| June 18, 2002 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1423 |
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The meaning of equality
Nuclear danger
A blessing or bane
India’s sense of self-importance
Chaghai and Ghori monuments
Withholding hard news
One-sided
Pakistani consulates in the US
Settling scores
Recipe for peace
Sensible use of technology
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to India and Pakistan was aimed at witnessing the progress after the thaw initiated by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage’s visit to South Asia. Rumsfeld said nothing new except advised both the states to hold talks.
The urge for talks echoed Pakistan’s position that dialogue is the only way out of the impasse, which also includes the Kashmir issue. Unfortunately, the issue of alleged Al-Qaeda elements operating in Kashmir dominated the visit.
Of late, India has been hinting at an Al-Qaeda presence in Kashmir, but has not provided any evidence. New Delhi is probably pressing this ridiculous claim to gain United States’ sympathies, as the US is keen to support any country fighting Al-Qaeda. Pakistan strongly rejected the contention that Al-Qaeda agents were active in Kashmir.
In Islamabad, Rumsfeld did a dramatic u-turn and denied he meant what he said at the press conference in Delhi, adding: “The facts are that I do not have evidence and the United States does not have evidence of Al-Qaeda in Kashmir.”
Having made his position clear, he praised cooperation between Pakistan and the United States stressing that if there were Al-Qaeda anywhere in the country, “Pakistan will go find them and deal with them.”
The faux pas illustrates how easily foreign visitors are bluffed by Indian leaders who merely have to sprinkle their dialogue with terms like Al-Qaeda and ‘terrorists’.
As veteran Kashmiri leader Sardar Qayyum told the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir a few days back, India is keen to project the just struggle of the Kashmiri people as terrorism to conceal its own highly barbarous violations of human rights in the held valley. Its military and police have killed hundreds of peaceful citizens in the past on suspicion of links with the militants, and might henceforth do this by labelling them as Al-Qaeda men.
The best way to verify the claim would be for both India and Pakistan to allow international monitors to operate along the LoC. If New Delhi is allergic to the role being assigned to the United Nations, it should agree at least to the proposal put forth by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of a joint US-British heli-borne force. The deployment of such a force would be widely considered a part of the US-led worldwide campaign against the Al-Qaeda and save Vajpayee from political embarrassment, as he opposes third-party involvement in the Indo-Pakistan affairs.
The presence of the force will not only demonstrate the absurdity of the Al-Qaeda claim, but will also verify Pakistan’s claim that no cross-border infiltration is taking place.
PROF MAQSOOD AHMAD JAVED
Karachi
SLOGANS for equal rights are raised by most women rights associations and NGOs. This demand is justifiable since equal rights have been granted to us by Islam almost 1,400 years ago.
But the demand of equal rights has donned the attire of the demand of equality of sexes. Equality of sexes means there is no difference between a man and a woman, physical or temperamental whatsoever, which is wrong.
Equality of sexes means that both men and women stand on equal footing, that both must face the same tide, that both must go through the same frustration. In our confusion we hurl ourselves into a self-concocted punishment.
True, we must have the right to vote, but must we also stand under the scorching sun in the same line with men? In the public transport, it will mean no separate seats for women and no respectful emptying of seats by men; instead it would result in a most dreary situation for the fairer sex when she would have to holler and hurl herself at the bus like all the male commuters trying to catch some rod to hold on to, then hanging by it, and all the while trying desperately to keep her accessories and dupatta in place — a rather humiliating picture of what we demand.
Is this what we are fighting for? Is this the blessing we are asking for? When the whole world has come to realise that women are different from men, we have started heralding this foolish demand. Islam gave us equal rights but it never made us equal in sex. Islam talks of superiority of women, it gave us something that no other religion has given to its women — respect — something we never value but ought to.
If the demand is acted upon in future it would mean no concessions in death penalty, no alimony for the divorcee, no right of child possession; it would result in women travelling with merchandise and men rearing babies, meaning thereby total disintegration of family life.
We must never be considered equal to men, because we are not, we are superior and respect is our right, otherwise there would be no ‘ladies first’ and no one would have the right to retort indignantly: ‘Behave yourself, can’t you see I’m a lady.’
FARAH SHAMS
Islamabad
IN these dangerous times I find that many men in our region live in an illusion that fighting a nuclear war in some circumstances actually makes sense. They do not realize that the atomic bomb falls in a different category. The first and the foremost difference is the ease with which it could be used and hence a temptation to use it. A single plane could drop it.
By contrast, the March 9-10, 1945, firebombing of Tokyo required a great effort of staging a massive air raid, 334 B-29s, resulting in 100,000 deaths among one million causalities (the death rate was only 10 per cent).
The single atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima resulted in a 54-per cent death rate, an extraordinary density of killing. A nuclear weapon is in fact a total death machine, compact and efficient; the Hiroshima bomb produced causalities including dead 6,500 times more efficiently than an ordinary high explosive.
