| October 28, 2002 | Monday | Sha’aban 21,1423 |
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What is PTCL up to?
Waqar should quit now
Arrest of Dr Amir Aziz
Hyderabad airport
Who was Mohammad Ali Bogra?
Newscasters’ dress code
An alternative to US universities
Marriage parties on roads
Truth that costs life
Irrelevant issue
Export of fruits
New system for good governance
New ‘..doms’
I fully endorse the views of Zamir Ajmal (Oct 8) and others. There is not an iota of doubt in my mind that MMA’s association with the government will cause widespread destruction and will shatter the fabric of society as no other disruptive force has so far. Given the agenda they have, the effect will be similar to that of a neutron bomb going off suddenly without any prior announcement.
We are all Muslims and know, perhaps, much better than they as to how to organize our lives. It is our life. They should not tamper with it. Already they have said that they will ban co- education. This will cause a loss of titanic proportions. There is co-education in medical and engineering universities and many professional schools and colleges.
Mistaken Islamization met with disastrous consequences in Afghanistan. Successful Afghan women lawyers, doctors, politicians and entrepreneurs in Afghanistan were suddenly denied opportunities to earn their livelihood. They were forced to beg. Needy hands sticking out their houses from behind soiled curtains on their doors begging people to throw a coin in their extended palms was a common sight in Kabul.
In Pakistan many girls and women are not strict conformists. Many of them are fond of wearing jeans. Dozens of fashion shows are held every year in major cities. Musical concerts, there are by the hundreds. There are highly successful women entrepreneur in sizable numbers.
The problem with our religious groups is that they are rigid. I remember vividly how the goondas of one religious party shattered the windowpanes of some of the 5-star hotels where the guests were celebrating the New Year saying that celebrating the New Year was un-Islamic. Next year they began chasing people who were celebrating the New Year in their bungalows.
This kind of uncivilized behaviour repelled people and Pakistan lost a lot of its credibility as a tolerant country. We are essentially a civilized nation, and contrary to what has been made out of us, a moderate people.
Extremism has no place in Pakistan. If one examines 5,000 years of our history, we will find that people were both tolerant and moderate. The kind of religion the Islamic parties propagate brings a bad name both to Pakistan and Islam. No matter how hard they try people will do what they want to do and not what the religious parties want them to do.
A few examples will suffice. Today New Year is celebrated in Karachi with extraordinary vigour. The number of private musical bands has grown. There are several dozen recognized bands in Karachi and hundreds of unrecognized ones.
The only way they can win over people is by creating examples. Persuasion is a better way of winning over people than coercion.
AZMAT ANSARI
Karachi
THE stunning success of religious parties in the general election has caused a kind of apprehension among the liberal and moderate citizens.
But I believe that if all of us, including the women and these leaders themselves, think in a positive manner, we might
be able to bring about a revolutionary change in our soci-ety for the betterment of women.
I think most women will agree that all previous governments, including the one led by a female prime minister, have done absolutely nothing to revive the true status of women. They still remain the worst sufferers.
Our women are kept uneducated and unaware of their true status both as a human being and as a Muslim. In the early days of Islam and the time when “Ghazvas” took place, Muslim women actively took part in these battles. So those who argue that acquiring education and working in offices is “un-Islamic” for women are totally wrong.
I strongly feel that the new government and the religious leaders would change the scenario, so that we can say that there is a government in the country established in the name of Islam, the religion which gives woman the dignity which she deserves as a mother, sister, daughter and wife, which gives her the rights to education and work, the rights to claim inheritance, the rights to marry by her choice and will, and the right to acquire justice against any discrimination.
SAKINA QAMAR
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letters expressing the writers’ disgust over the nomination of Maulana Fazlur Rahman as the MMA candidate for the slot of prime minister.
I feel that the success of the MMA is a good omen to the extent that someone would be there in parliament to voice concern on matters for which people had to come out in the streets to show their feelings.
But I also feel that the MMA leaders are not, by any means, the kind of people who can lead a nation. Yet I am opposed to leaving the country because, in that case, we would be committing the same mistake as was done by the educated and progressive majority of Afghans. That class of people in Afghanistan had left their country, making it possible for the Taliban to rule and administer the country without any resistance and check.
So we must act with sanity and continue to live here. Once we leave it to the mercy of the mullahs, there would be no need for any one even to switch off the lights.
KHAWER RABBANI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a report about shutting down of the voice chat channel, MSN, by the PTCL.
It was interesting to note that on the same day when the state- owned telephone company banned internet telephony websites that provided users with an opportunity to talk to people overseas either free of cost or for nominal charges, the PTCL claimed in a newspaper advertisement that the number of
internet users in the country had increased by nearly 433 per cent per annum and access to the internet has grown by 943 per cent per annum during the last three years.
