| May 24, 2002 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 11,1423 |
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Lahore airport complex
Distortion in the name of religion
Dollars and rupees
Abandoned railway line
Dancing to the PTCL tune
Giving Ayub Khan his due
Motorway police
War and politics
Back with a vengeance
Gandhi died thrice
Upgrading Multan
Public sector diagnostic facilities
Axis of evil
SOME of the recent indications from across the border are not only ominous but suggestive of the Indian designs of embarking soon upon some adventurism.
Somehow, on our side the media and the government are playing it low, probably in the hope that either sanity or international pressure would prevail upon the Indians and diffuse the situation. I think prudence demands that while we hope for the best, we must be prepared for the worst. Our valiant forces are taking all measures to thwart any nefarious Indian designs and are vigilantly and fully prepared at the borders.
The nation must also be mentally and physically prepared to brave the worst, should it, God forbid, come their way. It is suggested that an all parties convention be held immediately to apprise the political leaders of the gravity of the prevailing situation and impending dangers. Their views in respect of countering the threat, both militarily and politically, be ascertained. The consensus of their views should form the corner stone of the government’s policy and actions.
Further, all political leaders, without exception, be requested to mobilize the opinion of the masses in their constituencies and prepare them for the ultimate, but without whipping war hysteria. The theme should be, ‘we do not want war, but do not wish to be caught unguarded’.
India should be told in no uncertain terms that enough is enough. From now onwards, retaliation of equal magnitude and kind will be offered in fields other than cross-border skirmishes, as and when ventured by India. Lack of reciprocity on our part must not be misconstrued as weakness of some sorts.
The international community should be asked to clearly differentiate between freedom fighters and terrorists. Most of yesterday’s ‘terrorists’ are today’s respectable and honourable heads of states. Whereas we are committed to fight terrorism, we cannot stifle the freedom movements. If that is considered to be the cause of the tension in the subcontinent, then let the world leaders come forward and play their part in solving this core issue according to the will of the Kashmiris.
The present stance of the international community of asking both India and Pakistan in the same breath, to exercise restraint is tantamount to equating a peace loving Pakistan with a jingoist India. They must differentiate between the two.
The people must be educated and trained in facing the situation arising out of a nuclear, biological or chemical warfare. It would be an act of highest treachery and cruelty on the part of Pakistani leadership to make the masses face a war, unprepared for such eventualities.
COL (R) RIAZ JAFRI
Rawalpindi
THE pace of development of the new airport terminal complex in Lahore is going on at a snail’s pace which requires speeding up. After wasting Rs8 to 10 billion on the project, it cannot even match Karachi’s Jinnah Terminal leave alone other reputed international airports in this region. There are no provisions for any future expansion nor will it be able to meet the ever-increasing air traffic. There are too many flaws in this project. A few of them are listed below:
(1) It has an absolutely ridiculous and unviable design. If the government was interested in copying a design they should have copied Germany’s Frankfurt or London’s Heathrow. Only seven boarding bridges are not sufficient at all. There should be 10 to 12 parking lots for at least 10 aircraft at a time.
(2) No parallel or adjacent runways have been provided. The building should be centrally airconditioned or heated. There is no provision for fast food restaurants with coffee shops or duty-free shops and counters. There is no emergency medical and first aid unit or fire fighting arrangements. Only one approach road, instead of two to three, from the city should be made available converging on the main road leading to the terminal complex.
(3) The parking space is provided for only 1,000 cars. No porter/ wheel-chair service is envisaged for senior citizens, patients or ladies. There are no state-of-the-art ground and air navigational/ radar facilities for bad weather or emergency landings. There are very few check-in counters, for both domestic and international flights, for the economy class. There should be at least three to five check-in counters for first class passengers for domestic and international flights.
I hope the concerned departments would pay due attention to the few points mentioned above, to make this project worthwhile for airlines from across the world.
MAJ-GEN (RETD) QIDWAI
Lahore
THE Hudood Ordinance promulgated in Pakistan in 1979 has unleashed severe distortions in the name of Islam. The April 20 judgment awarding stoning to death, in a public place, of Zafran Bibi, is a recent example. Fortunately, for Zafran Bibi, the judgment evoked strong, widespread response.
In Malakand division in the NWFP, two women, a girl of 14 years and another 21, unable to survive the brutal torture of their husbands, ran away, only to be arrested soon.
The police chose to side with their husbands! But for the efforts of a local rights group that visited the prison, this aberration would not have come to light.
Dawn commented editorially: “Unfortunately, we have to say with much regret that such incidents reflect the markedly disadvantaged place women have in our society.”
The Hudood Ordinance has been freely and repeatedly used to persecute desperate women.
A Pakistani, Anwar Hasan, based in Canada says with anguish that his countrymen are oblivious of contemporary world, and live like Alice in Wonderland.
