The ball is still in your court, General sb?

The choice certainly is that of General Pervez Musharraf’s. If he is prepared to return to the barracks with honour and dignity he will find the entire House-elect ready to facilitate the passage back. But if he insists on continuity of his person and his cabinet then, perhaps, things are likely to get out of his control soon. Already informed diplomats in Islamabad have started dropping hints of Benazir’s return and Amin Fahim’s election to the PM’s office. “What do you think of Amin Fahim? Doesn’t he appear more credible than Maulana Fazal and Jamali?”, they ask and after a pause add “what would happen if Benazir Bhutto returned say, tomorrow?” The questions give you the answers.

The General, however, does not seem to be relenting. But General sb., how can you rebuild in one week what took you the whole three years to demolish piece by piece to smithereens? So, with only three days to go before we come to the end of the one-week long grace period obtained by General Musharraf, he seems still nowhere near putting together a government of his liking which he could also sell to the US as well as to the people of Pakistan. The day when the PPP and the MMA announced that they have decided on the names of their coalition prime minister and the speaker and a formal announcement to the effect would be made within 24 hours, the PML-Q senior vice-president Kabir Ali Wasti was publicly heard hoping for a miracle to happen to save the situation for his Party, because by that time it had also become apparent to Musharraf that even an amendment to the defection law would not do the needful. In fact there were chances that if he actually amended the law, at least about 20 PML-Q members who were forced into the Party before the elections by the Punjab administration would simply walk back to their parent party and enable the PPP and the MMA to form a viable government at the centre.

The miracle Wasti was hoping for came the next day in the shape of postponement of the inevitable by a week. And now what? Is Musharraf preparing to spring another miracle? And what would that be? Some say he would make the next miracle happen by appealing to the MNAs-elect to be dictated by their conscience rather than their respective party lines while voting for the PM. But this gimmick, too, has the potential to boomerang on the military regime.

Musharraf must be cursing himself for not heeding the advice of saner elements early during his regime to quickly revive the suspended assemblies and the Constitution, disqualify all his perceived enemies and hold by-elections on their seats. This revived parliament would have given him a prime minister of his choice because there were only 17 PPP members in it and the presence of the religious elements in that House was next to nothing. And he could have got his own Senate when the elections for that House came up in February 2000. It would have been too easy for him to coerce and cajole a favourable two-third majority in the Parliament to make all the constitutional amendments to his heart’s content. He could then have got himself elected the president without much trouble by the revived parliament after having asked President Tarrar to resign in the “larger national interest”. Of course, it would have taken more than three years to achieve this objective given the hazards of winning over each of the 200 odd ‘elected’ members and while operating within a judicial system based on the Constitution. But he would still have succeeded in his efforts to reorder Pakistan’s political polity according to his own private and personal light with a helping hand from Lt-Gen Tanveer Naqvi (retired). But, he perhaps, thought there was also an element of risk in taking this route. He, perhaps, had wanted a totally risk-free route. So, he rode roughshod over the nation and forced his weird ideas of democracy down its throat in the time given to him by the Supreme Court and then held an election to acquire for himself what he had been terming contemptuously as a label of democracy. Now it seems he wants to distance himself from a House he himself has engineered into being.

His next blunder was to try to split the PML while maligning all politicians as plunderers and looters. This led to the looters and plunderers breaking away from the mother party reinforcing its ideological moorings which enabled the PML-N to survive the subsequent attempts by the Establishment to demolish it completely through the ballot box on October 10. Musharraf added to his blunders by making Mian Azhar, the most incoherent of all the PML breakaways, the PML-Q leader. Next, General sb shot himself in the foot by helping Chaudhry Shujaat, perhaps, the most inarticulate of our politicians and image-wise, perhaps, the most unlikely person of them all to get himself elected the parliamentary leader of the PML-Q. Then he shot himself again in the same spot by having Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali, the most lacklustre ‘Q’ man named as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party. And one is also amazed at the lunacy of the decision to send Mr Jamali aboard the official Falcon with full official protocol to Akber Bugti for winning his support. If Jamali had in him even an iota of what makes a leader he would have advised his handlers not to let him suffer the insult in front of the entire nation (as the entire episode was telecast live by at least two domestic channels) at the hands of a man who has just one vote in the National Assembly. But the mother of all blunders on the part of Musharraf was his refusal to give Shujaat even the satisfaction of appearing in the public eye as man of substance and a leader to be reckoned with when the General sb choose not to invite him to even discuss the commitments he had made in the six-point agreement he had signed with the MMA and ARD.

