| January 16, 2003 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 12, 1423 |
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Plight of air passengers
George Fernandes’ warning
Literacy rate & population growth
Hijacking of vehicles
Late postal delivery
Passenger’s complaint: PIA version
Crisis over North Korea
Voters
Advertising by tobacco companies
Diversion of traffic
Lecturer’s post
Muslims and West: need for caution
SEVERAL letters have appeared in your newspaper on the subject of India’s economy. Some, mostly Pakistanis, are mocking at, while others, mostly Indians of course, are justifying the claim of India’s prosperity and progress.
Leaving aside the question who is right and who is wrong, I would like to point out that it will not be the battlefields which will decide any nation’s survival in today’s world; it will be the quality of human material that will decide destiny and prosperity and progress and, of course, survival of any country.
On my trips abroad I have seen thousands of Indians working in very senior positions in multinational companies and educational institutions and maintaining very prosperous independent business enterprises.
There is no denying the fact that India today turns out thousands of highly-trained professionals annually as well as publishes thousands of high-class technical books, which are studied in Pakistan, whilst our record is dismal except for some efforts at ‘clipping and pasting’ and barring a plethora of religious books.
I appeal to our leaders to concentrate on promoting education of the highest quality. We are not producing specialists, i.e. PhDs, in any significant numbers (except on classics and national icons), which is not the case in India.
All our efforts and resources should be concentrated on education of the highest quality and on achieving 100 per cent literacy within the shortest possible time. It will be campuses, research centres, etc. which will decide the place of Pakistan and, for that matter, of all Muslim countries in the contemporary world.
Let me conclude this argument by stressing that it requires a vision to perceive not only the problem but also its correct solution. I find no example of such a vision except in Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who was no less a Muslim than anyone else but, having foreseen very clearly the decaying state structure of the Moghuls and the highly —organized and disciplined apparatus of the British and the scientific and technological measures being introduced in all walks of life, he concluded very rightly that the new culture of governance would replace the doddering edifice of the Moghuls, who had failed to respond to the requirements of the times.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan saw the benefits of new inventions in the shape of railways, telegraph, roads, hospitals and, in short, in every walk of life.
He looked at these things with considerable envy and concluded that unless the Muslims in particular learnt new technologies and thus prepared themselves to have a share in the new infrastructure, they would be reduced to the rank of untouchables. Against heavy odds and fierce opposition, mostly from Muslim clergy, he raised the structure from a hut to the magnificent edifice of learning and training now, alas, in India.
If it were not for this modern learning, how else could we today have the professionals, scientists and engineers for our defence services, industries, financial institutions and, above all, for the world-shattering achievement of building an atom bomb?
F. HASAN
Karachi
I had the misfortune of travelling on the Aero Asia flight E4 129 from Lahore to Karachi on Jan 3, with my family, consisting of an elderly person and two small children. It was indeed a most horrendous experience of my life. Some of my experiences before and during the flight are listed below:
— The flight time was 8:30am. I was told that as the plane was going to Dubai, our flight would leave once the plane had returned from Dubai. I was also told the flight was expected at 3pm. Meanwhile, we were not offered any alternatives or any relief. We had to seek refuge at a friend’s place to wait for the delayed fight. Incidentally, there was very little fog that day.
— At around 1pm I was told that the flight had been further delayed to 8pm, as the take-off for Dubai had been delayed. Again there was no relief for the passengers.
— Finally, at 6pm I was informed that the flight would definitely leave at 8pm. I rushed to the airport with the family.
— Chance passengers were accommodated by breaking the queue ahead of me and other passengers carrying confirmed tickets.
— A staff member of the airline (who was reluctant to tell me his name) continued calling his acquaintances ahead of us in the queue until I made a hue and cry about it. His attitude was of course quite curt.
— The passengers with confirmed tickets were not given seats together, while it was the privilege the chance passengers enjoyed. When I asked to see the station manager, the person at the counter refused point blank to call him. He, of course, ensured that I might not see his name tag.
— Once in the departure lounge, we had to wait for another couple of hours till the flight finally took off after 9pm.
— Once airborne we were served snacks, consisting of a stale sandwich, a samosa and a piece of cake — very appropriate for that time of the day indeed, and that, too, after the flight had been delayed by about 14 hours. The result was that on landing at Karachi at close to midnight, I had to go out and get food for my children.
ASAD A. KHAN
Karachi
ON page 16 of your daily of Jan 8, you published a threat by Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes “to wipe out Pakistan completely in a nuclear war”. On page 6 of the same issue you also published a warning from President Truman of the United States to Russian leader Stalin the same day 50 years ago that “a World War III would ruin your regime and your homeland”.
Truman further says: “Recently in thermo-nuclear tests we have entered another stage in the world-shaking development of atomic energy. From now on, man moves into an era of destructive power, capable of creating explosions of new order, of a magnitude dwarfing mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These developments mean that man is capable of extinguishing millions of lives in one blow. War has changed its shape and its dimension. It cannot now be a stage in the development of anything save ruin.”