Questioning the enforcement of veil to cover faces of women, a devout Muslim points out: “In the House of God, the holy Kaaba, women are not supposed to cover their faces. Haj is performed with unveiled faces.”
I find in this public disapproval of aberrations in the name of Islam, a significant silver lining. I wish similar awakening also gets generated in India, as much
among Hindus as among Muslims.
N. NARASIMHAN
Bangalore, India
THIS refers to the article ‘Truth about $5bn reserves’ (April 22). The writer has mentioned purchase from the open market as the main source of filling the coffers with dollars along with the foreign exchange which the commercial banks have been obliged to show as compulsory deposits and remittances from abroad, especially after Pakistan’s role in post 9/11 scenario.
He also says that rupees used for the purchase of dollars are those which Pakistan saved as a result of rescheduling of debts. I want to take the story further by naming the other sources. First, the government had a ‘grand sale’ of the state assets, including prized land and profit earning industrial and other units. Then it ordered the purge of ‘unwanted’ employees rendering hundreds of thousands jobless.
And the million dollar question asked in the article is: ‘Who are buying the rupees?’ Losing hope of getting any answer from the government, the writer says the suspicion is that the rupees bought from these dollars are being used for various dubious activities.
Here I would like to take the readers a few decades back when Pakistan was the recipient of wheat under PL-480 and the payment for which was made not in dollars but in rupees. And it is an open secret that the rupees so earned were spent for purchasing off political loyalties. That is why it is said that history repeats itself.
ABDUL KHALIQUE JUNEJO
Karachi
ONE of the good things that the colonial rule has left for us is the communication and transportation networks laid down during that period.
After independence, instead of expanding the railways network, we have started to shrink it, as has happened in the case of feeder railway service from Paddidan to Mehrabpur via Tharushah, Darbelo and Halani. Before independence, the bulk of the population lived in rural areas and people seldom travelled to the cities. Even then British rulers extended the railway services deeper into Sindh for the benefit of the general public.
It is interesting to note that various federal ministers belonging to Sindh such as Mohammed Khan Junejo, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Zafarullah Laghari and Hazar Khan Bijarani steered the railway ministry but could not foresee the future needs of the sub-urban and the rural population of Sindh.
The feeder railway track is of wide gauge and long distance trains can be diverted from Paddidan and resumed at Mehrabpur. The revitalization of the aforementioned railway track will be a great facility to the people residing in Tharushah, Darbilo, Kandiaro, Halani and other surrounding areas. The introduction of a rail car service from Karachi to Sukkur via Kandiaro may also be considered as this would generate a lot of revenue for the railways.
This is a public welfare issue and, therefore, the federal government should act swiftly as any delay would cause the people living alongside the railway line to pull out the track. Once, the present infrastructure is dismantled, it would be difficult to restore it because of financial restraints.
SALLAHUDDIN SHAH
Kandiaro, Naushehro Feroze
STATEMENTS by the bigwigs of the PTCL are seen from time to time, promising new telephone connections within 24 hours. People are advised to submit their applications to the divisional engineer concerned and obtain demand notices instantly.
My application for a new telephone connection was acknowledged by the divisional engineer, telephones, Gujranwala, vide his receipt No. P.C-27673 of July 14, 2001. Despite dancing attendance on him frequently, the demand notice has not so far been issued to me. I am getting along in years and request the highups of the PTCL to attend to my legitimate requirement.
HAFEEZA BEGUM
Gujranwala
IN his letter, ‘Giving Ayub Khan his due’ (May 20), Mr Rafi Nasim refers to Syeda Abida Hussain as coming from a respectable family. Does it not imply that persons who do not belong to that stratum of society in Pakistan, do not belong to respectable families? In my view every Pakistani, rich or poor, is respectable unless one is proved as a traitor or a criminal by the judicial court and public opinion.
Second, he is thankful to 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.’
The nation should not boast on its capital only for its beauty, buildings, roads and weather. There can be many more beautiful places in the country. The good qualities of a capital are its strategic location, easy approach for its citizens, suitable for foreign diplomatic establishments, and more importantly, it should carry with it the hearts and souls of the country’s population.
Did this decision to shift the capital to Punjab, near the native village of Ayub Khan, and further away from the seaport, approachable by the majority population belonging to the eastern part of Pakistan, not create a feeling of deprivation in them? Was this decision not one of the main grievances instrumental in the break-up of the country?
Third, if ‘Ayub Khan’s period was the most progressive in the history of Pakistan as far as development is concerned’, it was also an era that gave birth to rising corruption among the military and civil bureaucracy and the politicians. It also gave a grievous setback to the democratic process in the country and set the unfortunate tradition of carrying out coups d’etat by the armed forces.
SYED OSMAN SHER
Toronto, Canada
I WAS overjoyed at the sight of smartly dressed personnel of the Motorway Police on the Superhighway to Hyderabad. Alas, this joy did not last long.
