| January 8, 2003 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 4, 1423 |
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Cut in savings schemes’ profits
Target before Sindh cabinet
Democracy & political bribe
Genetically-modified food
Ufone service
Jesus Christ
PIA in Canada
Free education in Punjab
Safoora Goth without post office
Hijacking of vehicles
I REFER to your timely editorial, ‘Question of hot pursuit’ (5 Jan), in which you suggested that incidents such as the one which occurred recently in South Waziristan between Pakistani border guards and US military personnel deployed in Afghanistan should be sorted out at the local level by prompt negotiations, and guidelines for amicably dealing with such a situation should be devised and enforced by the parties concerned.
But “the right of hot pursuit” has no basis in international law nor the UN Charter nor in any bilateral treaty between the US and Pakistan. At its worst, it is anchored in the jungle law of “might is right”.
Pakistan as an independent, sovereign state has every right to defend its soil, airspace and coastline against any intruder and it must do so courageously. During the Cold War, did the US ever confer the ‘right of hot pursuit’ on the Soviet Union or Castro’s Cuba? Does even now the US invoke this fictional ‘right of hot pursuit’ in dealing with its criminals who escape into Cuba, Mexico and even Canada?
Under the current mechanisms and devices of international law such as Interpol and bilateral treaties of extradition civilized governments engage in diplomatic negotiations or through local courts to get hold of an alleged criminal or fugitive.
Pakistan will be committing a dangerous, even fatal, blunder if it confers on the US the alleged right of hot pursuit; it will open the way for India to send troops, tanks and aircraft to blast targets across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, triggering a subcontinental war with nuclear dimensions.
Pakistan should refrain from igniting the hostility of the Frontier tribesmen with whom we have to live for centuries to come in peace and amity. With hostile India tugging at the leash to attack us, we cannot expose our western flank by making the Frontier tribesmen our enemies. Pakistan should not go beyond the parameters of the assurances of cooperation it gave to the US in September 2001, as stated by a well-informed US journalist, Bob Woodward (Managing Editor of The Washington Post) in his latest book, Bush at War (in which the lawless ‘right of hot pursuit’ was not mentioned).
Pakistan, as a member of the US-led coalition against terror, rightly expects to be treated with consideration by the US authorities, and its nationals in the US should not be on the US list of undesirables. Our embassy in Washington and the associations of Pakistanis in the US should work unitedly and boldly to persuade the US administration to prevent their witch-hunting by INS sleuths (often the result of instigation by Zionist and Indian lobbies against Muslims), engage the best US lawyers to seek legal redress and flood the US Congress and Senate with well-documented appeals for justice in each case.
While supporting US-Pakistan friendship, we should do all we can to help Pakistanis living in the US in tiding over their current difficulties. Diplomatic parleys with high US officials in Washington and Islamabad would be more helpful than florid anti- US rhetoric by some of our politicians.
QUTUBUDDIN AZIZ
Karachi
LOWERING banks’ and other DFI’s interest/mark-up rates is seen as a healthy economic recovery for the country, but there is always a strong provision by the latter for a decent earning for those who after their pension or the death of breadwinners wish to lie in some financial comfort. It seems that the government has no planning or remedy for such millions of people.
Citizens, specially those over 60, widows, pensioners and those who live on the remittance from abroad are among the people who generally put their money in banks or in savings schemes. For the last three years, an extraordinary slash in the profits has hit those who depend on such institutions and schemes.
There is in the country no dearth of white-colour criminals who financially exploit these innocent people. They are prowling under the garb of finance companies to rob them by promising more than the double income of what they are now getting.
Two decades back the Karachiites were deprived of billions of rupees by the so-called investment companies. About 80 per cent victims who were widows and pensioners are dead and the remaining 20 per cent are unable to get their money back because of their age limitation.
A majority of them will fade away by the end of this decade. They are victims of an injustice while in Punjab such persons were paid amounts up to half a million rupees. Citizens living in all provinces should have been treated equally.
The pensioners and the widows have now started withdrawing their money from the low-profit schemes and are investing it into schemes where the status of their investment will be uncertain. If the government cannot arrange payment of the withheld money earned by the Karachiites, at least it can deter the shady elements from robbing the hapless people, taking advantage of the low-interest rates.
The only solution to this problem lies in introducing certain savings certificate schemes in which profits or the mark-up should be given in double digits without any tax, its limits should not cross an specific amount, the beneficiaries should be over 60 and the scheme should be restricted to retired persons, pensioners and the widows.
KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS
Karachi
AFTER a hue and cry, the most controversial and much-delayed cabinet has been formed in Sindh. In the first round, 15 ministers and advisers have been appointed.
