| September 9, 2002 | Monday | Rajab 1, 1423 |
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Investment amid violence
Revising foreign policy
Scrapping KCR project
Rehabilitation of Afghan refugees
Cut in NSS profit rate
Election by ordinance
What’s in a name?
Organ donation
Dawn, 50 years ago today
Convicted criminal
Farooq Leghari’s response
Doctors and tuberculosis treatment
Wind energy
News at ten
THIS refers to a letter by Mr Osama Lone on Benazir’s interview with a TV channel. Ms Benazir Bhutto talked reasonably only when she was out of power or in trouble.
She was at her vicious best when in power. It is common knowledge that leaders in this region are idealists to an audience and media but tyrants in their villages.
When she was in Washington, she was talking to an audience of powers that be there. She wanted their support to make her way to Islamabad. She talks so loftily of ‘democracy’ and what not of the utopian theories in political science. What a pity! She never practised those dicta when in power; on the other hand she encouraged the ISI to prop up Taliban. She became a paragon now and talks as if the US and herself promoted the cause of Afghans. All sounds hypocritical.
Coming to Nawaz. He was no less; got mandate to improve relations with India and to be a better alternative to Benazir but ended up as another tyrant trampling over all democratic institutions of presidency, judiciary etc. in his way to a total and dictatorial control of Pakistan.
In fact these leaders are democratic only to an audience when they were out of power. These two individuals can save Pakistan by keeping out of it.
VIJAY VEERA
Kolkata, India
I SAW in the newspapers an amusing picture of five stalwarts of religious parties — Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Sajid Naqvi, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Shah Ahmed Noorani and Hafiz Idrees.
With their hands raised up, they wanted to show that they were united.
The photograph was taken at the conclusion of their train march at Lahore (Aug 29). The gesture of raised hands is typical of American politicians. They do so at the conclusion of a national convention such as the one for the nomination of a presidential candidate. What a paradox! Our religious parties’ leaders never tire of condemning all things of American style. Yet in their own political bravado, they have absolutely no qualms in copying that style.
But the skeptics would hardly be convinced of their unity. As a test of this, they would call for a practical proof. Will the group of five offer namaz led by any one of them in turn next Friday? Let the Maulanas Fazalur Rehman, Sajid Naqvi, Qazi Husain Ahmed, Shah Ahmed Noorani and Hafiz Idrees lead the prayers by turn respectively for Fajr, Juma’a, Asr, Maghrib and Ishaa prayers on that day, while the remaining four file behind the Imam in each of the five prayers.
The press should arrange taking photographs showing them together as Imams and Muqtadee (followers).
There can be another practical test of their unity. All of them and their parties claim to strive for the glory of Islam. Islam recognizes one God, one Holy Book, one Holy Prophet (PBUH) and One Umma — but no factions or parties.
Would they merge their respective parties into one led by one of them as Imam? If not, where is their unity?
ENGR. B.A. MALIK
Lahore
This refers to Mr Irfan Hussain’s article ‘Sticking to plan A’ (Aug 31). It says: “How many would invest a single dollar in a country where church-goers are regular targets.”
Indeed, Mr Hussain is right that foreign investment will pour in when the law and order situation of a country is sound.
In Pakistan (particularly in Karachi and sometimes in Lahore), hundreds of mosque-goers have been sprayed with bullets, people are kidnapped and killed and people or young people standing outside their houses are shot dead by unknown armed men.
However, shoes pinch Mr Irfan on the so-called sufferings of the dogs and other animal, but he never bothered to write any column on the sufferers of the city where he lives in.
Keeping the above facts in view, Mr Hussain is biased in highlighting only one community’s minor problem as compared to others’ that have plagued th entire country.
It has become order of the day that for years, an average of 27 vehicles are hijacked on gunpoint or stolen and even the owners are sometimes shot dead in Karachi.
Mr Ayaz Amir wrote a big column about the extra-judicial killing committed by the police in a village near Islamabad, but I have not seen a column by Mr Hussain about the injustices and atrocities in Karachi and against its people.
I think that he is sending the message to the world that only Christians are suffering in Pakistan.
