| April 19, 2002 | Friday | Safar 5, 1423 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Entry test results
Fooling the customers
Jinnah scholars
Storage facility
Rural grievances
Different systems
Action against gang rapists
Deplorable road condition
Lahore express fares
Karachi in need of mega projects
THE aftermath of 1857 war was very shocking for the Muslim community in the subcontinent. It faced a serious challenge to their way of life. Two distinct responses emerged: one was of the ulema declaring the ‘farangi’ infidels and asking for boycott of everything foreign. The other was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s response based on wisdom and foresight. He was deadly opposed by the ulema. But history has proved him right.
In 1919, the ‘maulanas’ launched a movement to save the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Gandhi. They believed it was a sacred duty of every Muslim to fight for Khilafat. They miserably failed to foresee the consequences of this misguided movement. Jinnah was the only prominent leader to oppose the ‘Gandhi-Khilafat Express’. Allama Iqbal endorsed the abolition of Khilafat by the Grand National Assembly under Kamal Ataturk. In his lecture ‘The principle of movement in the structure of Islam’, he says: “The truth is that among the Muslim nations of today, Turkey alone has shaken off its dogmatic slumber, and attained self-consciousness. She alone has claimed her right of intellectual freedom; she alone has passed from ideal to the real — a transition which entails keen intellectual and moral struggle.”
Iqbal in the same lecture even termed ‘the separation of church and state’ (adopted by the Nationalist Party of Turkey) permissible under Islam. So, Dr Iqbal saw no conflict between Islam and secularism.
During the movement for Pakistan, the majority of ulema stood against the idea of Pakistan. Their opposition to the idea and the leader (Jinnah) was said to be for religious reasons. Modern political concepts like nation state, nationalism and democracy were essentially western and alien to the subcontinental mental map. Not surprisingly, the ‘westernized’ elite provided the leadership and the traditional religious class after the establishment of Pakistan was left in a political wilderness.
After the death of the Father of the Nation, the leadership of PML because of its own weakness gave way to the religious parties. It was a political bargain, not a meeting of minds, between the religious and political elite. Since the Objectives Resolution of 1949, the rightist conservative groups have gained disproportionate leverage in the name of Islam and Pakistan ideology. Thanks to Sept 11, we were left with no choice but to go back to Jinnah. General Musharraf’s speech of Jan 12 has understandably ‘provoked’ the religious right.
The religio-political parties believe that interpretation of Islam is their exclusive domain. Despite being outwitted at many times by the currents of history, thanks to their own naive understanding of the socio-political and economic dynamics of society, the are neither ready to reconstruct the religious thoughts, nor accept the modern liberal ideas of collective self-organization. They are hardly capable of rising to the challenges of our times. The rise and fall of the Taliban is a case in point.
SHAHID ANWAR
Toba Tek Singh
LIKE other sections of this degenerate society, our educational institutions and examining bodies have unfortunately become a breeding ground for corruption and favouritism. This has been highlighted in the results of the FSc examination and admission to medical colleges.
To eliminate corruption, a system of pre-admission test was adopted a few years ago. A certain percentage of marks are now added to the FSc marks while preparing the merit list. I fail to understand the rationale of such addition. If the entry test is designed to bypass corruption in the secondary board examination, the admission should be based on entry test results alone. This would, however, solve the problem only if the entry test is conducted honestly, dispassionately and without favouritism. In the last two years, the test was conducted by an institute in Karachi and its results came in for a great deal of criticism. This year, the test has been conducted in Lahore by the Engineering University. The change has probably been made on the recommendation of the chairman, board of admission, to medical colleges in Punjab.
Problems have been reported in the examination held locally as well. Below is an example, comparing candidate ‘A’ with candidate ‘B’:
Student FSc Entry test
marks marks
A 932 976
Ist on merit list in FSc as well as in entry test.
B 820 968
Very low merit (Serial No.1400) in FSc. Even these are said to have been manoeuvred marks. Stands second in the province in the entry test.
Thus, a student who could never be admitted to a medical college on the basis of FSc marks, unexpectedly obtains position No2 among all candidates in Punjab.
There can be surprises in the examinations. However, even surprises have to be explained in the light of the law of probability. In this case however, it is not surprising at all when one considers the fact that the father of candidate ‘B’ is no other than the chairman, board of admission, who is stated to have brought about the change of the agency, which conducted the examination from Karachi to Lahore.
Further, I am told the student ‘B’ is passing the local tests with distinction and is a candidate for all the medals of the college in the footsteps of his illustrious father. Would the governor of Punjab take note of it and order an inquiry and safeguard the rights and interests of genuine students?
DR ABDUR RASHID
Lahore
CAR manufacturers have come under criticism lately for slowing down on production, ostensibly to reap greater profits by charging premiums on the listed prices. The government took notice of the situation and threatened with allowing import of used cars. The threat was withdrawn after the manufacturers assured delivery within three months.
