| January 28, 2003 | Tuesday | Ziqa’ad 24, 1423 |
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NSS: cut in profit rates
Dearth of mental health professionals
Iraq crisis and Pakistan
Shirin Amir Begum
Relief package
Kashmir Day
State of democracy: Socialist view
World Cup: a moral dilemma
Karachi
Now that the US has included Bangladesh in its list of security risk countries along with five other countries, there is no possibility of Pakistan being taken off the list in spite of the efforts being made by our officials.
This leaves Pakistani seafarers with the dilemma of losing their employment on foreign ships if the vessels carrying Pakistani crew are going to suffer delays because of the INS profiling process and the additional cost of placing guards on board at ships’ cost.
With about a third of the world’s countries on the list, the US must be compelled to devise some routine procedure by which they can complete their formalities without causing delays and incurring extraordinary expenses to ships.
American INS or immigration officials can bring the necessary equipment for fingerprinting, photographing, etc. on board at the time of inward immigration clearance of a ship, with all the technology available in the US. It should also be noted that the crew arriving at the US ports require visas from the US consulates in their home countries.
With regard to restricting the shore liberty to the crew, over 95 per cent of ports in the world are restricted areas with immigration and customs check-posts at the gates. The crew are issued shore passes, as also in the US ports which are checked at exit and entry points at the gates. There is therefore no justification for placing extra guards on board at the ship’s cost.
Singapore, which is also creating problems for crew from some Islamic countries, including Pakistan, should take steps to devise procedures for their immigration formalities, which can be done without delays and additional shifting of ships to special quarantine anchorage, etc.
Loss of employment to the seafarers on the above account is a very serious matter and the problem should be taken up very strongly. If the above countries are determined to subject seamen to the processes that will render them unemployed, the affected Islamic countries should adopt retaliatory measures against the ships and the crew arriving from such countries. This may not have much effect on the US as it has a relatively small merchant marine, but would more largely affect Singapore flagships and their crew.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
THIS has reference to the letter, ‘Illegal Pakistanis in perspective’ (Jan 22), by Kunwar Khalid Yunus.
He is right in saying that the current hullabaloo over the registration of the Pakistanis living in the US needs to be understood in a perspective shorn of emotion. Faced with the very possible presence of dozens of Al Qaeda “sleeping” cells in the US, the INS authorities have every right to check on every potential Ramzi or Kansi they can find.
If some of our illegal immigrants get caught up in the net, it does not mean that the operation is Pakistan specific. Not a single legally settled, long-term resident Pakistanis has been harassed by the INS. Any demand for retaliation is, therefore, misplaced.
In the context of current world affairs, with the US as the dominant world power, it would be unrealistic to assume that we can do without America’s continued friendship and support. So long as the Pakistanis will look upon the US as haven for jobs and money, we must simply learn to acquiesce.
S. ASIF MAJEED
Karachi
DR Ishrat Hussain, the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, has openly defended drastic cuts in profit rates on the national savings schemes. He seems to be least bothered about the suffering of small savers in these schemes for whom the schemes were originally introduced.
His main argument is that inflation has gone down and the return to investors has increased. According to Dr Hussain, when inflation is four per cent it means that a thing which was available for Rs100 in the previous year is now costing Rs104.
The question is, why reduce income of small savers? In all fairness it should be increased proportionately to the increase in the cost of living. If a low inflation rate means higher return, why increase salaries of the federal and provincial governments’ employees, including civil and military personnel, judges of the superior courts, chairman of the Senate and speaker of the National Assembly.
The SBP governor’s another argument is that the government now does not need these deposits as this kind of borrowing is costly. Well, the government may not need such deposits, but small savers, including pensioners, widows and non-pensioners senior citizens do need them. In fact, profit from the savings schemes is the only source of their income.
The theory of linking profit on these schemes with the lending rates of commercial banks is not understandable as the savings schemes are primarily meant for small savers and loans from banks are obtained mostly by affluent people. Corporate bodies have already been barred from using these schemes. The theory is, in fact, designed to favour the users of investable funds as most of them are moneyed people. If this linkage theory is at all expected to yield some benefits to the poor in the longer run, say in five years or so, then why reduce their income now? It should be reduced only when the benefits become visible and are actually available to the small savers.
The charity package of one per cent increase in the profit rates for retired persons, pensioners, widows, etc., is not going to lessen their burden as the profit rates have already been reduced by more than eight per cent (almost half of their income) during the last three years or so. As it is, their life has been made miserable by the ever-increasing cost of living in the country. We have a strange fiscal/banking policy which says “present” for the affluent and “future” for the oppressed.
I appeal to the government to reconsider the matter and provide some tangible relief to the affected people, and make the poverty alleviation programme meaningful.
MOHAMMAD SALMAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the article titled “The depths of degradation - II” by Ardeshir Cowasjee (Jan 19). I have always admired Mr Cowasjee’s bold, incisive and well-researched articles on important matters of public interest.
In the above-mentioned article, he has for the most part accurately reflected the current state of affairs of mental health services in Pakistan. However, I would like to point out that his following statement is not entirely accurate: “... in the province of Sindh, no medical college or teaching hospital is staffed by recognized and competent psychiatrists.”