Something else was also destroyed. “The whole of society was laid waste to its very foundation,” concluded a Japanese study. Such a weapon has the power to turn everything into nothing. Finally, there are the long-term radiation effects that make one wonder if the dead were lucky than the survivors.
Having brought out the horrors of atomic bombing, any nation should be extremely frightened to start a war that could involve nuclear weapons. The purpose of nuclear weapons is essentially to prevent a nuclear attack. If deterrent fails in case of India and Pakistan, the result would be a disaster of unimaginable proportion and unpredictable consequences, keeping in view their poor record in crisis management of natural disasters. In fact it would amount to ‘collective suicide’.
The principle of deterrence was stated clearly by Andrei Sakharov: “Nuclear weapons only make sense as a means of deterring nuclear aggression by a potential enemy, i.e. a nuclear war cannot be planned with the aim of winning it. Nuclear weapons cannot be viewed as a means of restraining aggression carried out by means of conventional weapons”.
The important thing to note here is that it contradicts the doctrine of ‘first strike’ to off-set the imbalance of conventional military strength. This can make sense only if such a strike eliminates the enemy’s power to retaliate by nuclear weapons. “This is seen by nearly all experts as impossible or at least so uncertain that only a madman would stake the survival of his country on such a venture”.
RIAZUDDIN
Islamabad
IN my opinion the man (Graham Bell) who invented the telephone gave the human beings a killjoy contraption. The telephone is now with us all the time. Life would be almost impossible without this instrument.
Look what damage it has caused. Telephone has replaced the letter. People avoid writing letters, or just try to make a short-hand job of it. Talking on telephone has to be a hurried affair because a long conversation is either too expensive or has to be too casual.
Because of telephone the art and the pleasure of writing letters is dying — if it is not already all but dead. We are becoming strangers to the joys of writing and receiving letters. While writing a letter one is free to indulge in expansive moods. There is no limit to a letter, while there are so many constraints on telephone talk.
The ancient man communicated with drawing of figures. Then was invented the alphabet — so many kinds. Then came handwriting. Since writing letters is going out of our lives, so is the art of writing beautifully.
There was a time when handwriting was an individual’s own art and pride, quite apart from professional calligraphy. What pride and pleasure there was in writing with one’s hand. The quill or the reed pen was replaced by the nib. Then came the fountain pen. Now we have this pathetic ballpoint.
With the decline of letter writing, we have witnessed the near death of handwriting. Thanks again to the telephone.
And now the computer. It is destroying whatever little of handwriting was left in our lives. This box has taken control of our lives. It is making us so awfully self-centred and unsocial. I am speaking for millions when I say that the PC is causing increasing strains on the peace of homes. People are fast becoming computer-addicted. The next stage would be that they will themselves become computers.
I would not deny that the telephone and computer and allied aids are useful and do contribute to life. But it seems to me that instead of the computer being our tool, we are become the tool of the computer, so totally dependent we have become on it. I do not think life is richer in its genuinely human content because of these rapid-fire aids.
ROQUYYA JAFRI
Karachi
I READ on the website of India Today (June 13) that Mr Vajpayee was on the hit list of Abu Sayyaf. Funny indeed.
The collective psyche of the Indian leadership is to go to any length (or depth) to convince the world that India is one of the superpowers and it follows that their leadership comprises great statesmen. All the actions taken by the Indians are aimed at achieving this end.
India went nuclear just to make the world sit up and take notice of its prowess. When the ‘war against terrorism’ was launched in Afghanistan, India offered all kinds of help, though it would have been of little use, just to be noticed by the world.
And then it threatened Pakistan with lightning strikes and thunderclouds for the same purpose. And now, when there is nothing else to capture the western media’s attention, the world is told that Abu Sayyaf is about to assassinate the poetic prime minister of India.
India is choking with its self-created sense of self-importance.
SITARA AKRAM
Lahore
WE have mindlessly erected monuments commemorating the Chaghai nuclear tests and the Ghori missile tests. These symbols of our military power welcome the visitors at entry points or prominent public places of our main cities.
May I, as a citizen of Pakistan, question the rationale of this senseless display of jingoism? Undoubtedly, we are committed to defend our homeland like other self-respecting nations but the idea of making our cities look like cantonments is not only absurd but is also damaging for our national image.
It portrays us in bad light: either we are scared or immature, or may be both. To whom do we intend to impress or reassure with regard to our military might by installing the models of deadly weapons in and around our cities?
Cities grow great by educational, economic, cultural and political activities, and a nation emerges strong by developing its economy, education and human resources. Rhetorics, slogans and monuments of this kind cannot provide a solid base to build a great nation.
We rightly proclaim that we want South Asia to be a non-nuclear region. Understandably, we were enticed away by the Indian tests and provocative statements of the Indian leadership, to commit the same folly.
