| January 10, 2003 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 6, 1423 |
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A century of dedicated service
Small loans for youth
A credit to Pakistan
Population growth in Pakistan
PIA in Canada
Over-size cabinets
‘The correct method of waging war’
Nadra’s delivery system
It was America
Attack on rabbi
Facts about India’s economy
On this day of anti-American protests throughout Pakistan, Prof Rafi’s article gave me hope, at least in the long term, for peace and justice in the world.
SANGPARIWAR and its supporters believe that the genocide of Muslims in India is a natural turn of the cycle of history. Some centuries ago Muslims carried out genocide of Hindus during their rule. Now it is Hindus’ turn to pay them in the same coin.
They say that the Muslims of the subcontinent got their homeland, Pakistan. There was transfer of populations. So they have no right to live in India. They also say that Muslims are foreigners and have no right to be in India. They should convert to Hinduism or quit or face annihilation.
Muslims never carried out genocide of Hindus during their rule. The battles in India were fought mostly among the Muslim contenders for power. Had the Muslim rulers pursued such a policy, the Hindus would not have been in an overwhelming majority (more than 85 per cent) in and around Delhi and UP, which were the centres of power and influence of the Muslims rulers.
The fact is that Hindus as well as Muslims both are foreigners to India. The original Indians were massacred by Aryans/Hindus when they arrived in India and the remnants were driven away to south and east and terrorized into conversion to Hinduism.
Later, the Buddhists and Jains met the same fate at the hands of the Hindus and were annihilated. But Muslims proved a hard nut to crack. They are as genuine Indians as Hindus. They with the Hindus rendered great services and sacrifices for the independence of India.
When Hindus rejected the minimum just demands of Muslims for co-existence, the Indian Muslims demanded Pakistan (a separate homeland), comprising six provinces (Bengal, Assam, Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan), but they were given a truncated and moth-eaten Pakistan, consisting of halves of Bengal and Punjab, one district of Assam, Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan. So their demand was partially met. Only 2/3 Muslims became Pakistanis and the remaining 1/3 remained Indian citizens. No transfer of minorities was envisaged in the Pakistan Resolution nor in the partition plan nor in the Indian Independence Act.
Sangpariwar seems to have been emboldened by the anti-Muslim scenario that has emerged following the 9/11 incidents. This state of affairs will not last long. Farsighted people in the West are realizing its grave consequences. Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
Muslims constitute more than one-fifth of the human race. They live in all the continents of the globe in large numbers. They are beginning to realize and unite for the preservation of their human rights. The Indian Muslims are brave, industrious, loyal and bona fide citizens of India. They have the human right to strive politically for the achievement of their rights with other minorities (Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, etc.) on one platform.
We are living in a global village. The civilized world and moderate and humane Indians who are in a majority will support them and will not let concepts like Hindutva, racialism, Zionism and Naziism succeed.
KHWAJA MUHAMMAD BASHIR BUTT
Bahawalnagar
DAWN, true to its traditions, gave a prominent display to the proceedings of the centenary celebrations of Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu. That was not all.
Tuesday’s Dawn (Jan 7) carried a highly readable and informative article, ‘A century of dedicated service’, by my old friend, M. H. Askari. He has encapsulated the history of the Anjuman in a few hundred words.
There are two points towards which I want to draw your attention. One, the destruction of Anjuman’s library during the partition riots. The story needs a full article, to be told some time later.
Another point, so many persons are named in the article who were, or are, behind this great institution, sans Jamiluddin Aali. Please permit me to state the fact that Aali is a highly controversial person. He has thousands of friends as well as the same number of foes. I come under neither category. We have met only twice, first for a few minutes at a function, second, some two years back. That’s all.
Mr Askari being a class-fellow of Aali is well aware of the fact that Aali has been the honorary secretary of the Anjuman since 1961. During the last four decades the Anjuman has published 270 books, has been regularly bringing out Qaumi Zaban, a monthly magazine, and also a research journal till around 1999.
I being a journalist feel that Aali became the victim of space problem, which gives nightmares to those in charge of various sections.
ZAMIR NIAZI
Karachi
I WAS disappointed to see that the references to Jamiluddin Aali and some other distinguished intellectuals were edited out of my article on Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu.
No account of the Anjuman since its establishment in Pakistan can be complete without an acknowledgement of Aali’s services to it in his capacity as its honorary secretary for the past 40 years.
Despite his health problems he has devoted a great deal of his time to supervise the management of the Anjuman. With his experience as a former civil servant and his personal contacts in the higher echelons of the bureaucracy, he has managed to offer valuable service to the Anjuman, specially in times of economic stringency and bureaucratic apathy.
M. H. ASKARI
Karachi
THE newly-formed government of Prime Minister Mir
Zafarullah Khan Jamali has made poverty alleviation its priority. One of the steps to this effect is the provision of loans to the unemployed youth.
