why have they not scheduled any test match in Hyderabad for some time now. It is one of the largest cities of Pakistan and has a stadium too, controlled by the board. We are very fond of cricket matches and would love to host them.
It is really sad that we are being deprived of this. If the stadium is not good enough then why doesn’t the PCB do something to change that.
New stadiums are being constructed in other cities but the existing one in Hyderabad is being ignored. Will someone in the PCB, preferably Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, please take note of this.
QAZI NAZIM NAEEM
Hyderabad
I, Abdur Rasheed s/o (late) Nabi Bakhsh, have been a resident of Old Golimar, Maula Dad Village, Union Council No. 2, SITE Town, Karachi West, for the last 50 years. Although I have been blind since birth, by the grace of God I have never begged or sought charity from anyone, and have managed to make a living from a small general store I own. Through my earnings, I have managed to run my home and educate my two children.
My son is currently a first year student while my daughter has done her matriculation. I am a diabetic and suffer from high blood pressure, and my financial position is rapidly deteriorating. In these days of rising costs, an old and disabled person like myself is finding it very difficult to make ends meet and to pay for my children’s education and my medical bills.
I, therefore, appeal to the government to come to my aid by providing me with some financial assistance through the poverty alleviation fund or any other similar scheme. This will enable me to educate my children and run my small business with dignity.
ABDUR RASHEED
Karachi
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to the harsh attitude of the Rangers posted at Karachi University. It was March 18 when a conflict occurred between two groups and the Rangers were totally unable to settle the dispute. They baton-charged the students resulting in injuries to 13 of them.
Some were seriously injured and taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. I would like to ask is this how disputes are solved. What if someone had died as a result of the baton charge? Who would have been blamed?
MAHJABEEN ZEHRA
Karachi
I OWN a building in a commercial area of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) with an airconditioner repair shop inside it.
The other day a security officer from the DHA turned up at the shop at 8.30 pm and forced the mechanic to close his business since no workshop was allowed to function after 8 pm on the grounds that it disturbed those living in the flats.
Before going into the logic of this fatuous order, the consequences of the directive are listed below:
Since the activity in the AC repair shop is dependent on the power supply, which fails every so often, a restriction on the time the mechanic can work will result in low output and reduced earnings.
When income is not sufficient, the mechanic will either not pay the rent or vacate the shop. In the first case litigation will start between the two parties, while in the second the mechanic will become unemployed — all this in addition to the owner losing income. Consequently, the owner will not pay the heavy taxes imposed by the Cantonment Board on a non-income generating building.
Restrictions like these are illogical especially when one looks at the hundreds of shops lying vacant in this area. Instead of taking measures to encourage business and commercial activity the authorities seem more interested in enforcing a directive which inherently makes little sense.
The DHA authorities must realize, and should also make the residents of flats realize, that there is always a difference between residential and commercial areas and that people who live in the latter will always face a living environment that will not always be free of any type of sound. And if some of them do not like the hustle bustle of a commercial area, they should be advised to buy plots in a quiet corner somewhere and build a cottage.
MAJOR (Retd) SHAMSHADALI KHAN
Karachi
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