| June 24, 2002 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1423 |
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Cricket, PTV and the viewers
Whose fault is this?
In every child lies Edison
Give them another chance
Metrobus 9B Express
Hockey vs cricket
Relying on market forces
Premature conclusion
Solution
War never comes cheap
INDIAN security forces have arrested and imprisoned Syed All Gilani, a prominent Kashmiri leader and executive member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Gilani has been accused of receiving money from foreign sources and distributing it among groups of freedom fighters. More ridiculous is the allegation that he was found to be in possession of a diamond-studded watch, which carried the inscription: ‘From the Pakistan government.’ It is hard to associate a diamond watch with the austere image of Syed Gilani.
If at all Islamabad had to gift him a diamond watch, it would have the common sense not to make it too obvious by embellishing it with the inscription that the Indians say it has.
POTA allows the Indian state to accuse individuals of any crime and put them under detention, without trial, for an unspecified period. The security forces can say whatever they like without having to prove their charges in the court of law, depriving the victims of their fundamental human rights.
In March, the Indian security forces arrested and jailed another APHC leader, Yasin Malik, on similar charges, accusing him of receiving dollars from a woman who had arrived from the United Kingdom. Even if these leaders accepted foreign contributions, what was wrong with it? It is not uncommon for people to make contributions to a common cause. Irish-Americans for long have been openly sending special contributions to their people’s freedom struggle in Ireland.
A large number of Kashmiris are living and working in England and elsewhere in Europe and North America, who may be sending money to the Kashmir freedom movement. Such a thing would be neither unexpected nor morally wrong. What seems rather astonishing is that the Indians have made that discovery only now.
New Delhi’s new game plan is to hold state elections in lieu of the plebiscite that the Kashmiris have been demanding; and also to give a measure of autonomy to the embattled state. According to latest reports, India has indicated that the border stand-off with Pakistan will not be eased until these elections are held in September. Gilani and Malik, of course, are strong opponents of the elections. So are the other leaders of APHC — the political umbrella organization of the Kashmiri freedom movement.
India is desperately trying to hush up the Kashmir issue under the allegation of cross-border terrorism and shying away from the talks’ process in the hope that the world would forget that the real issue is plebiscite and the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
Pakistan’s consistent offer of talks on all issues with centrality given to the Kashmir issue is the only way out for permanent peace in South Asia.
ROBINA TAREEN
Karachi
THE one-day cricket series won by Pakistan was a joy to watch; but not on PTV. The matches were played between two of the best teams in the world. Their every action and gesture was viewed by millions of people, analysed and replayed on the screen, and commented upon by some of the best cricketing brains around.
To hear these past masters talk about the finer points of the game is essential to the televiewing of such high class matches. But alas, PTV had other ideas. It, by design, denied its viewers some of the best insights and comments. In between every change of an over, fall of a wicket, a hit to the boundary or even an overthrow, the viewers were pummelled with sickeningly repetitive and monotonous advertisements.
So what else to do but to switch over to a foreign channel. They too show ads. But there is some organization in their madness. The game is well-screened and the experts are allowed their say.
However, in its excessive zeal to show as many adds as possible PTV is doing more damage to its sponsors than good. I for one switch over to a more user-friendly channel.
ANWAR KHAN
Lahore
THIS is with reference to the news item (June 15), ‘Appointment of 2 NHA members questioned’. I am one of the members mentioned in the news item. The following facts are submitted to keep the record straight. 1. After working for 10 years in the US and six years in Saudi Arabia as an engineer, I came to Pakistan in 1985 and joined the defunct National Highway Board as Director (counterpart) BPS-19 on open merit in August 1987.
2. After working for eight years in various capacities I was promoted on merit to BPS-20 on the recommendations of the Departmental Promotion Committee under NHA rules with the approval of competent authority vide establishment division letter dated 24.9.1995 and then I was selected for the NIPA course in October 1995.
3. After clearing NIPA in January 1996 I was appointed as General Manager Construction in BPS-20.
4. On Nov 26, 1998, I was asked to take up the position of Member (Operation) immediately. I was surprised by my selection, and my initial response was to refuse it due to the sensitivity and heavy responsibilities of the position, but based on my unblemished record and reputation I was instructed and forced to work as Member (Operation), may be due to the non-availability of a suitable person at that time. I was told that my selection was made by the then minister for communication after necessary approval from the prime minister.
5. I worked as a Member (Operations) till April 3, 2001, and completed all the ongoing projects and even started the dead ones, which are now complete. Nobody had a single complaint against my work.
6. On April 4, 2001, I was given the charge of Member (Planning) and the Secretary of the Executive Board for which a proper notification was issued by the Ministry of Communications, and I retired on May 5, 2002, in the same position.
