| May 10, 2002 | Friday | Safar 26, 1423 |
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Karachi’s problems
An unpleasant experience
Promotion of IT
The gender question
PIA parking problems
Freedom of expression
The system of paid lift
Mobile phone companies
Termination
We are thankful to the Quaid
Opposition’s grand folly
A NEW method of killing of innocent people has been adopted this time by the terrorists on May 8 in which 11 French nationals were killed. These French nationals were working on a joint Franco-Pakistan project to build three Agosta 90B class submarines under a contract signed between the French and Pakistan governments on Sept 21, 1994. The first submarine was delivered to Pakistan in 1999 and was inducted as PNS Khalid in Pakistan Navy and the rest of the two were supposed to be delivered in the year 2002 and 2005 respectively.
There have been a series of killings of foreign nationals in Pakistan which means that there are some invisible forces who are carrying such terrorists operations on the instructions of their foreign masters to destabilize Pakistan, so that we should not progress, a law and order situation should be created and Pakistan should not be able to get any foreign investments.
The new methodology of suicide car bombing has been adopted to create panic in the country, so that foreign investors should back out from their commitments and invest the same amount in a neighbouring country, whose forces are standing on our borders.
The present government should adopt a different policy of creating an intelligence network within our own nationals, who should report about people having dubious characters and our intelligence and law enforcing agencies should keep a close eye on such nationals or foreign nationals who are engaged in committing such heinous crimes in the country. People involved in such subversive activities should be apprehended before time so as to save precious human lives.
The recent attack on French nationals was made by terrorists with the intention to break the contract of Agosta 90B class submarines so that the rest of the two submarines would not be delivered to Pakistan and the French technicians would go back to their country. It is evident as to who could be behind this attack. At present, there are two enemies of Pakistan: (1) India and (2) Osama Bin Ladin, as Pakistan is supporting the international community against the activities of the Al-Qaeda movement.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
WHETHER the Sheraton attack was the work of RAW in order to sabotage our submarine project or Al-Qaeda retaliating for the French role in the war in Afghanistan is moot but what is clear is that we should have been more prepared than we were.
The blast occurred at 7:40 a.m. and by an eyewitness account the first person on the scene about three minutes later was a passing jogger. He began assisting the injured out of the bus and was soon join by kitchen staff from the Sheraton. This was done without any mechanical aids or professional help.
The Edhi ambulance started arriving 10 to 15 minutes later and the first sign of any uniformed personnel was the arrival of a police mobile some 30 minutes after the blast. They did not join in the recovery operation. The Naval police came to the scene at about 8:40 a.m. and the first fire engine followed five minutes later by which time the dead and injured had been removed.
An internal security war is being waged in Pakistan and as happened in Karachi and Lahore, the battles being lost expose the ineptitude of our security mechanisms.
AN EYEWITNESS
Karachi
LET me say that in the last two years, nothing has been done to solve the problems of Karachi. Only promises have been made.
From inefficiencies like power breakdowns and loadshedding, poor condition of roads and absence of a proper garbage disposal system to law and order situations, none of the problems hitting Karachiites and affecting the life in the city, have been resolved.
Every one knows that Karachi is the hub of business and industry in Pakistan. Apart from the inconvenience caused to the citizens, the problems of Karachi affect the country’s performance in these sectors. Yet every government that comes into office makes tall promises but never delivers.
NAEEM TAYYAB ALI
Karachi
I AM a grade-20 professor in a college at Karachi and was posted as a presiding officer at a local polling station during the referendum on April 30.
Around 3:00 pm a so-called DSP in jeans and a coloured shirt came to my polling station and inquired about the number of votes cast. I told the exact figure that was 86 (70 male and 16 female). He then ordered me to raise the number to 800. Being taken aback by his action and style, I asked him as to how I can fill the names, identity card numbers and signatures of 800 people? He then pulled me out and took me to his senior waiting outside in an air-conditioned police mobile, and smilingly repeated my words.
The gentleman (in uniform) stepped out of the vehicle and threatened me of dire consequences before departing. I was very shocked and narrated the whole incident to my polling staff and they too were shocked.
While yet to recover from the shock, at 5:00 pm the SHO of the area turned up in his official mobile at the polling station and called me (outside the polling station). After inquiring about the number of votes, which had now increased to 93, he asked me as to how many books had been supplied to the polling station? I replied 11 (1,100 votes). He ordered to me to fill 10 of them. On my refusal, he started insulting me. I asked him to behave properly.
What followed I have never even thought of in my wildest dreams. The SHO pointed towards a couple of men sitting in his official police mobile in plain clothes and alleged that I had stopped them from casting votes for which they had come to lodge an FIR against me, the presiding officer. My polling staff realized the gravity of the situation and decided to cooperate accordingly.