Tailpiece: In 1988 as well in the interest of ‘continuity’ the first Benazir government was arm twisted by both the US State Department and Pakistan’s Establishment into endorsing the candidacy of Ghulam Ishaq Khan for the office of the President. Next, she was forced to appoint Sahibzada Yakoob Ali Khan foreign minister to ensure continuity of the then US-Pakistan Afghan policy. And then she was also forced to own an agreement with the IMF which was signed by the outgoing interim government of GIK. The then US Ambassador to Pakistan Mr Robert Oakley was heard heaving a sigh of relief when the PPP finally came through and voted Ghulam Ishaq Khan into the Presidency for the next five years. He expressed his opinion on the matter at a small dinner hosted by his Economic Counsellor (I cannot recall her name). During the dinner I found myself arguing heatedly with Mr Oakley over the IMF prescriptions imposed on the new government. The Ambassador who was nicknamed by his detractors in the Pakistani Press as the ‘Viceroy’ had taken the position that IMF’s prescription was the panacea for all the economic ills with which Pakistan was afflicted, therefore, according to him the new government would be far better off owning the SBA agreement signed by GIK government. I had disagreed with him with some passion on the grounds that no developing country in the world so far had benefited from these prescriptions. He named Turkey. Now we know how the economy of Turkey fared after 1988. History, indeed, is repeating itself. And as we all know nobody learns from history.—Onlooker

The MMA and catch-22 situation

PESHAWAR: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which has made a runaway victory in the province, is getting frustrated after the postponement of the National Assembly session. It has dawned upon them that Pakistan is neither a sovereign nor an independent state. Despite having some tall claims, the MMA found itself in a Catch-22 situation.

The MMA main leaders, who have a long experience of working with the establishment in Afghanistan, have learnt nothing after the 9/11. They are confused even on the national security agenda, set by the military rulers. They had mortgaged their politics with the establishment in whose power game, at the moment, they are unfit.

Their anti-US campaign, which they had launched soon after the US aerial attack on Afghanistan, had surprisingly worked in the favour of the present government and eased out US pressure on it. The MMA knows that how it has bagged votes and the constraints of its mentors in transferring of power to them.

The MMA followers say if the US can manage a puppet regime in Kabul, it may even restrain the MMA, through its local puppets, from sharing power with the King’s party (PML-Q) or the feudal’s club (PPP) in Islamabad. The PPP and PML-Q, belonging to the same class, hold same opinion on the US role in Pakistan’s domestic affairs.

The MMA main components, who had been close allies to the US from 1979 to 1989 in Afghanistan, cannot disobey their natural allies in the establishment, which mainly banks on US for their political, economic and military existence.

The MMA must realize that the elections results unveiled a clash between the two cultures. The common people and the feudal class. The poor Mullahs represent a people’s culture, while the Pakistan Muslim League (all factions), Pakistan People’s Party and Grand National Alliance boast a feudal culture.

Most of these feudal-dominated parties had made claim about poll-rigging, for which none of them has so for tried to bring any proof or to explain the rigging’s modus operandi, the general people voted to the candidates who live amongst them. Who are like them in their dealings and belonging to the same social class.

If the loser elites fail to unearth the rigging method, they would certainly face with the same results in the future. Particularly, in urban areas, the MMA’s victory stunned the political analysts. They don’t accept that the religious avalanche has barred secular forces from staging a victory in the province.

