| May 20, 2002 | Monday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1423 |
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Foreign reserves
The road to nowhere
Giving Ayub Khan his due
Pakistan in the docks
Israeli atrocities in Palestine
Ulema and mullahs
ICC’s bias
Kidnapping of Prof Leghari
HBFC’s high aims
Our good performance
Ways to use Zakat funds
Mass transit for Karachi
NIT at Larkana
PIA passengers’ ordeal
Reference is made to the letter “Injustice at the PS” by Mr Omar Farooq published in EBR (April 29—May 5, 2002). The contents of the letter are not based on facts.The writer himself stated that when he applied for voluntary retirement his request was not accepted by the management which means the management bore no bias against him.
He was given a rather favourable treatment as the rejection of application implied an appreciation. Then why should the management have turned against him just for no reason?. The allegations levelled by him make no sense.
As a matter of fact, Mr Farooq misinterpreted the factual position.The fact is that he could not keep pace with the improved standards of performance and discipline and the same has been reflected in his ACR, which is a routine matter. He should have made efforts to improve his performance.
M. ANWAR SHAHID KHAN,
In-charge (PR, PS),
Karachi
YOUR special correspondent in his report in “Economic and & Business Review” of April 22-28, 2002 need to be complimented for bring to our notice the truth of the much-trumpeted foreign exchange reserves.
The disclosures are shocking. The people of Pakistan need to be told the truth for sooner or later this will be made known or else the IMF would do so after the politico-economic love affairs are worn out. It does tickle one’s mind when we know that the exports of the country have fallen so where did these reserves come from. We would expect a response to this from responsible quarters.
MAHER H. ALVI,
Karachi.
THIS is with reference to Shahid M. Amin’s article ‘Referendum and after’ (May 9). It is so depressing to see increasingly large quantities of newsprint being wasted on the argument that Pakistan deserves military rule because it has suffered imperfect democracy.
At the outset, the argument based on the premise that Pakistan now enjoys an improved international image is both intellectually and morally questionable. For let us be clear: greater strategic interests cause the United States and its allies to tolerate Pakistan and the military regime. The minute that reality changes, Pakistan’s international image will glide immediately back to where it was in Oct 1999 and beyond. And in any event, even if Pakistan’s international image is now glowing, of greater relevance is what that has done for Pakistan and Pakistanis at any level?
Politicians are terrible and corrupt? Yes, many may well be and may well have been in the period 1988-1997 (and why leave out 1998-99?), but a couple of points do bear consideration. First, as wonderfully articulated by Dr Farrukh Saleem in the early days of this government, for all the terrible corruption politicians are accused of, the pie that represents government expenditure, in whose consumption corruption tends normally to be played out, is almost entirely gone on debt servicing and above-question-and-beyond-audit defence expenditure by the time the terrible politicians get to it. Which I think says a little something about so-called accountability also.
Second, and perhaps more fundamentally, politicians, by and large and within our local constraints, are elected. It would therefore only be fitting if the electorate might just once have the opportunity to show them the door. But the practice has been this: once the election is run, others, whose bills we the voters and the taxpayers pay — and do we pay! — usurp the right to do unto governments and to Pakistan as a whole, what they will.
A question worth asking, I think, is why we have had sham democracy, and whose gift to Pakistan has it been? I recall a political scientist on television on the subject of democracy some months ago. His definition was this: two elections. So, no, we have not had sham democracy, we have had no democracy, because the most elemental criteria, the ability to remove elected governments through and by the ballot box, has never been available to us. And for those who would miss the point utterly and argue that we have had three and four elections since 1988, let it be loudly and clearly said that the point is two contiguous elections, unbroken by military might.
Saddest of all to my thinking is Mr Amin’s attempt to discredit liberal thought. As someone who thinks he has come around to falling in that category, I am indeed guilty of all the sins of which Mr Amin accuses ‘liberal souls’: I do not like the idea of military rule and military rulers and I do strongly believe that poor democracy, to use his words, is better than any military regime. I hold these beliefs because I believe that rule of law must be the basis for any society that hopes to ever get anywhere. And rather as military music and intelligence are often characterized, military law — and I hope there is no one in Pakistan under the illusion that we live under anything else — is no law.