According to reports, eventually a 35-member cabinet, comprising 24 elected members and 11 non-elected persons who will serve as ‘advisers and coordinators’, will be formed.
The objection here is not on the quantity but on the quality of performance. The overall efficiency of their predecessors (ministers and advisers) was not up to the mark.
The majority of them failed to provide economic prosperity, political stability and social security to the people of Sindh. In fact, they were a burden on the people.
We are not interested in mere rhetoric. We need action in the form of a concrete democratic set-up, full employment, investment-oriented policies, social uplift, healthy educational environment, conspicuous improvement in the law and order situation, favourable terms and conditions of infrastructure policies and the assurance of religious freedom.
We hope that the cabinet will respond to the call of the poor and remove the stumbling blocks between the government and the citizens.
MAHJABBEN AGHA
Karachi
IT has become customary in Pakistan to provide money to elected members of the assemblies in the name of development funds. This is, however, not a healthy custom by any standard.
Although the assemblies have not yet begun their two main tasks, i.e. debating social and economic issues and making laws to solve them, each of the lawmakers has been allocated millions of rupees in the name of development funds.
The distribution of public funds in this way does not augur well for the future of democracy in the country. It will be agreed that development works are better handled by specialized agencies than by individuals like elected representatives, who can suggest or identify projects in their constituencies.
Thus, the allocation of public funds to the legislators is nothing but a political bribe. It is an attempt on the part of the government to win the support of a maximum number of parliamentarians with a view to strengthen its position in and out of the assemblies.
SIRAJUDDIN AHMAD
Islamabad
Mankind has always meddled in the ways of God despite the fact that He has made everything in correct measure and proportion. Nothing could be better than what Allah has made. One cannot deny the fact that every time man tried to interfere with the laws of nature, the results were extremely unfavourable.
Advancement in science has made man capable of altering genes of animals and plants as well as those of humans. No doubt experiments based on such mutations can bring about fruitful results but it certainly does not mean that living beings can be made experimental objects.
There are currently dozens of genetically-engineered foods and crops being grown and sold in the US. Americans justified themselves by saying that the genetically-modified food (GMF) is designed to be healthier and can be mass-produced.
The fact is that not only these food products could be dangerous but also prove to be an origin of lethal diseases. This act is nothing but unlimited greed that imposes things like GMF even before knowing how the effects of its use will be like.
In producing the genetically-altered food products, dairy cows are also being injected regularly with growth hormones so as to get increased meat and milk. It means that not only vegetable but also meat and dairy products are affected. How? Only time will tell.
Pakistan imports food products, including meat in large quantities. The people of Pakistan are not well informed about the GMF and the hazards that it can bring about. It is the duty of the government to make sure that such food products are not imported without proper checks and certification.
If the genetically-manufactured food is imported for some ‘unavoidable’ reasons, it should be so labelled that the buyers at least know what they are buying.
The government should also check and certify the food produced locally. It should make sure that quality food is provided to the livestock and poultry.
ANILA A. ALI ESMAIL
Karachi
UFONE has captured the market in a short span but as the number of its users is increasing, the quality of its service is deteriorating day by day.
I am a Ufone subscriber and have been facing problems in receiving signals properly. With every call comes a noise which makes it difficult for me to figure out as to what the caller is saying. Sometimes calls are disconnected.
Besides, the Ufone network remains always very busy — so much so that I cannot connect any call even at night. Other subscribers of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Town, too, have been facing the same problems.
I have complained to the Ufone authorities many times, but to no avail. Why don’t the authorities attend to its customers’ complaints?
Recently, Ufone fixed charges on the inquiry of balance. I believe the phone company is not justified in charging its customers for this service. It’s nothing but a tactic to fleece the customers.
FARRUKH NAZ SHERAZI
Lahore
ISLAM enjoins upon the Muslims to respect all prophets sent by God. Hazrat Isa — Jesus Christ — (peace be on him) was one of them.
The holy Quran mentions him several times. For a Muslim respect and reverence for Hazrat Isa (AS) is part of his faith. Every year, Christians the world over, except those belonging to the Russian and Greek Orthodox Church, observe Dec 25 as his birthday. Millions of Pakistani Christians do the same.
However, I wonder why there is no material on Jesus Christ in our newspapers. All that the newspapers print is a greeting tugged in a little niche “We wish our Christian readers merry Christmas.”
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah is our greater leader and founder of Pakistan. He deserves more homage than we pay him.
However, in my humble opinion, while celebrating the Quaid’s birthday, the total eclipse of Christmas is not acceptable to a truly Islamic society.
I may be pardoned if I raise a question: are we, as Muslims, not aware that no king, queen or statesman — no matter how great — could be given precedence over a prophet of God?
