| April 8, 2003 | Tuesday | Safar 5, 1424 |
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Pakistan’s ties with India
F-9 park & Islamabad police
Time to reactivate UN
Security around Frere Hall
Teaching in English
NIC for overseas Pakistanis
What do cartoons do?
Pollution in Lahore
CPLC chief’s exit
Need for a separate dental council
WHEN the coalition forces captured Afghanistan they promised the Afghan people reconstruction of the war-ravaged country. If you visit Kabul today you come across heavily wrecked structures, which remind one of the pounding these must have received during two decades of war in that country.
The promised reconstruction work has yet to start, and it seems the US has backed out on pledges to the Afghan people. One could only see the humanitarian aid in the form of wheat bags being delivered to the war victims, to show to the world that the US and its allies care for the people of Afghanistan.
The US and Britain are bent upon flattening Iraq by indiscriminate bombing of its cities where hundreds of civilians have been killed. The BBC is a hub of disinformation when it comes to giving details of the war plan as approved by General Tommy Frank’s headquarters.
The US is again promising the moon to the Iraqi people in terms of the pledges of reconstruction of their country after the war. What reconstruction is envisaged by the Bush administration only the White House and the Pentagon know. The world at large believes that the invasion of Iraq is primarily to grab Iraqi oil and turn Iraq into a US colony. Imagine a US general as in charge of Iraq with his hand-picked Iraqis running the state.
The US is already showing a greater appetite for war by accusing the neighbouring Syria and Iran of aiding Iraq by supplying Saddam Hussein with military equipment — a charge that Syria has refuted. The Anglo-American ploy of providing humanitarian aid to the Iraqis is mere propaganda aimed at winning the hearts of the war-ravaged people.
On the one hand, the civil population is being pounded by cruise and Tomahawk missiles and on the other hand, they are being given mineral water and chocolates. While all this is happening the neighbouring countries are being silent spectators.
The time has come when the Muslim ummah should wake up and unite to fight against their common foe. Muslims stretching from Indonesia in the east to Atlantic seaboard in Africa should get together and form a defence task force to fight the Anglo-American hegemony over the Muslim world.
MUHAMMAD AFZAL SADIQ
Attock
THIS refers to a report (April 4) about India contemplating a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan. The Indian foreign minister seems to have a penchant for striking aggressive postures and using disparaging language lying beyond the bounds of diplomatic decency.
Article 33 of Chapter IV of UN Charter provides for peaceful resolutions of disputes between states. Any resort to pre-emptive strikes is thus against the norms of international law and an irrational and aggressive proposition. Diplomatic discourse between states is the fine art of espousing, articulating and defending national interests. The Indo-Pakistan diplomatic discourse, however, has sunk to the lowest ebb in recent months.
Recourse to words of abuse and insult in diplomatic discourse ought to be avoided as it only further vitiates already strained relations. Fifty years is a long time for any nation to mature, and be able to handle conflicting issues with rationality.
It is time Indo-Pakistan diplomacy employed decent means and methods of diplomatic discourse, befitting the dignity of the two countries by avoiding the use of contentious language.
FAZAL KAZI
Karachi
I VISIT the F-9 Park regularly for peace of mind and enjoy the walk in the company of my friends. Recently the contractor, who mans the gate on F-10 Markaz side, raised the vehicle ticket from two rupees to six rupees.
As a deterrent, some people started parking their cars outside to save six rupees. When the contractor saw that people have started parking outside, he brought the rate down to five rupees and, resultantly, some cars came in.
Now for the last few days, a barbed wire has been put outside and the police have put up two “No Parking” signboards, with three police officials sitting there and not allowing anybody to park outside.
When I asked the police officer on duty why we cannot park outside, he said: “It blocks the road and there are other reasons for it.” On inquiry from inside, it was revealed to our astonishment that the contractor has given money to the police and the CDA Environment, for forcing people to park inside.
Will the new SSP and the CDA Environment confirm as to how much money they have received? Is it a one-time grant or monthly? If not, can the Islamabad SSP confirm as to why he has posted the police on duty? I hope we will get a response from the police.
CH. YASIN
Islamabad
THE League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations, died because it could not prevent Germany from attacking Poland and the result was the holocaust of World War II. The emerging five world powers from the rubble of that destructive war, the US, USSR, UK, France and, later, China, formed the UN vowing to end war forever.
The main instrument of the UN for forestalling all future wars was its Security Council. Although the UN failed to stop wars like those fought by the US in Korea and Vietnam, it somehow played a roll in stalling conflict and wars in Kashmir, Kosovo, Bosnia and East Timor. It failed when it first went against its charter by sanctioning the American invasion of Afghanistan and has completely failed in stopping the American (and British) aggression against Iraq,
Nevertheless, now when the invasion of Iraq by US-led forces is entering its third week and the Iraqi forces under President Saddam Hussein have put up unexpected resistance to the invasion, it is time the other world powers stepped in to save the situation by stopping the war. This can be done and should be done peacefully through the UN.
