| June 20, 2002 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1423 |
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Emergence of prison culture
Increase in railway fares
Islamabad’s green belts
Clarification
Whither security?
Iron deposits in Chitral
Who are the lucky ones?
What’s in a name?
A message for mobile users
GST on medicines
Living in harmony
Wearing hijab in the West
Loya Jirga, a step towards democracy
EVERYDAY, many innocent people die near the Line of Control. A lot of tension exists between India and Pakistan. The situation is extremely dangerous in the subcontinent. There is uncertainty everywhere. As a student of history and an ordinary worker of the Muslim League in 1945-47, I would like to express my views on the matter. There is always a background to a case like this. Looking back is essential. The principle of cause and effect should be kept in focus.
Mosley wrote a book, The Last Days of the British Raj, and the preface of the book runs as under:
“In his recently published book, The British in India, the distinguished Indian scholar R.P. Masani writes:
‘The histories of (the) last phase of British rule in India which have been published leave several questions unanswered. What efforts were made by Lord Wavell, one of the most conscientious and liberal-minded viceroys of India, to bring together the two warring political parties? What were the circumstances which impelled Attlee as the British prime minister to change horses midstream and send out Lord Mountbatten to expedite the withdrawal? What endeavours were made to evolve a friendly policy between the dominions of India and Pakistan? Why did they prove abortive? Why were adequate precautions not taken to avoid the holocaust? The reasons remain to be told dispassionately.’”
I would like to emphasize that the overall relations between the two countries have got to be kept in view. To my mind, a think tank on both sides of the border should be established and its recommendations should be considered by the governments of India and Pakistan for suitable action. I may put forth a few options for the proposed think tank. They are:
1. The Kashmir problem be left to the Kashmiris to solve. Pakistan can only give moral support for self-determination. The UN resolutions be kept aside as the scenario has changed with the separation of East Pakistan. The UN resolutions were passed in favour of a powerful country consisting of East and West Pakistan.
2. Pakistan was created to reduce hatred between the Hindus and the Muslims. Have the objectives for which we voted for Pakistan been achieved even partly? There has been deterioration in every field of activity. Unfortunately, this hatred has assumed alarming proportions with the massing of troops on both sides of the border. Threats of atomic warfare are being hurled on each other. After 1945, no atom bomb has been used despite the Cuban crisis, the Vietnam war and the prolonged Cold War between the then USSR and the US. How can poor and underdeveloped countries like India and Pakistan talk of nuclear war? This is sheer nonsense and shows lack of mental equilibrium.
3. India and Pakistan should come close like France and Germany. Let there be a free mixing of Indians and Pakistanis and the Kashmiris be left to resolve their future.
4. A liberal visa system like the one introduced in 1954 be put into operation to begin with. Later, only checkposts be established on both sides of the border to issue visas.
5. To start with, there should be free movement of people in Azad and Occupied Kashmir to be followed by a similar movement in India and Pakistan.
IRSHAD UL HASSAN
Lahore
THE shooting down of Yusuf Kazzab, a condemned prisoner in Kot Lakhpat Jail, is not one of those stray incidents that could easily be brushed aside. It was a dim pointer to the prevalent vice culture in our prisons, which normally escapes the eyes of citizens.
It is not the question of killing of a ‘blasphemer’ by a ‘saint’, who himself was condemned to death for the sins he committed and looked for absolution by shooting down an irreverent. The very fact that he was shot down by a gun speaks a lot about the negligence and failure of the prison department to protect the life of an inmate.
It was an absolute failure of the prison security system that a gun found its way into the hands of a condemned prisoner who managed to kill a fellow inmate. How it came to him, and why wasn’t it detected, are questions that the department has to answer. A routine probe by the gaolers themselves would lead to nowhere as is evident from the superficial measures of transfers and suspensions of a few juniors. This calls for a judicial probe.
The government has time and again vowed to change the ‘thana culture’ but what about the ‘prison culture’, which perhaps is worst as it is confined to the high prison walls while the thana is open to the public and the media.
While talking about contributory factors to crime, the prison, a breeding ground for the hardened criminals, is invariably ignored. Isn’t it a fact that all the contraband drugs and firearms are freely smuggled into the prisons and in this racket the jail staff is involved?
Most of the impediments to improvement are due mainly to the inefficient administrative set-up. Interior minister Haider should think of launching a crackdown in the prisons for the recovery of drugs and firearms. I am sure he will not be disappointed, as the results would not be as bad as his frequently launched recovery drives through the state police.
Had a survey been conducted by the legal or human rights organizations they would have found out that the percentage of non-sentenced ‘les miserables’ was very high. This frustrated lot, because of the slow pace of legal proceedings, combined with the denial of justice, is at the root of the milling unrest in prisons. The criminal justice system is also in need of reforms.
