| May 5, 2002 | Sunday | Safar 21, 1423 |
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What should I do next?
Dickens’ Eatensville Elections
Do we need a full-time COAS?
Presidential system
Farid Express
KMC pumping station
Adulterated vegetable ghee
Age relaxation in jobs
A situation reversed
Now the geese
PTCL teaches a lesson
Riba revisited
TARIQ RAFI
THROUGH the courtesy of your columns I wish to convey profoundest condolence to Mr Kofi Annan on the unlamented demise of the United Nations. I should be grateful to Mr Annan if he would convey congratulations to Mr George W. Bush. He has accomplished what Ronald Reagan so devoutly wished for — to see the United Nations “drown beyond the New York sunset”.
For philosopher Huntington, the author of The Clash of Civilizations, there is reason to celebrate. His dream of the inevitable clash has come true. The scenes in and around the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem confirm this clash. The guns represent one civilization and that sacred Church the other. In the eyes of these two older Semitic civilizations the others are barbarians and savages.
In the excitement of these wonderful days, one must not fail to congratulate the Arab nation for its limitless capacity to relish, swallow and digest unmitigated insults, humiliation and injury. No one in the world has heard one Arab voice since Sept 11. They have lapped up incredibly crude insults hurled at them by name. Indeed, the other day the world saw Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sharing a broad grin with President Bush in the White House.
The silence of the Arab League and the dumbness of the Organization of Islamic Conference has been deafening. For the sensitive it has been unbearably demeaning, too. Where is the Islamic Ummah and that one rope that all faithful shall hold together?
Listen to the noise about the ‘terror’ by the suicide bombers. The world is squealing about the killing of civilians in Israel. How can Israel and its patrons hide the fact that all those killed in Palestine are all civilians because in Palestine there are no military forces? The tanks and gunships (almost all of them made in US and gifted gratis to Israel) have killed civilians, destroyed defenceless homes, hearths, gardens and orchards.
Is it possible to forget the angels like the Amnesty International, the Transparency International, the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court? And where is the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations?
These two organizations have appointed themselves monitors of human rights violations. They saw nothing to protest about in Palestine. How very watchful they are.
There was a time when the cricket-playing English established the ‘Ashes’ trophy after their sensational defeat by Australia.
The Sporting Times, dated Sept 2, 1882, published an obituary “in affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at the Oval on 29th of August, 1882”.
Happily, the time has come once again for the sophisticated English to set up a similar tradition “in affectionate remembrance of the United Nations”. Nobody is better qualified to initiate such a noble move than Mr Tony Blair, who has been, if anything, more enthusiastic in pursuit of terror than even President Bush.
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice is being enacted in front of us. Shylock insists on his pound of flesh. He couldn’t care less for the loss of blood. He has painted Palestine red.
We are fortunate to witness the apocalypse.
A.B.S. JAFRI
Karachi
THE above question, asked by a desperate citizen of Karachi (April 17), and endorsed by another citizen of Islamabad, seeking remedy to fill the widening gap between income and persistent rise in the cost of living, is in fact a question on millions’ of deeply worried lips, not only in Pakistan but in almost all the developing economies.
Social evils and financial disharmony take root when no answer is available to this daunting question. Torching oneself or suicide is also treaded upon as a last resort. Surprisingly, the answer to this question is quite simple, but only if asked at the appropriate time.
The most appropriate time to ask this question, and few others in line with it, is when one plans for marriage or decides to raise his family. They are:
1. Do I have sufficient income to maintain my family after marriage?
2. Do I inherit a shelter or some other financial support from my parents? If not, how shall I make both ends meet with my meagre income after marriage?
3. Do I inherit various liabilities to share partly or exclusively, such as old age upkeep of my parents, marriage(s) of my younger sister(s), or education of my brother(s)/ sister(s)? If yes, how would things work out after my marriage?
4. Shouldn’t I marry a working girl, who may supplement the family income?
5. Shouldn’t I defer my marriage for the time being and wait for an appropriate time?
6. After marriage, when is the appropriate time for raising a family? And up to what extent should I go?
7. In case my guesstimates fail, what should be the exigency plan to fall back on?
Had the worthy citizen sought the answers of the above questions at the proper time, he may not have had to face this agony of today. However, he has only two options with him now, either to increase his income or to tailor his expenses accordingly.
The third option of poisoning his entire family is out of context, and cowardly. He may, therefore, look around and find some extra work for himself or his wife, as well as for his father, who is presently unemployed.
Filling a shortfall of a few thousand rupees in the family budget doesn’t seem to be an uphill task. Taking up a blue collar job at times of distress is far more dignified than killing oneself.