7. Based on my performance and reputation the chairman NHA recommended my case for extension to the minister for communications who forwarded it to the C.E. Sect for approval. It was denied on the ground that the appointment as Member was unauthorized.
8. I worked for 3-1/2 years as Member operations and planning. The question arises that why hadn’t the Ministry of Communications, Establishment Division, or C.E. Sect pointed this out during all this time. Why should I be penalized for not issuing proper notifications by the ministry or establishment division. Whose fault is this?
SYED NAJMUL HASAN
Islamabad
ALL the mantras of the experts from World Bank, IMF and UN cannot equal the simple advise that Mr Mohammad Ali Bangash offered in his letter ‘Emulating Singapore’ (June 17). Many people would be shocked to learn that till a few decades back Singapore had as notorious a reputation as Bangkok and Manila. But it invested in the most precious resource that a country has, its people, and look at the result.
The key to development is discipline, and without education there can be no discipline. We can put up the most modern of factories and offices and complexes but without an enlightened workforce, they all come to nothing. We often hear about the Asian Tigers without realizing that they became virile not by some magical pill but because they made education possible for the child of the poorest farmer of the poorest village. Once you educate the people, the rest happens itself.
We complain that our masses and servants never follow orders, but it is hypocritical for us to expect an unlettered person to do so. It just won’t happen. Only an educated person can act responsibly, can take decisions, can improvize.
Our destiny will change the day our leaders realize that in every child who is seen begging on the streets of Pakistan lies a potential Beethoven or Edison.
NAELA HASAN
Canada
THIS is with reference to letters regarding Pakistani consulates in the US. Contrary to the views expressed by Fawad Shaikh (June 18), my experiences with the Pakistani consulates in the US have been nothing but most pleasant.
I have had to renew my passport more than once, had to get a power of attorney once, got a visitor visa for my son (who has a US passport) once, among other such things and never once did I get the impression of sloppiness, laziness or lack of funds in the Pakistani consulates.
In fact, if anything, I have always been very impressed by how prompt the Pakistani Consulate in New York is and how much of a contrast there is between the way government offices work in Pakistan and the working of Pakistani Consulate in New York.
Lately, I have also noticed that most of the simple forms for passport renewal etc are on the web now, which is very convenient. I have called the Pakistani consulates over the phone multiple times over the years and have always been able to talk to someone about what I needed.
I must mention that I am not connected with anyone at the Pakistani consulates or embassy and have absolutely no leverage in that way. Thus, my experiences should reflect those of the common Pakistani living in the US. Fawad Shaikh refers to a less than satisfactory experience in 1998 but it is the middle of the 2002 now, i.e. four long years have passed; he should give the Pakistani consulates and embassy another chance.
HAMMAD MALIK
Bayonne, US
FOR those who reside in the vicinity of Askari-IV, Rashid Minhas Road, the above captioned metrobus is the only means of direct access to workplaces at Tower and back. But due to its monopoly over this route its service is highly deplorable.
It is the norm with 9B Express not to pickup passengers in spite of space in the bus. It has no fixed timings (often the frequency between two buses is more than an hour). Instead of completing the journey to Keamari, the route plate is changed midway to accommodate a shorter route.
Taking short cuts, rash driving, breaking signals, allowing male passengers to occupy seats reserved for ladies and discontinuing service before 8:00 pm are some of the irregularities of the Metrobus on this route.
A number of complaints have been lodged with the Metrobus authorities but from their curt and evasive replies it appears that the management of KPTS is not at all interested in this route (9B Express) and are just complying with the formality at the cost of mental agony and waste of time of the commuters.
As the provincial transport authority is considering the request of KPTS to link the fares of Metrobus to that of fluctuating petrol prices it is suggested that before heeding to the proposal the management of KPTS may be asked either to address the above irregularities or the route permit of 9B Express may be allotted to some other party.
NOMAN A. REHMAN
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Kamal Khan’s letter ‘National game’ (June 12) wherein he has made an unwarranted suggestion that cricket be declared as our national game instead of hockey on the basis that cricket is played at every street of the country.
Let Mr Kamal know that the cricket craze emerged here only after the start of one-day matches, whereas hockey has been known as the game of the subcontinent since its inception, and Pakistan/ India dominated this game till the time astroturf was not used. Despite lack of astroturf facility here, Pakistan has the honour of winning all titles in hockey several times.
The government, therefore, very rightly declared hockey as the national game of Pakistan.
M. AKRAM JANJUA
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter ‘Education made too costly’ (June 19). One cannot but agree with the writer about the high fees charged by private schools. But his suggestion that fees for different categories of schools should be fixed will not be practicable.
One, what will be the criteria for categorization of these schools?
Two, who will determine these criteria? Three, who will then categorize each of the thousands of private schools? Four, who will enforce it? Five, what will be the criteria for upgrading and downgrading these schools?
