| February 11, 2003 | Tuesday | Zul Hijjah 9, 1423 |
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Poverty reduction
Why oppose family planning?
Safety and security of public life
CSS: amended rules
Call to ban Basant
HEC’s injustice
Looting in Karachi
Law against karo-kari
A fundamental obligation
Facing terror
Colin Powell’s plea in UN
FANS of the terror war will be sad to note that US efforts in Central Asia have suffered yet another setback. President Musharraf travelled this week to Moscow to curry favour with President Putin in what Pakistan’s government officials termed a “new stage” of the countries’ diplomatic relations.
Musharraf’s intentions are obvious: to indicate his government’s willingness to deal with Moscow at least as favourably as current client state India has historically. What may be less obvious to some is what the strengthening of ties between the two countries says about US efforts in the Afghan conflict.
One of the more downplayed aspects of cooperation between the US and Russian governments is what the Russians actually get out of it. Putin must have got some payoff to stand in a Texas auditorium in front of children and news cameras. Say what you will about Vladimir Putin, but at least he doesn’t string together cliches jacked from Bill Kristol’s dream journal and call them a State of the Union address.
But I digress. The Russians have a foothold in Afghanistan and surrounding areas so profound that the mainstream media cannot mention it, lest it shatter the illusion of unimpeachable US military supremacy.
Pakistan sees that and is forced to take note of it and to deal with a country that maintains military and strategic resources that far exceed its own. Furthermore, Pakistan sees that the US government has yet again made a bunch of promises on which it has no intention of delivering. All this adds up to a client state making every reasonable attempt to go into business for itself, because the current US war is the worst of both worlds for the beleaguered people of Pakistan: armed conflict and no payoff. Musharraf realizes that to such a degree that he can’t decide whether Osama is alive or dead; whatever his answer, Pakistan is shafted.
Pakistan’s troubles are only amplified by the periodic threats made by the Indian government, which the US believes merits the most-favoured nation’s status from the Pakistan government.
Unremarked upon in the US corporate media is from where the latest supplies for Al Qaeda are coming. There will be plenty of time to speculate about who provides the curiously resurgent Al Qaeda’s resources. That said, there will be less time to discuss President Musharraf in the present tense, if his overtures to Moscow get out of hand.
If Pakistan begins to move too independently, acting preemptively without considering the strategic interest of the US as more important than its own, expect Pakistan to be declared a hotbed of Al Qaeda activity, and for Musharraf to be ousted in favor of a newly-minted moderate military dictator. The business of statesmanship; governments sending their poor and their damned to obliterate each other on battlefields.
ANTHONY GANCARSKI
Spokane, WA
THE government is preparing a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper to be presented to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Instead of continuing with the dictates of the Bank and the IMF and following the rotten capitalist policies which are a proven failure, i.e. privatization of public property, trying to reduce population growth rate or supporting useless NGOs, etc., the government should implement the policies laid down by Islam. These can be summarized as follows:
1. Circulation of wealth within society must be ensured. This is achieved by prohibiting hoarding and monopolies and by giving grants and interest-free loans, and land to landless farmers, in addition to introducing the system of zakat.
2. Every individual must have his basic needs (food, shelter and clothing), in addition to health, security and education guaranteed by the state.
3. No public property must be privatized and prices of all public utilities like oil, gas and electricity must be maintained at “no profit-no loss” level without the imposition of any taxes.
4. All non-Islamic taxes like the GST, income tax and property tax must be abolished.
5. The state should provide and create employment for all persons holding citizenship of the state.
6. The policy of self-reliance should be followed, instead of relying on foreign aid and loans.
7. Local industry should be helped by providing them with technical know-how to compete with the rest of the world, instead of inviting multinational companies.
8. Sharecropping and leasing of agricultural land must be stopped. This will eliminate Mazara and Wadera culture.
9. Agricultural land (except orchards) must be taken away from anyone who does not cultivate it for three consecutive years, and given to land-less farmers.
10. Currency must be fully backed by gold and silver. This will eliminate runaway inflation.
These policies, in conjunction with other Islamic rules, will take us out of the precarious economic condition that we are in.
HASAN A. SHIRAZI
Lahore
IN his article titled ‘Babar and the elephants’ (Jan 5), Hafiz-ur-Rahman has quoted the Council of Islamic Ideology’s views on birth control, terming it un-Islamic.
One reason given by the Council while rejecting it was that “if the obnoxious practice of restricting births was adopted on a wide scale, the country would be deprived of the necessary manpower for its armed forces”. I would replace the last sentence with “deprived of the growing menace of beggary at traffic signals and in general”.
The Council should be aware of the fact that the armed forces do not employ persons who are undernourished and have low IQ. People living in city slums believe that they need not exercise birth control as the children are blessed with God’s Will.
