Monsoon time, so let it rain: SOCIAL THEMES

TO TALK of weather, is in a sense, to talk of time, to talk of seasons, how they shape moods and desires, and dreams or disappointments. With clouds hovering over Karachi’s skies for some weeks now, gray, grim, dark clouds at that, it is a rich theme to begin after an absence of a couple of months. The absence being caused by a triple coronary bypass that I underwent in London, but that is another theme altogether.

Being in London is to be exposed not just to the weather, but also to the talk of weather. Not just the media’s focus on it, but also to the conversations that centre around it. Here, too, in Karachi, over the years, if one looks deeper at the content of our own conversations, there is an increasing mention of weather reports. Not just those that appear in the print media, but also on the television channels also. Now there is not just PTV but other local channels also. Amazing how they all talk of the weather, and at the floating clouds, and the prospect and promise of rain.

Amazing how often these reports and interpretations are thoroughly disbelieved by regular viewers (this category still remains faithful) who argue that PTV does not understand even the weather. How can it then understand the larger environment. But that is another dimension, another tale. That of our society.

The good thing about all the weather reports now is that there are channels, like BBC and CNN (among others) that also focus on global weather, the regional weather, and especially on South Asia. One Karachiite symbolising possibly a class of viewers that has developed with time, insists that often PTV’s reports are in direct conflict with those of BBC or CNN, and he explains that when PTV promises or forecasts rain, the western channels see none. Just makes one imagine of how sometimes western futurologists anticipate events in our part of the world, and how PTV still lacks credibility.

So this Karachiite, like many others, is deeply disappointed these days that there has been no rain so far in the Sindh capital; at a time when there is a genuine need for it.

Karachi’s water situation, (supply and demand context) especially, is one of growing concern, and one dreads to imagine what can happen in the years ahead. In fact, water is a subject of global anxiety and future social unrest (wars perhaps?) is linked to water crises. Water riots in Karachi are not an alien theme anymore.

Anyway, should it rain, or is the city better off without it? Of course Karachiites want rain, generally speaking. There is a romance that goes with it, and to spend a rainy day at the beach is one of the options that citizens delight in. Others talk of the joy of mangoes that gets enhanced, and the pleasures of life that are intensified in “wet weather”. Still others refer to the togetherness that is born when families and friends create festive occasions when it rains. And the more imaginative and ambitious individuals organize parties and assorted get-together even when it drizzled. Still others read and recite poetry.

While a thought goes to the state of the city’s preparedness when it rains (even the smallest measure can send this city into a state of appalling stink and dislocation) nostalgia streams in at the same time, reminding one of the happiness that the monsoons have brought to us all, both individually and collectively. Images of the cheer and relief to say the least of Karachi rain, are abundant even on the streets of a city that is often unprepared for the cloudbursts.

Naughty little boys, in all residential areas come out of their homes, and play and bathe in the rain, reflecting the relief that has come after the heat that May and June had brought. One need not underline or overstate the miseries that water and power shortages had brought, and, in fact, which remains a depressing handicap in this metropolis.

One must mention here, perhaps to reflect the mood of July 2002 some stories that appeared in these pages on Friday, the 26th July. “No disaster preparedness for 200 dangerous buildings;” “sewerage floods Lyari streets”, “Water level in Hub Dam falls sharply” and “drizzle in some areas”. In a cynical sort of way, we could say that things have not changed. Sad.

It would certainly be somewhat naive to say, that by now, for all these years of independence and awareness, we would have solved the problem of dangerous buildings, keeping in mind the fact that we have been able to build palaces and plazas in this very city. For all the money that we have as a city, at least dangerous buildings should have been made safe — somehow. Equally naive would be to have imagined that sewerage water would not flood any streets, at least in July, when any rain could aggravate living conditions for that part of this very city.

Rescuing willing lambs from the altar: LAHORE DIARY

FOUR men were saved from the gallows last week when the heirs of the murdered men agreed to forgo retribution for a consideration of Rs8 million and marriage of eight girls from the condemned men’s relatives to men in the bereaved families. Negotiation for the settlement was facilitated by prominent citizens, including former legislators and ‘religious men.’

Next, the girls were rescued after the chief justice of Pakistan took suo motu notice of the case, seeking a report in three days and the Punjab governor dispatched a police contingent which laid siege of the village, stopped the handing over of the two teenage brides who had already been ‘married’ and ‘persuaded’ the elderly grooms to divorce them. The complainant party later told the district and sessions judge the demand for girls had been withdrawn. They also confirmed that the settlement was intact.

An 18-year-old girl, who had been ‘married’ to a 77-year-old brother of one of the murdered men, denied coercion. She told the SP she had agreed “willingly, to save my father and 400 people of the rival tribes.” She reiterated the statement later in a meeting with the Punjab law minister.