Such incentives were offered to the youth in the past as well but those loans, instead of reducing poverty, multiplied the people’s misery. Over 15 per cent interest on the loan was indeed a great burden for an unemployed youth who had to pay it back within a stipulated period.
Those who took small loans during the Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif governments have been facing many difficulties in the district of Chitral, which remains cut off from the rest of the country for at least six months during winter. For the last four years, the area has been facing severe drought, making it difficult for the people to establish their business.
The Jamali government is requested not only to write off the interest on the small loans borrowed in the past but also lower the interest rate on fresh loans being disbursed through SME Bank and other micro-credit banks.
Many poor Chitralis will be sent to jail if the government do not write off the interest on small loans (below Rs100,000). An unemployed youth in Chitral can only set up a business when the interest rate is fixed between six and seven per cent.
The poor people of Chitral hope that the president and the prime minister will pay attention to this issue.
ZIA-UR-REHMAN
Chitral
Far from being the authentic expression of Islam, those who abuse the Islamic faith to justify terrorism, hatred of America (or any other nation), as well as other immoral actions, are revealing that their true faith is not in God, but in themselves and their own sense of superiority.
All major religions — reflecting perhaps a divine plan beyond our understanding — teach us that we are intimately related with our fellow man across national, linguistic, and political barriers.
Let us not forget that Adam was made in the image of God. And that he and all men are ultimately subordinate to the Creator. This is the beginning of wisdom, as well as the path to justice and peace in the world.
CHRISTOPHER A. ROACH
Dallas, USA
THIS refers to the article, ‘Where do we keep our brains?’ (Jan 5), by Ardeshir Cowasjee.
According to the writer, the population growth rate in Pakistan has shot up to almost an unmanageable figure — close to three per cent a year. This figure is, however, not in conformity with the actual growth rate based on 1998 Census and various surveys conducted by reputable national and international organizations.
According to 1998 Census, the population of Pakistan stood at 132 million. The inter-census annual population growth rate was 2.6 per cent (1981-98). Currently, the annual population growth rate is 2.1 per cent and the country’s present population is 145.5 million. Births per minute are six and the addition per hour is 360. Thus, 8,237 babies are born every day and approximately three million every year.
Immediately on assumption of power, the president of Pakistan taking cognizance of the rapidly growing population and its impact on socio-economic development of the country constituted a high-powered review committee to asses the population welfare programme.
Based on the recommendations made by the review committee, structural changes have been made. These changes inter alia include de-federalization of the programme and its devolution to the district level.
In addition, the ministry of population welfare has released two important documents, i.e. National Population Policy and Population Sector Perspective Plan - 2012. The policy was in fact announced by the president himself on World Population Day on July 11.
SHERAZ LATIF
Director, (CS), Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the letter, ‘PIA in Canada’ (Jan 8), by Azam Zaidi. The letter smacks of extreme bias and has a host of incorrect information.
His allegations are totally baseless as can be illustrated by the following facts.
PIA did not operate any flight to or from Toronto on Dec 28 as mentioned by the writer. In the entire month of December, PIA did not deny boarding to 40 passengers on any of its flights.
Ever since PIA has installed the latest hi-tech Sabre Reservation System, there has been a radical improvement in the functioning of its system of reservations, and passenger complaints have dropped significantly. Incidentally, the main thrust of this sound, technically advanced system is to implement a strict check on reservations, leaving no room for manual tampering.
Pakistanis travelling to Pakistan tend to press for their return seats/bookings within a week, which is practically not possible for the airline. Therefore, they have been informed (repeatedly) that they should travel on confirmed tickets to or from their destinations so as to avoid inconvenience and misunderstanding.
(Mrs) A. F. JAMAULDDIN
Manager Public Affairs,
PIA, Karachi
YOUR editorial, ‘Over-size cabinets’ (Jan 5), says: “A thoughtless increase in the size is something a poor country like Pakistan can ill afford. The truth is that every minister costs the exchequer a huge lot of money. Ministers enjoy a large number of perks and privileges.”
All media men in unison have been crying hoarse for the return of democracy, and when it is here, you don’t like the way it is. Cabinets are not bloated yet as you assert, more will come to bloat them. Remember, politics is a commercial venture; politicians participate in elections as an investment, and when time comes to double or triple their investments, editorial writers begin to holler at the top of their voice.
Please realize that democracy will only take roots in the country when politicians are happy. And they will be happy when they have all their fingers in the pie. We have ushered in the blissful era of democracy. Therefore, sit back, smoke your pipe and relax. The show has just begun.
DR A. P. SANGDIL
Oslo, Norway
IT was very nice to read Ayaz Amir‘s column, ‘The correct method of waging war’ (Jan 3).
He is right when he says that there are so many areas where India and Pakistan can compete other than the battle-field. A healthy competition will bring about peace and then they will be able to claim their rightful place in the world.
Both the countries are wasting their valuable resources in gearing up war machinery rather than helping the poor. As Mr Amir says that even if Pakistan is able to liberate Kashmir from India through violence, it will be very difficult for Pakistan to keep the militants busy with something else in Pakistan. They will continue the same acts — may be against Pakistan then.