At school-going age, these children play or roam around aimlessly on busy roads and become traffic hazard. Even the parents do not know of their whereabouts till they come back home to eat whatever is available. These poor and illiterate masses produce beggars and not soldiers, who become burden on society.
Thoughtful and educated people in our society do exercise family planning and prepare their children for the armed forces or to take up any other vocation. Worthy members of the CCI should see the reality around and understand that our economic stability and progress will remain retarded unless the masses are made to realize the necessity of birth control and its related benefits to the parents and the country.
PARVEZ RAHIM
Karachi
THE two consecutive tragedies of Karachi and Sialkot on Feb 3 and 4, respectively, should once again serve as an eye-opener for the government, which was busy in holding a meeting in Islamabad on Feb 4, with a view to evolving a strategy to improve the law and order situation in the country. The sad aspect of these incidents is the loss of 18 innocent lives, including children.
The apparent motive behind these incidents is to tarnish the image of the government and to create an atmosphere of insecurity and panic in the country. It is a fact that governments kept changing in Pakistan, but none of them could provide safety and security to the people. Initially, Sindh was the centre of such activities, but now every province has become the victim of lawlessness and violence.
It is very disappointing that the efforts made by successive governments to prevent such incidents have failed. Hundreds of innocent children, teachers, doctors, civil servants and intellectuals have lost their lives in such acts of terrorism. To provide a safe and peaceful environment to the people is the first and foremost duty of a government. Good governance is the test of meeting this challenge.
Public awareness about the measures of safety and security is the need of the hour. Our television and radio should launch a campaign against anti-national and anti-peace elements. The government should establish a public safety and security commission at the provincial level. It should also launch a drive against illegal immigrants to avert security risks.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
BALOCHISTAN’S graduates with the third division are disallowed to appear in the CSS examinations under the amended rules of the Federal Public Service Commission since 2001. A condition has been put before the candidates to have at least the second division in their masters’ degrees if their graduation is in the third division.
The authorities should consider the following points:
1. In Balochistan, a few thousand students do their graduation every year and more than 80 per cent get the third division.
2. Due to the backwardness of our province and late academic sessions, most students do their graduation at the age of 24 or 25 years. Possibly they get their master’s at the age of 28. At least it takes two years for the preparation of the CSS examinations. The FPSC has reduced the age-limit to 28 years. It means that the candidates from this region cannot think of appearing in the examinations while getting master’s degree.
3. There are students who have passed their matric and intermediate examinations in the first and the second divisions, but because of some unfortunate reasons, they could not get the second division in their graduation by a margin of 0.1 per cent or 0.2 per cent which is quite negligible.
Keeping in view these facts, the FPSC and the Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali are requested to change the amended rules that have created a sense of desperation among the people.
QUDRAT ULLAH
Quetta
I cannot figure out as to why the government is encouraging the celebration of Basant and Valentine’s Day, which are against our cultural and religious norms. I think it is the government’s responsibility to make sure that these events are discouraged.
I believe that celebrating a day on a collective basis, which is actually a leaf out of the non-Muslim culture and not compatible with our own culture, should never be encouraged. Besides, the consequences of celebrating such festivals at the end of the day are high in terms of death toll, electricity shutdowns and music at a high pitch disturbing those who need peace.
I urge the authorities concerned to ban all such festivals.
MRS SHIREEN MAZHAR
Lahore
THROUGH these columns, I want to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the criterion of selecting PhD students by the HEC (Higher Education Commission).
On Jan 20 I received from the HEC a letter in which I was informed that a test for GRE (General) and GRE (Subject) was going to be held. Since only 10 days were left for the test, I utilized whatever time was available and prepared myself for both tests.
When I appeared for the test on Feb 2, I was shocked to learn that there was no subject test and the test comprised only GRE (General). This is not proper, for if somebody wants to do PhD in computer science, he should have high level of competence in this area and the same is the case for every other subject area.
Furthermore, the authorities concerned not only compromised the standards they had set themselves, but also changed the level to suit a particular group of people. To compensate for the subject test, the weightage of the quantitative test was increased from 10 questions to 40 questions, whereas other sections did not receive any significant increase.
The authorities issued notices regarding the change of the paper pattern on Jan 25. Many candidates could not perform well because they received the letter only on Feb 3, i.e. one day after the test.
I appeal to HEC Chairman Dr Atta Ur Rehman and other authorities to conduct the test once again in accordance with the standards that they had set previously. The test which was conducted on Feb 2 did not take into account the required standards for higher education.
HASSAN AMIN
Peshawar
THE law and order situation has deteriorated gravely in Karachi during the last few weeks. Not a day passes when one does not hear personal account of deprivation of hard-earned cash by criminal elements, who are freely roaming about all over the city, with the connivance of those who are themselves responsible to check them.