RAFIUDDIN AHMAD
Karachi
IT was interesting to go through the macabre scene which reminded me of Dickens’ Eatensville Elections.
I cast my vote in the nearby girls college polling station. The very first impression of the exercise was horrendous. I was guided to a dismal alley in the college by a rotund and sleepy-eyed ASI who must be some 300 pounds heavy with a concave elliptical belly. It took him quite some time to get up from the reclining chair where he was resting and point out the direction of the desolate corridor where the voting was taking place. There were neither very many voters nor enough enthusiasm.
The corridor had a couple of officials and it took just a minute or so. The official — equally rotund — had a massive cheque book-like thing with him and he cut out a cheque which I signed, stamped and put in an old rusty squarish steel box.
The official did not ask me to get my thumb marked with indelible ink. So I could go anywhere and recast my vote.
EAS BOKHARI
Lalamusa
THIS has reference to Barrister Baachaa’s letter (April 30). The able barrister from the NWFP thinks that for one of the finest fighting forces in the world, a full-time COAS, who has no preference for politics nor does he harbour any ambition to become the president of the country by a referendum or otherwise is needed.
But the main question today is where to find the finest fighting force in the present times since 60 per cent of the army is employed in aid of the civil power in Pakistan?
Moreover, the country’s borders are more secure than ever before: they are well guarded by the Indian armed forces because they have been there for a long time.
Hence, it is the most ideal time for the referendum-approved president-general to nurture grassroots democracy in the country within five years which could be extended to 10 years through yet another referendum.
Will there still be need for the finest fighting force in the world?
K.A. WAHID BUTT
Lahore
PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf’s decision to seek public approval through a referendum was a wise one. It would strengthen his hands in fighting terrorism and lawlessness in Pakistan.
However, President Musharraf needs to look beyond the immediate future for a long-term political system for this country.
I feel that Pakistan should adopt the American presidential system with some modifications.
The president along with a vice-president should be elected directly through a national election. But the archaic US electoral college which allows a person with a smaller popular vote to get elected should not be adopted.
Members of the house of representatives should be elected separately and function independently of the president. The house will pass all the bills and the president should have the power to approve or veto it, or to send it to the house with amendments. The house may be unicameral or bicameral, depending on the will of the people.
The United States is considered as the world’s greatest democracy and it is so, no doubt. Pakistan should adopt the American system for greater political accountability and stability.
MAHMOOD ELAHI
Ottawa, Canada
I WOULD like to thank the chairman, Pakistan Railways, for introducing Farid Express between Lahore and Karachi via Pakpattan. The getup and punctuality of the train is appreciable and is a boon for the travellers on the Lodhran-Kasur section.
The travel between Burewala and Sadiqabad in six hours by Farid Express was a pleasant experience as against a journey undertaken about 10 years ago when due to the late arrival of the train I had to waste half the night at Burewala and half the day at Samasata in addition to normal travel time to reach Sadiqabad with a decision not to travel by railways in future on this route.
Stops at Dera Nawab Sahib and Liaquatpur may be provided, which would not only generate more revenue for Pakistan Railways but would also cater to the need of the people of the two sub-divisions.
MUHAMMAD SALEH BAJWA
Burewala
THE KESC has cut off its power connection to KMC Water Pumping Station in Block-6, PECHS, as the two public service organizations have not been able to settle their dispute amicably between themselves.
Due to this reason water is not being supplied to the residents of my area for a couple of days.
Is it not a matter of shame that the poor consumer is suffering although he has been paying all his dues regularly.
The KMC and the KESC should resolve their dispute immediately and restore the water supply to the residents of the area, who have been suffering for no fault of theirs.
Karachi
THIS refers to the report about adulterated vegetable ghee (April 25). The quality graph of vegetable ghee is declining constantly for the last one decade, but particularly from 1996 the market is being flooded by substandard vegetable ghee in second-hand metal containers.
The major part of this type of vegetable ghee is being produced by units not registered with the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority and the Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association. Even the oil depots are said to be engaged in the packing business.
The import of RBD palm oil, which resembles vegetable ghee, is freely allowed.
Both industrial and commercial concerns are engaged in import, sale, purchase and packing, ignoring quality observation and vitaminization processes.
In winter, RBD palm oil and palm olein solidify without hydrogenation, blending with hydrogenated oil, but in summer the people concerned add 20 per cent unprocessed hardened oil and ghee flavour.
But such hard oil is harmful for human beings as it has no sustainability, shelf life and vitamins.
The government should ban the import of RBD palm oil or increase the import duty or allow the import of crude palm oil on reduced duty.
This step would help the genuine ghee producers and discourage the direct fillers, fake ghee manufacturers and commercial importers.
