| May 6, 2002 | Monday | Safar 22, 1423 |
Very expensive books
Of gutters and gardens: KARACHI FILE
Will the NSC take up this case? : VIEW FROM MARGALLA
Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit
THE provincial government has approved the new design of the Kachhi Canal. The redesign was done after Punjab had raised objections that the proposed barrage on the Indus at Mithan Kot would submerge hundreds of thousands of acres of cultivated land. Following the controversy, the president appointed a committee to sort out the matter. Wapda Chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali Khan headed the committee, having one member each from the governments of Punjab and Sindh.
COMING suddenly upon a slogan that suggested the idea of ‘improving’ this city was a shock of delight. So, there are some people in this deteriorating metropolis who still have the hardihood to talk of improving it. The day somebody started thinking in practical terms of doing something to improve this city, we shall chant the old slogan, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.”
What the committee discussed could not be known in Quetta. However, President Gen Pervez Musharraf prevailed on all concerned to agree to a new plan. The provincial cabinet, with Governor Amirul Mulk in the chair, approved the plan giving a green signal for building the proposed Kachhi Canal.
The canal is realigned. Now it will be linked with the Taunsa Barrage system. Balochistan will receive its share of water from the Indus sources with the remodelling and redesigning the Dajal Canal in Dera Ghazi Khan. It is, however, not known how much water will be allocated to Balochistan through the Kachhi Canal. Perhaps it will be about 8,000 cusecs irrigating some half a million acres in the Sibi-Kachhi plains.
Earlier, it was proposed that the government would build a barrage on the Indus at Mithan Kot, with Balochistan having administrative control to ensure proper off-take of canal water. But Balochistan did not get its legitimate share from the Indus source in the absence of facilities and basic infrastructure. The province depended on Sindh for its share of water from Guddu etc.
The new scheme was prepared keeping in view the past discriminations or denial of proper and legitimate share of canal water. Independent economists regarded the earlier proposal as impractical because it was not possible for Balochistan to control a barrage at Mithan Kot in Punjab and a huge canal passing through Punjab with its administrative control in Quetta. Maintenance of the canal and protecting it from water thieves was not possible for the Balochistan government.
In the early 1980s, the Punjab government had agreed to build a canal for Balochistan to provide water off-take from the irrigation system of Punjab. It was the proposed Dajal Canal irrigating the plains of Dera Ghazi Khan. At the tail end and on the borders with Balochistan, a new canal could be built for the down flow of irrigation water to Balochistan. The Punjab government had already issued an NOC for building the new Kachhi Canal in the downstream of Punjab’s canal system. It was a practical proposal and could easily be implemented by the Balochistan government.
The major benefit for the country is that there will be a massive saving. There is no need to build a huge barrage costing billions of rupees. Under the new plan, the government will redesign and remodel the Taunsa Barrage so that additional water is supplied for the Kachhi Canal. Earlier, the cost estimates were Rs64 billion while it will be reduced by half or much less, independent economists think.
With all controversies settled, the government is planning to perform the ground-breaking ceremony shortly.
On the Balochistan end, the digging for the canal will have to be done with necessary speed so that the project is completed without any loss of time. The federal government will finance the project. It may also seek financial and technical assistance from donor agencies and international development finance institutions for the project.
It will irrigate more than 0.6 million acres of highly fertile land in the Sibi-Kachhi plains, and make Balochistan a food surplus province. The massive cotton sowing and with the change in the cropping pattern, economists think, Balochistan will also be producing quality cotton to claim premier price in the world market as its product is free from contamination.
IT HAS never been easy to get good books in Karachi at an affordable price. Publishers incessantly complain that piracy and a constantly increasing exchange rate make it impossible for them to lower prices. They also say that the market in Pakistan is quite limited and does not permit them to publish books on a scale that would lower costs.
Whatever the reasons, it’s people like me — who can’t afford to splurge thousands of rupees every month on books — who suffer the most. I happened to be at the Liberty Books store at The Point recently and came across some excellent reading fare. They have an wide variety of contemporary books on literature, politics, religion, history, postmodern culture, sociology, art, the occult, feminism, anthropology, architecture and the like. The selection is perhaps second only to Thomas & Thomas which unfortunately because of its location at Regal Chowk is almost impossible to get to on a working day.
What particularly interested me were several titles by MIT linguist\dissident\philosopher Noam Chomsky. They even had Necessary Illusions — arguably one of his best works and definitely a must read. In fact, they had a smattering of books from Pluto Press, quite known in America for its eclectic variety. I immediately got hold of the book and began reading the back cover thinking that this should make some very interesting reading over the coming weekend.