Mr Fernandes may receive applause from the Hindu militants in India by his jingoistic rhetoric against Pakistan. However, before creating war hysteria, he needs to note what Truman said for the sake of his clients and for our sake.
There is no doubt that, by withdrawing its troops without a skirmish, the Indian leadership exercised a lot of prudence and wisdom and they deserve full admiration of all right thinking people.
The 700,000 Indian troops in Indian occupied Kashmir have served no purpose except causing devastation to that beautiful land and its people.
Mr Fernandes should persuade his government to seek a just solution to the Kashmir problem by coming to the negotiating table. Other alternatives will only lead to mutual ruination.
WAHEED AHMAD
Islamabad
THE importance of education lies in the fact that it ¨benefits not only individuals but also the whole community. The economic and political strength of a nation depends on the level of education its citizens attain. Education teaches us about ourselves and the world around us.
Before we try to protect the environment we should learn how to go about it. An educated person is far less likely to abuse the environment since he will be aware of its implications. Education also helps break the barriers of racism and other social maladies.
It may be mentioned that Bangladesh since its birth ¨concentrated on education, particularly the education of women. Thus, not only has its literacy rate shot up but ¨consequently its birth rate has also been dramatically reduced to below two per cent per annum.
So far as Pakistan is concerned, it is quite the opposite here. The literacy rate, particularly that of women, has dropped and the birth rate has shot up close to three per cent.
The military government during its three-year tenure neglected the population control factor. It is hoped the present education minister will not only concentrate on a mass literacy campaign but will also put special emphasis on the upliftment of neglected women. We hope the prime minister, in between his busy travel schedule, will find some competent person to take ¨up the population explosion problem.
An integrated and comprehensive approach is needed on war footing to curb the unmanageable population growth and raise the literacy level particularly among women.
S. A. KHOKHAR
Lahore
THIS refers to A. H. Aliani’s letter of Jan 8 about hijacking of vehicles in Karachi.
Mr Aliani has taken pains to make an estimate of the cumulative value of the annually stolen vehicles that runs into billions of rupees. I do not think hijackers are digesting those billions all by themselves.
If so, then who are the shareholders of this multi-billion “business”?
The writer says: “One is amazed at the indifference on the part of the higher authorities...”. Is this just indifference or indifference on purpose?
He also says Karachi has only three or four exit routes, and then wonders: “If strict vigilance is kept on these routes, the smuggling of stolen vehicles would become out of the question.” I frequently travel on all these routes for business purposes and I am often stopped for documents’ checking by the vigilance teams deployed at all these exit points. How is it still possible for hijackers to smuggle out stolen vehicles?
Two months ago, an armed attempt was made to hijack my vehicle in front of my own house at about 9pm. Fortunately, and thanks to my neighbour’s presence of mind, who was watching the incident from his balcony, three culprits who were riding a motorcycle had to give up and run away.
The ‘15’ helpline was contacted and was given the description of the culprits, the direction they drove away, the make of the motorcycle and even the colour of the helmet the driver was wearing. Though all contact numbers were provided, I never heard back from our police force.
NASIR KHATIB
Karachi
AN interview call letter from the Registrar, Punjab University, Lahore, for a lecturer’s post in the department of Public Administration was delivered to my daughter at her home (548-G4, Johar Town, Lahore) on Dec 18, 2002 at 3-30pm.
The letter was dispatched from the New Campus post office of the university on Dec 12. Due to the late delivery of the letter, my daughter could not appear in the interview at the office of the vice-chancellor at 9am on Dec 17.
Thus, due to the inefficiency of the post office staff, my daughter was deprived of a chance to become a lecturer at the university. It is hoped that the postmaster-general will take the necessary measures to streamline the the department.
A PARENT
Lahore
THIS is with reference to the letter, ‘PIA passenger’s complaint (Jan 13), by Imtiaz Agboatwala.
Investigations by PIA have brought certain facts to light. Firstly, the passenger’s baggage (one piece) was delayed owing to a random security/customs check by the authorities at JFK airport. PIA did not play any role in it.
Secondly, since the passenger left the airport premises immediately afterwards so as to catch his onward connecting flight, the bag could not be delivered to him when it was retrieved a little later.
Thirdly, the passenger was contacted by the PIA staff at the telephone number left by him, but unfortunately, there was no response from the same for quite some time. It was only days later, after repeated attempts and efforts made by the PIA staff, that a contact was finally established with the passenger and the bag was delivered to him in Rochester by Delta Airlines on Jan 11.
Although such incidents are common in airline business, PIA regrets the incident and extends its profound apologies for the inconvenience caused to its valued passenger.