This shows that the era of political ideologies has been over even for the arch-rivals like the PPP and PML. They are from the same feudal backgrounds. All of them seem to be hankering for the power. Finally, they want to maintain the status quo. But, the MMA wants to form a coalition government either with the PPP or with the PML-Q, who are part of the status quo.

Apparently, MMA’s demands reflect a true democratic approach on national issues, but, its soft corner for the government on the Kashmir issue and nuclear capability has become a problem for it in striking a deal on the LFO and National Security Council.

The MMA wants to shepherd a herd that is being herded by a remote control. If, the hung-parliament stay, the MMA will have to sit on the opposition benches. It is the only way out for them to come out of the Catch-22 situation.

Happy hostages

ANYONE heading the traffic police in Karachi is sitting in a hot seat. For him there is no relief in the foreseeable future. Things are only going from awfully bad to disastrous worse. At least two persons get killed in road accidents every day. More than half of them are likely to be pedestrians. If we accept the official estimate, 600 people die in what are absolutely preventable mishaps. This is an under estimate. Two deaths a day should be 730 for 365 days.

This is an appalling situation. Several horrifying factors lie behind this catastrophic state of affairs. What stands out above this chaos in the streets is the conduct of public transport drivers — the men behind the steering wheels of the buses, mini- buses and trucks. They are privileged people because they are in the service of the very privileged who happen to be the owners of the public transports.

At present, nearly 9,000 public transports move around in this city. According to a responsible official, around 4,000 thousand of these public transports have no route permits, or do not abide by the discipline of a route permit. This means they decide where to go regardless. The number of round trips they make would remain unrecorded. It is only reasonable to assume that those who engage in this business without being on record remain beyond the pale of other disciplines.

It is common knowledge and experience that in Karachi, issuing tickets to travellers against fare received is out of fashion. The number of passengers is always much more than the actual seating and standing capacity. Traffic officials have absolutely no inhibition in pointing out the figure to the transport ‘mafia’. As they see it, this ‘mafia’ holds the people hostage.

How is one to dispute this assertion if the police officers have no hesitation about making it? What leaves one speechless is that the existence of this mafia is part of the experience of all the 14 million people of this city. The Traffic Police, acknowledge it, throw their hands up in helplessness bordering on surrender.

There is no doubt that one weak spot is the infrastructure. Far too many people, that is pedestrians, are exposed to high speed traffic because we do not have enough overhead bridges where these are absolutely imperative. Sidewalks and pavements for the pedestrians are not in place or are in woefully bad repair.

Once upon a time there were regular and recognizable bus stops or request stops. These have disappeared. Where they do exist, the bus drivers do not show any regard to them. The bus driver stops wherever he can pick up a passenger from. But when he has to drop anyone, he would not even care to slow down.

In most cases there are no zebra crossings because these lines were never painted. In many places where these lines once existed, they have faded out. What is more to be deplored is that few public transport drivers know what is the meaning of a zebra crossing and why it is there. This ignorance is not confined to public transport drivers.

It is not unfair to say that more than half of citizens in this wonderful city do not show any respect for the road signs or signals. Most of us are not overly particular to respect traffic lights. No doubt the mostly uneducated driver of public bus tends to be cavalier about such niceties. But many of the educated citizens, too, fail to resist the temptation of ignoring the basic disciplines of driving if they can get away with it.

Now, let us take up the point about the private transport mafia holding the public ‘hostage’. This is no doubt true. But who is responsible for this state of affairs? And who find it worth their while to let the mafia prosper on the basis of sharing the spoils? Millions of rupees change hands. The hands of the traffic staff are not untainted, are they?

Political governments have left behind this sordid legacy. Most of the public transport owners belong the landed classes. They have ruled (or messed up) this country for all these years. In Karachi, this is a fact that ownership of almost all public transports, from the rickshaw to the 22-wheeler is non-Karachi. No harm in that.