How about having a ‘Prison Ombudsman’ as a check on the transgressions of the jail staff. The joint inspections which used to be carried out by district sessions judge, district executive officer (formerly the district magistrate) and the district police chief could be made more effective by involving the district Nazim and a representative of human rights commission.
GHULAM ASGHAR KHAN
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the letter, ‘Increase in railway fares’ (June 8).
It is absolutely incorrect to say that the Pakistan Railways has raised the fares by about 10 per cent. The rise is 5 per cent only. The increase in the fuel cost had put a burden of Rs542 million on the PR. The enhanced fares would offset only half of this burden, the other half would be absorbed by the Pakistan Railways itself.
May I point out that the fares are properly notified in the Time & Fare Table. There is no discrimination between the various sections of the society in relation to the fares and the armed forces personnel pay the same fares as the general public.
There has been no massive induction of ex-army officers in the Railways at market salaries. At the moment there are 96,000 employees, out of which only 14 are ex-army officers. And they have not been given the market salaries, instead, they have been employed on the same pay scales as they had held in the army. By any stretch of imagination 14 out of 96,000 cannot be called massive induction.
This is again a misconception that the Lahore railway station has been upgraded while the Karachi railway station has been ignored. Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and some other railway stations were upgraded at the same time. If Lahore railway station bears a different look, it is because of the fact that it is the biggest railway station/ junction of Pakistan and not because it has been given special treatment.
The complaint against the punitive increase in the cancellation charges is not a realistic one. In the past, passengers were always complaining about the ‘Quli mafia’ (porter), double booking, etc. After careful analysis, the PR arrived at the conclusion that all these problems arise out of the option of free return of the tickets. After the introduction of punitive cancellation charges, black marketing of tickets has almost stopped.
Toll tax at Kotri bridge has not been levied in isolation. All over Pakistan, toll tax is being charged on highways and bridges. This public facility needs maintenance on regular basis and there should be no agitation against its payment.
NASRULLAH GHILZAI
Director Public Relations, Pakistan Railways,
Lahore
ENVIRONMENTAL considerations have been a part of the planning of the city of Islamabad and this was one of those features which had made it distinctly different from other cities in our country. But it seems that this distinction is now eroding fast.
Over the years, the green belts in this city have not only added to the estate value but have also provided the much-needed refuge from growing pollution. But these belts are now vanishing rapidly.
It started with pedestrians making convenient walkways and a few zealots off-roading their bikes. But nowadays you see the green belts being fast converted into regular drive-throughs, rightful parking lots and, worst of all, into legal dumping sites. The taxi drivers make it a point to cross through, not realizing that the few yards’ saving would eventually be lost in their vehicles’ wear and tear. Many hotels, schools and offices have even cordoned off their encroachments as parking areas.
I have personally seen garbage being dumped beside a stream passing through a green belt, and being burnt. This unguarded incineration, done by the CDA municipality staff, becomes a health hazard to the vicinity which is often a school. The CDA’s plantation campaigns become meaningless when the existing trees are being burnt by these incinerations. I hope it is not the timbre mafia again.
I am also witness to a truck shedding off tons of rubble in a green area. The driver knew it was illegal but just found it convenient.
All this is happening under the very nose of the ministry of environment. Let us see some protective and preventive measures being taken, after we have celebrated the world environment day.
SHEIKH MOHAMMAD ILYAS
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the article by Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee ‘For the endangered species’ (June 16).
I would like to clarify a portion of his article that at the time of submission of report in the High Court (prior to the last date of submission of regularization cases), the Karachi Building Control Authority had received 956 regularization cases, but by the last date the number of cases had increased up to 1,924.
It is further clarified that all illegal buildings will not be regularized. Only those that fall within the prescribed parameters, primarily including structural soundness, will be considered for regularization under a one-time amnesty scheme, the cut-off date of which is May 31, 2002.
The KBCA has already started taking legal demolition action against construction (illegal) that was carried out in violation of SBCO provisions.
SPOKESMAN
Karachi Building Control Authority
FOREIGNERS and diplomatic personnel are leaving this country for security reasons. But does security exist anywhere?
There is a quote attributed to Helen Keller, which says: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” Experience proves this. The most secure country till recently, the US, was hit by insecurity on an unprecedentedly large scale.
Leaving Pakistan like this would give a wrong signal to the terrorists. They would feel as if they are winning their war against peace because it is the loser in a war who pulls back. Changing places is not the solution. If anything needs to be changed, it is the official policies and the public attitudes.
YASER MAQSUD
Lahore
“DEPOSITS of 60 million tons of iron ore have been located in Chitral state”, reported Dawn on June 13, 1952, as reproduced in the section ‘Fifty years ago’.