However, for what purpose have we erected replicas of Chaghai mountains in every big city? What message does it covey to our people and to the visitors? Such shallow show of militarism only tarnishes our image as a peace-loving nation.
SHAHID ANWAR
Toba Tek Singh
ON June 14 there was a bomb blast near the US Consulate in Karachi. The BBC and the CNN were the first to break the news.
On the other hand, our own channels, PTV, PTV World and Channel-3 were busy in telecasting their scheduled programmes without even mentioning the serious incident that had occurred in our country. I wonder why others are always first to telecast anything of importance that happens in Pakistan.
SADAF DURRANI
Karachi
During the past many months it has become a practice of western leaders, particularly America, to use with Pakistan and its president the rhetoric they use normally in the case of Palestine and Yasser Arafat.
These people have a one-way communication with Pakistan because they keep telling us what to do but don’t listen to our point of view. They ask us to stop infiltration. Why don’t they ask India about the conduct of its 700,000 soldiers? Why don’t they ask about the 90,000 people who died in Kashmir?
M. TAYYAB KHAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Nadia Nadeem’s letter (June 13). I totally agree with whatever she has said.
In 1998 when I called the Pakistan Consulate in Washington DC and, luckily, got some one to talk to, I requested him to send me a form for the renewal of my passport through fax or by post. I was told that they did not have a fax machine in the office and for mailing the form, I had to send them a self-addressed stamped envelope. This was unbelievable.
Sitting in the capital of the US, they did not have a fax machine. And it was regrettable that our embassy did not have enough funds to mail out a letter with a 35 cent stamp on it.
FAWAD SHAIKH
New York, US
THIS is with reference to two columns ‘Victimized for loyalty’ (April 10) and ‘The hidden hand’ (May 29) by Hafizur Rehman. Many people are in the habit of saying one thing today and contradicting it the next day. This can be condoned in the case of laymen but if done by a highly educated and seasoned columnist it demands serious consideration.
These two columns reflect personal grudge against our intelligence agencies. It is a known fact that one of the writer’s close relatives, who had been associated with a particular regime, was fired from an agency some years ago, while the other is still serving but is under clouds due to his close affiliations with a political group. So the outburst against the agencies clearly seems to be personally motivated.
Our intelligence agencies have a crucial role to play in combating terrorism. As the secret agencies are handicapped to defend even the most unfounded and baseless criticism directed against them, it is unfortunate that some authors/ columnists have taken upon themselves the task of tarnishing the image of the state’s secret agencies. Although the CIA and the FBI could not pre-empt the Sept 11 attacks, nobody in the US accused these agencies of being under the influence of a ‘hidden hand’.
M.K. RAJA
Islamabad
MR Irfan Husain in his article, ‘Give peace a chance’ (June 1), has questioned the decision of testing missiles at this juncture. The truth is that it is only after these tests that the Indian rhetoric has slightly mellowed. Mr Husain needs to realize that submission before India and appeasement are not a recipe for peace. In fact that would make India even more aggressive.
If there is one thing that has so far stopped India from attacking Pakistan, it is our nuclear capability. Yes we need to do more to curb militant activities but we should not do that on orders from India.
HAROON KHALID
Karachi
EVEN in the 21st century, we in Pakistan seem to be living in the stone age as far as our legal system is concerned.
Zafran Bibi who gave birth to a baby girl when her husband was serving a 24-year term in a murder case was charged with adultery. While she accused the brother of her husband of having raped her, the FIR showed the name of another person.
The case was tried by an additional district and sessions judge who almost stunned the whole nation by declaring Zafran Bibi guilty of zina and sentenced her to death by stoning under the Hudood Ordinance, 1979. The court released both the accused for lack of evidence.
On appeal, the High Court acquitted Zafran Bibi of the charge of zina but made no mention of any proceedings against the rapist. The question arises: while the woman underwent all the agony and torture, why should the real culprit go scot-free? As we are adopting the latest technology in all walks of life, it is high time we made use of a very vital development in medical science.
Of late, the advanced countries have adopted the ‘DNA test’ as a sure method of obtaining proof of parenthood. The case referred to below will prove how effectively the system is being used by other countries.
1. Sponsored by her son in America, a Pakistani woman applied for immigration to the US. The embassy in Islamabad subjected her to a DNA test while her sponsor was tested in New York. The tests having proved their mother-son relationship, she was granted immigration.
2. In a remote village of Australia, an old woman was raped. The authorities subjected around 200 suspected residents of the village to the DNA test and found the rapist.
3. An article contained in the June 10 issue of Times, highlights a case in which the father of a 12-year-old girl having been identified through a DNA test ‘had to pay a monthly maintenance allowance to a daughter who does not even want to see him’.
Let us put the child and the two suspects of the Zafran Bibi rape case through the DNA test. The rapist will be found for legal action by a court of law.
RAFI NASIM
Lahore
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