What does need to be corrected is the conduct of the mafia. There is a part here to be played by the traffic controllers. At least part of this serious problem can be remedied by strict control over the brazen violation of the law.

If as many as 4,000 out of some 9,000 buses are known to be without proper route permits, then the job of traffic controllers would seem to be quite clearly cut out. It is true that the transport mafia has been holding this city hostage for all these years. Now this city has an elected government. It is answerable to the public. Surely it is the duty of the elected Nazim to get the public released from the tentacles of the mafia.

We have the traffic control administration in place. And we have an elected city government. These two together should be powerful enough to rein in the mafia and restore discipline and decency to our transport services. At the moment it would not be incorrect to say that the city government is a willing hostage to the transport mafia. If not, let the government demonstrate that it is willing and able to set things right.

A message for the Gulberg Nazim

A reader sent in a rather well-written and to-the-point mail about problems he faced while driving through parts of former District Central, now Gulberg Town. In fact, it would be good if the Nazim of that area, who happens to be closely related to the City Nazim, were to read what this gentleman wrote. Here it is:

“I am writing this to you because you seem to have a following of those readers who just may be able to make a difference [not sure about that]. It is indeed a pity that all the people who protest against the desecration of people’s rights by land-grabbers do not deem it their business to raise their voices concerning what’s going in parts of former District Central.

“I am not myself a resident of District Central but deem it my second home since my factory is located in it. Over the last few months the Nazim of Gulberg and his administration is to do yet something foolish which we may regret later on. First, many trees were cut down, apparently so that the dry leaves would not make a mess. Then, the Nazim set up a temporary hawkers’ market under a bridge on the main highway. And now his latest bird-brained scheme is to set up small cabins on footpaths along the main Karimabad intersection. This is like committing suicide, at least for the people who will sit in these shops or visit them, because of the speed and volume of traffic that passes.

“The government spent millions on the road and the flyover so that traffic could move freely but this scheme of allowing shops around the flyover will bring everything back to square one. Apparently, this is being done for the sake of funds that the cash-starved town council of this area needs and which will come from allowing these shops. But will this not put the lives of motorists, shopkeepers and pedestrians at risk? Will some judge of the high court take suo motu action and stop this scheme from going ahead?”

The reader also claims that the presence of these shops had a large role in the unfortunate deaths some months ago of two college girls who were run over by speeding buses close to the flyover. And, for the benefit of those who never venture beyond their Defence and Clifton ivory tower, the Meena Bazar in Karimabad is “almost as good as Gulfway as far as the prices are concerned”.

A colleague at work feels very strongly about protecting the environment. He thinks that it is very important that we grow more and more trees around the country. The government often helps out in this, too, initiating campaigns for planting trees. But what often happens after these so-called drives are over that some of the trees planted are cut down, and often by the government’s own functionaries.

The latest campaign for cutting trees, the colleague says, has been launched by a well-known educational institution situated on Sharea Faisal (near Gora Kabristan). Around a dozen mature eucalyptus trees in front of the school’s boundary wall were recently cut and apparently the reason was that they were hiding the school from passing motorists. In fact, the colleague says, that the school’s administration did not stop there and also cut down trees inside the premises.

Two days after this happened, the city government ‘chipped in’ cutting down around another dozen eucalyptus trees, also on Sharea Faisal but near the Nursery traffic signal.

According to the friend, this happened on a Sunday at around 11 am. Some city government officials came and cut down these trees with mechanized saws under the watch of accompanying policemen.

One wonders what kind of message this gives to citizens, considering that on one hand the government goes to such lengths to plant trees in the first place.

It’s good to get responses from readers every now and then. One such person, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent in a complaint regarding an issue which, at least for some time, had caught the government’s attention  the misuse of loudspeakers.

