| September 22, 2002 | Sunday | Rajab 14, 1423 |
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A hung parliament again?
India adamant 50 years on
Best use of money
Security for President
Reducing load on children
Donald’s ranking
Checking pollution
PTCL curb on Internet telephony
‘About warped attitudes’
Private TV channels
Scheduling examinations and results
MIAN ABDUL WASAY
WHILE Brig (r) A. R. Siddiqui’s observation (Aug 30) that “Mr Jinnah chose to exercise his viceregal position vis-a-vis his prime minister” shows, if I may say so, an unnecessary bias against Mr Jinnah. Prof. Anwar Syed’s comment (Sept 15) that “upon independence, the Government of India Act-1935 became the Constitution of Pakistan and Mr Jinnah did no more than exercise the authority and power the Constitution had given him, though being a correct statement of fact” does not encompass all the relevant facts and could be expanded a little for the presentation of a complete picture of the actual position.
The 1935 Act was a constitutional document prepared of a colony and not as the Constitution for an independent state. It naturally had to be adapted to reflect this change of status in 1947. The change took two different forms in the two dominions.
India followed the practice of the other Commonwealth countries, according to which the Governor General had to act under the advice of his prime minister and was a constitutional and ceremonial head of state like the monarch in the UK.
The position obtaining in Pakistan was entirely different. As explained at length in my paper Quaid-i-Azam as Governor General, Pakistan needed three positions to be ‘filled’ and there was only one person who could do so.
In India, on the other hand, these roles where performed by three separate eminent personalities. Gandhi was the main architect of India’s freedom and was looked upon as ‘Bapu’ by his people. Mountbatten was the head and, therefore, symbol of the state; and Nehru was the head of government and the chief executive.
Mr Jinnah was the founder of Pakistan and the ‘Baba-i-Qaum’. Nobody could symbolize the state he founded and be its head. And he was the only one who had the sagacity, ability and experience to guide the cause of the government as was required in its critical initial period. If Mr Jinnah had not filled all the three positions, possibly Pakistan would have been the loser.
Everything cannot be anticipated and spelt out in writing in an evolutionary constitutional process and a personal reserve can be sometimes seen as a manifestation of ‘viceregality’.
S. IRTIZA HUSSAIN
Karachi
ONE would have expected the parties to gear up and at least find an effective alternative leadership in view of General Musharraf’s determination to keep the old leadership out. But it was not to be. Almost all political parties went through sham party elections and appointed nightwatchmen as their leaders while power remained where it always lay.
In consequence, the disqualification of the hereditary leadership of the major parties has left them in disarray while the new parties, too, are hamstrung by being tied to the coattails of individuals.
In so far as the general public is concerned, they have shown little interest in the elections and given the restriction of proving identity by national identity card, the vote turnout will be small.
In any case, most people have lost hope in the political process to solve their problems, even with graduates sitting in the assembly. Accordingly, political campaigning is lacklustre and very little is being done by the political workers besides disfiguring the walls in the cities with political graffiti.
What then will be the make up of the future National Assembly? Almost certainly it will be a hung parliament with the Majlis-i-Amal, because of the new-found unity among its ranks, possibly securing more seats than ever before.
If they, by any chance, become a balancing factor and hence power-brokers, the General may have to nudge the National Security Council to use the axe much earlier than anticipated.
This may satisfy the Americans but the problems that the people face will remain unsolved and yet another merry-go-round of dismissals of assemblies and elections will begin. The only solution to the problems we face is to re-establish institutions but in the present scenario it seems unlikely.
M. SHAIQ USMANI
Karachi
THIS refers to the ‘Dawn 50 years ago today’ (Sept 13) which carried a piece dated Sept 13, 1952 under the heading ‘Kashmir talks fail’ which reads: “Bharat has done it again. Fresh instructions sent by the Government of Bharat to its delegation attending the Kashmir talks in Geneva have ruined whatever chances that might have existed at the end of last week for an early settlement of the deadlock over Kashmir.”
The report further says: “On September 11 morning more meetings between the UN Representative, Dr Graham, and the representatives of Pakistan and Bharat took place, but all in vain.” It concludes: “Because of the Bharati attitude, the conference ended in a deadlock.”
If we analyze Indian attitude on Kashmir issue today, it has not changed even after 50 years. The government of India has still not accepted the basic issue of people who are fighting for their rights in the occupied Kashmir for the last five decades.
Since 1948, India has fought several wars with Pakistan on Kashmir issue. And even today, Indian forces are standing at Pakistani borders to influence Pakistan not to raise its voice on the Kashmir issue.
Indian government should realize the fact that one day, even after hundred years, India will have to return the basic rights to the Kashmiri people and till then the war between the ‘right and wrong’ will continue.