The world should call upon the US and UK to stop the war forthwith failing which a total boycott of these countries should be threatened. All diplomatic, trade and other ties with the two aggressors should be broken. All military and civilian pacts with these two powers must be suspended till they withdraw from Iraq and promise to abide by the UN charter in future.
The veto power in the Security Council must also be abolished and all important decisions, specially those involving military conflicts must be taken by at least a two-third majority of the General Assembly.
If America does not agree to an immediate cease fire, the UN headquarters should be shifted from New York to a European city. America must also be made to withdraw its forces from Germany, Japan and South Korea to make this planet a better and a peaceful place to live.
LATIF QURESHI
Lahore
ON March 24 at about 1600 hours I was stopped at the entrance to the Frere Hall car park by a Sindh Police official citing security reasons and acting under orders of the city administration. He said only those cars were allowed to be parked for the next two to four days which belonged to the persons going to a foreign bank located across the road.
The bank and the US consulate are located on either side of a five-star hotel on Abdullah Haroon Road opposite Frere Hall that houses a library on its ground floor and an art gallery on the first floor. On the other side of Frere Hall on Fatima Jinnah Road is the US consul general’s official residence. Frere Hall is located between his residence and the consulate, and is used by the public.
There is no justification at all to restrict the use of Frere Hall and its car park. These restrictions make Frere Hall premises practically out of bounds for the public.
KAMAL WAHID KHAN
Karachi
MY letter titled ‘Teaching in English’ triggered a healthy debate in these columns where a number of worthy individuals advocated their respective points of view for and against making the English language compulsory in primary classes and the importance of Urdu as a national language.
All viewpoints were supported by reasonable arguments and were separately centred either on the necessity of giving a more nationalistic recognition to Urdu or establishing a surer footing in English to compete with progressive forces internationally.
What confounded me was the comment made by Ms Saima Shah in her recent letter on the same subject, promoting ethnicity by suggesting that Urdu be made optional and Sindhi in Sindh should be made compulsory.
My limited intellect leads me to believe that Ms Shah inadvertently means that the regional languages in other provinces should respectively be made compulsory as well, i.e. Punjabi in Punjab; Balochi in Balochistan and Pushto in Peshawar. But then what about Siraiki which is spoken in central and upper Sindh and southern Punjab?
Then there is also Gujrati and Kokni spoken by many in certain areas of Karachi and then let’s not forget Memoni either which is the first language of the respected Memon community spread across the nation!
I am not a student of political science but I do know that the ‘strong federation’ she speaks of cannot be achieved by adding fuel to the fire and igniting every latent ethnic sentiment in the country by creating widespread disagreement in every classroom of the country where each student learns his or her language.
We have the misfortune of living in one of the most turbulent times where people are trigger-happy and may be provoked at the slightest of pretexts. This is a time to preach universal brotherhood, tolerance and peace — one of the fundamentals of Islam — not individual ethnic ideas. And it is a time when at least the literate can attempt to unite under one flag, with one common language of peace.
MAHEEN A. RASHDI
Karachi
I AM writing with reference to a recent letter about the National Database Registration Authority and its handling of overseas Pakistanis. I applied for NIC in January 2001 on a trip to Pakistan and have not heard from Nadra since then.
Applying for NIC through the embassy in Washington is almost guaranteed to be a failure as the documents get lost at the embassy on a regular basis (I can site numerous examples as a proof).
I would like to ask the Nadra administration as to how much more time they need to act upon my application. Just yesterday I heard ‘Khabarnama’ on the PTV prime time that how much the quality of service has improved at Nadra.
I believe Nadra is in the same sorry state as are other governmental agencies in Pakistan, most of them inefficient and corrupt. Time and again, overseas Pakistanis are reminded by our government how important the overseas Pakistani community is and how much it expects investment in Pakistan from them.
With this type of response for mere NIC, no Pakistani overseas would even think about investing in Pakistan.
MOIEZ AHMAD
Dallas, Texas, USA
FOR children’s entertainment, there is flood of cartoons, video games and cartoon networks on TVs. But do these really provide entertainment without conveying any negative signals to growing kids? The answer is, ‘No’. These are mostly full of fights with and violence showing off guns and firearms.
Is there in the country no one cartoon company that would show peace and friendship and provide a healthy entertainment to our children? It is a misfortune that violence is being promoted through all media these days.
When children grow up and resort to violence, we begin to cry but there is no use crying over spilt milk. Cartoons and films with themes of peaceful co-existence and respectable interpersonal relationships need be made and shown to sow seeds of harmony and friendly so-existence in the minds of immature children.
SULTAN AHMED CHOWDHRY
Lahore
OUT came an arm from the window of a speeding car and dropped an empty packet of chips. Such scenes are a routine matter these days. People are no longer concerned about the environment because they feel they have much more important matters to look into.