A clear example of this is Afghanistan where 20 years of war had made the public and the fighters so immune to human sufferings that they continued with the same mind set even after they expelled the Russians.
Though the problem of Kashmir is hurting both the countries, Pakistan has to realize that India is in a position to confine the problem to a smaller part and still be able to make progress in other parts while in Pakistan the Kashmir problem has become the a sole objective of the entire nation. Being a bigger country India can afford a part of it being unstable but the same is not true for Pakistan.
India will never give up its claim on Kashmir, not because it is justified but because it will also mean bringing Pakistan nearer to its doorsteps which no Indian leader will ever do. Hence the solution will be to accept the ground realities and strengthen or relations in other areas.
I wish and hope we all will live together in peace some day.
HEMANT KABDWAL
USA
MANY people have been criticizing Nadra because of its inefficiency since inception.
Through these columns I would like to draw the attention of the high-ups in Nadra to the poor and ineffective delivery of computerized national identity cards (CNICs) and suggest a solution to improve this system.
Before starting its operation Nadra boasted that CNICs would be delivered at the doorstep of every applicant. People heaved a sigh of relief that they would be saved from paying several visits to the offices of Nadra and would thus receive their CNIC without any hassle.
But experience proved that this was merely a wishful thinking of Nadra. In fact, the procedure has complicated the delivery system of CNICs.
In the beginning, Nadra engaged a courier service but it did not work. After this failure, the National Database Registration Authority tasked its representatives with delivering CNICs. This plan also turned out to be a farce. Now its delivery has been entrusted to post offices but this strategy, too, is losing ground fast.
On most occasions, postmen return a substantial number of CNICs, saying that they are unable to locate the addresses of such and such persons. This situation arises owing to mistakes in the addresses either given by the applicants or made at the time of data entry.
It is suggested that Nadra revive the old system in which cards are received by the Nadra offices, which delivered them to the applicants.
MOBASHIR ALI
Multan
ON Jan 3, President Bush told a news conference that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the American people. But this statement is nothing when compared to the track records of successive American presidents and the record of irresponsible Western leaders.
It was America which irresponsibly used nuclear weapons against the civilian population of Japan. It was America again which used biological weapons against Vietnam.
Islam played a different role altogether. History bears testimony to the fact that the Muslims remained responsible in their conduct during war and peace in dealing with the peoples of different races and religions.
DR AMJAD MAHMUD
Lahore
IT was sad and shocking to read on the international pages of Dawn (Jan 5) about Rabbi Gabriel Farhi, who was stabbed in the abdomen by a masked man in the synagogue at Rue Petion, Paris, France.
Rabbi Farhi’s mission is to bring the Muslims and the Jews closer and to establish brotherly relationship between the two great religions, i.e. Judaism and Islam. May God protect him.
FARAKH MALIK
Karachi
I HAVE read the letters in these columns about India’s economy. The first one was by Sachin Rath (Dec 11), followed by Salahuddin Leghari (Jan 2) and then by Brijesh Robinson (Jan 5). To set the records straight, let me compare a few facts using World Bank’s statistics.
Firstly, the commercial energy usage per capita is a good indicator of the industrial activities of a country. Surprisingly, the per capita for India is 480 and that for Pakistan 451. Not much of a difference.
Now, let us compare some other important sectors. Agriculture, value-added (percentage of GDP) for India is 26.1 and for Pakistan 26.7. Industry, value-added (percentage of GDP) for India is 26 and for Pakistan 26.5. Export of goods and services (percentage of GDP) for India is 12 and for Pakistan 15.6. Other services, value-added (percentage of GDP) for India is 43.7 and for Pakistan 49.8.
Indians always boast of their rapid progress in IT. Well, according to World Bank statistics, personal computers per 1,000 people for India are 3.3, and for Pakistan 4.2, internet hosts per 1,000 people for India are two and for Pakistan 4.3. As one can see Pakistan is ahead of India in many sectors despite the fact that the past few years have been both politically and economically bad for Pakistan.
Statements such as “India has come of age” do not reflect the ground realities at all. And for Mr Rath’s statement that we would like to get to where China is in, maybe, the next decade, I don’t believe this is possible. China’s present growth rate is 8.1 per cent (one of the highest in the world), and to be comparable to China in 2013, and taking into account the double digit growth of Chinese economy in the last 15 years or so, India has to grow at a rate of 13-15 per cent continuously for another 10 years from its present rate of just seven per cent. Most economists and people with a little bit of common sense will agree that only a miracle can make this happen.
I would also like to stress the fact that we in Pakistan should ensure continuity of sound economic and social policies. If we succeed in doing so, we will be far ahead of India in the next decade. A prime example of this is our Karachi Stock Exchange, which was the best performing exchange of the world for the year 2002.
ATIQ REHMAN MALIK
Sydney, Australia
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