These events show the greed of our industrialists and also the methods used by regulators to handle an ugly situation. The good that came out of this episode, however, was that it created a degree of awareness of a so far ignored issue of some importance.
The car industry, in its effort to do some damage control and recoup its lost trust, published an advertisement (April 14), highlighting certain statistics. But a close look and analysis of these facts raises numerous questions.
The manufacturing plants are quoted to have a capacity for producing 120,000 cars per annum but are producing less than 40,000. If this is so, what justification does the industry have for not being able to deliver the car as soon as the payment is made? Why such back log? Is it not the greed of making more profits, first, by earning mark-ups on the deposits for longer durations and, on top of that, by charging premiums?
Car prices have been stated to compare favourably with the neighbouring countries. Can the consumers be told what this term ‘favourable’ stands for? Isn’t it a way of saying that our prices are higher but the consumer should be lulled into believing that they are not paying too much? Why not publish straightaway a comparison of retail prices of various comparable makes being manufactured in the two countries?
Progressive deletion or local manufacture of high-tech components was the ultimate aim of allowing these plants here, so that technology could be transferred to us. The advertisement claims 70 per cent in-country manufacture of components of some cars. Can they let the people know what make(s) of vehicles have achieved this success? This is necessary because the general impression is that most cars carry only the tyres, the batteries and the seats, which are made in Pakistan. I am afraid, these items can hardly be termed high-tech components.
Concluding from the above, I would like to suggest that the industry must, at all times, remain honest with the consumer. Prices must be maintained at a reasonable level so as to make vehicles affordable to larger numbers, assuring automatically higher profits.
As for the government, let us not even think of spending our hard-earned foreign currency on the import of junk from abroad. The local manufacture of cars must continue.
AIR-CDR A. WAJID SALIM (RETD)
Lahore
IT was indeed very heartening to learn from the newspapers that two Jinnah Scholars (John Coelho and Tauseef Kazi) returned to the Quaid-i-Azam Aligarh Education Trust the foreign scholarships granted to them after completion of their studies in the USA. They have not only earned the distinction of receiving a Jinnah Scholarship but they have also acted in true Jinnah spirit by returning the money given to them for studies.
Those two young Pakistanis have set a shining example for others to follow and I would recommend that the trustees acknowledge them publicly so that their example is followed by other Pakistani students.
It is, however, sad that out of a total of 3,361 local and 65 foreign scholarships offered, only a few students have taken the road of honour. Notwithstanding this, the trustees — S. Sharifuddin Pirzada, Justice (Retd) Z.H. Channa and Liaquat Merchant — deserve special mention for their work in managing the trust and granting scholarships.
We should also remember late Chief Justice of Sindh Abdul Hayee Qureshi, who showed remarkable courage and foresight in creating the Quaid-i-Azam Education Trust and appointing these three trustees with the responsibility of granting scholarships to the poor, needy and deserving Pakistani students.
Credit must also be given to Syed Hashim Reza and Liaquat Merchant, administrators of the estate of the Quaid-i-Azam who referred the matter to the Sindh High Court for a direction on whether the legacy under the will of the Quaid-i-Azam should be sent to Aligarh University, India, or the same should be retained in Pakistan under the doctrine of Cypres, as fundamental changes had been introduced in the Aligarh University Act 1920 by the Indian Parliament in 1951 and 1962.
In short, Pakistan and the student community have largely benefited from the judgment of late Chief Justice Abdul Hayee Qureshi and the three trustees.
A.S. PINGAR
Karachi
IT is learnt that the government is to provide Rs3,000 per ton in subsidy for wheat export in view of lack of sufficient storage capacity. It is proposed that instead of spending a large sum of money on the export subsidy, it could be alternately spent on improving the storage capacity both in the public and private sectors by financing modern silose in which wheat can be stored for longer periods to be exported at times when favourable market prices are available.
DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
THIS is with reference to Mr Saood Aziz’s ‘Demise of a colonial legacy’ (April 12), in which he criticizes Mr Ahmad Sadiq for trying to bring back the magistrate. I am not fully aware of the background of the former as well as the later, but it seems that where one is anti-DMG, the other is for it. Both writers hail from big cities. We in the rural areas feel quite differently on the issue.
I do not know if Mr Saud has ever visited the rural areas of Sindh where the people have not welcomed the change. Perhaps they don’t even understand the change. Today, the poor find it extremely difficult to get their grievances redressed. They have to knock at least at three doors: the district Nazim, the DCO and the concerned officer, each having his own retina of staff. Thus, even for the simplest of problems, they face three-fold humiliation stretched over a week ore more.
Each office is situated in separate localities and the poor man walks out of his taluka to run about between these. Is this decentralization of power?
Today, the uneducated and the illiterate class, which is in overwhelming majority, is simply confused and is likely to remain so for years to come. They are not interested in whether the DMG stays in power or goes away. They only want quick relief to their problems, which the new system has failed to deliver so far.