India and Kashmir cannot go together. It must let the Kashmiri people decide their own fate as they have already made it clear that they are determined to get rid of her rule.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
PRESIDENT Bush’s chief economic adviser estimates that up to US$200 billion may have to be spent on waging a war against Iraq. It seems that US is war-hungry and loves aggression at any cost.
I do not see any forum, inside or outside the US, which could persuade that country to make a better use of this US$200 billion. This huge amount would be enough to eliminate illiteracy from many African countries, alleviate poverty in a large number of Asian countries, eradicate some deadly diseases or bring peace and rebuild the war-afflicted countries in the world.
KHALID MUSTAFA
Islamabad
FOR two days, those working in offices along Shara-i-Faisal were not allowed to park their cars, even on the service lanes, in spite of having paid the parking fee. Reason was the President’s visit to the city. When they tried to park the vehicles in the backstreets, they were all already occupied.
For thousands of Karachiites, the General’s visit was nothing less than a pain in the neck. After going through such a hassle, we certainly didn’t feel like praying for his long life or long reign. We request him not to bless Karachi with his presence as it weighs very heavy upon us working in offices in that area.
We know there is a threat to his life and he has to keep looking over his shoulder but we, the ordinary people, have nothing to do with the situation he finds himself in and should not be put to discomfort for it.
ASLAM MINHAS
Karachi
THE Ideas-2002 defence exhibition, inaugurated by the President, is being held in Karachi under extraordinary security. Surveillance cameras have been installed in the city and hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed. For the citizens, according to Dawn (Sept 17), “life in almost half the city remained disturbed on Monday as shopkeepers were forced to shut their businesses and traffic was diverted to alternative routes from Shara-i-Faisal and Gulshan-i-Iqbal on the eve of a five-day defence exhibition.”
In addition to this, the same brilliant security specialists who have set up permanent check-points on Shara-i-Faisal, have also caused its service lane to be declared a no-parking area. The side roads were also closed and the shops were forcibly shut down.
However, the security measures are still not sufficient and more needs to be done. I think the government should consider imposing a curfew during the entire duration of any VVIP visit.
ZAHID F. EBRAHIM
Karachi
THE exhibition Ideas-2002 at Expo Centre has caused great inconvenience to Karachiites in the name of security. All the roads leading to the Centre have been blocked by the police and law enforcement agencies.
We wonder if the exhibition is meant for deprive Karachiites from using their convenient routes to and from their homes and offices.
GAFOOR PANHWAR
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letter by Prof A. H. Subhani, ‘Overload on children’ (Sept 11). I fully agree with the concern shown by the writer over the students’ ordeal
Particularly youngsters are forced to carry a heavy load of books in their satchels. This load can be considerably reduced if textbooks are reprinted in a given manner.
Each book should be divided into various chapters which should be printed serially as the whole book is not consulted during the class. Maybe a chapter or two of any subject are taught according to the syllabus.
So the students need to carry to the school only those portions of the book which are needed that day.
GULZAR WAZIR
Peshawar
THE report on the match between South Africa and the West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy appeared in the sports pages on Sept 5. As a cricket-lover, I found a statistical error in the last paragraph of the report, which said: “Donald marked the match, his 148th, by taking his 250th one-day international wicket when he dismissed Wavell Hinds. Donald is the ninth player and the first South African to reach the milestone.”
In fact, Donald is the 10th. Before him, there are three Pakistanis — Wasim Akram with 477 in 343 matches, Waqar Younis 393 in 247 one-dayers and Saqlain Mushtaq 271 in 155 one-dayers.
Three Indians — Anil Kumble 296 in 230 matches, Srinath 276 in 204 ODIs and Kapil Dev (253 in 225) — are also in the list. Two Australian bowlers — Shane Warne 285 in 187 ODIs and Glenn McGrath 257 in 167 matches — and the Sri Lankan, Mutaiah Muralitharan, with 290 wickets in 196 one-day internationals, had or have reached that mark in their careers.
I think this error crept into the report due to the omission of Glenn McGrath who just reached that milestone in the final against Pakistan in the triangular series in Nairobi a few days back.
SHEIKH ABID RASHID
Lahore
IT is heartening to read that the provincial Ombudsman has ordered the shifting of jewellery workshops from Saddar.
Environmental pollution is at a lowest priority in our society. The smoke and the chemicals released from casting and polishing of gold causes asthma, emphysema and other lung diseases apart from lung cancer. It also causes eye watering, throat irritation and vestibulococliar damage to ear.
I would impress upon the Karachi Building Control Authority and other law-enforcing agencies to immediately implement the decision of the Ombudsman and order for shifting these workshops and make the historical Saddar a place for tourists’ attraction.
Karachi
THE Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL), after a break of two years, has again taken up the matter of blocking the Internet telephony.