SYED S. HASHMI
Tanajib, Saudi Arabia
PAKISTAN was never meant to be a piece of land for the Muslims of the subcontinent. It claimed to be the only recognized ideological state in the world.
It was meant to be the fortress of Islam. Now the very meaning of Pakistan has been changed and the so-called champions of patriotism are putting in their best effort to prove Pakistan as another Turkey-type country and thus nullifying its very basis.
History will never forgive us for the role we have played in Afghanistan crisis. Thousands of Muslims are being killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan is forced to keep a large number of its troops on the Afghan border.
Our leaders talk about the respect Pakistanis got outside their country. But the hard fact is that it is almost impossible for them to get visas for the developed countries which regard them terrorists.
This treatment is being meted out to those who are a strong ally in the war against terrorism!
FAISAL RAFIQUE MIRZA
Lahore
AS a Karachiite, I feel sad that once again the powerful transport mafia has managed to get the Karachi Circular Railway project shelved or, perhaps, eliminated.
The taxpayers’ money that went into the making of reports and studies, the preparation of its master plan and its multifaceted revisions has been wasted.
Internationally, very few parties would now be interested in taking up this task, with the entry of a new element, the Magno Train, beside the already existing poor economic and law and order situation.
To my knowledge, the KCR would have generated more job opportunities, as was evident from the revised master plan. It remains to be seen what Magno Train might achieve.
The Swiss are definitely highly knowledgeable as far as running of railways and magnetic rails are concerned. Only a few countries in the world are running this type of hi-tech railway system.
The propounders and backers of this system claim to get the initial phase operational within 18 months on BOT basis. They also claim that it can be extended to other parts of the country as well and even to the Central Asian states.
Let us not forget that this city is yet to see the modern large buses which were to be introduced.
However, till then we shall have to be contented with the present multi-coloured, dilapidated, smoke-emitting vehicles that we call, coaches and buses.
WEQUAR ALI KHAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item under the heading, ”Afghans being smuggled back into Pakistan” (Aug 29). It says that those Afghan refugees who had gone back to Afghanistan for rehabilitation are now trying to come back to Pakistan through mountain routes.
This should not be surprising because though the Afghan refugees are going back home with great expectations, but when they arrive in Afghanistan, they come across serious problems like those of housing, unemployment and education. In their disappointment, they try to cross back to Pakistan.
A concerted effort should, therefore, be made for the settlement of refugees in Afghanistan with the cooperation of international organizations. Such organizations are already trying to rehabilitate the refugees and are also helping Afghanistan in the construction of basic infrastructure. But the effort should be intensified. Local NGOs can also play an important role in this regard.
AZHAR IQBAL
Islamabad
I AM a great admirer of President Musharraf who has changed the image of the country so that Pakistan which once was the second most corrupt country in the world, has now come down to the 24th place of the Transparency International’s list. However, I fail to understand his policy with regard to the profit granted to pensioners on their investment in the National Savings Schemes (NSS).
These elderly people had invested their hard-earned gratuity and provident fund in government’s Savings Certificates and are now in a great agony. The rate of return on SSC (Special Saving Certificate) being down from 16 per cent to 9 per cent, means a disaster to them as their income has come down to almost half of what it used to be while the prices of essential commodities have been rising constantly.
I would suggest that a 14 per cent tax-free rate of return may be allowed on SSC exclusively for the retired/old people.
The finance minister, Mr Shaukat Aziz, has been merely making promises for doing something for the senior citizens but I do not think he really intends to do anything.
I, therefore, appeal to the President to look into the matter personally and do something.
BURHANUDDIN FAROOQUI
Karachi
The government machinery is openly working for the ‘blessed’ political party in the whole of the country.
The candidates of other parties, especially of PML(N) and PPP, are being compelled to join it and that is how many leading candidates have recently changed their party affiliations.
If the government intends to have members of its own choice for the assemblies, then what is the necessity of an election drama?
We have already drowned in a sea of external and internal debts. So, instead of having an expensive election show, let us have an ordinance issued, carrying the names of those elected or selected for the parliament and the provincial assemblies.