On the one hand, it is taking credit for the increase in internet accessibility and, on the other hand, it is restricting its use and forcing internet companies to close down their businesses.
What does the company want to achieve by this kind of monopolistic policy? Perhaps the PTCL authorities want to make their financial statements more impressive by depriving the people of the latest technology and also by discouraging the internet business. A similar step was taken by the company earlier this year when it blocked access to a number of internet telephony sites.
On Oct 1, it declared that its revenue had increased by seven per cent. May I ask the PTCL how much of the increased revenue can be attributed to its monopolistic policies and how much of the money was earned by increasing the number of customers and competitive provision of services? The PTCL must be commended for decreasing the rates of international calls but they are still far higher than what costs the users of internet telephony sites.
Is this the only way for the company to raise its revenue? Why does it not cater to the needs of its customers by improving the quality of it services through which it could make more money with fever complaints from it customers? I am still wondering what the PTCL is up to.
RAHIM PANJWANI
Karachi
IT WOULD be in the supreme interest of both Pakistan and Waqar Younus if he bows out with grace and one earnestly wishes that humiliation should not be his fate as has been the destiny of many former celebrities of Pakistani cricket.
Waqar is well past his prime and it is clear that his body parts are lacking unison, synchronization and coordination and, as a result, his wicket-taking deliveries are few and far between.
Evidently the consumption of his shoulder muscles has caused the rounding and lowering of the arm at the time of releasing the ball due to which the end product is deficient in accuracy, sting and penetration.
There is talent aplenty and playing on Waqar as a specialist captain would be rather naive. Mike Brearley, the only philosophical and imaginative captain in history to have played on grounds of captaincy alone carried his weight with a regular contribution of 30 to 40 runs.
Waqar is now rapidly on the decline and one can safely say that should he continue to lead till the World Cup, we may well be in for yet another cricketing disaster.
ASIF SALEEM
Lahore
I THINK Pakistan cricket team should play Bangladesh not because Bangladesh are the worst team, but because both teams are evenly matched as far as performance is concerned. It will do wonders for boosting the morale of Pakistani cricketers if they beat Bangladesh.
ABDUL HADI KHAN
Texas, USA
NEWS of arrest of people by the FBI for links with “terrorist groups” has become almost a common phenomenon.
One charge against Dr Amir Aziz is that he provided formulas of biological and chemical weapons to Osama bin Laden. I wonder whether the US and other Western powers do not possess such a “treasure”. Why do they have such weapons themselves? Have they promised to God that they will never use them against His creation?
Treatment of its half-wrecked enemy makes the US wild; it heads an aggressive campaign to wage war against Iraq; it frowns at North Korea for trying to achieve nuclear power; and gets agitated over Germany’s denial to be a party to its “them vs us” war.
SAMIA KHAN
Faisalabad
HYDERABAD is the fifth largest city of Pakistan and the second largest city of Sindh. It is also an important centre of trade and industry, but its airport has been closed down by the Civil Aviation Authority.
This has created difficulties for those intending to travel to other cities by air. The only option left to them is to go to Karachi by rail or by road and then take a required flight from Quaid-i-Azam International Airport. It is costlier and takes more time.
I request the CAA to open the airport and operate at least two flights a week for Lahore and Islamabad via Multan and Faisalabad. I would appreciate if the CAA clarifies its position.
QAZI NAZIM NAEEM
Hyderabad
THIS refers to Mahmud Ali’s letter, “Who was Mohammad Ali Bogra?” (Oct 23). The writer states that Mohammad Ali Bogra served as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy’s parliamentary secretary when the latter was holding the reins of government in undivided Bengal.
In the interest of accuracy, it may be mentioned that Mohammad Ali Bogra was a minister in the Suhrawardy cabinet and was not his parliamentary secretary. He was the parliamentary secretary earlier to Khwaja Nazimuddin when the latter was the prime minister of undivided Bengal (1943-45) little knowing that he would replace him as prime minister of Pakistan eight years later.
R. R. ALVI
Lahore
MR Amir Ikram’s letter, “Newscasters’ dress code” (Oct 22), makes me recall what Mahathir Mohammad, the prime minister of Malaysia, had once said. He was quoted as saying that “Muslims are so preoccupied by the way their women should dress that they tend to forget what the real issues are.”
Although I am not a scholar, I know that Islam teaches us to dress modestly. A woman can be dressed modestly in Western clothes as well. The Roman Catholic nuns are an example. Why on earth are we so narrow-minded that we tend to forget what Islam says about education, good manners, rule of law, equality of sexes and, most importantly, about philanthropy?
People talk about Islamic Pakistan but I feel that it would only be a distortion of the religion if the real Islamic spirit is lacking.