The gentleman lives in Al Habib Pride, a building right near the (for now moribund) British Council just off Bleak House Road. He says that the problem is that a loudspeaker has been placed right on top of his apartment complex and wonders why the authorities don’t tell the building’s residents to take it off. He says loudspeakers are supposed to be placed at mosques and even in that case are to be used only for the azan.

“This building is full of Urdu-medium, nouveau riche, fundo types. I mean why do they have to disturb the entire vicinity? Don’t you think it’s sheer hypocrisy? Why don’t they just set their alarm clocks? I can honestly say that this area was quite serene three years ago. Our building used to have a small prayer room and a small speaker on the ground floor but I guess that wasn’t enough for those who love shoving religion down the throats of others.”

And further: “There is no sense in moving to another place since the misuse of the loudspeaker will always follow you, said a friend who moved out of Catholic Colony to Soldier Bazaar near St. Lawrence’s Church. The very next morning after moving in he was jolted awake by a loudspeaker at around five in the morning. The megaphone was dangling from an electricity pole near his apartment. Grandmother used to be tell me that Karachi was once a quiet, peaceful city,” the reader wrote. He’s saying that the point is that faith is a personal issue and should be left as such. It becomes a problem when some try and force it down everyone else’s throats.

One hopes that at the very least the government will try enforcing its own rules on the misuse of loudspeakers.

Wednesday’s transport strike made a colleague at work mighty angry and he wrote and sent in the following: “Karachi was once again held hostage by that mysterious, shadowy entity known as the transport mafia. The premise this time — as always — was to protest rising fuel prices, and this damned cartel resorted to what they do best; calling a strike.

“You don’t have to be an economist to realize that these are tough times as practically the whole industrialized world is caught in the throes of a recession. Price hikes, be they of food, shelter or oil, are not welcomed by anyone except those who make a profit from these items. So, suppose the transporters have a point in calling such strikes. No doubt fluctuating petroleum prices must be making life difficult for them. But price hike or no price hike, transporters make no effort to make the lives of commuters any less miserable. In fact, bus, wagon and coach owners hold paying passengers in contempt, treating them worse than farm animals. So these strikes smack of hypocrisy and greed. One feels the transporters get exactly what they deserve in the form of uncertainty and confusion.

“Why should there be any sort of sympathy from commuters for these dubious characters and their plight? On the day of the strike, hapless commuters were seen stranded on roundabouts and bus stops waiting for rides that never came. People were piled precariously on the backs of private pick-ups while taxi and rickshaw drivers made a killing.

But that was the situation on strike day. What about on normal days? Buses and coaches are nearly always overcrowded during the morning and evening rush hour. Passengers are often seen dangling from fragile footholds, putting themselves and others at risk. Illiterate conductors and drivers are extremely rude and totally ignorant of all safety rules. Conductors charge arbitrarily and heated arguments often occur, since fleecing people seems to be a national pastime here.

“So taking into account all these factors, the transporters are doing Karachi no favour either way. And what is the solution. Many learned men have offered many bold and creative remedies to the transport problem. Naturally, most of these schemes have not left the drawing board. But keeping in mind that the Metrobus was running on limited routes on strike day, maybe it’s time the government revoked all permits for private bus, coach and wagon owners and took control of the public transport sector to teach these pirates a lesson and run them out of town.

“But this is asking the overlords in the corridors of power a lot. It is a simple plea. Comfortable, speedy buses operating on a seat-by-seat basis manned by courteous conductors and drivers who operate the vehicles at a pleasing pace so that you can get to wherever you have to on time. Wishful thinking.”— By Karachian

Email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com

Children of Thar losing everything, even their dreams

THE spectres of poverty, disease, hunger and illiteracy haunt the parched expanse of Thar. Mass migrations, necessitated by recurring drought spells, have been a way of life in the area for the past many years. Prolonged shortage of food and fodder forces people to migrate towards more fertile areas near the barrages and canals.

According to An Assessment of Drought 2000, a survey conducted by the Thar Rural Development Programme, over 70 per cent of the Tharis are said to be on the move to escape death.