What we as a nation, and as a people need, in laws and in all things, is to seek, find and build upon consensus. Arbitrariness, in which we live today, is its antithesis, and is the surest guarantor of our continued frantic race down the road to nowhere.
S.A. KHAN
Mardan
SYEDA Abida Husain is a politician of moderate nature. Wise, mature and intelligent, she comes from a respectable family. During her interview with the UNI TV channel on May 11, she talked a lot of sense but one of her assertions was rather disgusting.
Commenting on the people who ruled Pakistan at different times, she said: “FM Ayub Khan drew his strength from the GHQ, so he decided to shift the country’s capital from Karachi to Islamabad. Had he not wasted billions of rupees on the construction of Islamabad and diverted this amount to education instead, Pakistan’s literacy rate would not have been so low.”
I think, Islamabad is a symbol of Pakistan’s identity and we should be thankful to President Ayub Khan for giving us a city the nation can be proud of. With its fascinating landscape, beautiful layout, impressive buildings, roads and alleys and pleasant weather, Islamabad can be compared with any prominent city in the world.
Whatever the politicians may think, Ayub Khan’s period was the most progressive in the history of Pakistan as far as development is concerned. There was unprecedented growth of industries, construction of roads, bridges and dams, expansion and modernization of communications and transportation. He brought discipline in all walks of life with the result that neither the government departments were in the red as they are today nor were the vital assets of the country sold out under the garb of ‘privatization’.
Rather than challenging the construction of Islamabad, let us put the blame for the shamefully low literacy figure on the civil and military leaders who followed him and ruled the country for nearly 35 years, frittered away billions of rupees of the common man’s money but paid no attention to education.
RAFI NASIM
Lahore
THE US media has declared Pakistan as the most dangerous place on earth. Should we be offended or ashamed?
The brutal murder of Daniel Pearl, bombing of the church in the capital, assassination of a noted cleric in Lahore, homicide attack on French nationals in Karachi, failure to check the mass scale infiltration of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban elements into the country, have earned us this title.
While giving reasons as to why she decided to pull out of Pakistan the US Ambassador, Wendy Chamberlain, in an interview with the MSNBC network said that it was due to the fear of life and safety of her daughters in Pakistan. The video showing the gruesome murder of Daniel Pearl is now being made available by an Arabic website which will also be aired on the CBS network. Needless to say what kind of feelings and emotions this will arouse against Pakistan.
With all the above happenings, what amazes me is the recent statement of Mr Shaukat Aziz, our Minister for Finance, in which he has asserted that these events will have no negative or adverse effects on investment in Pakistan. Wake up Mr Aziz, and please also wake up your boss, as it is long past bedtime. The people here are questioning the very ability, competence and the will of our government to manage the law and order situation in the country and its fallout.
M.S. HASAN
Cedar Rapids, USA
AFTER visiting a refugee camp at devastated Jenin a UN envoy, Terje Roed-Larson, said Israel’s attack was “horrific and shocking beyond belief.”
But Britain voted against a watered-down resolution, signed by other European countries, at the UN Commission for Human Rights, that condemned Israel for the “mass killing” of Palestinians. Hundreds of Palestinians have been massacred, over a thousand kidnapped and many others injured, since Israel re-occupied the West Bank at the beginning of April. The full extent of the pogrom, torture and indiscriminate demolition of houses only started to emerge as Israeli troops began withdrawing. The camps were strafed from helicopter gunships and bombarded with tank shells. In an eye hospital in Ramallah, the Israelis smashed all medical equipment.
Despite worldwide condemnation, the Jewish state continued its atrocities: instead of condemning a country breaking every civilized and democratic norm, the US supported an Israeli proposal for a conference with the neighbouring Arab countries on the condition that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was excluded. After Sharon later conceded that Arafat could attend, following protests from Arab countries, the US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared to have no alternative but to agree. Powell visited the site of a recent suicide bombing in Jerusalem but did not go to Jenin.
