| January 15, 2003 | Wednesday | Ziqa'ad 11, 1423 |
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Late-night wedding functions
Pakistan postal service
Saffronizing history
State of nation’s spirit
Degeneration of civil service
What next, General?
Fight near church
Prices of locally assembled cars
Maritime museum
Dr A. Q. Khan and his ‘links’
DR Anwar Syed has tried to highlight the issues of higher education in his article published in your newspaper on Dec 29. However, he has not mentioned in his discourse a main issue — the high cost of education in Pakistan.
This factor alone has virtually ousted the poor from the institutions of higher learning. Leave aside private institutes and universities which fleece students because education is a business for them. Therefore, people have to pay huge amounts to acquire higher education.
But it is most shocking that the public institutions established with public money have also gone commercial. A medical college in Multan has increased its annual fee from Rs6,000 to Rs60,000 per student.
Similarly, on a so-called “self-financed” seat, a candidate is made to pay from Rs200,000 to Rs300,000. Under this category, many admissions are given to rich candidates, thus denying intelligent but poor candidates the opportunity to acquire higher education. This is a most cruel and unjust system. In its defence the high priests of the education establishment and those wired to the tunes of the IMF and World Bank may come out with figures of how much it costs to educate, say, a doctor or an engineer. True, but why doesn’t the government spend more money on education to enable many to improve their lot?
After all the “wretched British imperialists” established an education system for the “natives”, though limited, without putting burden on the people. But see what our national governments are doing. Their “reforms” are going to restrict education to the privileged few. This is unabashedly an anti-people policy. As this does not hurt the class of our politicians, they are just not concerned.
It is said that during the colonial period in China, there used to be a plate outside a garden which read: “Dogs and Chinese not allowed”. On a similar line our vice-chancellors and chairmen of governing bodies may order placement of such boards outside their institutions, warning the hapless poor not to enter their institutions. Those who are perpetrating such injustices can never endear themselves to the people.
M. NAWAZ QASMI
Multan
AS a senior citizen I wish to interact with your learned readers on the drift of our social functions, including wedding ceremonies, from 8pm at one time to 11pm and beyond these days.
We all say, ‘what the hell’, but continue to suffer. I term this nemesis of mid-night sociability a social disorder syndrome.
Over the years the entire city of Karachi has started coming into spin after 9pm; rushing from one place to another, and quite a few even proudly claim that they normally reach home at 4am.
These functions are also attended by schoolchildren, who are supposed to get up early the next morning along with their parents to go to their institutions and on errands.
If I do not sleep early, obviously sleeplessness, fatigue of the day and hang over of late night will affect my punctuality, performance and quality of work. If that is true and the entire city of 10 million is enjoying a continuous pattern of late-night weddings, won’t it affect the collective output of our nation? I don’t think our poor country, or any country for that matter, can afford a mass luxury of this kind.
I, therefore, solicit cooperation of my friends for putting our lopsided priorities of mid-night sociability in proper sequence. Social workers and NGOs in the field may have to engage to divert our citizens from such sociability into sports and other disciplines of life.
If my concern has an appeal, then there is also a justification for enforcement of discipline vis-a-vis the use/consumption of electricity by business centres, shopping areas and wedding halls and lawns.
By this act alone if we can save two hours of electricity consumption, there will be an easy saving of 10 per cent of the electricity consumed now.
It will be agreat if we can devise some modalities to arrest this negative trend in our social disorder.
BRIG (R) A. S. NASIR
Karachi
ABOUT two months ago, I sent my brother-in-law his birthday card along with photographs of my four-month -old twins for my parents. I just found out that even though I had declared the contents within the envelope officially to the United States Postal Service, the card never reached its destination in Karachi.
When my sister asked the postman, she was told that all post that is heavier than normal mail, or seems different from a letter, is now diverted to Islamabad for security reasons.
I would like to know who made this decision and who is responsible for such mail in Islamabad. Even if one was to accept the logic that all mail must be diverted, what is being done after it has been cleared by the security? Obviously, if it is being sent to its destination, my brother-in-law should have received the card by now. Or is the process so slow that the twins will be graduating from high school when the card reaches our home?
Secondly, since such mail is generally insured, who is going to pay for its loss? The USPS is not going to do it because, according to them, and rightfully so, they have done their part and it would have reached its destination had the Pakistani authorities not intervened.
I have always admired Pakistan postal service, especially the section dealing with international mail. I have just sent 30 New Year cards to my friends and relatives in Pakistan. I insist on doing this even when everyone else seems to be e-mailing pictures and cards to their loved ones.
I wonder if the officials realize how much money the country is losing because of such delays. Obviously, I will not be wasting my money on the postal service again in Pakistan if what I send does not reach its destination. Would anyone look into the matter and try to resolve the issue?