Earlier also, the Tharis would do the same thing — leave their homes, whatever these would be, in the hope to get sustenance. This has been a way of life for the Tharis. In the struggle for survival, they lose sight of a bitter truth, that the nation’s asset — the children — are exposed to dual risks: this move put their lives as well as their education at stake.

A large number of families are forced to migrate along with their children and cattle; in other cases, only the earning members embark upon the journey to the barrage areas leaving behind their families and children at home. Either way, the children suffer most.

According to the TRDP’s assessment, prolonged drought had forced over 21 per cent of the total households to migrate with entire families by the end of August, 2002, while the earning hands of 36 per cent of the families had also left for irrigated areas to seek wage labour to sustain their families, children and their livestock.

Children — whether they stay behind in Thar or move along with their families towards their newly-adopted homes in the more fertile areas — have to say goodbye to their education besides engaging themselves in some income-generating activities.

These children lose not only their education but also their health also deteriorates because of the heavy work they have to endure. One of their responsibilities, in addition to earn something for their families, include fetching water from the deep wells located far from their homes. They have to do it for their families as well as the well being of the animals they own.

Pulling up water from the deep wells is a gruelling experience for adults. It places a huge burden in physical and financial terms. In the first place they need to buy the ‘koss’ (the rubber bucket, made specially for fetching water from these wells) and the ‘wart’ (a long rope, connected at one end to the ‘koss’ and at the other end it is either tied to the necks of donkeys or to the hands of the person holding the ‘koss’).

Most of the well in Thar are extraordinarily deep and require the availability of two donkeys or a camel to pull the ‘koss’ out of the wells.

The children, in their quest for a few buckets of water, have to travel long distances suffering the scorching sun besides their tender feet also have to bear the burning sand.

Most of parents prefer their children to engage in carpet weaving industry where they loose their childhood innocence and smiles. Their health is affected by hard work, lack of basic amenities, like proper nutrition, ventilation, lighting, seating arrangement and allergens contained in the carpet weaving material.

These children are also exposed to a large number of diseases, including tuberculosis, which consequently lead to disabilities such as the loss of sight. Unfortunately, medical facilities are almost non-existent in their part of the world.

They are also subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of unscrupulous older workers in the carpet industry.

They also learn to smoke cigarettes and are even led towards drug and narcotic addictions.

In search of earning a few rupees, these cute but poor children, belonging to families not unfamiliar with the pangs of hunger families, lose everything, including their dreams.

This is the plight of those children who remain behind with the female members of the family.

Their ability to earn decreases with the severity of the drought situation, the decrease in the availability of food. Weakness leaves them in no position to do anything but the constraints forced on them by nature forces them to continue whatever they had been doing in an effort to earn a few more rupees to last them a few more days.

The children, who are part of the mass migrations from the parched Thar areas to the plains of River Indus, which are a rule rather than exception, also do not fare any better. They also face the same lack of sustenance, which renders them as unlively as the children left behind with their families at home.

They have to supplement the efforts of their parents to earn something for their families. In some cases, they work in local hotels besides engaging in domestic services like cooking, mopping, sweeping, dish-washing etc.

They have to work for over 15 hours every day to earn a very meagre amount in terms of salary.

Legislation, in other parts of the world as well as in our country, bars children from working more than seven hours in a day, but who cares?

These little angels of Thar are losing their right to live as well as their right to the joys of childhood.

Below are the words contained in legislation promulgated by the National Assembly of Pakistan as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.

The National Assembly of Pakistan passed legislation on child labour in 1999, which improved upon a previous legislation, stating: “Children should not work for over seven hours per day.” But the fact remains, legislation without implementation do not in any way redress the problems faced by majority of the children engaged in odd jobs in the rural as well as urban areas of the country.

The Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child specifically states: “State parties recognise the rights of the child to be protected from exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or interfere with a child’s education or be harmful to a child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development”.