Most of these cases are never reported to the police, as the public fears harassment from law enforcement personnel. These criminal elements have devised many methods to loot money from the people. They are surprisingly aware of what amount a person has drawn from a bank.
Another method is to snatch at gun point heavy amounts meant for the payment of utility bills. The most common feature in all these cash-looting as well car-snatching/hijacking cases is that the culprits are mostly on motorbikes and are generally pillion riders.
The only way left to check looting is to ban pillion riding in the city. It may cause hardship to many, but it will certainly help bring down the crime rate.
AYAZ FARID FAROOQI
Karachi
HUNDREDS of men and women are killed every year in the name of karo-kari, the so-called ‘honour killing, but no punitive measures have been taken yet by successive governments in Pakistan.
It is equally disappointing that hundreds of NGOs are active and functioning in the country, specially in Sindh, but they have failed to change the mindset of the people with regard to such killings.
It should be noted that the chairman of the Justice Committee, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, has abolished the custom of Vani in Punjab.
No one is a karo or a kari. These terms have been coined by waderas and sardars who are mainly responsible for the continuation of this evil practice.
Most such incidents are not reported because victims or their families fear that if they report the matter to the police, culprits who are mostly influential people will harm them or kill them. Besides, the police side with culprits for getting monetary benefits.
I appeal to the president to promulgate an anti-karo-kari ordinance with the objective of eliminating this menace once and for all.
SOOMRO MOHAMMAD AFZAL
Dadu
ONE of the most important obligations of Islam for every Muslim man and woman is to get education. All Muslims know how much emphasis Islam and the Holy Prophet (SAW) have given to education and made it compulsory for every Muslim.
Now that our government appears determined to make this country truly Islamic, it remains to be seen what steps it will take to spread real education. By real education I mean that when the student goes out looking for a job, he or she has a solid and clear base of concepts in the field he or she has specialized in.
The purpose of education is not just to get a piece of paper called a certificate declaring the holder a graduate, but character building, discipline and to take a path to maturity of the mind.
ABDULLAH AKHTAR
Karachi
THIS letter refers to Talat Masood’s article, ‘Facing challenge of terror’ (Jan 29).
The writer has portrayed a grim picture of the Muslim states in the comity of nations. He pinpoints some inherent flaws in the political systems of Muslim countries. Apart from having repressive political regimes, the Muslim countries lack educational and technological advancement and adequate investment in human resource development.
I appeal to the rulers of the Muslim nations to listen to the voices of their oppressed masses.
HAIDER ALI
Lahore
IT was a pathetic sight in the UN Security Council on Feb 5, with US Secretary of State Colin Powell sinking deeper into the quagmire while trying to find feet for all the fibs his country has been churning out. Even children can make such tapes of conversations as he presented to the world body.
The satellite pictures of what was claimed to be chemical weapon plants could have been of plants making medicines or chicken feed. The question is, what did prevent the US from pointing out these sights for inspections before?
In 1990 the US showed Saudi Arabia Soviet satellite pictures of two million strong Iraqi army standing on its border. Saudi Arabia panicked and agreed to pay $20 billion to be “protected”. Russia now denies those pictures ever existed; someone in the US invented them. Computers can invent any number of pictures.
The allegation of chemical and biological weapons being manufactured in 18 trucks which are moved about to hide from the inspectors is absurd, as sophisticated machines cannot be moved around.
That the Iraqi scientists have been told to stay home to avoid being interrogated by UN inspectors is to be expected. When one’s country, one’s family and one’s own security is at stake, who, in his right mind, would want to disclose to the enemy what weapons are waiting to be used against its invasion?
The US became rich by selling tons of anthrax, botulism, nerve gas, etc. to Iraq to use against Iran in 1980. Now it wants to get richer by taking over Iraq’s oilfields. But it wants to first get rid of the leftover germs and chemical weapons so that they may not be used against it in the event of a war.
Colin Powell has claimed that Iraq is helping the helpless Palestinians, but he forgets to mention that the US is providing money and arms to Israeli terrorists. No wonder the world is not buying all the excuses of Al Qaeda links, germ-spraying mirage jets, etc. to authorize the start of World War III.
The problem with the US can be well described in the words of Abraham Lincoln who said: “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
DR ZARINA KHAN
Islamabad
WITH reference to your editorial, ‘UN’s ‘no’ to war’ (Feb 2), I would like to add that former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who resigned in 1999, had the following views: — There is no link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. — Iraq’s chemical, biological and nuclear capabilities were destroyed in the years after the Gulf War. — Satellite monitoring and spying on Iraq would have detected new centres for producing weapons. — Sanctions prevented Iraq from getting the ingredients needed to make weapons. — Forced ‘regime change’ won’t lead to democracy. — The consequences of a war would be truly dangerous for the Middle East and could unleash a nuclear war.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
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