| January 7, 2003 | Tuesday | Ziqa’ad 3, 1423 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
INS syndrome & Pakistanis
Nadra needs efficient workers
New fire protection regulations
Facts about India’s economy
Condition of classrooms in MUET
Penitentiary defined
Advice to Mr Jamali
Cowasjee’s remarks
Is Saddam a threat?
Extradition
Coach terminals for Karachi
THE sad state of our judicial process and justice system has been highlighted yet again by the withdrawal of decade-old cases against Dr Ishratul Ibad. The ease with which cases are registered against any person as well as the ease with which thy are dissolved through extra-judicial influence should be a cause of concern for every Pakistani — more so for our political and legal sections of society.
Tinkering with the judicial process for political expediency makes a farce of the claims to build and strengthen institutions. In fact, no institution worth its name can either be built or exist without first building a strong, efficient, fair and independent judiciary.
This reminds me of a recent television interview in which Maulana Tahirul Qadri narrated a dialogue he had with Nawaz Sharif, who asked the Maulana about how to ensure good governance. The Maulana claims to have advised Mr Sharif that if three appointments in every district, namely DC, SP and judge, were given to upright and honest professionals who were allowed to work without fear or hindrance, ensuring good governance would not be a difficult goal to achieve. To this Mr Sharif responded that, if all these officers were straight, “phir hamaray caam kaon karaiga?”
More than being a reflection on any individual, this anecdote illustrates the mindset and attitude prevailing towards our perception of a just society and good governance. If Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had built a strong independent judiciary free of political interference, he might have been alive today.
With his cliched heavy mandate and monarchical tendencies, if Nawaz Sharif had built a superior institution which he respected and where he could take up his case, he may at least have saved the displacement and humiliation he brought to his old parents and the rest of the family, not to mention the disintegration of his party.
During her two tenures as prime minister, if Benazir Bhutto had established a court that was just and above her office, among other things, at least she and her children would have been living a normal life together with the head of their family, and her party would have certainly fared better in the general election.
Neither economic progress nor social and political uplift (including police reforms) is going to take place successfully as long as fair justice does not prevail. It seems few of us fully realize another crucial aspect of having a sound judiciary. As observed in the rest of the world, economic development is directly proportional to the quality of the judicial system available in a country.
If the present civilian government completes five years and builds just one institution, let that be an impeccable and efficient judicial system (from lower courts to the Supreme Court) that eliminates the need for special courts like anti-terrorism courts, NAB courts, etc. For this noble deed it will go down in history as the first truly democratic government in Pakistan. It would certainly deserve to be forgiven any other sins of omission or commission it may commit.
IMTIAZ PIRACHA
Karachi
UNDERSTANDABLE though is the post-9/11 anxiety of the US administration to ensure good behaviour from the legal and illegal immigrants, particularly Muslims, newspaper reports about the harrowing experience of Muslim immigrants in general and Pakistanis in particular suggest that there is a state of panic in the implementation of the recently-introduced INS scheme.
Take for example the case of a Pakistani lady, holding British a passport and living in Florida, US, since September 2001 and working for a pharmaceutical company. On Dec 19 at 6am, while she was sleeping there was a knock at the door. As she opened it, three INS agents walked in. They told her that she had violated the terms of her visa by failing to appear before the INS for registration. She was handcuffed, rushed to the INS office and subjected to intense interrogation. Although handcuffs were removed after the interview, she was allowed to go home after five hours.
She was told by an immigration consultant that the registration requirements for which she was made to undergo the humiliating ordeal, is applicable to men only. All this seems to have been caused by the bad luck of her last visa for the US having been issued at Islamabad on an earlier visit to Pakistan to meet her parents.
Similar reports have been appearing in newspapers not only outside the United States but inside that country, too. And these relate to similar incidents, including cases of harassment of children. What is common in such cases is the victims’ identity as Muslims.
All we know about the INS issue is the requirement of registration by the immigrants in connection with their naturalization. It requires them to get registered for the purpose, fingerprinted and photographed at their respective offices. The procedure does not appear to have been properly publicized and implemented in a manner conducive to a civilized country like the United States.
The treatment being meted out to the Pakistanis is outright insulting as Pakistan is actively participating in the US-led international coalition’s war on terrorism.
Belated though is Pakistan’s appeal for the exemption of its nationals from INS humiliations, one hopes for prompt acceptance by the Bush administration.
BASHIR AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to a news item about Nadra (Dec 24). The comments made by Nadra Chairman Brig (R) Saleem Ahmed Moin are encouraging but the following questions need to be answered by some responsible person:
1. Has Aladdin’s genie been awarded the task of completing the unfinished agenda of the applicants who have been waiting for the past several months for their new computerized cards?
