| February 12, 2003 | Wednesday | Zul Hijjah 10, 1423 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Iraq: disinformation campaign
Killing of a teacher
‘Bhutto’s shock to finance’
‘Crossing the bar’
Let’s stop holidaying
Cancer registry
Out of order traffic lights
Quaid’s birthplace
Where are we headed?
Basant: the price to pay
I WAS dismayed to read two letters in Dawn against oral polio vaccine. Pakistan is one of the 10 countries in the world where poliomyelitis is still prevalent.
Unicef and Who have set 2005 as the target year to eradicate this disease from the world. It is our moral and national obligation to help achieve this target.
All vaccines and medications have some side effects, but the benefits are weighed against the risks. Smallpox vaccine, too, had side effects, but its mass administration helped eradicate the disease from the world.
The risk of paralytic poliomyelitis from oral polio vaccine is one in 2.5 million, which is almost negligible. There are no other serious side effects. Injectable polio vaccine is a killed vaccine, and does not have this risk. It is expensive and has to be administered by technically trained persons, and so it is not suitable for mass campaigns. Also, it is not effective against ‘wild virus’ which is present in the intestine and is excreted in stools.
No vaccine is 100 per cent effective and so, children who have completed their immunization schedule should also be given additional protection. Oral polio vaccine is excreted in stool, and so it provides ‘herd immunity’ in the community, reaching those who are unvaccinated. It is effective against ‘wild virus’ in the intestine.
In 1988, 350,000 cases of polio were reported in the world. In 2001, the number fell to 483. Out of these, 116 confirmed cases were reported from Pakistan. No cases were reported from Bangladesh. Pakistan has only 58 per cent children immunized against polio with three doses of oral polio vaccine. Pakistan is among the high intensity transmission areas for polio along with India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Niger.
Sameera Raja has mentioned Hepatitis C vaccine. This vaccine does not yet exist in the world, and so she probably meant Hepatitis B vaccine. This vaccine can cause local pain, redness and fever. Fever occurs in one to six per cent cases and pain in three to 29 per cent cases. Severe allergic reactions can occur in one in 600,000 cases.
Hepatitis B is common here due to unhygienic practices. The carrier rate is about 10 per cent. This is a dangerous disease, as it can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and death from liver failure and liver cancer. Mild local reactions are a very small price to pay for protection from such a dangerous disease.
As the majority of the people of Pakistan are illiterate and superstitious, educated people must help promote the use of vaccines and set an example by getting themselves and their families vaccinated. Mass media also must not spread misguiding news, promoting fear and mistrust.
Dr YASMEEN KAZI
Karachi
IN his speech at the UN Security Council on Feb 5, Colin Powell did not offer any new viable evidence about Iraq’s nuclear weapons’ capability which President Bush and his entourage continue to wave as a red flag in front of the American people to incite them to wage an unjust war.
On the contrary, the few flimsy pieces of so-called evidence that were presented by Mr Powell about a supposedly continued Iraqi nuclear weapons’ programme serve only to weaken American and British accusations, and reveal their untenable attempt to cover their disinformation campaign.
Mr Powell only accused Iraq but did not provide any evidence that Baghdad had tried to get nuclear grade fissile material since 1998. He vainly gave the impression that everything was set and readily waiting for just this material to be acquired and the atomic bomb would be rolling out of the other door.
The US secretary of state did not bother to ask himself the following questions:
(1) Where are the scientific and engineering staff required for such an enormous effort when almost all Iraqi scientists have been living in abject poverty for the past decade, striving to feed their families on $20 a month, with their knowledge and expertise atrophied under heavy psychological pressures?
(2) Where is the management that may lead to such an enterprise? (The previous management team of the nuclear weapons’ programme in the 80s exists only in memories and reports. Its members have retired, secluded themselves, or turned to earning livelihood for their families).