The test of the West’s commitment to justice and democratic values will be if it indicts Sharon for war crimes. But both President Bush and Prime Minister Blair seem more concerned about creating the right level of support for an attack on Iraq more fierce than that of 1991. This is an obvious double standard which allows Israel to not only flout UN resolutions and international law, but also commit more war crimes, whilst other countries are denounced and attacked for less. It would seem that crime is only crime when it is committed against Western interests.
DR NAEEM KHAN
Faisalabad
THIS is with reference to two letters, ‘God save us’, (May 6 and 15). Mr Muhammad rightly mentions that most mullahs are motivated by purely economic objectives and he says that what we need are aalims.
Let it be understood that there is a big difference between ulema and mullahs.
An aalim is a learned Muslim scholar, a person with an open mind and who is open to suggestions and reasoning. He accommodates others’ points of view and preaches brotherhood. A mullah on the other hand has a closed mind with fixed ideas and notions.
Another dissimilarity between the two is that as an aalim has a very positive approach and talks of tolerance, brotherhood and peace. A mullah is all closed up in his sectarian thoughts and, therefore, has a negative approach towards people who do not agree with his preconceived ideas. Thus, in his sermons, he spits venom on others without hesitation.
It is no wonder then that they are sometimes called kath mullah.
SYED AZIZ AGHA
Karachi
Shoaib Akhtar finally achieved a landmark of 100 miles per hour. Despite being mired in controversies, Shoaib Akhtar has not only improved his line and length but also his pace.
But it is regrettable that the ICC has been biased in recognizing Shoaib Akhtar’s achievement. Players from Australia, South Africa, England and even India are promoted at the optimum level on the basis of landmark achievements, but if a Pakistani player performs brilliantly he is always pushed into controversies. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are such examples.
MANSOOR A. KHAN
Karachi
PROFESSOR Muhammad Hussain Leghari was kidnapped from Hyderabad more than three weeks ago. He has not been recovered as yet, although the Governor of Sindh, Muhammedmian Soomro, had assured Mrs Leghari in the last week of April of her husband’s early and safe recovery.
The Academic Council of the LUMHS has passed a resolution for the early recovery of the professor. I appeal to the Hyderabad City Nazim, the Corps Commander and the governor of Sindh to reinforce the efforts of the government.
The doctors of Tharparkar and the Pakistan Medical Association members of Naukot and Mirpurkhas also demand safety measures for the families of all those doctors killed in Karachi, Ghotki and other places.
DR HUSSAIN BUX KOLACHI
Associate Professor, LUMHS,
Jamshoro
THOUGH heavy amounts from the taxpayers’ money have been allocated for the running of public sector organizations, the general manager of the House Building Finance Corporation feels that by giving loans to 37 applicants, the objectives and targets of his organization have been fulfilled. This shows his ‘high’ aims.
Further, I am sure that the blessed 37 would either be very influential or they would have greased the concerned palms. It is no secret that the average processing time for HBFC loan applications is 9 to 12 months, while if 10 per cent of the amount for which loan is sought is committed to agents, then the whole process is completed in 15 days. Greasing really improves efficiency!
The HBFC should launch a campaign to create public awareness about their scheme and its terms and conditions. They should streamline and simplify the procedure for the processing of applications so that estate agents with inside connections cannot exploit the citizens.
IQBAL THARANI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to your editorial ‘$1 billion from World Bank’ (May 3).
In order to transfer the loss in the value of the US dollar to the Pakistan rupees the IMF imposed the conditionality of devaluation with each loan. This made Pakistan a heavily indebted poor country.
Thus, according to the IMF criterion our performance is good.
GHULAM RASUL
Lahore
A FEW days ago, there was a news item that an amount of Rs23 billion was lying with the Zakat Fund, the disbursement of which was under the consideration of the government.
The Holy Quran has specified the purposes for which Zakat can be used. The main idea is to support the poor who have no means of livelihood.