2. How was it decided that the old ID cards would be cancelled after March 31?
3. Who would be responsible for the mistakes in new cards?
4. Why should a breadwinner with 5-7 family members living together pay additional 180 rupees to the so-called swift centre for each person when Rs35 per person has already been paid several months back?
It is obvious that no home work was done before launching this adventure.
The prime minister may be advised to sanction additional funds for employing efficient persons to undertake this gigantic task.
IMTIAZ FAROOQ QURESHI
Karachi
COMPLETE fire protection for buildings is difficult to attain. However, the building designers try to meet the requirements of life safety and property protection.
The main causes of fires in Karachi during the 55 years have been identified as (i) electrical short circuiting, (ii) kitchen fires due to gas stove accidents and (iii) careless smokers.
Fire in a building is related to the layout of the combustibles present which is called ‘fire load’. Fire load is expressed in weight per floor area. There is also a relationship between the fire load and its severity.
The Sindh government has recently promulgated The Karachi Building & Town Planning Regulations, 2002. Now any person who intends to carry out building and development work will be required to follow these regulations. The authority concerned (city district government) will be the ‘competent authority’ to approve development work of all small residential bungalows on 120 square yards plots to huge buildings.
For the implementation of the fire regulations in Karachi or anywhere else in Pakistan, there are no engineering institutions. In other countries, including India, the subject is taught in the engineering universities as a four-year degree course.
ENGR MAJOR (R) JAVED IQBAL RISHI
Karachi
THIS refers to Salahuddin Leghari’s letter (Jan 2) which refuted my claims about India’s economy. I think my letter (Dec 11) presented a balanced assessment of the situation.
I mentioned India’s GDP and Mr Leghari himself mentioned India’s forex reserves that stand at $66 billion. I also stated that India having a population of 1,000 million has 300 million poor people. But a bright-eyed view of the positive side is always required to continue on the path to development.
India is blessed with entrepreneurs like Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Modis, Narayan Murthy (CEO of Infosys), Ramalingam Raju (CEO of Satyam Computer Services), etc. These are the people who have proved that enormous progress and development can take place in the wretchedly poor South Asian region.
India also has the Indian Institute of Techs and the Indian Institute of Management and several low-profile tech and management colleges which are among the world’s best and are more difficult to get into than Harvard or Cornell University.
This has led to sprawling growth of high-tech cities and towns like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mangalore, Mumbay, Madras, Chandigarh, Trivandrum, Pune, etc. You need to go to www.infosys.com and www.satyam.com to find out the kind of infrastructure these Indian companies have in Indian cities.
Similarly, India is cursed with 300 million poor people, many of whom are adding to the ever-growing cancer and AIDS patients’ count. Unfortunately, as expected, smaller and poorer nations, instead of appreciating India’s progressive economy, have made it their lifelong objective to envy, hate, trouble and terrorize India as much as possible.
The following is my request to Mr Leghari and other educated and highly-skilled Pakistani citizens: persuade your government to stop its hostility to India and abandon its anti-Indian policies. Let us help each other to become at least like China in the next decade — no matter how tall an order it sounds.
SACHIN RATH
Illinois, USA
I AM a faculty member of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro. The condition of the university classrooms is very poor — so much so that teachers find it hard to complete their lectures.
Most of the classes do not have fans near blackboards and if some classes fortunately do have fans, they are out of order. Thus, a teacher perspires profusely while delivering a lecture, specially in summer.
Moreover, blackboards are in such a bad condition that nothing legibly can be written on them.
The MUET aims to get ISO-9000 certification but its administration should improve the standard of its classrooms first before aspiring for the certification.
A TEACHER
Jamshoro
THIS has reference to the news item, ‘Shortage of vans, staff: 35 PC court production orders not carried out’ (Jan 1), in which the word “penitentiaries” has been used in the second paragraph of the report.
The paragraph reads, “The court police, still attached administratively to the police department, have a ridiculously small fleet of prisoner’s vans and a meagre strength of staffers to transport over 400 UTPs daily from different penitentiaries to over 160 courts.”
The proper meaning of word “penitentiary” in Oxford Reference Dictionary is a prison for offenders convicted of serious crimes. Thus, the usage of the word “penitentiaries” for under-trial prisoners does not suit/match as far as the sense and meaning of the sentence is concerned.
DHANI BUX OTHO
Karachi
I WOULD like to congratulate Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on winning the vote of confidence in parliament at this most crucial juncture when the fate of democracy and its survival depended on the outcome of this round.
It shows that his selection and nomination as prime minister was a most appropriate act in the difficult political scenario that emerged following the general election.
No single political party won a clear majority in the house, nor a viable coalition could be formed owing to the conflicting ideologies and agenda of contesting parties. Thus, Mr Jamali’s winning the vote of confidence was nothing short of a miracle.