Since its inception in 1989, the Department of Psychiatry of Aga Khan University, has been staffed by highly qualified and trained (both from the USA and Britain) Pakistani psychiatrists and psychologists. The department operates a 15-bed acute care psychiatry ward, a day care programme, 24-hour emergency psychiatric services and 25 outpatient clinics per week, i.e. over 600 patients per month.
Our academic programmes include undergraduate and a postgraduate training in psychiatry, recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan.
We presently have four residents enrolled in our four-year postgraduate training programme. Our current faculty consists of four full-time and two part-time psychiatrists and two psychologists with PhDs in clinical psychology.
Dr ABUL FAIZA
Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, aku
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Yazdani’s letter, ‘Unjustified anti-Americanism’. It goes without saying that the ‘arrogance of power’ against which the late Senator, Fulbright, so eloquently cautioned is at its peak under the Bush administration, exacerbated by the incidents of 9/11.
The precedent of one country, no matter how powerful, attacking another sovereign country, no matter how evil, will be very unfortunate. However, the discussion is not about the obvious but rather it pertains to what the role of Pakistan should be.
The fascination with the elusive ‘solidarity’ with the ‘Ummah’ is most pronounced in Pakistan. We cannot be ‘more catholic than the Pope’, as the saying goes. In the war against Iraq, among the fellow Muslim countries, Qatar has given bases to the US. Kuwait obviously is an eager participant. Saudi Arabia, the guardian of our holy places, is also likely to go along as would Turkey.
Pakistan needs to look at the ground realities before taking any stand on this matter. Before the 9/11 incidents, the tilt of the Bush administration was so clearly towards India that many Indian columnists, who write regularly for influential American newspapers, could scarcely conceal their glee at the prospect of Pakistan being written off from the strategic equation of the US.
The tragedy of 9/11 offered Pakistan the challenge of emerging from the ashes of death and devastation as a modern and tolerant state. President Musharraf’s swift and unequivocal stand was undoubtedly helpful but the scourge of fanaticism and intolerance is unfortunately still with us.
At this juncture, the national interest demands that we remain on the sidelines on this impending conflict. Our protestations and shrill voices of exhortations to ‘jihad’ will achieve nothing. On the contrary, they will earn us the animosity of the most powerful nation in the history of mankind. This cannot be good for Pakistan.
The unusual success of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, whose members are adept at not dealing with the reality, is a sad commentary on the supremacy of emotion over reason in at least some segments of Pakistan. When faced with the choice of being pro-West or pro-rigid clerics, the answer for any sensible citizen of Pakistan ought to be obvious.
M. HAIDER
New Jersey, USA
THIS refers to a news report about Shirin Amir Begum’s death in your daily on Jan 20.
Shirin Amir Begum was the first wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was wrongly reported that Bhutto had married her at the age of 23 in the year 1951.
The fact is that Bhutto married Nusrat Bhutto on Sept 8, 1951. (See Rashid Akhtar Nadvi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Siyassi Sawaneh Hayat Part 1, Published by Idara-I- Marafa-i-Milli, Islamabad. p.47)
Benazir Bhutto writes about her father’s marriage in these words: “The Bhuttos had only married other Bhuttos, first cousin or possibly second. Islam entitles women to inherit property and the only way to keep the land within the family is through marriage. Such a ‘business’ marriage was arranged between my father and his cousin, Amir, when he was only 12 and she was eight or nine years older. He resisted until my grandfather tempted him with a cricket set from England. After their marriage, Amir returned to live with her family and my father returned to school, leaving him with a lasting impression of the inequality, specially as far as women are concerned, of forced family marriages.” (Benazir Bhutto, Daughter of The East, an autobiography, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1988, p.28.)
Stanley Wolpert has another story about Amir Bhutto: “Zulfi was only 13 when he was first married to an older cousin Shireen, whose married name is Amir Begum. She was one of the three daughters of his wealthiest uncle, Khan Bahadur Ahmad Khan Bhutto, one third of whose wadero estate would be inherited by Zulfikar after his father-in-laws death. The bride was much older than her adolescent groom, but he took her to Kashmir’s Srinagar for their honeymoon and handed all bills to his father-in-law, who reluctantly paid. Zulfikar assured his second bride, Begum Nusrat, that his first marriage was “purely for the property. However shortly after his daughter Benazir was born, Amir Begum also gave birth to a daughter.” (Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His Life and Times, Oxford, New York, 1993, p.22).
FARAH GUL
Islamabad
THIS refers to Sultan Ahmed’s article, ‘Beyond the relief package’ (Jan 23), wherein the writer has evaluated the five-billion-rupee “Falahi package” recently announced by the government.
The package is a very remarkable step, but it remains to be seen as to how the government will implement this programme and to what extent it will reduce poverty in the country.
If the Jamali government is really interested in helping the poor, it should ensure that funds are not misappropriated and the process of their distribution remains transparent. Besides, it should prepare more plans with the objective of eliminating poverty from the country. In this regard, it must create job opportunities for the youth.