According to the Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights 1976: “The state parties to the present covenant recognise that special measures of protection and assistance of all children and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions.

Children and the youth should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law.”

The Sindh Children Act 1955 provides for the care and protection of children in the province, but all these legislations and regulations fail to protect children from the hazardous conditions they have to face at their respective places of work.

In most parts of the country, children depend upon their families for their well being, but the situation in Thar is a bit different. Here, the children are responsible for family survival. They have no choice and or voice in this.

Though parents rely on children but in spite of that they do not endow them with education and health amenities. All this is happening because the children’s lack of political powers. Therefore, their opinion carries little weight.

No one has a few moments to spare for these blameless angels of Thar.

The plight of the children of THar needs to be addressed on a war footing otherwise it would pose a great risk to their health, raising the incidence of child mortality.

We, as a nation, cannot afford to give up on them. We, as a nation, should strive to create a healthy atmosphere for the development of these vulnerable Thari children.

The words of two world legends — former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and former minister of education of Mozambique Graca Machel — should serve as the nation’s guide in their resolve to make the country a better place for the children:

“You are the focus of our outrage, just as you are the focus of our hopes. You are our only children, our only link to the future.

“Each one of you is your own person, endowed with rights, worthy of respect and dignity. Each one of you deserves to have the best possible start in life, to complete a basic education of the highest quality, to be allowed to develop your full potential and provide the opportunities for meaningful participation in your communities.

“And until every one of you, no matter who you are, enjoys your rights, I Nelson and I Graca will not rest. This is our promise.” (These words were spoken on the occasion of the Global Partnership for Children).

Countless eyes of children of Thar have become devoid of dreams and yet these very eyes seem to inquire from conscientious persons: “Is there anyone, who focuses on the plight of colourless life of the children of Thar”?

Some health guidelines for Ramazan

With the advent of Ramazan every year, people by and large reorder their schedule of life, particularly the one that relates to their food consumption beginning with Iftar and ending with Sehr after a whole day’s fasting.

Generally with a slight change in the variety of food — special to the occasion of Ramazan — people do not face much upset healthwise. This year too they would repeat the performance. Further to this, there are a number of tips here for them about how to avoid some common problems on the occasion:

The most important thing to remember is their diet should not differ very much from the normal one they follow throughout the year. It should rather be as simple as possible so that people are able to maintain their normal weight — neither losing nor gaining.

However, if one is overweight, Ramazan is an ideal time to normalize one’s weight. In view of the long hours of fasting, people should consume slow-digesting foods such as the ones that have fibrous content than fast-digesting foods. Slow-digesting foods last up to eight hours, while fast-digesting ones last three to four hours only.

* Slow-digesting foods are foods that contain grains and seeds like barley, wheat, oats, millet, semolina, beans, lentils, wholemeal flour, unpolished rice, etc (called complex carbohydrates).

* Fast-burning foods are foods that contain sugar, white flour, etc (called refined carbohydrates)

* Fibre-containing foods are bran-containing foods, whole wheat, grains and seeds, vegetables like green beans, peas, sem (papry), marrow, mealies, spinach, and other herbs like methie, the leaves of beetroot (iron-rich), fruit with skin, dried fruit, specially dried apricots, figs and prunes, almonds, etc.

The foods eaten should be well-balanced, containing foods from each food group, i.e. fruits, vegetables, meat/chicken/fish, bread/cereals and dairy products. Fried foods are unhealthy and should be limited. They cause indigestion, heartburn, and weight problems.

AVOID

* Fried and fatty foods.

* Foods containing too much sugar.

* Overeating, especially at Sehr.

* Too much tea at Sehr. Tea makes you pass more urine taking with it valuable mineral salts that your body would need during the day.

* Smoking cigarettes. If you cannot give up smoking, cut down gradually starting a few weeks before Ramazan. Smoking is unhealthy and one should stop completely.