MAHMOODUR REHMAN KHAN
Jhang
In Germany, a Turk wanted to name his son Osama bin Laden but was disallowed to do so.
Apparently, giving Hitler’s name is also disallowed. Gengis Khan killed many in cold blood, but his name is very popular in Mongolia. It is all in the eye (in this case the mind) of the beholder.
A colleague of mine, in the anatomy department of the University of Singapore, had the name of Ramsbottom.
A famous gynaecologist in England carried the name of Dr Ovary and a general practitioner was called Dr Coffin.
Neither names had any affect on their medical practice.
But English are very sensible in this respect. They call themselves fox or wolf, black or white, without any qualms.
After all, name is for identification. Why should it indicate religion or nationality?
Cardinal Sin was the head of Roman Catholic church in the Philippines for many years. He did not feel the need to change his name and kept on fighting sin in his country, which is in plenty.
An Indian newspaper reported recently that an Indian has named his dog Bush, because Bush had named his cat India.
Why did Bush give this name to his cat one does not know. But Bush does create his own terminology, he calls citizens of Greece Grecians!
VIQAR ZAMAN
Karachi
A LOT of people die in our country for want of a donated heart, lung, liver or kidney. A lot more remain blind throughout their lives, unable to see God’s beautiful world for the same reason.
Very few people in Pakistan leave a will to donate their organs. I am sure that a large number of people would do so if awareness is created and arrangements are also made to facilitate such donations.
I am interested in donating my organs after my death but I do not know how to go about it. I am quiet clear about the status of organ donation in Islam and I believe that it is a precious gift from one person to another which may often save lives. And I am sure that such an act on the part of any one would earn the pleasure of Allah.
However, many people like me do not possess the relevant information about organ donation. I feel that donation cards or forms should be available with all the doctors and chemists, with leaflets giving information about organ donation by both, men and women.
ALMAS
Karachi
I ALWAYS enjoy reading ‘Dawn, 50 years ago today’ which is no doubt highly informative and interesting for all the readers.
However, it embarrasses me when a sizable portion of the paper is wasted uselessly by saying ‘there was no issue of Dawn on this date because of ..... (this and that reason)’ and that, too, in a big box instead of a line or headline.
If there was no issue on that date, the space can be devoted to some other informative item e.g. introduction to popular books or movies, sayings of statesmen/intellectuals or even some of the shortlisted letters to the editor.
SANAM NOOR PECHUHO
Karachi
MAJOR General Rashid Qureshi has said in an interview with the Voice of Germany reported by the media on Sept 4, that “both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir are convicted criminals so the government will not go for any deal with them.... ”
May I ask the General Saheb to clarify that when Nawaz Sharif was already a ‘convicted criminal’, why his government made a deal with him allowing him to go outside the country safely?
KHAN BABA
Quetta
THIS is with reference to Brig (r) Muhammad Yusuf’s letter in defence of Farooq Leghari (Sept 2) in response to Ardeshir Cowasjee’s claim that the former had his share in the Rs14 million illegally acquired or used in the Younis Habib scam.
I am surprised that Mr Leghari himself does not repudiate the accusation. If there is nothing to prick his conscience, then he should come out with facts and figures as to who grabbed how much of the amount.
Mr Leghari never enjoyed the reputation of being absolutely clean. He had taken an official plane to the US, only to attend the graduation ceremony of his son. The land scam which surfaced during his presidency cast doubts on his integrity. And when people clamoured for accountability before the election in 1997, he struck a deal with Nawaz Sharif.
SAFIR A SIDDIQUI
Karachi
PLEASE refer to the letter on doctors and tuberculosis (Aug 27) by Mr Raza. The writer has raised an important issue regarding the poor management of TB patients by the doctors in Pakistan.
TB is a major health problem and it is expected of all medical graduates to be competent enough to deal with it, after finishing the five years training in their medical colleges. However, due to several factors, doctors graduating from the medical colleges in Pakistan are ill-equipped to tackle this biggest infectious killer in the world.