Reportedly, the reason put forward for the consumption of the PTA is that a considerable portion of revenue which was obtained through long-distance overseas calls, particularly to the United States, had been shrinking (Sept 16).
I am afraid the reason advanced is not maintainable in view of the following facts:
The PTCL earned Rs18 billion net profit during the financial year 2000-2001 with a record revenue of Rs62.04 billion out of which a sum of Rs18.958 billion was generated through international calls alone.
The PTCL is one of the major profit-making firms. It is not short of resources.
Its bosses argue that during 1998 the outgoing calls to the US alone were 16 million minutes. Last year, the outgoing calls dropped to 11 million minutes largely on account of widespread use of Internet telephony. The difference is marginal which, in terms of revenue, would be around Rs255 million — peanuts in relation to the net profit earned by the PTCL.
Moreover, the facility of Internet telephony is mainly used by the professionals of Pakistani origin who have been helping Pakistan build up foreign exchange reserves. The PTCL should have some consideration for them.
I support the views of the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan that voice-over Internet protocol is data transfer and not basic telephony and, therefore, it does not offer the same quality of telephone service as offered by the latter.
I suggest that the PTCL must concentrate on development of telecommunication services using state-of-the-art technologies for enhancing its revenue potential. At the same time it should plug the holes in its purchase department that results in losses of millions of rupees.
LT-COL (R) SYED AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to the report headlined, ‘About warped attitudes and the president’s show’ (Sept 16). It seems that the writer, a seasoned journalist, is totally out of the loop himself — being unaware of the Pakistan Information Minister’s engagement in New York, which were known to all.
The minister was not only an official member of the delegation, but soon after arrival in New York, spent a busy day giving background briefings to television networks and the print media, including the CBS, ABC, WSJ and NYT. He also met about 25 important members of the media at the United Nations luncheon and briefed them on the Pakistan government’s policies. The minister also gave interviews to the BBC and CNN Asia Edition.
Later, the minister visited UNCA Club on the invitation of its president and briefed journalists on his country’s policies. He explained at length the isolated incident involving a journalist of Faisalabad, while also reminding the press of their responsibility towards society in general.
The minister also briefed the local ethnic media present at a function in a hotel in New York the same evening on the democratic process and constitutional amendments. The large crowd of 250 people applauded him.
He drove out of New York City to visit the family of a teenager who was a victim of hate crime and voiced his sympathy with the family.
He met members of the Christian community in an exclusive two-hour meeting at the mission, took note of their concern and assured them that the government will look into their grievance.
After the Bush-Musharraf meeting, it is usually the ambassador who does the briefing.
In this case, too, the practice was no different. It was the ambassador to the UN, Mr Munir Akram, who briefed the press on the Bush-Musharraf meeting.
The information minister was available round the clock in the same hotel to answer any query. He individually briefed members of the media, including your reporter, on various activities of the President.
MRS RIZWAN KHAN
Counsel (Press), Pakistan Mission to the UN
New York, USA
SOME new private TV channels have started working in Pakistan and it is good that now people can have some bold and neutral views on current affairs through theses channels.
Besides the talk shows, they have also developed very good news networks which provide the latest news and that, too, without the official angle.
However, a lot of improvement is required as far as entertainment programmes of these channels are concerned.
SYEDA AFSHEEN
Karachi
THOUGH the standard of education imparted in our educational institutions is often discussed and criticized in newspaper articles, the long periods of lag between the holding of an examination and the declaration of its results is hardly ever mentioned. The fact is that due to non-adherence to a strict schedule in this respect, one full academic year is often lost.
For instance, the intermediate examinations are held in March or April (with no fixed dates) and the results are declared in September or even later with each group — medical, engineering or commerce — announcing the results on different dates. I was astonished to know that the medical college entrance examinations in Punjab will be held in December and when the results will be declared is anybody’s guess. This simply means a waste of one full academic year of a student.
Probably, we aren’t ready to believe that there are places where things are a lot better. We don’t have to go too far to see how efficiently the system has been working in other countries. I did my intermediate and then Medicine from India 12 years ago. An efficient system had been in place there even then.
In Delhi, the matric and intermediate exams are held in the first week of March and the results for intermediate are declared in the first week of May. Similarly, matric exams are held in the first week of June, come what may. Moreover, the results of whole intermediate (all groups) are announced on the same date and the front pages of newspapers contain material focusing on the results.
Then the entrance exams are scheduled for various professional colleges at fixed dates for each institution during May and June and the results are declared by the first week of July.
Believe it or not, the sessions in all professional colleges start by the first week of September at the latest.
This all happens despite the fact that the number of students appearing in various examinations in our neighbouring country is several times higher than that of our own. Will our reformist politicians and policy makers take note of this flaw in our examination system?
DR ILMANA FASIH
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
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