There has been a long hibernation period on the part of our successive governments. Dawn has done a really good job in reminding the concerned authorities about it. But would anybody in the government care to pay heed to it.
JAVAID AHMED
Chitrali,
Chitral
THE finance minister says that the individual income has increased by 3.2 per cent in the current financial year.
As a pensioner, I know that my personal income has decreased by more than five per cent because of government policies; particularly the drastic reduction in the profits on national saving schemes.
I would like to know who are the lucky ones whose income has increased by 3.2 per cent?
BASHIR AHMAD
Lahore
THE news that a Muslim may become the president of India, coming as it does in the wake of the Muslim pogrom in Gujarat, means that there is nothing but political expediency behind this move.
It has been proposed neither because of any regard for the minorities of India nor for Mr Kalam himself. It has been crafted just to hoodwink the world.
What a pity that persons with the Abdul Kalam name always remain stooges and showboys for the Lalas, to be used whenever they feel like it.
KHALID AHMAD
Montreal, Canada
ONE of my nephews, a smart and handsome young man of 21, died in a car accident in New York last week. Investigations revealed that he was busy with his cell phone at the time of the crash. He has drowned his family and friends in an ocean of sorrow and grief.
The tragedy has also left an important message for the mobile phone users amongst us: do not use the cellphone while driving a vehicle.
RAFI NASIM
Lahore
AFTER the imposition of GST on drugs, the CBR had announced that the government would earn Rs5 billion from drugs and that the amount would be spent on the health sector.
But according to the federal budget, only Rs3.3 billion will be spent on the health sector.
It looks as if the government is treating public health as a business and instead of spending money on it, the government is earning Rs1.7 billion from it.
DR YOUSAF ALI SHAIKH
Karachi
THIS has reference to the letter by Mr M.A. Bangash, ‘Emulating Singapore’ (June 17). I had a chance to visit Singapore for a few days, the memories of which I could never erase from my mind. The majority of the population in Singapore is of Malay, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian and Pakistani origin.
People belonging to different religions holding different faiths live in complete peace and harmony.
Communal disturbances and sectarian strife are unheard of. I found Singapore to be one of the cleanest cities in the world. I have always held the view that Pakistan can get nowhere near Singapore in any sphere of life.
K.A. WAHID BUTT
Lahore
THIS is with reference to the letter by Mr Mehrab Ali Adeeb (June 17) regarding hijab and Muslim women in the US.
I would like to point out that there is no restriction against the covering of heads or faces by Muslim women or against using hijab.
I cannot say about Europe, but in the US everyone has the freedom to practise his or her own religion.
In my family, the women use hijab and no one has ever objected to it.
M.A. SHAHZAD
Oshkosh, USA
OBJECTIONS, concerns and shortcomings apart, the Loya Jirga convened under UN supervision in Kabul provides an opportunity to the Afghans to replace bullet with ballot.
The composition of the Jirga, the process of electing representatives from all over the country and the desperation by the key players to field Hamid Karzai as the consensus candidate to head the new transitional government of Afghanistan are being criticized both within and outside the Jirga.
The UN and US officials as well as Hamid Karzai openly admit that the whole process was far from perfect, but according to them and majority of the Afghans, it could have been made more democratic had the circumstances allowed the Jirga commission to work in normal circumstances.
In spite of keeping the top leadership of Gulbaddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami out of the process and the failure to ensure representation to Pashtoons from several northern provinces of Afghanistan, the rest of the Afghan leadership and areas were represented one way or the other in the Loya Jirga. They included warlords, commanders, Mujahideen leaders, tribal chieftains and elected representatives. Giving considerable representation to women in the Loya Jirga is by itself a history in the making.
The power and prowess of the Northern Alliance remained dominant throughout the Jirga since the inception of the process. But the cool-headed and articulate Hamid Karzai seems confident to get rid of the elements in due time who are calling the shots at the moment. Hamid Karzai believes that independent armed groups will be automatically disbanded provided the international community moves forward to help Afghanistan raise its professional and trained national army.
The country, the new cabinet and all the government institutions need ethnic balance and demand merit rather than anything else to put the peace, development and reconstruction process back on the track.
Former king Zahir Shah’s role was extremely important in the whole process and many Afghans say the ex-monarch deserved the Father of the Nation title, which was conferred on him by the Loya Jirga. His supporters were disappointed after the king refused to contest the election for head of state, following the defeat of Azizullah Wasifi, the staunch royalist, by Professor Ismael Qasamyar, the joint candidate of the Northern Alliance and independent regional group, for the post of Loya Jirga speaker.
BEHRUZ KHAN
Peshawar
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