I could not sleep the whole night and only one question haunted me. I am on the verge of retirement, what will be the future of my children in such a situation? However, my sons have come to my resume. The elder one, a professional engineer, and the younger one, a pharmacist, have decided to leave, and settle in some foreign country.
What are you going to call this? Brain drain, flight for safety, self-respect, mental peace or a bright future? I have yet to find an answer.
A PROFESSOR
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the article by Mr Tariq Mahmud ‘Wither and for what’ (Of Education, May 5).
I agree with him that the present government is paying much attention to IT and very little to the promotion of other sciences. Unfortunately, our education system has been in complete negligence at all levels since the inception of the country. So, any attempt to revamp it, is likely to precipitate certain radical changes that would require a sizable amount of time and money, which we are certainly short of.
The initiative taken by the incumbent government to lay stress on the promotion of IT is the need of the hour because with the export of software we can bring millions of dollars in foreign exchange. Our neighbouring India is already doing that and their software export per annum is estimated to be over $2 billion.
But it is indeed desirable that due attention be paid to other subjects of science and technology as well.
IMRAN AHMED MEMON
Badin
WHAT started off as a discussion on whether the PAF should employ women as pilots, has now broadened into the subject of gender inequalities.
While I acknowledge the spirited and angry opposition to my brief observations by Dr Moneeb Ehtesham writing all the way from Los Angeles (May 2), I must say he has here and there put words in my mouth. My emphasis was on basic differences, both physical and mental, which preclude identical roles for men and women and not on inferiority of one or the other. Would I be accused of degrading Einstein if I said he could not bowl as fast as our 100 mph Shoaib does?
The argument that women react to different situations the way they do, is because our ‘patriarchal society’ conditions them by expecting them to do so, has been the staple, age-old argument of the feminists. It is at best, an unsubstantiated hypothesis. If anything, quite the contrary has been proven. In the USA, where feminist thinking and laws have held sway for several generations now, how many of its 50 states have chosen to send a woman to the Senate? How many women are in the Congress? Again, how many companies of the Fortune 500, boast women CEOs? 250? 25? A dozen? Dr Ehtesham will perhaps know that the number is no more than 6, down one from 7 a year ago. How many centuries of a ‘non-patriarchal’ society must elapse before the ‘equal woman’ envisaged by Dr Ehtesham, emerges?
Concerning the jibe about ‘mediaeval viewpoints’, may I remind Dr Ehtesham that it was 1,500 years ago that Islam granted rights of inheritance to women, a landmark their western sisters were to reach not until 1,300 or 1,400 years later.
I recall a story I read in the Time several decades ago about a frail old woman in the USA who broke her spine lifting a heavy car to release her son on whom it fell when the car jack slipped. No man could have stressed himself deliberately to the point of breaking his spine. It was the supreme role of protecting her progeny that a woman was fulfilling, come what may! (happily the great woman survived the ordeal).
I do admit, however, that in most Muslim societies, women have not been accorded their due position. This is primarily because Muslims today, by and large, whether in positions of authority or otherwise, are not practising Muslims. The loss is theirs and the world’s.
WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
Karachi
I WANT to draw the PIA management’s attention towards parking problems at their head office buildings.
The head office employees used to park their vehicles in the parking area behind the Airport Hotel which is being used for the lodging of foreigners. Some time back the police sealed the parking area for undisclosed reasons. Airline employees, visitors and suppliers, therefore, have no option now but to park their vehicles in the charged parking area. Taking advantage of this situation, the contractor of charged parking area, who charges Rs10 per day, is minting money.
The Karachi airport will have to handle the unusual rush of flights for an indefinite period due to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and security requirements would continue to increase with each passing day. Therefore, it is advisable to shift the airline head office to some suitable area in the downtown. If not, the PIA management should take cognizance of the difficulties being faced by its own employees, visitors, as well as suppliers.
M. ARIF
Karachi
I AGREE with the views expressed by Sobia Saleem in her letter ‘Freedom of expression’ (May 1). Like any other citizen or politician of this country, Imran Khan has every right to express his views on the current political situation.
Whether one agrees with him or not is a different matter altogether. At least, he should have been allowed to speak and be heard by the students and the professors who had especially come to hear him.
It is a pity that the Jamiat activists resorted to violence even before Imran Khan had uttered a single word and thus marred the whole function. The saddest part of the incident was that it occurred under the very nose of the rangers.
So far we have not come across any statement from the VC of the Karachi University, condemning the attack or issuing a warning to the students involved in the incident.
LAL ZADA KHAN
Peshawar
MANY a people in metropolitan cities of our country self-drive their vehicles from home to their place of work and vice versa. Mostly they travel alone although the vehicle can carry four or more persons.