The girls identified in the settlement had included three and five year old children. One of them was ‘spared’ on an additional payment of Rs150,000.

A happy ending? Almost. The hordes of reporters descending on the village unanimously reported an air of relief bordering on joy. Confusion, however, abounds on several issues.

First, was the settlement legal in its original form? The learned CJP and Justice Nasira Javed Iqbal of the Lahore High Court — who said later she was going to take suo motu notice of the case had the Supreme Court not been prompt — clearly believed that it was not. As former interior minister Aitzaz Ahsan pointed out, the consent of the girls had been presumed irrelevant to their marriage. Actually, as the girls confirmed, there was no apparent coercion. The ‘brides’ had both agreed to save their fathers. Of course, this kind of consent is of dubious value at best but than so is the result of the presidential referendum and legitimacy of the government.

Despite Mr Ahsan’s references to several provisions, the police insisted there had been no crime. The Punjab law minister, who personally visited the village, seemed to concur. He said the government was considering legislation to make the custom illegal. But if it was not already illegal, the marriages were valid. The state had no business interfering and the divorces under duress, of course, are invalid. So much for the timely rescue.

Mr Ahsan had called for arrests and prosecution. The question, he said, was whether the government had the nerve to apply the law. The answer seems to be that it does not. Faced with great embarrassment, it moved effectively to limit the damage but was unwilling to go all the way to press the principle.

In fairness to the administration it must be said there were limits to what it could accomplish. If it pressed too hard it would have another crisis at its hands. What if the complainants rejected the modified settlement? Its ability to force them to go along was the key. But does not that make the settlement illegal?

Some rights activists took the occasion to demand repeal of the Qisas and Diyet law. One simply does not see the logic.

There also seems to be no consensus on what was shocking or intolerable about the incident. The inertia of tradition seems to have obscured the point about free will. While she said she was happy, the mother of a rescued ‘bride’ also defended her decision to marry the girl as part of a settlement. Yes, people will agree to almost anything to save lives. With the advantage of a distant view of the bigger picture one can argue and wishes that they should not, but can one judge them? It would be unkind if not unfair.

There were reports that many residents of the village were openly critical of the national press for blowing up the case out of proportion. They particularly resented the local correspondents. Were they not aware, an old man asked, of the cases where people had had to surrender their wives to settle disputes?

And the press? Most newspapers ignored the news until after the Supreme Court had taken notice of it. Even the Dawn correspondent admitted he had not realized it was a big story. To his lasting credit, however, he could see unfairness and reported it.

While Mr Ahsan’s claim that he had been “shocked” was taken largely as exaggeration, he definitely came closest to defining the issue. There is a terrible lack of awareness and activism among citizens and a pathetic unwillingness in the administration to enforce public policy.

The men who ‘married’ the girls eluded newsmen, conceivably to avoid embarrassing questions. Could pursuit of happiness have been one of their motives? If so, it should be respected. Can a more appropriate match be found for them in their own clans? There were, however, some clues. A nephew said the ‘leader’ was a ‘strict man.’ It was also said the demand for girls was meant, at least initially, to be the bargaining cushion.

An aspect that seems to have escaped attention is the cost of litigation. The sessions judge is unlikely to mention it in his report to the Supreme Court. The law minister who was requested by the grateful family during his visit to help renegotiate diyet because the family had become paupers, expressed his inability in this regard. The complainant party, too, claimed to have spent in excess of Rs5 million on the trial which had gone on for 18 years. Finally, can the incident result in social advance? Of course, but there are certainly no short cuts.

SPEAKING at a ceremony, the governor said, he had received many requests for improving educational facilities. The government, he said, was doing this by asking the private sector to join hands with it. He said the schools nationalized in 1972 were being denationalized because parents preferred to send their children to private institutions.

While public and semi-government schools have been made autonomous and privatized the cost to parents, who have never been consulted, has been increasing. Blaming the policy on them, simply added insult to injury.

The governor also praised a private school, saying its students had been consistently doing well in board examinations for several years. This year, they had secured three of the top positions. The implication was: private schools good, public schools bad. On the same occasion, however, he was informed by three position holders their schools did not have a science teacher. He directed the Education Department secretary to immediately provide teachers for the respective schools, missing the obvious correlation which tended to indicate the need to remove science teachers from all schools.

SOME pharmacy students of the Punjab University, the governor stopped to talk to, complained that while the College of Information Technology was getting all the facilities it needed, the university management was neglecting their department.

The governor suggested that it might be for the reason that IT students paid about Rs40,000. The students informed the chancellor that the pharmacy department charged no less than Rs60,000 for its evening programme. The governor promised to look into the matter. —- ONLOOKER