(3) And, where are the buildings and infrastructure to support such a programme? (The entire nuclear weapons’ programme of the 80s has either been bombed by Americans during the Gulf War or uncovered by IAEA inspectors. Besides, it is impossible to hide such buildings and structures).
Mr Powell should only take a look at North Korea’s atomic weapon facilities, or perhaps even Israel’s to realize the impossibility of hiding such structures, with IAEA inspectors scouring everything in sight.
He said: “Let me now turn to nuclear weapons. We have no indication that Saddam Hussein has ever abandoned his nuclear weapons programme.” This borders on being humorous, but as the proverb goes, “The worst kind of misfortune is that which causes you to laugh.”
RAHIM PANJWANI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letter, ‘A teacher looted, killed’ (Feb 3), about the killing of Prof Naseeruddin who was a retired teacher reemployed in a private school of Karachi.
Prof Naseeruddin had only Rs200 in his pocket when the incident took place, but his killers considered this to be a lie. Although he volunteered to be searched, his plea was not accepted. The gentleman who was driving the car in which Prof Naseer was sitting had Rs4,000 in his pocket, but he was not searched.
In 1947 when Naseer’s family left Delhi, his elder brother, Zaheer, was killed by a mob of frenzied Sikhs at Atari, just 13 miles away form the Pakistan border at Wagah. His another brother, Sagheer, was attacked with spears, and he almost died. Their father was injured but managed to escape. Their fault was saying goodbye to their ancestral home at Delhi.
This time Naseer’s fault was being a retired teacher who possessed only Rs200 in his pocket. In the first instance, individuals who killed/injured his brother belonged to a different country and religion. In the present situation, they were the teacher’s own countrymen. His assailants are likely to be Muslims because in many mosques they do not any more teach that the “killing of an innocent man tentamounts to killing whole mankind”.
Since such incidents seem to have been on the increase for the past few months, many questions come to one’s mind: (i) why have our successive governments not been able to safeguard the lives and property of citizens? (ii) when such incidents often occur in areas like Teen Hatti, why can’t plain-clothed policeman be deputed there and at busy intersections and traffic signals? (iii) is the answer finding a Tikka Khan or Naseerullah Babar? (iv) will the people of Karachi ever find themselves in a state when their family members can expect their loved ones to return home safely?
I am myself a teacher and live in Karachi. I have been visiting almost all districts of the city for the may years. In three colleges where I have taught, my students came from different stratas and segments of society. Impressed by their conduct and character, I have developed a feeling that more than 97 per cent of the people of this city are law-abiding, peaceful citizens.
I know that some powerful groups protect and exhort their agents who indulge in unlawful activities. Why can’t we find some solution to this problem? But this is a question of which nobody seems to have an answer in this city or elsewhere.
KHALID HASSAN MAHMOOD
Karachi
ECONOMISTS, particularly former World Bankers, tend to find the causes of economic malaise merely in misconceived policies. This is precisely what Shahid Javed Burki does in his article, ‘Bhutto’s shock to finance’ (Jan 28, when he says that “a high initial level of government ownership of banks leads to lower rates of economic growth” missing out completely is the incompetence of the bureaucracy.
In 1987 The Guardian published a supplement on bureaucracy. One of the articles therein pointed to this aspect very succinctly. According to the author, governments come and go as the mood of the nation changes. Bureaucracy provides continuity to the state. Professional competence of bureaucracy can contain fallout from even fundamentally flawed government policies.
Under socialist governments of the 1970s, Britain and France provided the proof thereof. If the criteria set out for the selection of bureaucrats provide for attracting the best talent from colleges and universities, and these criteria are adhered to in selecting bureaucrats, the process can ensure that competence eventually rise to the top, thus preventing even bad governments from doing lasting damage to the functioning of state institutions.