MISBAH SAADAT
Washington, USA
THIS refers to your editorial of Jan 10 under the caption “Saffronizing history”. History is witness to the fact that from ancient times segments of populations of the world have been in a volatile state, moving from one place to another. Hardly any country can boast of its ethnic and racial purity.
Specially, in the case of the subcontinent, the fertility of the land, the lush green forests, the overflowing rivers and the treasures of mineral wealth have attracted people from all over the world.
Leave alone the Aryans, who came here very late, the subcontinent had been visited by various races. The Anthropological Survey of India has categorized these early peoples as the Negroid, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Western Brachycephais and Nordic (see The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol 1, Ch II, edited by K. M. Munshi, former minister of India).
They were not Hindus like the later day Aryans, who themselves adopted various local cultural traditions and even their gods.
After the Aryans, those who entered India are such diverse races as the Greeks, Scyntians, Parthians, Kushans, Huns and the Muslims.
By re-writing the history of India the BJP government cannot relegate to the background the wealth of culture and spiritual values that were brought specially by the Muslim immigrants, the catalytic effects of Islamic institutions on the existing social and intellectual conditions, and the fact that it was the togetherness of more than 1,000 years of the Hindus and the Muslims that has given rise to the present civilization of India.
And what is Hindutva? The Hindus even owe their name to the Muslims. It was the Arabs who first termed the inhabitants of India as ‘Hindus’.
SYED OSMAN SHER
Toronto, Canada
IN his column, (Dawn, Jan 10), Ayaz Amir has aptly pointed out the mutilated state of the nation’s spirit that has overwhelmed our attitudes in all our interactions ranging from inter-personal to international.
The factors leading to this dreary state of affairs need a detailed exploration by all who feel slighted by the forfeiture of our will as a people and our sovereignty as a nation.
The inhabitants of the subcontinent have never been known for non-conformist, rebellious spirit, specially the people of Pakistan, since independence. But the way we have recently surrendered ourselves to all those who choose to intimidate, coerce and terrorize us into submission to all sorts of unfair and often shameful demands is unprecedented even in our chequered national history.
Often (maybe once too often) we listen to the sound of boots marching on the Constitution Avenue, trampling underfoot the rule of law and the nation‘s spirit along with it by simply proving beyond a shadow of doubt the ever-latent irrelevance of the Pakistani citizen to the affairs of the state.
Even in the best of times our political culture has always been that of exclusiveness, never taking kindly to the participation of the commoner. We have thus cultivated and fomented among ourselves a paralyzing sense of alienation and inconsequentiality as far as the running of the state is concerned. In short, we, the people, do not matter; may we be educated or illiterate, liberal or conservative. So we keep mute and keep out of mischief.
And thus a few more boots marching in Waziristan or raiding homes in Lahore fail to stimulate our numbed sensitivities. For us they are still more boots, what if they garb foreign feet. All they prove is what we have learnt by heart these past 55 years that in the land of the pure, might is always right.
NUSRAT BOKHARI
Islamabad
THE extent to which the civil service has deteriorated in Pakistan and unscrupulous elements have polluted this premier institution was evident from a news item in Dawn on Dec 28.
According to the news item, armed men stormed the house of a journalist in Skardu in official vehicles of a provincial secretary and manhandled and threatened the family members, including women and children, and locked them in a room. The secretary reportedly has a land dispute with a brother of the journalist.
This unfortunate incident raises a lot of questions about our society and its moral values. Was it proper on the part of a senior bureaucrat to resort to vandalism to settle a land dispute? Does the government provide a senior officer with carte blanche to attack somebody’s house to settle personal scores? And most important of all, are official vehicles meant for public duty or other purposes?
I do not know what action has been taken by the law-enforcement agencies in this regard, but I certainly lament such degeneration in our society, where the custodians of law have become its very violators.
I endorse the reforms introduced by the NRB, whose much-opposed devolution of power plan was a right step in preventing these bureaucrats from taking the law into their own hands.
SAFDAR SIDDIQUE
Rawalpindi
IF the Karachi police had encountered Ishrat Ibad before Election 2002, he would probably have been arrested. The police officers responsible for such a prized arrest would have received medals of valour for arresting one of the most wanted militants of the MQM. As fate would have it, the Karachi police now find themselves saluting the same gentleman.
For the people of Sindh, fate is unusually cruel. Now we have an alleged rapist as minister for education in the Sindh cabinet. According to HRCP, Irfan Marwat, the Hon’ble Minister, is on bail and has been named as the main culprit in the gangrape of Veena Hayat.
What next, Gen Musharraf? Asif Zardari as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau? Maulana Azam Tariq as minister of minority affairs? Yunus Habib as governor of State Bank? Justice (Retd) Malik Mohammad Qayyum as minister of law and justice?
The silent majority may be silent, but it is not stupid.
ZAHEER F. EQBAL
Minneapolis, USA
THIS incident took place on Dec 26, last, during a mehndi ceremony at St. Andrew’s Church Compound, Nabbah Road, Lahore.