The law of supply and demand, if applied on this industry, will show that demand as compared to supply is less which motivates the direct fillers to dump their substandard ghee in the market.
MOHAMMAD TAHIR GABA
Islamabad
RECENTLY, the State Bank of Pakistan advertised some vacancies. To the extreme disappointment of a lot of qualified candidates like myself, the age limit set by the bank was not relaxed, even for the serving candidates, despite the fact that the government of Pakistan has allowed for such relaxation due to the prolonged ban on recruitments imposed by different previous governments.
I, therefore, appeal to the President of Pakistan, Finance Minister, and Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, to kindly intervene to provide equal opportunities to the qualified youth of the country, who are being deprived for no fault of theirs.
MOHAMMAD ALI
Peshawar
IMAGINE the following hypothetical, albeit bizarre, scenario: (a) America is occupied by Chinese Communists; (b) President Bush is under siege in the White House and kept in isolation from his people and the rest of the world; (c) Several hundreds of Americans have been murdered by invading Chinese; (d) Americans have no defence force and no means of resisting occupation or defending themselves from destruction of their institutions and homes; (e) Sense of utter hopelessness and desperation has engulfed the entire nation; (f) American humiliation defies description; and (g) Suicide bombing which will kill Chinese civilians (who support occupation and invasion) is the only weapon that American youth have to confront the occupiers and invaders.
Will President Bush condemn and rein in suicide bombers as terrorists and murderers? If not, in God’s name, how on earth can President Bush expect President Yasser Arafat to condemn and rein in Palestinian suicide bombers?
I submit that suicide bombing, albeit morally unjustified and reprehensible, needs to be judged in the context of extraordinary extenuating circumstances.
A.M. HAIDERMOTA
Karachi
READERS might recall that I had informed them through my letter the arrival of ducklings in the lake of the park.
I am happy to report to them that a couple of day ago, while taking my early morning walk in the park, I came across a pair of brown feathered geese, strolling proudly on a patch of green adjacent to the lake, with an equally proud brood of five chicks.
Though this may not evoke any interest in many, those including myself would like to thank the management of the Hill Park and the concerned Nazim for having worked for this ‘miracle’ to happen. Such things appear to be insignificant but they do bring some relief to the tense life in this megacity.
WEQUAR ALI KHAN
Karachi
I HAD made a complaint against PTCL’s rusting DPs that make internet connectivity difficult (April 28). Since the day after the letter was published, my telephone is lying dead.
I have been taught a lesson not to dare write anything against the PTCL.
I guess it was too much to expect a positive response from a public utility corporation even though I pay my bills regularly. Long live good governance.
DR JAMAL NASIR MEMON
Karachi
APROPOS the article ‘Let us grow up’ by Cowasjee, the efforts to interpret Riba in terms of usury date back to the middle of the 19th century. Since then our intellectuals and liberals have, without any exception, relied upon dubious reasoning, specious arguments and art of sophistry to prove the contention that the Quranic prohibition of Riba is limited to usury alone.
Moreover, such efforts have always betrayed sidetracking of historical evidence, ignorance of the economic conditions prevailing in pre-Islamic Arabia, an unintelligent unawareness of the role of credit in the trade and commerce of Arabian peninsula and the surrounding countries particularly during 5th and 6th centuries A.D., and a negligent unfamiliarity with the different rates of Riba for different purposes at the eve of Islam.
Any one armed with the requisites of unbiased research backed by objectivity cannot but reach the conclusion that the prohibition of Riba applies to usury and interest both, and that there exists no concept of exorbitant rate of interest in Islam. Islam prescribes only 0 per cent rate of return on loans.
Viewed against the backdrop of contemporary developments, the rising tide of economic exploitation of poor nations by the rich ones, and the entrenchment of neo-colonialism backed by harsh, exploitative and inhuman corporate system of banking as reflected by the cannibalistic ‘developmental’ schemes of the World Bank, IMF and other international lending organizations with their seemingly innocent reasonable rates of interest do not need a formidable Cowasjee, but only a person with ordinary intelligence to fully appreciate the depredations and ravages of interest.
Previously, a usurer could spread his tentacles only to a few individuals, a town, a locality or at the most to limited geographical divisions. But now, with the blessings of international banking system, whose backbone is interest, the rich nations and countries have been empowered to loot and plunder the poorer ones.
The actors on the financial scene remain the same — the rich and the poor, the exploiter and the exploited, the affluent and the needy — with the sole difference that the level and extent of exploitation has been so broadened as to drag the entire world under the net of usurers whose exploitative activities have been legitimized in the name ‘reasonable rate of interest’, a euphemism, a farce. Every rate of interest is exploitative. Interest is exploitation per se.
DR FAZLUR RAHMAN
Karachi
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