| May 28, 2002 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 15,1423 |
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Not again, please
Breaking the deadly impasse
Landmarks in judicial history
Strange vagaries
HBFC’s high aims
Corruption in Wapda
Aggressive posture
Weddings
Indian logic
An elusive dream
Road problem
The growth of terror
IN the current Indo-Pak tension an implicit mention is frequently made of nuclear capabilities of the rivals. But it must be known what a nuclear weapon or simply the ‘bomb’ means and what destruction it can cause. The destructive power of a n-bomb is measured in terms of thousand tonnes of the power of the conventional explosive known as TNT.
The biggest type of conventional bomb made and used to-date is the Daisy Cutter used by the US for the purpose of destroying mountainous refuge of the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
It is a 12-tonne behemoth with an equivalent of 5-tonne of TNT as the explosive core and with only this much explosive power can flatten solid rock cliffs and caves into pulverized debris. So it is not difficult to know what destruction the bomb can cause with the equivalent of thousands of tonnes of TNT in a single explosion.
The ‘bomb’ has another lasting damaging effect called residual effect which comes from the fallout of the radioactive dust sucked into the mushroom cloud rising thousands of metres above the place of the blast. This radioactive dust after reaching higher altitudes cools off in time and then falls back onto the earth ionizing human tissues resulting in painful deformities.
Those who glibly talk of nuclear exchange must pause to ponder the consequences. It must not be forgotten that a Mirage or Jaguar flying out of Amritsar with the ‘bomb’ will be over Lahore even before it is detected, much less intercepted. The converse is also true for an F-16 sent with the ‘bomb’ to Amritsar. Pseudo jingoism must be tempered with realism at least by the learned and the responsible.
A.A. MUSALMAN
Wah Cantt
THE entire referendum campaign was based on the continuity of Gen. Musharraf’s policies. This slogan was given wide publicity. But once elections are held in October and a new prime minister is elected President Musharraf will not be able to keep his role of Chief Executive, as under our constitution only the prime minister has chief executive powers.
It’s a pity that when this point is raised, the supporters of President Musharraf immediately talk of amending the constitution, as if changing the constitution is nothing but child’s play. The point I want to deliberate here is: should the constitution be amended for one man only? No, not again.
We changed the constitution for Ayub Khan. Then we changed it again for Yahya Khan. After two years Z.A. Bhutto gave the nation a consensus constitution which was amended for the benefit of one man, Ziaul Haq, and the 58(2)B clause was inserted under which four prime ministers were dismissed in a period of 12 years. Do we want to destabilize the system again?
Here the necessity of army role is emphasized. I believe it’s a totally wrong conception. The Pakistan army should not be involved in any future set up for the following reasons:
The army becomes stagnant.
Army’s political role creates hatred among the provinces.
Lust for power among our army men increases and respect for the constitution vanishes.
A subordinate army is the true fighting institution than an army ruling the country.
The role of the army should be a corrective one, to provide protection to the constitution and strengthen the elected government. This we cannot achieve through amendments in the constitution.
IQBAL UMAR
Karachi
WHATEVER anyone might do and however much anybody may try, hegemonic India is not going to give up its military stranglehold on Kashmir. Equally valid is the assumption that powers that matter would do little more than exhort restraint and patience on both sides and make pious pleas to get back to the negotiating table.
Thus in terms of totality, the dilemma of choosing a course of action are scaring: unprecedented disaster encompassing one billion people on one side and appearing to be cowed down by a bully on the other. Being essentially alone, reaching any decision will require deep, painstaking and consensual deliberation calling for courage from the entire nation for in ultimate terms any decision cannot be expected to be better than a good trade-off.
Where a decision affects the well-being of succeeding generations it is always sagacious to strengthen a principled position by firmly, and with dignity, treading a path of manifest peace but not of Munich-like capitulation. I think a course on these lines may well be available.
A possible course, consonant with the spirit of the universally accepted UN procedure of negotiation enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement, enshrined in Article 33 of the Charter, could be that we, unilaterally, move the Security Council through the Secretary General to allow us to put forward our case in a presentation, of not more than two days, to the International Court of Justice or to any other forum constituted by the UN, to obtain advice, which we shall hold enforceable on us as judicial settlement, as to how we, and the people of Kashmir, proceed now after 52 years of abortive parleys, for putting the festing Indo-Pak dispute over Kashmir behind us.
Even if the UN were to shy away from such a proposal, on bureaucratic grounds like the necessity of both states being party to such a procedure, it will palpably demonstrate to the world our honourable intent and principled stand on the issue. It will also give a ray of hope to the entire world community that given the will all issues can be settled peacefully and, more so, for the safety of us all, we should not let the UN go the unedifying way of the League of Nations.
M.J. AS’AD
Karachi
THIS has reference to Mr M.R. Sarhandi’s letter ‘Advice from Jurrasic Park’ (May 23). The writer has joined hands with the man from the Jurrasic Park in demanding the replacement of the present election commission with a new one.