The people also want relief in terms of affordable prices of essential commodities, security and free education at least up to matric.
GHULAM SHABIR BABAR
Karachi
MY question to our leaders is: how does a public holiday on Feb 5 serve our cause of Kashmir? I appeal to the rulers that, instead of declaring a public holiday for this cause, a positive approach would be to work on that day and allocate revenues to be collected during the day for the relief of our Kashmiri brethren.
I hope that one day we will have some sensible leaders who will pay heed to my request.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
ON behalf of the Pakistan People’s Party, I want to share with Dawn’s readers the Socialist International Conference Resolution on Pakistan passed in Rome on Jan 21.
The following are the main observations made during the conference, which was attended by leading parties of Europe.
1. The Socialist International continues to be concerned by the lack of democracy in Pakistan. Only a democratic rule of law, based on full respect for human rights, free and fair elections and a transparent and accountable government can guarantee peace and security for the people of Pakistan and between Pakistan and its neighbours.
The SI is specifically concerned that in August, following the fraud and coerced voting reported by independent observers during the referendum in April, 2002, the regime in Pakistan summarily announced constitutional amendments that formalized the military’s role in government.
The SI is also concerned that the regime exerted control over the electoral system. That was why, the Human Rights Watch, on the eve of the Oct 10 parliamentary elections, referred to electoral process as “deeply flawed” with the “vote stacked against democratic rule.” While the European Union stated after the vote that there were “serious flaws in the electoral process.”
The SI also notes that following the election the Commonwealth of Nations decided to maintain the suspension of Pakistan’s membership from the organization. At the same time, the Socialist International views with satisfaction that its member, Pakistan People’s Party, gained a plurality of the votes despite the enormous disadvantages and electoral manipulation that it faced and that it now holds a substantial number of seats in the National Assembly.
2. The SI calls on the regime in Pakistan to reverse the anti-democratic measures it has taken, particularly that it allow the people of Pakistan to enjoy the full range of political freedoms and civil liberties as provided under international law. It also calls again for the release of Senator Asif Ali Zardari, who is now in his seventh year of imprisonment without having been convicted of a crime and who is suffering from a lack of medical treatment for a serious spinal ailment.
And it reaffirms its solidarity and support for the Pakistan People’s Party and all the people of Pakistan who continue to work and struggle for the restoration of democracy.
FAUZIA WAHAB, MNA,
This is with reference to a news item published on Jan 19. I am not averse to the tradition of recognizing someone’s efforts or rewarding the national ‘heroes‘ for the good job we expect of them. But what concerns me is our way of thinking.
Apparently the rationale behind the Board’s decision seems to be an attempt to manipulate the ‘conscience and the ‘professional integrity’ of the players by offering them ‘legitimized bribe in the guise of a cash prize. It is a huge money and can be sufficient to open and run hundreds of new schools in the areas where thousands of children are deprived of the fundamental right of access to basic education.
Matches can be won, enemies can be defeated, progress can be made and cherished national goals can be pursued through intelligent and persistent efforts, good planning, professionalism, team work, and above all, by demonstrating a high standard of morality and professional integrity in all personal encounters. The good performance of each member of our cricket team, thereby, needs not to be linked with any direct monetary benefit, rather it should be an outcome of the patriotism, the missionary zeal, and the qualities to be demonstrated by the individual players in the fight to earn a good name for the nation.
We need to reflect on the implications of our being winner of the World Cup in the past. In my opinion, it neither brought lasting happiness to the common citizens, nor did it enhance our national pride and morale as an independent nation. We are still known as one of the most deprived and backward countries in the world.
Among the developing countries we are the nation spending least on education, health and other critical areas of social development. Our begging for grants, aids and rescheduling of loans continues.
The PCB should consider the question: what would be the ultimate source of this substantial money to bless the cricketers? Most probably, it would be the national exchequer’s blood or a new loan from the World Bank or IMF, or money from Baitul Maal Fund.
TAKBIR S. M. ALI
Toronto, Canada
WHETHER the Pakistan squad is strong enough to reach the super-six stage of the Cricket World Cup is the question of the day. Unpredictable is the word used for Pakistan’s team.
Wickets in South Africa will be fast paced and furious at times to make seam and fast bowling virtually unplayable. Bounce in the pitches would definitely hamper the brazen stroke play (Azhar Mehmood is the exception. As he is the only Pakistani having remarkable record against the Proteas in South Africa).
The point to be noticed here is that in South Africa batsmen tend to feel a bit tentative when playing on front foot. The likes of Bret Lee, Nanty Hayward, Glen McGrath and Andy Caddick along with Shane Warne and Murali would create trouble for our batsmen. That’s the real test for upper and middle order batting line up. Youhana and Inzamam as well as Anwar have the experience in the past to play on South African soil. They have to apply themselves more than 100 per cent.
The important point for the coming World Cup is that Waqar’s boys have to repeat the heroics of the 1992 World Cup victory. They have to have a firm belief in themselves as talent and flair reigns supreme in Pakistani team. The team is a combination of youth and experience and the only thing required will be to apply the skill and dexterity with better style.
HAFEEZ THEBO
Karachi
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