The best way to disburse this amount is to spend at least 50 per cent of it on imparting technical education, 25 per cent should be reserved for providing health facilities to the poor and invalids, and the remaining 25 per cent on redeeming the loans of the poor haris who are slaves of landlords and waderas on account of small amounts they borrowed from them. Distributing the money in small amounts, the record of which is also difficult to maintain, is sheer wastage.
S.M.A. RIZVI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a news item with a picture regarding a monorail system being put on trial in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (April 23). The most important aspect of the news item was that this monorail, designed to run with a speed of 90 km per hour and a seating capacity of 214, has been built by Malaysian engineers and technicians.
We in Pakistan have, during the past many years, spent huge amounts on feasibility reports for a mass transit transport system in Karachi, without any executional work ever being taken up. It is suggested that we should now seriously start working on it in collaboration with Malaysia as our already congested main roads cannot take up a further increase in the number of buses.
S. ATHAR
Karachi
IT is a matter of disappointment that the National Investment Trust (NIT) branch office in Larkana which was functioning for more than 12 years, was closed in Jan 2002. This is causing difficulties to NIT unit holders, who are more than 800 in number in this city.
As the Larkana branch has been merged with the one at Sukkur, the unit holders of Larkana have to go to Sukkur for making transactions and that means wasting one whole day. As a result of this, fresh investments in NIT by the residents of Larkana has slowed down.
It is suggested that if a branch office is not feasible at Larkana, an NIT booth may be opened up at the National Bank of Pakistan or the UBL to facilitate NIT customers in Larkana.
SACHANAND
Larkana
IT was May 14 and we had an excruciating day in Multan’s temperature of 49 degree C. Over 200 passengers of the PIA flight 327 to Karachi were waiting at the Multan airport for boarding. The flight was supposed to take off at 8:00 pm. There were a dozen or so passengers of a Fokker flight for Lahore. There was one VIP looking person also in the departure lounge and the CAA staff was obsequiously hanging around him. When we boarded the plane for Karachi, the captain announced that the Fokker plane for Lahore was having some problems and the Karachi-bound plane would first go to Lahore to drop the Fokker passengers and then from Lahore the plane would fly to Karachi.
Hearing this, most of the passengers started protesting and wanted to talk to the captain. The captain came and very rudely told the passengers that they had no other option but to go to Lahore first. There was not even a single word of apology from anyone. At this crass authoritarian behaviour, most of the passengers left their seats and refused to accept this injustice.
Despite very strong protests from the passengers, the CAA officers brought the Fokker passengers to the runway and asked them to board the plane. Now, a very ugly situation emerged. The Karachi-bound passengers were standing at the plane door refusing to fly to Lahore. There were mothers with little kids crying and feeders in their hands. There was one elderly and seriously ill man travelling with his son. There were a couple of passengers who had to take connecting flights. There was a family that had to go Hyderabad the same night having nowhere to stay in Karachi. There was a woman who had asked her only daughter to come to the Karachi airport to pick her. And then there were people like us who had a very hectic day in Multan running from place to place on our business duties in the scorching heat.
The plane was stranded at the Multan airport for almost an hour. Naturally, the Karachi-bound passengers had nothing against the Lahore-bound passengers, they were simply protesting against the PIA and CAA authorities who had taken this arbitrary decision. If the Fokker plane had developed some trouble, another plane should have been called from Lahore.
Finally, the Karachi-bound passengers gave in, some of them disembarked in protest at the Multan airport and their luggage was offloaded. Those who could not disembark suffered the ordeal of flying to Lahore first. When the Lahore-bound passengers came on board and the ground staff escorted that VIP looking person to his seat, only then did other passengers realize what all the fuss was about.
We, who were at the Multan airport from 6:30 pm onwards, landed in Karachi well past midnight and reached home after 1:00 am. I don’t know what happened to the sick man, and the family travelling to Hyderabad, and to those trying to take connecting flights, and those whose near and dear ones had to spend hours at the Karachi airport waiting for their arrival.
A PASSENGER
Karachi
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