EAT

* Complex carbohydrates at Sehr so that the food lasts longer making you less hungry.

* Haleem is an excellent source of protein and is a slow-burning food.

* Dates are excellent source of sugar, fibre, carbohydrates, potassium and magnesium.

* Almonds are rich in protein and fibre, with less fat.

* Bananas are a good source of potassium, magnesium and carbohydrates.

DRINK

* As much water or fruit juices as possible between Iftar and bedtime so that your body may adjust fluid levels in time.

CONSTIPATION

* Constipation can cause piles (haemorroids), fissures (painful cracks in anal canal) and indigestion with a bloated feeling.

Causes: Too much refined foods, too little water and not enough fibre in the diet.

Remedy: Avoid excessive refined foods, increase water intake, use bran in baking, brown flour when making roti.

INDIGESTION & WIND

Causes: Overeating. Too much fried and fatty foods, spicy foods, and foods that produce wind, e.g. eggs, cabbage and lentils. Carbonated drinks like Cola also produce gas.

Remedy: Do not overeat, drink fruit juices or better still drink water. Avoid fried foods, add ajmor to wind-producing foods.

LETHARGY (‘low blood pressure’)

* Excessive sweating, weakness, tiredness, lack of energy, dizziness, especially on getting up from sitting position, pale appearance and feeling faint are symptoms associated with “low blood pressure”.

* This tends to occur towards the afternoon.

Causes: Too little fluid intake, decreased salt intake.

Remedy: Keep cool, increase fluid and salt intake.

Caution: Low blood pressure should be confirmed by taking a blood pressure reading when symptoms are present. Persons with high blood pressure may need their medication adjusted during Ramazan. They should consult their doctor.

HEADACHE

Causes: Caffeine and tobacco-withdrawal, doing too much in one day, lack of sleep, hunger usually occur as the day goes by and worsens at the end of the day. When associated with “low blood pressure”, the headache can be quite severe and can also cause nausea before Iftar.

Remedy: Cut down caffeine and tobacco slowly starting a week or two before Ramazan. Herbal and caffeine-free teas may be substituted. Reorganise your schedule during the Ramadan so as to have adequate sleep.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR

Weakness, dizziness, tiredness, poor concentration, perspiring easily, feeling shaky (tremor), unable to perform physical activities, headache, palpitations are symptoms of low blood sugar.

Causes in non-diabetics: Having too much sugar i.e. refined carbohydrates especially at sehri. The body produces too much insulin causing the blood glucose to drop.

Remedy: Eat something at sehri and limit sugar-containing foods and drinks.

Caution: Diabetics may need to adjust their medication in Ramazan, consult your doctor.

MUSCLE CRAMPS

Causes: Inadequate intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium foods.

Remedy: Eat foods rich in the above minerals e.g. vegetables, fruit, dairy products, meat and dates.

Caution: Those on high blood pressure medication and with kidney stone problems should consult their doctor.

PEPTIC ULCERS, HEARTBURN, GASTRITIS AND HIATUS HERNIA

Increased acid levels in the empty stomach in Ramazan aggravate the above conditions. It presents as a burning feeling in the stomach area under the ribs and can extend up to the throat. Spicy foods, coffee, and Cola drinks worsen these conditions.

Medications are available to control acid levels in the stomach. People with proven peptic ulcers and hiatus hernia should consult their doctor well before Ramazan.

KIDNEY STONES

Kidney stones may occur in people who have less liquids to drink. Therefore, it is essential to drink extra liquids so as to prevent stone formation.

JOINT PAINS

Causes: During Ramazan, when extra salah are performed the pressure on the knee joints increases. In the elderly and those with arthritis this may result in pain, stiffness, swelling and discomfort.

Remedy: Lose weight so that the knees do not have to carry any extra load. Exercise the lower limbs before Ramazan so that they can be prepared for the additional strain. Being physically fit allows greater fulfilment, thus enabling one to be able to perform salah with ease.