I was travelling from Karachi to Hyderabad on May 11 when, after half the way, the engine of my car heated up. Not knowing the cause and being in the wilderness, we decided to stop the car at the kerb side till its engine cooled down.
No sooner had we stopped, a patrolling van pulled up and the policeman ordered us to start the car and move, else he would challan us. I tried to explain to him the position we were in, and told him that we too had no interest in sitting there in the scorching heat, but we could not risk restarting an overheated car as it could damage its engine.
With utter disregard for our problem, he ordered us to move within ten minutes or else he would deal with us ‘appropriately’. Fearing his wrath, we obliged, at the risk of damaging the car. After moving a little ahead, we were surprised to see other vehicles stopped in the same manner and there was no one around them!
It is suggested that these motorway policemen should be trained to be humane, at least to senior citizens like myself. It is also suggested that some toeing arrangement should be made available so that cars needing help could easily be toed to the nearest petrol pump without endangering the car and its occupants, as is customary in countries from where this system has been borrowed.
QAZI MUSHTAQ
Karachi
KARL von Clausewitz, the great Prussian general (1780-1831) advocated viewing war and politics as one, maintaining that warfare must remain under the direction of the political leaders to achieve its aims. He simply stated this relationship: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.”
Let our generals fight a war against India which is being thrust on Pakistan but under a democratic framework.
NASRULLAH
Lahore
THE present government continues to emphasize that it will catch the corrupt. This is as it should be. But there seems to be no grand strategy to work the problem. For example, the ban on extravagant weddings was good government action against ostentation. This was gaining significant acceptance. And the poor were being given an out from going into debt.
Why has the government succumbed to the businessman’s lobby and let the ordinance disallowing the serving of food at marriages lapse? The indecent display of riches at weddings has returned with a vengeance. The government is requested to quickly reinforce the ban on serving lavish food at weddings, and make it permanent.
MAZHAR IKRAM
Lahore
GREAT men die twice: once as great, and a second time as men, wrote French mathematician-poet Paul Valery.
But Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi died thrice. First in 1948, the second time in 1969 when a major anti-Muslim riot coinciding with his birth centenary occurred in Ahmedabad and other parts of the Indian state of Gujarat.
And now he has died the third time when once again Muslims are being butchered in Gujarat.
M.K. Gandhi, who is supposed to be an apostle of non-violence, was a native of Gujarat.
Kudos to the Indian leadership for engineering internal disturbances on such a massive scale when there is tension on the country’s international borders.
SHAHABUDDIN GILANI
Karachi
MULTAN is the fifth largest city of Pakistan with a population of 11.82 million. It is the centre of oil refineries, textile mills and flour mills.
Keeping in view the fast growing population of the city and the setting up of
new industries, it is time to plan a circular railway for the city.
A new track may be laid down from Jahania to Piranghaib. More over, Shershah Railway Station may be connected to Piranghaib through a semi-circular rail link.
The concerned authorities may also consider establishing a TV station, which would provide viewing facility to at least 20 million people and would also meet a long standing demand of the people of southern Punjab.
S. NASIR-UD-DIN
Islamabad
IT is a matter of serious concern that even after 53 years of independence, the condition of public sector hospitals has not come up to the mark. Worst of all are the diagnostic services, where results are faulty, erroneous and misleading.
In government hospitals, the laboratories do not cater for a wide variety of tests. The main reason is the non-availability of chemicals, reagents, kits and seras. Except for some bigger teaching hospitals, there is no separate allocation of funds for the purchase of chemicals and kits. Consequently, these hospitals are not provided with modern equipment. Besides this, there is practically no arrangement for the repair of instruments and equipment, that are somehow available with them.
Also, there are no refresher courses and training programmes for the technicians and doctors working in these hospitals, to make them conversant with new diagnostic techniques. As a result of this, the professors, consultants and specialists working in the public sector hospitals, prefer to refer cases for diagnostic tests to private laboratories, which are relatively better equipped and happen to be supervised by qualified pathologists.
These private laboratories provide authentic results even though, in some cases, the technical staff that works there is the same that works in the government hospitals in the morning shift. It is the will, motivation, dedication and availability of required equipment and other test items that enable them to give a performance far better than their output in government hospitals.
The condition of diagnostic services is all the more deplorable in district and tehsil hospitals, rural health centres and basic health units. There such services are either rudimentary or simply non-existent.
It is high time the health department took immediate cognizance of this situation and took measures to rectify the problems within a reasonable time. This would give a big relief to the poor who have to depend largely, in any case, on government hospitals.
DR ABDUL HALIM QURESHI
Hyderabad
IT seems that all the countries that fall under this category (or the category of a terrorist state) are those countries who will not allow Americans to do as they please. The developed world will find some excuse or another to undermine a country’s cultural/ traditional existence if they do not ‘like’ it!
This is pathetic.
NEVA MUHAMMAD
Kuwait
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