AMIN SANDEELO
Detroit, USA
This is with reference to the problems being faced by Pakistani students in acquiring US visa for studies in American universities and institutions.
I would like to suggest as an alternative a university at Dahran, Saudi Arabia, which is specially good for engineering and business administration students. The university is known as the KFUPM. I have myself graduated in engineering from that institution.
The university requires TOEFL/GRE/GMAT scores and transcripts of BS/BE engineering. Only Masters-level education is offered and only male students are admitted.
The university offers an excellent environment for study with state-of-the-art computer labs, class rooms, faculty and related facilities. The library and computer centre are one of the best in the Middle East. The university has excellent sports facilities.
On top of all this, education is free and all successful candidates receive a monthly stipend equal to around $250.
Free furnished housing is available to all in addition to subsidized food in the cafeteria, free books and medical care.
Further information is available at www.kfupm.edu.sa.
ASAF MARUF
Karachi
I HAVE been living in Firdaus Colony, Nazimabad, for ten years. Never before did I see in this area marriage ceremonies being held under shamianas erected on the roads.
The venues for such ceremonies here were, as in the rest of Karachi, the marriage halls or the lawns specified for this purpose. Of late, however, I have found such parties being held on the roads.
Wedding and other related ceremonies on roads cause a great inconvenience.
The traffic is blocked for hours and people have to take longer routes to reach their destinations. And then the loud music that has become part and parcel of these functions disturbs the calm and tranquillity of the area. Hundreds of electric bulbs are kept alight throughout the night, of course, through a ‘kunda’ connection.
I hope that the concerned authorities would take notice of this nuisance and would confine such parties to the places meant for this purpose.
SYED BILAL HAQQI
Karachi
This is with reference to Mr Aziz Malik’s write-up, “Truth that costs life” (Oct 23). The article reflects the bitter realities of our society where the poor are very helpless.
We, specially the so-called educated people, are more coward and have no compassion for the poor. Our weakness, as a nation, is that we have not been able to establish writ of the law. We have allowed for out benefit the existence of two laws: one for the poor and another for the rich.
J. N. RAHI
Petaro
Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s interview was telecast on a private TV channel on Friday. He forcefully declare that replacing Sunday with Friday as the weekly holiday was at the top of his agenda.
I wonder what the issue of weekly holiday has got to do anything with Islamization and religion. Sunday is a holiday because most of the world observes it. We save billions of rupees with Sunday as holiday.
Most importantly, there is mention of a public holiday in Islam. The clergy are quick to call for banning interest and imposing hijab as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an but there is no mention of Friday as holiday. In fact, the Muslims have been told to disperse after the prayers and go back to their work. It is time politicians stopped making irrelevant issues matters of great importance.
OSAMA LONE
Lahore
Speakers at the inaugural session of a ‘fruits and vegetable show’ in Quetta (Oct 23) stressed the need for exporting fruits and related products from Balochistan. This is certainly a positive thinking.
But before we begin exporting any commodity, we must develop an active and effective grading, marking and labelling system. Without such a system in place, we have no right even to dream of it.
MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Karachi
GOOD governance is not so much a function of any particular political system — though, indeed, political systems do have a facilitating role — as it is of the rulers possessing the will and courage to do what is just and right. This condition can hardly be wished for with 50 per cent illiterate and gullible electorate, electing self-seeking and thus myopic representatives.
Elections ‘2002’ seem yet again to give a fillip to this unpromising scenario. In fact, things look far worse because the political arrangements now being crafted so eagerly to get hold of the reins of power cannot but be reached without compromising principles and values which give real meaning to building a healthy vibrant society.
Experience has repeatedly shown the unsuitability for us of the British brand of democracy, so unique to the British. This is largely so because it calls for sustained and committed discipline to promote tolerance, maturity and responsibility. We are, of course, yet quite removed from such a format.
This state of affairs would thus readily suggest the search for a less dissonant system in terms of our history, culture and collective personality. Some Muslim scholars who have studied modern government in our societal context prefer to go for a presidential system, with features somewhat akin to the US model. Of course people with the parliamentary persuasion can say that if it is working across our border why cannot it work here? The answer to that is very simple; our situation, culture and mindset are very different.
We have hardly any time left to waste. The product of elections ‘2002’ is at best uninspiring. Therefore the only sound thing to do for legal authority is to establish, as soon as possible, a constitution commission charged with the responsibility of developing a ‘fundamental change strategy’ which would lead good governance. This would need defining the end-state we desire in some 30 years, our present state and the gaps in between and to make recommendations in terms of sub- strategies and goals to accomplish the desired state at a pace we can digest.
M. J. AS’AD
Karachi
THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Kingdom of Jordan. Bushdom of Afghanistan. Mushdom of Pakistan. And now Mullahdom of Pakistan?
S. KHALID HUSSAIN
Karachi
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