This nation, which could move mountains, will never be able to remove the election commission because the person who heads the organization is a former CJ of the Supreme Court and has to his credit the following historical judgments which will remain landmarks in the judicial history of our republic:
(a) Sanctification of the take-over by the President through a coup in October,1999.
(b) Granting the General a three-year extension to rule without any such request from the incumbent. (There is no clause in the country’s constitution which bestows authority on the Supreme Court to do so).
Hence the coming elections will be on the pattern of the recent referendum.
K.A. WAHID BUTT
Lahore
MR Ardeshir Cowasjee, in his column, ‘Truth about Bhopal House’, (May 19) has rightly come to the following conclusion:
“This, of course, can neither shock nor surprise nor anger any of us citizens of Pakistan who are so inured to the strange vagaries of our governments and the men who run them. Decency and decorum do sit easily with officials of Pakistan to whom they are, in fact, foreign substances.”
Yes we, particularly the Punjabis, are inured to such strange vagaries of our officials including the federal secretary of culture who has earned great ill-will for the Punjab by his order about the transfer of artefacts owned by the federal archaeology department from Karachi to Lahore. No one will ask how he has worked this wonder.
SHAFQAT
Lahore
I WISH to clarify points raised in a letter under the caption, ‘HBFC’s high aims’ (May 20).
Following the decision of the Supreme Court in the famous ‘Riba Judgement’, the HBFC stopped disbursements from July 1, 2000. Subsequently, the HBFC Act was amended to incorporate the directions of the Supreme Court, and the new Shariah Compliant scheme called ‘Ghaar Ahsaan’ was launched during March 2002.
The writer of the letter has alluded to the comments of the general manager of one of our 11 zonal offices where 37 applications have been approved within two months of the scheme’s launching. The writer states that “the average processing time for HBFC loan applications is 9 to 12 months”. He is wrong about that, as the scheme has been in place since two months only.
He then implies that the 15-day processing time is only reserved for influential persons, or those who ‘greased the concerned palms’ by ‘10 per cent of the amount of the loan’. This is also wrong, and he should note that one of the assignments of the HBFC’s internal audit department is to ensure that home applications are processed within the allotted time of 15 days, and to report on any delays.
Furthermore, in order to discourage touts, the HBFC’s prospective partners (customers) have to put up with the inconvenience of providing name and ID card number if they visit our office for an application form. In order to ensure that accounts can be closed and original title documents are returned to the partners in the shortest possible time, we have pasted the closing procedure at the reception areas in our offices.
We have developed a comprehensive website in English and Urdu for the convenience of those with internet access, www.hbfc.com.pk. Details of our scheme, application form, procedures for loan, a calculator, and frequently asked questions are all available on the site, which is being continuously updated. We get around 2,000 hits per month on the site. We believe the procedures we have adopted are necessary in order to protect the investment by the HBFC.
All letters addressed to the managing director are seen by him, as are all e-mails, for appropriate action. Severe action is taken against any employee found guilty of corruption, misconduct etc.
I hope the above facts show that the HBFC is working in the best interests of the tax payers.
SOHAIL OSMAN ALI MD, HBFC,
Karachi
IN 1996, the then Wapda chairman presented the military authorities with an electricity arrears bill of Rs4 billion. Infuriated by such effrontery, the COAS said: “Wapda is going into losses entirely through your own corruption. The army cannot stand by only as an onlooker”.
Immediately afterwards, Wapda was taken over and now it is claimed that the line losses have been reduced to 25 per cent, which seems more concocted than real. The internationally recognized rate of line losses is 10 per cent, which means that 15 per cent of the electricity revenue amounting to Rs25 billion is still being stolen by Wapda employees.
Such embezzlement has accelerated, especially after fixing of meters on poles away from the consumer’s homes. Now the meters are entirely under Wapda’s supervision and its employees are having a field day tampering with them and then blackmailing the subscribers into paying them suitable ‘monthlies’.
To escape dangerous authorities, the Wapda officials in Lahore, especially of the second sub-division, have allowed 24-hour meter-tampered free air conditioner facility to the local officers holding
raw power such as those belonging to the district administration.
While the government seems unable to eradicate corruption anyway, the authorities are requested to give a break to the people by allowing one air conditioner per home at a fixed rate of Rs4,000 per month during the few extra hot summer months.
ASLAM IJAZ
Muzaffargarh
THE Indians should realize that we are under the same threat as they are and the best way to resolve the problem of terrorism is through cooperation rather than suspicion.
India is thinking that the international community will be silent on its aggressive posture against Pakistan and will probably ignore any armed aggression, like it has been ignoring Israel’s. But India should realize that it is not Israel and we are not Palestine with nothing to defend ourselves. If India attacks today, it would be a horrible mistake as we Pakistanis are united and will defend ourselves.
At present, India’s internal politics is dominating its foreign policy. Mr Vajpayee is probably thinking that by waging war against Pakistan he may silence the opposition which has been very vocal lately. The right wing Hindu extremists think that their government is not doing enough against Pakistan, whereas the moderates are critical of the government’s handling of Gujarat.