(ENGR) B. A. MALIK
Lahore
A LARGE number of Pakistanis are living in Toronto, Canada, and are involved in building a great Pakistani community. I and many others are promoting Pakistani products and ideas. We all make a good deal of efforts to buy Pakistani products and we deal with Pakistani businesses as often as possible.
Among other things, we encourage the people to travel by PIA. There are many choices available to them. Some of the airlines even take the same amount of time to reach Karachi or Lahore from Toronto.
However, it is unfortunate that PIA’s local staff do not appreciate this gesture of goodwill. Some of them are unprofessional, ill-mannered and sometimes they also misbehave with the clients.
At Toronto airport, PIA’s is the only counter where police are always present at the time of a flight. Why? Because PIA is usually overbooking their flights, denying accommodation to the people who have confirmed reservations and giving away their seats to the passengers they know or favour. This often results in trouble.
I may mention a specific instance. On Dec 28, 40 passengers with confirmed seats were denied boarding. Some of them were going to Pakistan for very important reasons. They were so broken-hearted that they advised their families not to transport their coffins to Pakistan by PIA.
I am an international sales director with a multinational company over here. I have experienced that if a flight is over-booked a compensation is offered along with an alternative travel plan within the same timeframe even if various carriers are involved. That happens when there is a genuine mistake of over- booking once a while.
The PIA management, the consulate-general of Pakistan in Toronto and others may intervene to get this problem sorted out.
AMAR ZAIDI
Ontario, Canada
THE Punjab government has decided to make education up to matric classes free. But this is not enough.
There should be regular supervision of the syllabi and the method of teaching in all schools and the standard of secondary education should be maintained. The effort to divide our society into English medium and Urdu medium should be stopped.
The mushroom growth of private schools must be checked. Education must not be made a lucrative source of income. Laws should be framed to see that private schools do not mint money by fleecing poor parents because of the low standard of government schools.
There should be a law to ensure that all educational institutions whether government or private do not charge any fee up to matric classes throughout the country. Only then the announcement made by Punjab government will benefit the common man in every nook and corner of Pakistan.
ALI ASHRAF KAHN
Karachi
I WANT to draw the attention of the postmaster-general of Karachi towards the problems which the residents of Sector 38/A, Scheme 33, commonly known as Safoora Goth, are facing both in sending and in receiving mails.
I have been living in Haroon Bungalows (Phase I) of this locality for 10 years and had faced no difficulty in the delivery of mails and articles until the area was separated from the University of Karachi Post Office (postal code 75270) without carrying out any survey.
The area people always corresponded through the KU post office, which has a sufficient manpower.
As an alternative, the locality has been given under the jurisdiction of a very small post office operating in the vicinity of the PCSIR and having only three workers.
This post office is situated in a remote area and is hardly accessible for want of a proper road. Before taking this action, the post office should have been upgraded and properly manned so that it could cater to the needs of the residents.
I appeal to the postmaster-general for restoring the previous arrangement forthwith. Steps should also be taken to establish a properly-staffed separate post office in Safoora Goth.
GHOLAM HASNAIN
Karachi
EVERY day without fail one particular news item is splashed on the metropolitan pages of Dawn, saying that a certain number of vehicles have been either hijacked or stolen in the past 24 hours in Karachi. This news, however, fails to prick the conscience of those authorities who are tasked with and paid for eliminating this crime from the city.
On average, 20 vehicles (cars and motorcycles) are either hijacked or stolen daily in the city. The figure for one year stands at 7,300 and the cumulative value of these vehicles runs into billions of rupees!
Thus, motorists, many of whom do not get their vehicles insured owing to high rates of insurance, have to suffer a heavy financial loss. What pinches the hearts of the affected citizens is that their stolen or hijacked vehicles are seen running in northern parts of the country but nothing is done to recover them.
One is amazed at the indifference on the part of the higher authorities towards the plight of the affected people. In a civilized country, officials concerned would either resolve to eradicate such a heinous crime or resign with dignity. But in our country such an honourable step is not even considered.
The question arises: is it really so difficult to overcome this crime, which causes fear, injuries and deaths and deprives people of their precious vehicles? For honest and upright officials, this is not a Himalayan task.
Karachi has only three or four exit routes leading to Balochistan, upper Sindh and northern towns and cities. If strict vigilance is kept on these routes, smuggling of hijacked and stolen vehicles would be out of question.
Another way to dispose of such vehicles is the Shershah market where business in second-hand parts is done on a large scale. If police officers are deputed there in civilian clothes and action is taken against the culprits, this multi-billion illegal business can be stopped.
It is hoped that the new provincial government will take action to liberate the citizens of this mega city from the menace of high-jacking and theft of vehicles.
A. H. ALIANI
Karachi
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