Unfortunately, all that was needed to turn this whole experience sour was a glance at the listed price. The book, which couldn’t be more than 300 pages long, was being sold for Rs 995!
And, publishers complain that reading is on the decline.
The night after the referendum I happened to be watching some late-night television. During some channel-surfing I came across PTV, with Mr Qureshpur and a woman sitting next to him busy announcing the results.
“Nine thousand seven hundred and fifty one votes counted in Dera Bugti. Nine thousand seven hundred and twenty one people voted ‘yes’, and there were thirty ‘no’ votes.” Just as the woman said something to this effect, Mr Qureshpur joined in and, like most PTV people tend to do on such occasions, began acting more loyal than the king.
In the typically patronizing tone that seems to have become the hallmark of many male comperes and anchors on television, he told the woman that she should be thanking her stars for being involved in “the making of a most historic occasion”. Such fawning servility was enough to put even a dead man off and I quickly changed the channel.
The next day at work stories were exchanged with people who went out to vote. Of course, there were those who didn’t bother at all — perhaps they didn’t want to wait in the sun or were just too lazy - or those who said they didn’t go because they didn’t believe in the exercise to begin with. A family friend’s daughter — she just turned seventeen — voted without anyone asking for her national ID card and apparently her school ID card was good enough.
A friend met someone at dinner on the night of the referendum who as part of the a team organized by a nationally-known rights group to monitor the referendum was able to vote at least six times, including one time when the polling officer accepted even a visiting card as valid identification. Another colleague at work said that when her father and a few of the older family members went to vote — uncles and so on — they were told by the polling staff that since they were senior citizens it was all right if no indelible ink was applied.
The place where I voted — a shamiana along the corner of Khayaban-i-Shaheen and Bahria in Defence Phase V — had no queue at around 11.30 am except a couple of people milling about. However, after a little while some people drove up to the empty plot next to the tent and got out of their cars to vote. I had to ask the polling officer to put the ink on my thumb after which he gave me the ballot paper to mark and place inside the ballot box, which I distinctly remember had no lock of any kind.
The other thing about the whole affair — and one suspects this was the case everywhere — was that voters had absolutely no privacy of any kind. I was asked to stand in one corner of the shamiana — there were no booths of any kind — and this oldish man constantly tried to look over my shoulder and see what option I was trying to stamp. Staring back at him didn’t work, and all he did was smile back. Then I told him quite firmly “Bhai saab” and he then moved back a few inches. In any case, I had to use my whole body to make sure that no one was looking. Why can’t people in this country mind their own business?
And, oh yes. The largest turnout apparently, according to a story carried by the official APP news agency, was inside Karachi Central Jail. It seems convicted felons and others accused of various kinds of heinous crimes all voted ‘yes’.
Everyday while passing through Rashid Minhas Road a colleague notices a sign that says ‘Har qism ki niswar dastiyab hai’. She wonders whether this is something that should be advertised so openly, especially since everyone knows that niswar is addictive.
Apparently, such signs are pasted all over the city and though the substance is not as dangerous as, say, heroin, one can only wonder why the city government hasn’t done anything to take them off.
The colleague also believes — and many might find this a bit controversial — that since so many of our minibus and coach drivers take niswar, and because a significant proportion of traffic accidents involve public transport vehicles, it is only logical that something be done to reduce the number of people consuming this narcotic.
She says that anyone who’s been in a bus must have, at some time or the other, seen the driver take a pinch of the dark green substance from a small packet, and place it inside his mouth, usually in between the gums and the inside of the cheek. Drivers say that they do this to ease the tension that comes with the long hours they have to put in every day. To this, I would also add that while growing up we had a driver who used to take niswar regularly and never once did we have an accident. In fact, he was probably the best driver we have ever had, not just in terms of driving ability and vehicle control but also temperament and personal demeanour.
The colleague is also worried that such publicity signs might lure children into taking this addictive substance. True. Such things definitely are a potential hazard but one should not also forget the huge billboards our cigarette companies have placed everywhere. These signs are done in a much more professional manner, and specifically target young people. But no one tells the tobacco companies to take them off.
Other than making life a living hell these days, electricity failures can also create other unlikely problems. For example, take the case of a traffic constable who suddenly found himself the laughing stock of passersby and motorists. The reason: a power breakdown. A colleague narrates the story.