(Mrs) FARHAT JAMAL
Manager Public Affairs, PIA,
Karachi
THIS refers to your editorial titled “Crisis over North Korea” (Jan 13).
I wish to draw your attention to a factual error and a sentence that also does not accurately reflect the reality.
The editorial maintains that “the United States Senate has still not ratified the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty”. The fact is that the NPT was opened for signature on July 1, 1968, and signed on that date by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and 59 other states. The treaty entered into force with the deposit of US ratification on March 5, 1970. I assume you wanted to mention the US Senates’ non-ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. I hope this will clarify the matter.
The editorial also says that “many other nations, including India and Pakistan, have also refused to sign” the NPT. It depends how one defines “many”. The fact is that as of early 2000 a total of 187 states were parties to the NPT. Cuba, Israel, India, and Pakistan are the only states which are not members of the NPT. I think in a galaxy of about 200 states, four states should not constitute “many”.
DR HAIDER K. NIZAMANI
Islamabad
IF the politicians in Pakistan are required to have a minimum qualification to participate in the elections, why isn’t a similar condition imposed on the electorate?
REHMAN A. MALIK
Cardiff, UK
TO my great disappointment, I recently saw an advertisement by the Pakistan Chest Society Centre, thanking tobacco companies for stopping their TV and radio advertising.
This was in extremely bad taste for an office- bearer of the Pakistan Chest Society to praise these merchants of death.
Who knows better than a chest physician that tobacco is the single most important cause for disease, disability and death. Instead of thanking them, a complete ban on tobacco products should be demanded.
Tobacco companies have now formed an alliance through which they will become stronger and richer at the expense of our health. Do we really believe that tobacco companies have stopped advertising their products when millions of rupees are spent to show our teenagers how cigarettes are manufactured?
It is a fact that only a total ban on tobacco advertising can make a difference. It is high time we woke up and foiled the evil designs of tobacco companies.
S. ADNAN ALI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news report, ‘Public buses threaten CM House security’ (Jan 10).
Has the Sindh chief minister ordered the diversion of public transport from Karachi’s Ziauddin Road to Beaumont Road, which is in fact a lane and serves as parking for office workers?
One has to be working in this area to experience the problem of dodging buses, minibuses, taxis and rickshaws, both in the morning and in the evening. Finding parking space in this area is another issue, and the situation has worsened with the diversion of public transport.
I hope the chief minister will take notice of the fact that, by issuing such an order, he has earned the displeasure of thousands of citizens. Can we expect that the Sardar of Khangarh will rise to the stature of his new post and withdraw the order?
And if it is the work of some overzealous bureaucrat, he should be taken to task for issuing this order, which has resulted in loss of countless man-hours because of traffic jams and inconvenience to the taxpayers, and, above all, brought a bad name to the chief minister.
BABAR AYAZ
Karachi
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the Sindh Public Service Commission to my problem.
I applied for a lecturer’s post about which I came to know through an SPSC advertisement six months ago. However, I have not yet received any call or letter for appearing in the pre-written test. Will the SPSC let me and other applicants know when the test will be held?
AN APPLICANT
Sanghar
“IDEOLOGICALLY, the sovereignty of Pakistan is impaired by allowing American agencies to operate in our homeland.” This view is expressed in political discussions these days.
On the other hand, the Western world and specially its media have convinced themselves about a linkage between terrorism and Islam. They think the word ‘jihad’ is synonymous with terrorism, and Muslim religious groups are essentially considered as militants. These misconceptions have spread so widely that even Muslim journalists, columnists and spokesmen use the words like ‘jihadis’ and ‘Muslim militants’ while referring to suicide-bomb attacks.
The chasm is not between the Muslims and the West only. These two themselves are further divided into groups. The division is not only among the Muslims but Western population also faces it.
Such grouping in the Muslims and the Western societies has not helped reduce the gulf, it has rather increased it in a specific sense. They exchange views mostly on informal platforms and have reached the stage where each party listens to the other, not to discover the truth but to find faults with others and their theories. Now the Muslims believe that the West intends to erode their culture, way of life and religion while the West considers Muslims’ religious ideology an explosive material just waiting for a spark.
Mere analysis of the problems is of no help unless measures are taken to solve them. It is not the appropriate time to inflame anti-American sentiments or dissent for Western ideologies. We need to set achievable short-term priorities to attain our long-term big goals. The educated, liberal and enlightened people of Muslim countries have a great responsibility on their shoulders to become vocal and arouse collective consciousness.
We have to make conscious, continuous, unbiased and targeted efforts to disseminate truth. We may have to abandon some of our established beliefs (which is not an easy task for us). Thus, the humility to acknowledge one’s own mistakes and shortcomings is very important. We have to make ourselves inevitably important for the rest of the world because, in the new socio-political systems, countries devise their strategies based on national interests, not on their beliefs.
ZIA ULLAH KHAN
Lahore
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