The single occupant of a vehicle, while driving through the main thoroughfares, comes across school and college students and low paid public and private employees, standing at bus stops waiting for their bus. But the bus, when it arrives at the stop, is already full to its capacity.
In such a situation, single occupants of vehicles can help their fellow citizens by offering to carry against payment, anyone going in the same direction.
This kind of service is in vogue in several metropolitan cities, i.e. Rome, Athens and Tehran. I have been there a number of times and was surprised to see that private car owners when flagged, stopped the car if there was room in it. After formal enquiry about the route, the passenger takes a seat and pays the amount to the driver and gets off at a point of disembarkation.
It is true that such a practice, if introduced here, could endanger the personal safety of the driver, as the passenger instead of making payment, may hijack the car. But, the trend of paid lift would gain currency if, in the beginning, such offers are made to acquaintances only. But there should be no hesitation in demanding the charges for travel from each other. The scope of service would widen with the passage of time.
People would like to pickup and drop their neighbour’s children if their school is situated on their route to their place of work.
S. BUKHARI
Karachi
NUMEROUS claims are made by mobile phone companies in their advertisements in newspapers about their expanding network and coverage. However, these companies seem to pay the least attention to expanding their coverage in the Northern Areas, where many families spend their vacations during the summer. Perhaps they do not realize how useful mobile phone coverage of these areas could be to the vacationers.
Now that vacation time is approaching, the mobile companies should make an effort to extend their services to popular resorts such as Kaghan, Naran, Swat, Chitral, Gilgit, Skardu and Hunza.
SHARJEEL JAN
Karachi
MOST of class I & II employees of Balochistan have been on strike for the last three weeks, demanding a 40 per cent raise in their allowance. As a result, the official machinery has come to a standstill.
On May 3, the Balochistan government arbitrarily terminated the services of 1,120 employees of the civil secretariat and many more dismissals are underway.
“This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” — John F. Kennedy.
TAUQEER ALI AKBAR
Delta, Turbat
IT is indeed distressing to note the resurgence of communal violence in India. The brutal massacre of Muslims is horrific and terrifying. It is symptomatic of the communal divide that continues to exist in India despite its artificial display of secularism. The facade of equality that India portrays is reminiscent of the hypocritical attitude of their government. On the one hand, the Indian Prime Minister proclaims to be a champion of human rights and a proponent of anti-terrorism moves, while on the other hand, he and his government have maintained an aura of subtle indifference towards the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat.
Such lack of respect symbolizes the decadent mode of thinking of the current Indian government and brings to light their unequal treatment of their citizens.
More importantly, such events serve to ratify the two-nation theory of Mr Jinnah. The youth of today, including myself, will remain indebted to the Quaid-i-Azam for creating his beautiful country of Pakistan, which has served as a safe haven for us all and ensured that we are not amongst those unfortunate Muslims in Gujarat who have been ruthlessly and barbarically burnt and murdered.
TAYYAB RAFIQ BALAGAMWALA
Karachi
REFERENDUM 2002 is over, and according to the announcement of the Election Commission, President Musharraf has got the people’s mandate to serve as President for another five years.
However, the opposition, as could be expected, is not prepared to accept the verdict alleging that hardly 5 per cent votes had been cast. The allegation of the opposition is more hypothetical than backed by any verifiable figure, whereas the announcement of the Election Commission has the credibility of being authenticated by the judges of all High Courts, not to speak of the Chief Election Commissioner who is a retired Chief Justice of Pakistan.
By boycotting the referendum the opposition has missed the bus. It may be mentioned here that boycotting an election tantamounts to abstaining from casting a vote, which is a neutral stand and does not necessarily imply negative vote. For this reason the opposition should have had the wisdom to take part in the referendum and cast ‘No’ votes. If their allegation that the President has got only 5 per cent votes in his favour be accepted as true then the count of ‘No’ votes, which should have been 95 per cent, would have authenticated the allegation. This would have been convincing to the people at large, instead of the allegation for the sake of allegation.
On the contrary, the people at large are inclined to believe that the opposition boycotted the referendum because they were convinced that they would not be able to muster enough ‘No’ votes to defeat the referendum, hence dared not undertake the risk of losing the contest on count of votes. Beside, had they taken part actively in the referendum — albeit for casting ‘No’ votes — they would have forestalled any possibility of rigging by being present in the polling booths during casting of votes and counting of votes as well.
Under the circumstance the opposition should now accept their folly of boycotting the referendum without demur and without crying over the spilt milk should accept the verdict of the people as announced by the Election Commission in good grace. They should now work for the coming October election without repetition of such folly, lest they go into oblivion for all times. This advice also applies to the fickle-minded politicians who actively took part in the public meeting of President Musharraf on April 28, yet boycotted the referendum two days later on April 30, 2002.
A.M. SAYIED
Karachi
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