Thus, introduction of fees based on categorization, as suggested by him, will only lead to further corruption, a bigger bureaucracy and a debilitating interference by it in the affairs of private schools on the pretext of enforcing rules regarding fees, etc.
Therefore, it will be wise for us to follow the model of those countries which have improved the quality of government schools with better pay and service conditions for the teachers and left the private schools for the rich.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan education happens to be such a low priority sector that the standard of government schools has declined steadily.
Not only that, hundreds of government schools have become dens of filth or turned into ghost schools. Then, how can we expect the education bureaucracy to manage private schools without ruining whatsoever quality education is still available in Pakistan, albeit at a high cost?
I believe that given our circumstances it would be better to rely on the market forces. Mushrooming of private schools and growing competition between them for students will hopefully lead to lower fees and also quality education. And, let us hope that future governments will allocate more funds to education and give it the priority it deserves.
ZEHRA ALAM
Islamabad
WITH each bomb explosion, the government, the police and subsequently the national and international media have claimed that it was a suicide attack. I would like to know what we are trying to achieve with such a premature conclusion.
These detonations could very well be through remote control devices. Surely, a bomb can be planted in a vehicle left in the parking lot by any common man/woman.
This can then be detonated at the right time or right place, for example, when the unfortunate driver drives the car out to a vintage point.
Also, we should note that President George Bush was quick to blame the recent bomb blast at the American Consulate in Karachi on the radicals so as to preempt finger pointing at another foe, which could have been at work here. Simple stated, I think that premature blaming of explosions on suicide bombers and radicals could misdirect us, as the culprit could be someone else.
If they are ‘Muslim radicals’ out to free the Muslim world from the yoke of injustices, then one should advise them to read history and see that Islamic radicals/ jihadis were noted for their valour and chivalry, not cowardice.
They should vent out their anger against their enemy bravely and not cowardly against the common people of Pakistan.
SUHAIL AHMAD
Abu Dhabi
The only foreseeable solution to the Kashmir issue is a demilitarized autonomous Kashmir having its own administration allowing free travel to Indians and Pakistanis. However, a limited number of Indian troops may be kept in the Jammu region while Pakistani troops can stay in Muzaffarabad for peace and security reasons only.
ANEES A. KHAN
Lahore
THE old age is generally considered the age of sanity and maturity in all civilizations across the world. Military leadership is commonly taken as rash, rude and headstrong and ready for war. But this is not in the case in the two South Asian neighbours, India and Pakistan.
The fag ended Indian leadership is trumpeting the rhetoric of war for the last six months while the military leadership in Pakistan has displayed maturity and statesmanship to resolve disputes through dialogue and mutual consultation. It has earned the world’s gratitute for averting war and India has ultimately been pushed to seek refuge in offering concessions, though cosmetic, to avert armed confrontation. In a study made by Indian military top brass in 1990, it transpired that an Indian war against Pakistan at the intensity of 1971 level would cost India about Rs20,000 million per week. A similar kind of study conducted by some private agency in Pakistan in 1990 revealed that a full scale conventional war could cost Pakistan about $300 million per day.
Both the countries depend heavily on the import of oil to run their war machineries. Can a limited or prolonged war remain restricted to conventional weapons is not guaranteed. It would be foolish on the part of Indian leadership to think that the war will be restricted to the LOC. They should better realize that wars have their own momentum. The only dependable deterrent with Pakistan is the nuclear weapons. Would the elimination of two million people in a nuclear war leave the two countries better?
According to an estimate, the minimum havoc that will visit the two arch rivals is about Rs1,000,000 million to Rs2,000,000 million. A matching amount would be needed for the restructuring of basic infrastructure in both the countries.
It is relevant to note that as communal violence has badly engulfed the Gujarat State, there are varying estimates of the economic loss to the state i.e. from Rs35,000 million to Rs100,000 million.
It is costing the Indian nation heavily in terms of foreign investment, trade and tourism. It is worth mentioning here that a Canadian investor mission comprising of 150 Canadian investors visited India recently. It ruled out any kind of investment in the state of Gujarat.
That India is not missing any chance to hunker down Pakistan economically whatever cost it has to bear is evident from the fact that Indian government has announced many incentives and 25 per cent subsidy to all those exporters who undercut Pakistani products and sell their products at lower prices in the international markets to scuttle Pakistani products.
India should better understand that punishing Pakistan with a military strike could lead to fuelling the fire of a number of insurgencies already simmering in India as the economic fall out of a war with Pakistan would leave little with New Delhi to satisfy the starving millions across India. War is no solution to any dispute. India should better utilize the international mediation offers to resolve its outstanding issues, including Kashmir, with Pakistan.
KHALID MAHMOOD CH
Karachi
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