If, however, this process is tampered with, the scum may eventually rise to the top. The disaster can be compounded if business and industry is nationalized and handed over to this lot whose incompetence eventually reduces it to a shambles. Every socialist government committed this sin, and eventually destroyed the country’s economic base. Pakistan was no exception.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto committed a cardinal sin when he introduced the system of “lateral entry” to civil service. He fiddled with the process of selecting bureaucrats to accommodate men and women who were largely unfit to manage the affairs of the state. This he did in the name of opening up the corridors of power to the ‘people’.
Even the nationalization of banks could not have slowed economic growth as rapidly as it did, had they been supervised by professionally competent bureaucrats in the federal ministry of finance.
A. B. SHAHID
Karachi
WITH reference to the write-up by Kuldip Nayar entitled ‘Crossing the bar’ (Feb 8), I would like to quote from the autobiography India Wins Freedom by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad:
“I found that Patel was so much in favour of partition that he was hardly prepared even to listen to any other point of view.
“... I was surprised and pained when Patel in reply said whether we liked it or not, there were two nations in India.
“...After a few days Jawaharlal came to see me again. He began with a long preamble in which he emphasized that we should not indulge in wishful thinking, but face reality. Ultimately he came to the point and asked me to give up my opposition to partition.
“... But when I met Gandhiji again, I received the greatest shock of my life, for I found that he too had changed.
“...What surprised and shocked me even more was that he began to repeat the arguments which Sardar Patel used....”
These extracts are self-explanatory.
HAJI ESSA KATCHI
Karachi
MY friend, Nazim Haji, suggests every year that, instead of observing a holiday on Feb 5, we do additional work to support the cause of the Kashmiri people. This is indeed a laudable proposal which, of course, does not appeal to those in authority.
I suggest that if there has to be a holiday, massive public demonstrations in favour of the people of Kashmir be held all over the country. Let the political parties arrange such demonstrations.
I recently read on the internet about ‘human shields’ which European volunteers are arranging in support of Iraq. It is mentioned that a number of western volunteers were to leave London in a convoy bound for Iraq to act as human shields at key sites and populous areas in case of a US-led war on Iraq. Such convoys are leaving from various corners of Europe for a cause they firmly believe in.
Such are the deeds of a highly live people. They do not believe in holidaying. We could do the same for Kashmir.
MAHER H. ALVI
Karachi
THIS refers to the report, ‘Registry for monitoring cancer cases stressed’ (Feb 6).
The Sindh government started the ‘Karachi Cancer Registry’ to cover Karachi South in 1995. We have already extended it to cover the Karachi division.
I was tasked with completing the academic work which continues to date. Dawn has at regular intervals published extracts from our work. An update of the analysis is available for only genuinely interested organizations. We have several publications in National and International Peer Reviewed Journals for reference. Several others are in the press.
A registry is required to monitor the changes in the trend of cancers, and we will be very happy to monitor the ‘tobacco control programme’. It would be quite nice to see registries in other cities of Pakistan.
As I am the only trained member mentioned in the press release, I stand answerable and my expertise will be available to interested registries anywhere in Pakistan, of course, with official permission.
Dr YASMIN BHURGRI
Associate Prof of Pathology, Sindh Medical College,
Karachi
THE traffic lights placed near Gulab Devi Hospital, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, have not been working for the last many days.
The traffic on this road is heavy and fast, and in the absence of traffic lights or policemen, road accidents may occur any time.
It is regretted that no attention has been paid to this serious matter yet. The authorities concerned are requested fix new lights at all traffic signals on this road.
MUHAMMAD SALIM
Lahore
THIS is with reference to the letters titled ‘Quaid’s birthplace’ by Mohammad Umar Chand and Rafiq Ahmed Khan (Jan 3, 19).
About two years back, citizens of Jhirk formed the Quaid-i-Azam Yadgar Committee with the objectives of bringing home the fact that the Quaid-i-Azam was born in Jhirk.
In this connection, a seminar was held at Jhirk on Jan 13 last year. The seminar was attended by prominent scholars such as Dr Ghuman Ali Allana, Prof Habibullah Siddiqi and Aapa Shams Abbasi. Dr Abdul Soomro, Rasool Bukhsh Palejo and Ejaz Ali Khawaja also spoke on this occasion.