ZUBAIR USMAN
Naushehro Feroze
JAPAN, prodded by the US, has included democracy and human rights as yardsticks for granting aid to the developing countries.
However, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea or Singapore does not seem to have modelled itself on the American or any European system. It is not in the nature of societies to abandon what they practise and adopt something new. Their primary emphasis has been on order, stability, economic improvement of their people, and raising of their educational and cultural standards.
Western governments should not push other countries too hard to accept their values.
Pakistan is an Islamic state. Islamic polity revolves round the norms and institutions of authority, liberty, equality, consultation and justice as set out in the Holy Quran.
The right granted by Allah can under no circumstances be suspended or abridged or modified. In a modern democracy the head of state enjoys immunity from judicial accountability. Not so in an Islamic polity. Also in the modern democracies the head of state can grant pardon to the convicts of even most heinous crimes. Not so in an Islamic polity.
The Holy Quran emphasizes the role of Shoora (consultation) before taking decisions. This is not a mere formality or ritual but the very condition for taking decisions.
HAJI ESSA KATCHI
Karachi
MORE than two weeks have passed since the ghastly incident of gang rape of two sisters occurred in Karachi, but two of the rapists, the ringleader who is a constable of the CIA Saddar and another, who is a son of a police inspector, have not yet been rounded up.
As indicated in the Dawn report (April 6), these two dangerous criminals have close links in the Karachi Police. And, therefore, now they are being allowed to remain absconders.
It must be remembered that these criminals are extremely dangerous and wherever they might be hiding, they are a threat to the people, particularly the women, of that area.
The crime of these absconders has completely destroyed the lives of the members of an entire family. They must, therefore, not be left unpunished. A suitable reward should be announced for anyone giving information useful in tracing them.
I request the city Nazim, relevant NGOs and human rights organizations to come forward and to pursue this case, which seems to have been thrown into the cold storage.
N.H.QURESHI
Brownstown, USA
FOR the last several months, the Shershah Road is in an extremely deplorable condition, particularly near Plot No.D-96, SITE, Karachi, which has a flour mill on it.
The surface of the road has been completely washed away by the stagnant effluent discharged by neighbouring textile mills spilled over it from an open nullah running parallel to it. Besides that, there are heaps of garbage dumped by the residents of Sher Shah Colony, which is not collected and removed by the municipal staff.
It is earnestly requested to desilt the nallah properly, repair the road forthwith and construct a parapet wall so as to prevent filthy water from the nullah spilling over the road and ruining it.
NAEEM AHMED KHAN MALIK
Karachi
IF you travel from Hyderabad to Nawabshah by Lahore Express, you have to pay Rs90. But if you travel between the same two cities by any other train, including Shalimar, the fare is only Rs40.
It is not understood as to why the charges for Lahore Express are 125 per cent higher than those of the other trains, though no extra facility is provided in this train.
Would Pakistan Railways clarify?
A CITIZEN
Hyderabad
THE greatest disservice to the city’s taxpayers would be if the areas methodically encroached upon — Lyari-Malir riverbeds, vicinities around railway tracks, plots for hospitals, educational institutions, recreation areas etc — are ‘regularized’ by the present government at the former’s expense.
No federal or provincial government in the world allows such large areas of their cities to be simply encroached upon.
In 1985, a partyless prime minister visited Karachi and announced that those sitting illegally on some areas were allowed to stay there permanently. Within a few hours, many government, and even private properties, were further seized upon to the extent that literally no bamboos and sheets were left in the city. All were used for massive encroachments. This decision was a sheer political one, disregarding the consent of millions of the city’s taxpayers.
A substantial amount, which the federal government intends to spend on Sindh, should be allocated for the miserable millions who at present are living in filthy and over-crowded ghettos, the breeding ground for crimes.
Karachi is called ‘mini Pakistan’ and this should be taken in its true letter and spirit, and the expenses should be borne in this perspective. Certain political and religious parties resist the moving of such squatters from their present locations simply because of their ‘vote bank’ dislocation.
A similar thing happened in the late 1950s when Korangi was planned for the resettlement of those thousands who were residing in shabby conditions in the middle of the city and around the Quaid’s mausoleum. It political and religious parties today are thinking on the same lines, then it is not healthy politics, but a selfish one. What we need today is a gigantic housing project like Korangi, aid for which can be managed through international donors/ banks.
Another important aspect that the city planners are neglecting is that, like Los Angeles, Karachi is a major city whose water resources are managed through pumping stations located at a considerable distance in the north of Karachi. Dependence on water tankers is a strong indication that our water resources are being depleted sharply on the one hand, while the population is increasing alarmingly on the other. Los Angeles may survive, but the same cannot be said for Karachi.
Today, there is a strong need for a symmetrically planned metropolis. If the present government wants to help the people of Karachi then it should invest its energy and resources towards at least 20 and so major and minor flyovers, clearing bottle necks in the city by widening the roads, rehabilitating squatters and providing water through pipelines.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address:
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.