There was music, fun and frolic, and when the mood was set, the people danced and drinks were served at the back of the premises. Eventually, a fight broke out. As it took a vicious turn, the church management lodged a complaint against one side with the local police, alleging violation of church sanctity.
The bride to be is a pastor’s daughter and the gathering was hosted by the girl’s family. The church management appears to be equally responsible for the incident.
It is a shame that such an event took place bringing a bad name to the whole community.
DAUOOD BURKE
Lahore
THE prices of the locally-assembled cars have not been reduced by the manufacturers despite the appreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar over the last one year.
The current price levels of most models of locally- assembled cars were set when the exchange rate was Rs67 to a dollar, and currently it is Rs58. Unfortunately, for the car buyers neither this 13.4 per cent appreciation of the rupee nor the gradual increase in local content has resulted in a reduction in prices.
Encouraged by the recent surge in demand, the cartel of local automobile manufacturers has decided to reap the benefits of the exchange rate themselves by earning hefty profits. They are also operating on minimum inventory levels and below the installed capacities without any consideration of automobile buyers’ miseries, who have to wait for 4-6 months to obtain popular models despite paying for them in advance.
It is high time the government intervened in the affairs of the local automobile industry and takes measures to introduce some regulation and accountability to protect the interests of consumers.
AAMIR MALIK
Karachi
According to newspapers, the Karachi City Government has decided to build ‘Disney Land’ near Clifton. This is another ambitious plan in addition to its previously- announced projects.
It is important to note that Karachi already has many incomplete projects, which included Central Park and Gutter Baghicha. Then we have some projects such as Safari Park which need attention for improvement and completion as per initial plans.
Also there was a beautiful and informative maritime museum with huge size aquariums having precious and rare maritime creatures at Clifton. This museum has been closed for the last many years for the purposes of maintenance. It is, however, alleged that the museum is closed because some influential officials and politicians took the precious creatures away during different government tenures.
If the city government takes a look at that and reopens the museum, it will have an attraction for the citizens and will become both an entertaining and educational place for children. Besides, chronic problems such as water shortage, electricity breakdowns, poor conditions of roads and waste disposal still remain unresolved.
In such a situation, isn’t it important and necessary for the city government to concentrate on these issues first and divert resources to resolve the major city problems and complete the unfinished projects, instead of making a junkyard of projects?
SHAHID H. QADRI
Karachi
I LEFT Dr A. Q. Khan Labs in 1996 after working with great pride under the dynamic leadership of Dr A. Q. Khan for about five years.
It was during that time when Dr Khan realized that we had an extremely experienced workforce and state-of-the-art equipment, and should support our local industry, which lacked all these things.
Auto-vendors, engineering and textile industry were areas where we could be useful. Thus, plans were prepared to support these industries in our free time, like in China where factories make fans, autoparts and tools for the local industry when they are not busy making missiles and other defence products.
Some work was done in this regard but was later stopped for the reasons that have come to surface now. It is sad to note the petty minds of our enemies who have always come in the way of our progress. I hope our leadership is strong to combat these forces.
Under the guidance of Dr A. Q. Khan, the KRL made great progress. It was Pakistan’s good luck that a leader with such great qualities graced our nation and achieved the impossible for us. If ever the doors of the KRL are opened to the public, they will realize that Dr Khan with a posse of dedicated colleagues has made in Pakistan an unprecedentedly extraordinary set-up, which can beat any multinational set-up.
People like Dr A. Q. Khan should be fully utilized and, instead of making monuments to them (after their death), they should be allowed to build organizations, which should act as productive monuments reminding us of these great men.
FAISAL IFTIKHAR
Karachi
I READ with interest the story about Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan being at the hub of “Axis of Evil” (Dawn, Jan 8).
The story is based on a pamphlet being circulated and an article published in a US newspaper. Only a very dumb person can buy these “facts”. The Zionist media in the US is against Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities and they want to teach a lesson to the persons who contributed toward strengthening the defence of Pakistan.
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan who, with many other Pakistani scientists, delivered a solid nuclear programme for the defence of the country, is being constantly harassed by people and media hostile to Pakistan and Islam.
Nobody is criticizing his Indian counterpart, Abdul Kalam. No pamphlet was found in India and no newspaper exaggerated and got involved in any malicious propaganda against Dr Abdul Kalam.
Quite contrary to Pakistan where the father of the nuclear bomb was sacked and kicked out, the Indian government duly honoured its scientists and made Abdul Kalam the president of India thus literally and rightly slapping Pakistan on the cheek.
If all the wishes and wills of the Musharraf government and its supporters are to be carried out, Dr Qadeer Khan would be sitting in Cuba just like Mullah Abdus Salam Zaeef who was handed over by Musharraf, by violating all diplomatic norms and honour.
SARA HAQUE
Islamabad
This correspondence is now closed. — Ed.D
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