Noticing that the traffic signal was no longer working — the power had just gone — a constable took it upon himself to direct traffic at a busy intersection. After some time, though, the electricity came back and the signal began working all fine. However, the constable, with his back to the lights, didn’t really notice this and kept on directing traffic. Unfortunately, his directions were precisely the opposite of what the lights were signalling to motorists.
Soon, there was chaos since some of the drivers started following the signal. And like lemmings, the rest followed. This made the constable quite upset since he couldn’t understand why just about everyone had chosen en masse to disobey his orders.
He would blow his whistle at every passing car, telling it to stop but no one did. In fact, as they passed they pointed to the signal beyond his shoulder, which was now working. But apparently, the cop was too busy being angry so he didn’t get what the drivers were trying to point out to him.
Finally, a news hawker ended the constable’s torture and went and told him that power had been restored some time back. — By Karachian
Anyone thinking of improving this city will have the hands full, the head reeling and the heart missing one in every five beats. American poet Emerson (Ralph Waldo, 1803-82) bemoaned “art is long and time is fleeting”. For the most prodigious reformer, Karachi would present a formidable challenge. The first question: Where to begin from? Highly unpoetic and indelicate it might sound, but the truth has a tendency of being unlovely and bitter.
Many indeed are the crying disgraces in this city. It is hard to say which is crying louder and more plaintively. Some of us would at once suggest that we begin improving Karachi by attending to the underground sewerage system that was, and no longer is. At some places it is leaking, at others it is gushing.
It is a disgusting sight and is to be seen all over this city. There is no counting the dangers it poses to health. These drains and the cesspools they create are the most prolific breeding grounds for all manners of pests, flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and what have you.
We now live under a city administration which is, with other attributes, also pious, being inspired by the Jamaat-i-Islami. That should bless our souls. We are told that cleanliness is the half of our ‘Eiman’, that is our faith. At least one half of our faith is comprehensively menaced in this largest city of our Islamic republic. What a searing thought indeed. Are many of us thinking such sacrilegious thoughts?
Among the many goodies President Pervez Musharraf promised in his campaign speech in Karachi the other day one was the development of a park by the name Gutter Baghicha. This name is certainly interesting, if only for the apparent contradiction in terms — the ‘Ijtimai Ziddain’, if you please. Gutter going with Baghicha, or the Baghicha with the gutter.
Come to think of it, that is the kind of miracle this city can do very well with. We have seen gardens disappear and gutters come up. Now let there be a garden wherever we have an open gutter. This is the surest way to make Karachi a city of gardens, if only we manage the magic to have gardens tomorrow where we have the broken gutters today.
Next in order, or to some even before the gushing gutters, we should be thinking of the garbage heaps all over. This newspaper can be accused with massive justification of having spotted more overflowing drains and garbage heaps than any other aspect of Karachi life. There was a time when in the reigning newspaper culture such filth dumps were called ‘Plague Spots’. But if the rose would smell as sweet, call it by any name, garbage dumps would be the very same shame, whatever the name.
‘Plague spots’ is no doubt an intimidating sort of nomenclature. Now we also have so many ugly spots. They seem to be multiplying by the passing minute. There is not a wall, or a road sign or hoarding that has not been plastered over by all manner of hand bills and posters. In some cases the name of the hospital has disappeared under a poster — of some quack, may be.
One should have thought there would be some consideration of courtesy if not reverence for places of worship, houses of education and hospitals. But we seem to treat all walls without any discrimination. A wall is a wall, a board a board, a hoarding a hoarding. Period. And the posters can be mounted anywhere with equal ease.
Many million of us have walked or driven past the ‘Teen Talwar’ monument without noticing the number of posters plastered on its marble slabs — barely inches away from divine names. And nobody is protesting. How tolerant we can get?
The wonder is not so much about those who are responsible for this sort of vandalism but that so few of us are outraged by it. If we accept this, we shall have more and more of it. Those who do not complain are only asking for it. Simple.
Now we have an epidemic of banners, placard, flags and so much else all over this city. This is the legacy of an enthusiastic campaign to give President Musharraf a fresh five- year term. No quarrel with that. If so many of us wanted it that way, why not?
However, the generous supporters of the campaign now owe it to themselves and their worthy candidate to remove these campaign banners because now they are only eyesores. By the way, haven’t you seen a notice about some big hockey event of last February still adorning the gates of the Hockey Club of Pakistan? Isn’t that the limit?