The Pakistanis should certainly be vigilant, and take the threat seriously.
M.A. SHAHZAD
Oshkosh, USA
THE Musharraf government has been putting great emphasis on good governance. The Punjab governor also lays stress on it all the time. In many areas, this is so. In many others, it is not.
Take the matter of ostentation at weddings. Perhaps the only worthy action of the previous government was the ban on lavish weddings and on serving food at marriage parties. Instead of ensuring that this ban was enforced, the present government has started looking the other way in this matter.
This is bad governance. Many hotels and marriage halls now serve food, and lavish new canopies, with chandeliers while light decorations on the streets have staged a comeback.
Will the government enforce the ban on serving lavish food at weddings?
SADIQ AHMED
Lahore
THERE is something terribly wrong with the Indian logic in the current standoff. India claims that terrorists cross over from Pakistan into India. With a million Indian troops at the heavily-mined borders, and not even a rabbit being able to get through, how could terrorists do that?
Indian leaders seem to have forgotten that Pakistan is not the only country that has a border with India. But just because the BJP wants to win the next election, it continues to make belligerent noises against Pakistan, despite the fact that Pakistan has offered talks and has suggested the positioning of international observers at the borders and the LoC.
SHAKIR LAKHANI
Karachi
ALTHOUGH the clouds of war are getting darker, our approach towards the resolution of this crisis is still wrapped in shibboleths. Having been so shamelessly betrayed in the past, we should have grown out of the ‘protective’ umbrella of the West and started backing ourselves.
It is true that this time round the situation has a different complexion. The American agenda in Afghanistan calls for maximum restraint between India and Pakistan but there are so many visible contradictions in the Americans’ cupboard that it is hard to trust them. The recently held war games between the US and India amidst such a tense climate only serves to heighten one’s apprehensions.
Besides, the American are readily buying what the Indians are selling to them. There is a feeling that the Americans are once again planning to give Pakistan the short spirit, notwithstanding the unstinted support offered by this country to their campaign in Afghanistan.
Pakistan must learn to make itself more cohesive and not knock at the doors of unpredictable friends, who might prefer to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. But this requires a combination of sincere leadership and a proactive people; an elusive dream of our national life.
SHAHZAD AHMAD
Lahore
DEFENCE Road, connecting the Bedian and GT roads, is growing into one of the busiest traffic arteries. The new terminal of the Lahore Airport will further add to the traffic load. Shrill horns, smoke-emitting heavy vehicles and the noise of landing and taking off aircraft disturb the peace and tranquillity of the residents of the Defence Housing Authority.
It is requested that the entry of heavy vehicles into Defence may be banned and a dual carriageway introduced to regulate the flow of traffic.
A. RASHID
Lahore
I WAS dismayed and disappointed to read Irfan Husain’s article ‘The growth of terror’ (May 18). The article speaks volumes of his emotional attachment to the PPP and its leader Benazir Bhutto, and his total disregard for human rights values, a hallmark of any civil society.
Is Mr Hussain justifying, in other words, what Israel has done in Palestine? What Kosovars had to face at the hands of Serbs? What Kashmiris are going though in Indian held Kashmir? Is he also showing his disapproval of the British initiative of a dialogue in Northern Ireland or of other flashpoints in the world where some entities like the MQM might be struggling for rights of people being suppressed through brutal force.
For the past 54 years, whether it was the military rule or the rule of the so-called elected governments, one factor has been constant — the working of the establishment through the ISI and other intelligence agencies to keep the feudal oligarchy in place and help the rise of religious fundamentalism. On the other hand, the raison d’etre of MQM’s huge mandate arises from its philosophy of wanting to establish a middle class order in the country and work towards an egalitarian society.
The MQM and the agencies have been working towards opposite ends. In this scenario it suited Ms Benazir Bhutto to keep the MQM marginalized, to that end it was labelled traitor and terrorist.
Mr Hussain has advised General Musharraf to study the methods used by Naseerullah Babar as interior minister to crush the MQM’s militant wing. Let me tell you what methods were adopted — law enforcement agencies personnel would jump into the homes of MQM workers and supporters in the middle of the night, remove jewellry from women, take away valuables and any male members present. We have the names of at least 28 persons who were in police custody and later disappeared — there is no trace of them....
There was a hue and cry all over the world, human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Asia Watch and others raised their voice and condemned this brutality. The European and the British parliaments passed resolutions against such blatant violations of human rights. Governments from all over the world sent demarches. One of the grounds for dismissal of Benazir Bhutto’s government in November 1996 was extra judicial killings.
After reading Mr Husain’s article, it is easy to understand Senator Pietro Nenni of Italy who describes intellectuals thus: They give up the struggle ‘through a skeptical, corrosive intelligence that dissolves everything. An intelligence that is the enemy of concreteness.’
MRS NASREEN JALIL
Former Senator
Karachi
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