Most medical colleges in the country lack a structured curriculum on TB. The issue of TB and training of students in medical schools was discussed two years ago at a WHO meeting. I submitted the recommendations to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), as well as to all the principals of medical colleges in Pakistan. I received replies only from two medical colleges that seemed interested in bringing about changes in their existing curriculum on this subject. Many teaching hospitals in the country do not have separate units dealing with “respiratory diseases”.
Many doctors may be able to get their MBBS degrees without ever having seen a single TB patient during their training, as rotation through the chest ward is not compulsory. Most of the lectures and tutorials on TB are delivered by teachers who are not experts in this field. In other countries, chest physicians, who have adequate experience of dealing with this disease, are given the responsibility of teaching students the diagnosis and management of TB. In Pakistan, however, teachers who are often general physicians teach TB in the medical colleges.
Pakistan Chest Society recently conducted a study in order to check the knowledge of fresh medical graduates on TB. It was indeed shocking to discover that only 5 percent of the graduates were able to write the correct prescriptions for a TB patient.
To improve the present situation, the PMDC and the National TB Control Programme should work towards a new curriculum on TB in the medical schools in line with the WHO recommendations. We urgently need to improve the standard of our medical graduates if we really want to control TB in Pakistan.
JAVAID A. KHAN
Karachi
The renewable energy sources e.g. water, wind, sun, geothermal and bio-mass collectively, represent 20 per cent of the total global market and are rising steadily responding to the fast-growing use of energy throughout the world.
Since it is becoming impossible to supply electric power uninterruptedly to cater the ever-growing requirements in Asia without exploiting the sources of renewable energy, countries like Pakistan —having a high growth of population —must pay serious attention to secure energy from other sources.
If adequate measures are taken, the government could stipulate a percentage of wind energy on every utility and larger industrial consumers (like export processing zones) for future coverage and the competitive contributions, respectively.
The legislators throughout the Europe, the USA and North Africa are already giving high priority to promote alternative global power supply concepts. Many of them stipulate that renewable energy source must represent at least 25 to 30 per cent and promote their use by offering banks fundings on economically lucrative re-payments/ re-imbursements with 5—10 years or more, depending on local energy supply prices per hour consumption, to reduce targeted load reduction at the national power supply grids.
The growth rate of 40 per cent in wind energy installations globally in the last few years, specially including the countries like Germany, the USA, Spain, Holland and majority of the Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Sweden—-believed to be champions of wind energy facility—speaks volumes for its viability.
The various prominent laboratories of material sciences in Scandinavia and the Europe are busy experimenting and developing wind turbines up to 5MWs capacity and have already been producing machines up to 2.5mws in Denmark and Sweden under highly trained experts.
In Spain, the Renewable Energy Institute is busy developing tunnels for wind pressure gauging wind speed for turbines during static periods.
The ISET in Germany is another institution with reference to solar innovations combining the same with wind electric generation. The WIP in Munich, (Germany) organised a wind energy conference and exhibition in July 2001 at the famous Bella Centre, Copenhagen.
In the United States, power engineer Alfred L.Weisbrich at Eneco, Texas, is designing wind turbines in collaboration with its east Europe counterpart. They are also busy with WARP: an electrifying sea-based “air” power system.
Americans are very much cautious about attractive cost and tailoring a size of unit to meet specific power needs for suitable wind conditions. This is how the world is moving towards a friendly, environmentally clean power as an attractive pay-back potential exists in wind energy systems.
An exciting fresh breeze—whether off-shore or land-based— is also blowing round Pakistan, heralding greater successes in the field of industry.
Saleem Baig
Karachi
THIS is about the poor reporting on PTV’s ‘News at Ten’. On Sept 1, it was reported that Michael Shumacer of the team ‘Ferrari of Formula One’ had qualified at pole position.
There is no doubt the information was correct but this had happened on Saturday. When the ‘News at Ten’ was reporting this on Sunday, the race had already been won by Ferrari.
What I am trying to say is that in this age of instantaneous information, all news should be up to date and fresh, otherwise the reputation of the news channel would suffer greatly.
SALMAN AFAQ
Muzaffargarh
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