It is not that they are ignorant of the harm they cause to the environment through their apparently trivial actions but that they do not realize while doing it.
In the last couple of years the conditions of Lahore have drastically declined, if only people could come out of their posh residential areas and see to the pathetic scenario in the underdeveloped regions. These areas face improper drainage, all-day-long traffic congestion and littered streets.
Everyone of us is keen to keep our house clean, indifferent to the garbage we dump in the street corners or empty plot of lands. As regard this very factor of garbage disposal (in some areas where the facility doesn’t exist), the government should take concrete steps to improve the matter.
There should be a series of awareness schemes highlighting the health problems caused due to the unhygienic conditions around. The very fact that there won’t be clean water available after 50 years is disturbing enough.
Our horticulture authority is making big efforts by developing parks and green belts and doing tree plantation but this is not enough. The betterment of selected and already improved area will not help much. More attention is to be paid to the slums of Lahore.
Each one of us should make our part of the contribution and try to make this city a better place to live in for everyone.
IQRA ZULFIQAE
Lahore
YOUR editorial (April 2) once again expresses the sentiments of not only the people of Karachi, but the entire nation, which is highly indebted to the services of Mr Jameel Yousuf, the proud recipient of Sitara-i-Shujaat.
However, your observation of his services being overstretched to 13 years is fortunate and essentially a debt over us. On the other hand, the governor of Sindh chose to spend the same period in London and was honoured on his return, whereas an individual who stood like a rock for us, protecting us against kidnappers, extortionists, rapists, cheaters, trespassers, murderers, car snatchers and assisting all victims of crime at all hours has been ungratefully and unceremoniously in the darkness of night relieved from serving us selflessly, even though voluntarily and honorarily.
We are the unfortunate losers and not Mr Jameel Yusuf as we are ungrateful to our own citizens whose services are far greater than those regarded as heroes around the world. It is only when we shall learn to honour and cherish such individuals among us that we will create our own identity and pride as advocated in Islam.
Through your columns, let me thank Mr Jameel Yousuf and communicate the feelings of love and gratitude of innumerable other individuals who are hesitant to pen their feelings, yet want the nation to deliver where such unforgiving acts are regretfully condoned.
HUMAYUN SIDDIQ
Karachi
THE Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Islamabad, is an autonomous body which registers, regulates and governs recognition of medical and dental undergraduate/postgraduate qualification in Pakistan. There are more than 45,000 doctors and dental surgeons registered by the PMDC.
When the PMDC was formed, there were fewer than 150 dental surgeons in Pakistan. Now the situation is that there are more than 5,000 registered dental surgeons in Pakistan, which means that there has been more than a 300 per cent increase in 55 years.
Almost all over the developed world there are two separate councils or regulatory bodies: a medical council and a dental council. For example, in the United Kingdom there is the general medical council, as well as the general dental council. Similarly, the US has both the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association. The reason for this is the difference in the medical and dental education systems, both at the undergraduate level and at the post-graduate level.
Keeping in view the international standard of dentistry and the increase in the number of dental surgeons, it is necessary to establish a separate dental council — Pakistan Dental Council — with dental surgeons running this council. It should be noted that at the time of independence there was only one dental college in Pakistan, but today there are more than 15 dental colleges all over the country. Similar is the case with post-graduate centres.
Now the question arises, why is the PMDC not sufficient and why do we need a separate dental council? We normally read in newspapers about the PMDC taking action against dental colleges or a high court hearing about PMDC being only a registration body and not a regulatory body, parents and students protesting against the role of the PMDC, its double standard policy in recognizing a government institute where human life may be in danger because of lack of funds.
The answer to all this, at least for the dental community, is a separate dental council (Pakistan Dental Council) consisting of only dental surgeons. The PMDC has only a small representation of dentists and their medical counterparts are unaware of the detailed requirements of dental undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Here are some important points for the new dental council:
(i) The standard of dental education should be raised so that our graduates are at par with the dentists of the developed countries.
(ii) We need a proper course curriculum which should be revised after every three years (not 30 years like the PMDC) so that we can meet international standards rather than following an obsolete system.
(iii) We also need higher clinical training programmes (fellowship, clinical masters programme) and higher education training programmes, that is teaching method (MPhil, PhD).
(iv) Research should be promoted in collaboration with all dental institutes at the national level, besides having links with foreign institutes.
(v) There is a need for recognizing post-graduation training slot to create a system and not individuals (dentist post-graduation, dental auxiliary education).
(vi) Emphasis should be placed on quality dentistry and high standards and materials to be rated hazardous or safe by the governing body.
(vii) National audits and national surveys.
(viii) Recognition of foreign post-graduate qualifications.
(ix) Evaluation of the standard of all dental schools in the country.
(x) High standard indexed journals having credibility worldwide.
DR AHAMAD
Karachi
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