IN THE month of April 2002, the government in Islamabad committed a number of sins of omission and commission. It misused its powers to force people to attend the President’s public meetings. It spent money not earmarked in the budget on something which was not in the national interest. And it rigged a referendum in broad daylight. It is these very sins among others which the President believes his proposed National Security Council (NSC) will prevent the elected governments from committing. But then he has already set up his own National Security Council (NSC) under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) which he himself chairs and for members his NSC has all the three services chiefs plus those who have been included in the Council at the pleasure of the President. Would he, therefore, in his capacity as the chairman of his own NSC take suo motto cognizance of this blatant misuse of powers by the military government to help the President win the referendum? Obviously, this is not possible because the military government has already debunked the charges of wide-spread fraud in the referendum in the strongest of terms. The argument which it has used in its defence is the matter of doubling of polling stations. It has argued that since the polling stations were doubled to over 87,000 the attendance at each of them was naturally not as much as it was during previous elections when only about 44,000 or so polling stations were set up. But then according to the claim of the Chief Election Commission even the votes polled at 42 million in the referendum were nearly three-times the votes cast in the last elections. So, that would make the official argument sound more like an alibi based on half truth. If the other half of the truth (42 million votes cast) were accepted on its face value then all the polling stations set up for the referendum should have shown long queues all through the day as was the case when only 15-16 million votes were cast in previous elections at about 44,000 polling stations. In any case even if it is proved that wide spread fraud was resorted to during the referendum one does not expect the Chairman of the NSC, President General Pervez Musharraf to hold the military government of the Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf accountable for its sins of omission and commission because the President seems to have already persuaded himself into believing that all his actions are ordained by Allah.
Many would, certainly, argue that the concept of the NSC, as is being propounded by the President, would be applicable only when there would be an elected government in place. They would also argue that since the military government of President General Pervez Musharraf was creating the enabling circumstances for the establishment of a self-sustaining ‘genuine’ democracy, his sins of commission and omission, which he is committing on the way to this goal, should be ignored. But then can two wrongs make one right? Certainly not. President Gen Musharraf should first establish beyond all doubt that the NSC would work under all kinds of circumstances and not in a given situation only. What would happen if at some future date some other general, as ‘non-ambitious’ as Gen Musharraf is, were to get into his head one fine morning that he has been chosen by Allah to set things right in Pakistan and took over both the country and the NSC? The superior courts, once again, hiding behind the tattered skirts of doctrine of necessity, would immediately give him the legal authority to introduce his ‘reforms’ as they did in the case of Pervez Musharraf. So, where is the guarantee that the proposed NSC would stop such generals from doing exactly what Gen Musharraf is doing today or what other generals like Zia, Yahya and Ayub did in the past?
Corruption has many faces. The least dangerous of them all is financial corruption. Nations do not fail just because some unscrupulous politicians have robbed them of their wealth. This happens all the time even in the most developed democracies. Enron scandal does not bring General Tommy Franks to Washington. Nations lose money by the billions even when the international terms of trade fluctuate against them or even when they suffer from long cycles of bad weather. However, nations do face disastrous consequences when they take liberties with the rule of law without a second thought, when they accept military rule, no matter what the provocation, without a whimper of protest or when they allow their constitutions to be abrogated, suspended or held in abeyance in the belief that the man who is doing this is a good man and means good. No good man would ever persuade himself into believing that he has the monopoly over wisdom and patriotism. Good men do not go around violating their countries’ constitutions or violate the law of the land in the belief that they have been chosen by God to do so. No good comes out of a bad action. No good came out of what General Ayub did who was a decent man to start with. And no good came out of what General Zia did who was also a decent man to start with. Nobody would dispute General Musharraf’s credentials to decency. But decency does not accord anybody the right to violate the rule of law or the very rules which he has set for others. Gen Zia thought if his name was included in the constitution as the President of Pakistan for five years and if he held the powers of 58(2)b, he would be able to set the nation on the right course. But then he himself violated his own rule of the game when he dismissed Prime Minister Junejo’s government on the charges of corruption and then died in an air crash without fulfilling his constitutionally guaranteed term of five years! Gen Musharraf has broken his own rules of checks and balance by doing what he did in April to win the referendum. And he would be undermining his own concept of NSC by not taking the case of wide-spread fraud in the referendum to his own NSC. —ONLOOKER
I HAVE an ancient whodunit. Titled A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer, it was first published in 1938. It features police constable Glass. I’ll tell you later as to who was PC Glass. To begin with, he was very fond of quoting from the scriptures in season and out of season, much to the annoyance of his seniors, specially Superintendent Hannasyde and to a lesser extent, Sergeant Hemingway.
Here is an abbreviated account of the biblical quotes from PC Glass:
“Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in his riches.”
“Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit.”
“The scorner is an abomination to men.”
“A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him; neither will he go unto the wise.”
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”
“I will not bear false witness against my neighbour.”
“He that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.”
“Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.”
“Her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”
“Remove thy foot from evil.”
“Bread of deceit is sweet to a man.”
(At this stage, a female character in the novel asks:
“Is that from the Bible?” And a male character replies: “Nearly all the best things are, except those that come out of Shakespeare.” I find myself in total agreement with this view).
And then this male character gets the better of PC Glass: “She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house.” But to return to PC Glass and his biblical quotes:
“And he that hath a froward heart findeth no good.”
“And he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.”
“They that are of froward heart are an abomination to the Lord.”
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
“The day cometh that shall burn them as an over; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble.”
“Why boasteth thou in mischief, O mighty man?”
“Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed.” “I set no store by worldly honours. Man being in honour abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish.”
“He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed.”
“He that refraineth his lips is wise.”
“Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom.”
“A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet. Even the eyes of his child shall fail.”
“Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, shall fall himself into his own pit.”
“How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?”
“A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person.”
And do you know what? In the end, PC Glass turns out to be a killer. Superintendent Hannasyde establishes that Glass has killed not one, but two people. I’m sure you have known a Glass or two in your time. The moral?
Beware the man who quotes too much and too often from the scriptures. For verily such men are dangerous. They kill because they are convinced of the righteousness of their misplaced beliefs.
I AM eternally beholder to Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, a respected friend from Islamabad who keeps sending me printable unprintables from time to time. Now he has sent me the copy of a letter displayed in the Indian National Railway Museum, New Delhi. The letter is headlined: “Perils of Early Day Railway Transport in India!
“Actual letter written by irate traveller Okhil Ch Sen in 1909.”
The letter reads (completely unedited):
“Dear Sir
“I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur Station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off & I am running with ‘lotah’ in one hand & dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man & female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.
“This too much bad, if passenger go to make during that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.
“Your’s faithfully servant “Okhil Ch. Sen.”
And Sheikh Sahib’s note: “.... grammar may please Dr Johnson but it certainly detracts from the impact of the language!”
I am fully agreemented with the worthy Sheikh Sahib and am now going to make dung because my belly is too much swelling and the heatment is too much great. I am hoping the female women are looking other direction.
The letter quoted above was written by Mr Sen Sen in 1909 to the Sahibganj divisional officer, West Bengal “after which train compartments came to have attached toilets.” Much good, as you can see, comes out of evil.
A WORD now about the famous referendum. The New York Times (May 1) calls it “an almost certainly rigged” affair. Well, the editorial writer in far away New York wanted to make dung, as Mr Okhil Ch Sen would have put it. As for me, I am allergic to Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan. The mango season is upon us and he should concentrate on the fresh crop of this delectable fruit and forget about democracy. NNK gets my tail up the moment he opens his mouth to criticize those in power. If he wants President Musharraf to quit, I want him to be president for five years, perhaps more.
As against Nasrullah Khan, P Musharraf is my man. However, the president should refrain from making public appearances till the October elections. He ought to be far more reticent than he has been hitherto. And he must reduce his dependence on PTV and the Punjab governor to the minimum.
PTV’s steadfast refusal to unlearn its past follies never ceases to amaze me.
I HAVE a Ranji biography written by Alan Ross in which the following passage merits your attention:
“Restored in health, Ranji set about the work that had been interrupted by his illness. Probably he was well enough to have returned in September, but what are a few weeks in the eternal fight against the Indian climate, Indian poverty and Indian disease?”
If you read ‘Pakistani climate’ for ‘Indian climate’ in the above lines, you will wonder who invited the New Zealand cricketers to these shores in the cruel heat of April and May. And why did the Kiwis agree to come here? You cannot undo that which you have done yourself. So the Kiwis are responsible, not I.
As if this were not enough, the visitors ran into Shoaib Akhtar and what the Rawalpindi Express couldn’t do was done by Inzimamul Haq. Six for eleven for the pace bowler and 329 for Inzimamul Haq and the Lahore Test match was over in three days. It was a case more of New Zealand losing than Pakistan winning. And don’t remind me it was by an innings and 324 runs or that it was the fifth largest victory in Test history. Knocked silly by the sun, the tourists could have done worse. And, anyway, take Imran Nazir and Inzimam out of the scorecard, and what are you left with? No, monsieurs and mesdames. A real Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand has yet to be when the latter are at full strength and when the day temperatures are between 20 and 25 degrees Centigrade.