The seminar ended on the note that the Quaid-i-Azam Academy should be approached through the vice-chancellor of the Sindh University to take up the matter and to carry out a thorough research so as to arrive at a definite conclusion with regard to the birthplace of the Quaid-i-Azam.
The vice-chancellor accepted the request and wrote a letter to the academy which has not paid any attention to the letter yet.
It is about time the academy as well as other related institutions took up this matter seriously. The Quaid-i-Azam Yadgar Committee will always be prepared to provide and share all the information and documents available in this regard.
ENGR SADIQ HUSSAIN KHAWAJA
Senior vice-chairman, QAYC,
Jhirk
‘PLEA to root out corruption’ was the headline of a news item published in your daily on Oct 7, 1948.
The then finance minister, Ghulam Mohammad, appealed to the nation to live up to the ideals of Jinnah and consider no sacrifice too great in the service of the state. It was the Quaid’s aim of life and deep-rooted conviction to make Pakistan a prosperous, democratic, free of evil and corruption and a role model society.
What happened to the Quaid’s ideology, the mannerism he effortlessly taught, the direction he pointed us out towards and the sanctity of individual rights he stressed upon?
Now some believe in him, some repeat his words of wisdom to gain attention and many do not even bother to read or listen and think about what Mr Jinnah said. It seems that today we are not even near to the point where we started. Any step to root out corruption would still be an uphill task and may involve more corruption to do it.
Society is full of evil elements. Education has gone to the lowest standards. The adage ‘might is right’ stands true as ever. Real scholars and statesmen are invisible. Other noble professions like sports and medicine are no more transparent. Child labour and suppression of poor is openly seen on a daily basis. We are getting miles away from religious and Islamic teachings. Countrymen face difficulties in outside world owing to a variety of reasons.
The list can go on and on. The question is, are there more heights to achieve?
H. ZUBAIRI
Islamabad
BASANT is the festival of jubilation, gratification and glee, with kites hovering in the sky, filling the ambiance with colour and euphoria. With the passage of time the festival has become a recognized feature of the city of Lahore, portraying the vivacious and vibrant nature of its people.
This festival provides a common ground for several classes of our society to interact with one another, raise their deprived, oppressed and distressed spirits and accommodate optimism.
The festival is equally admired both in India and in Pakistan. Although the number of Indian guests has been decreasing remarkably for some years now primarily because of the political instability, the yarn used for kites all through the festivity comes from India. Basant ties the people of the two countries with the thread of unity.
However, along the line we have depicted the wrong meaning of Basant. In fact, it has started to represent a kind of frenzy. The authentic intention behind this innocuous celebration is now being diabolically dominated by exaggerated parades of wealth and resources. An ingenuous harvesting festival has nowadays become a grand fiasco of expenditure, and money follows unestimatedly.
Now billions of rupees are spent during the whole festivity, thus creating an unspoken tension between the two major classes of society — the haves and the haves-not. Basant has become a festival which can only be celebrated in a befitting manner by the posh class, whereas the poor remain fighting with the odds in their lives endlessly.
A celebration in the busy and hectic lives of today’s people seems to bring the maximum joy with least expense, but on the contrary the cost of Basant is immense, be it material coat or immaterial. It is fairly tough to estimate the exact layout during Basant, but a rough statistic shows an amount from one to two billion rupees.
In the end, this exuberant exhibit of wealth creates a sinister agitation between the haves and the haves-not and conclusively we are losing at both ways.
The practice of display of wealth is common in our society, whether it is a social occasion like marriages or festivities like Basant. Creating awareness among the masses is not a simple undertaking. In an underdeveloped country, being well-healed in society is a blessing. Using this wealth cautiously to bring prosperity is the only solution for survival.
SHAZIA SABEEN
Karachi
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address:
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.