Now after having cleared the last hurdle of his new political career, the prime minister is confronted with the daunting task of meeting the nations’ growing expectations.
Mr Jamali will not only face a strong opposition but also need to save himself from political exploitation by selfish politicians who will try to cash in on the support they have extended to him in parliament. He is, therefore, advised to give proper attention to those genuine friends who will not only praise him but also point out his mistakes to better his performance as chief executive of the country.
Fortunately, the prime minister and his family elders were contemporaries of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and played a pivotal role for the Pakistan Movement in Balochistan before and after partition. He was brought up in an atmosphere where patriotism remained supreme.
I am confident that Mr Jamali will continue to tread steadfastly the right path and uphold the policy of national interest.
K. MURAD BEY
Karachi
THE views expressed by Syed Mohiuddin in his letter (Dec 28) on Ardeshir Cowasjee’s remarks were not only uncalled for but also highly provocative.
Personal emotions here seemed to have overtaken the writer; hence his overreaction. Almost all peace-loving and patriotic Pakistanis know as to what sacrifices Cowasjee and his community have made for Pakistan.
By the way, where does the question of ideologies and faith come from here?
N. M. ABBASI
Lusaka, Zambia
ACCORDING to US intelligence reports, Iraq is engaged in manufacturing nuclear and chemical weapons and these weapons of mass destruction are a threat to world peace.
The questions arise: 1. Has Iraq been really developing weapons of mass destruction?
2. Is Saddam’s government a threat to world peace?
Baghdad has provided a list of 500 Iraqi scientists to the United Nations. These scientists have refuted the allegation that Iraq is developing nuclear weapons.
In fact, Iraq has been suffering from tough sanctions resulting in lots of deaths. How can Iraq manufacture weapons of mass destruction? And why have weapon inspectors having sophisticated instruments and secret information failed to detect the “hidden” weapons or their traces?
Now so far as the possession of weapons is concerned, it is genuinely argued that they serve as a deterrent and the enemy would ponder thousand times before embarking on any venture.
The US has given the go-ahead to its national missile defence programme. It’s an open secret that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. Every country should have the right to possess such weapons, but not no one should endanger other’s freedom.
Iraq has regretted its invasion of Kuwait but it is not acceptable to the US. American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered that American warships could be sent to the Gulf to take action against Iraq. The US warships could be summoned within 96 hours.
The US will send warships, fighter planes, troops and other facilities to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and other Gulf countries. Sixty thousand soldiers are already present in the area. So the preparations suggest that it is not Iraq that is threat to world peace but it is US which can go to any length if its interests are at stake.
ZULFIQAR ALI
(Via email)
I suggest to all parliamentarians and their groups/parties that they stop protesting on the streets against the FBI raids, arrest of doctors and related sensitive issues in Pakistan.
Parliament should, instead, pass a unanimous bill to make a new law that no Pakistani, irrespective of the charges levelled against him/her, can be handed over to any other country without the consent of parliament and the Supreme Court.
MUHAMMAD ARSHAD
Karachi
OVER the years Pakistan Railways has played a vital role in providing the sole means of travelling for millions of Pakistanis to and from Karachi.
With the expansion and modernization of roads, transportation through this means has become very popular and is growing at a fast pace. Thousands of coaches leave Karachi every day to places as far as Hangu, Mansehra and Waziristan. The road transport is not only economical but also very convenient.
Unfortunately, however, Karachi has no proper terminals for these coaches to park and load and unload their passengers. These coaches are generally found at the corner of busy roads and narrow streets.
On the one hand, because of this, passengers find it difficult to board and on the other, they cause obstruction to the normal flow of traffic. The traffic police at the same time harass the coach drivers as if they were doing a criminal act. They do not realize that these coaches are providing a great service to the common man and deserve encouragement and support.
Five major terminals should be established by the city government and the transport authorities in different parts of the city for five major destinations, i.e. interior Sindh, Balochistan, South Punjab, North Punjab and the NWFP.
The terminals should be spacious with adequate parking space, booking offices, waiting rooms, restaurants, toilets and mosques. In order to meet the expenses the city government may charge a reasonable fee for using the facility. Some income can also be generated through commercial offices and shops attached to the terminals. Though it will involve initial investment, in the long run these terminals will not only become self-sufficient but also a source of income for the city government.
By doing so the city government will facilitate and make this means of transport more popular and efficient. Traffic congestion in the areas currently used for parking will also be relieved. Let us make road transport a pleasant journey rather than a fatigue as it is today. Coach drivers, owners and booking clerks, indeed all those involved in this profession, deserve respect and support.
I would request the city Nazim to look into this problem. It is within his reach to have such terminals and there is no dearth of space in the city.
PROF MUHAMMAD ISHAQ
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address:
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.