| April 17, 2003 | Thursday | Safar 14, 1424 |
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Medium of instruction
CPLC: change of leadership
Muslim Ummah’s duty
GCU endowment trust
Army jobs: US denial
Delay in appointment
Textbooks not available
Shakespearean tragedy
Powell’s rebuttal to India
New phone exchange in Kasur
Plight of old pensioners
Islamabad
THE opposition has, since the beginning, hindered the working of parliament by raising the issue of the Legal Framework Order. It insists that the LFO cannot be a part of the Constitution because it strengthens one man, i.e. President Gen Musharraf.
Sir, if the law enacted by Gen Musharraf, under the mandate granted to him by the Supreme Court, cannot be a part of the Constitution, then what about Gen Zia who imposed on us a number of ordinances that not only shattered our national unity but also defamed Pakistan in the world.
I point out here only two of them:
1. Separate electorate which was never demanded by either the majority of our people, or by the minorities themselves.
2. The Qadiani ordinance, which was also never demanded by the majority of our people. Gen Zia issued this ordinance only to prolong his illegal and ill-gotten rule by pleasing a handful of mullahs. And both these ordinances were, later on, made part of the Constitution and are still in force.
The opposition’s agitation throws an opportunity to the government to tell it that if it wants any discussion on the LFO, it should then accept the annulment of the two above-mentioned amendments because these were neither demanded by the majority then, nor are they demanded now. It is quite a powerful point for the government to haggle with the opposition.
Another opposition demand is that Gen Musharraf must quit as COAS but, sir, Gen Zia never did so. Some religious parties then acted as the B-team of martial law and never asked Gen Zia to do away with his khaki uniform.
And what about the fact that the polls were contested under the LFO? Still, the majority of the members consider the LFO a part of the Constitution. How can a minority impose its will on the majority? Where is, in the world, such a democracy in vogue?
MOHAMMAD ISHAQUE SOOFI
Rabwah
THE elected members of the National Assembly have been wasting much time on the Legal Framework Order (LFO) as if this was the thing that mattered most to the electorate. It does not.
What matters is that all these legislators do the job that the people have elected them to do. They have not moved an inch to solve the common man’s problems like unemployment and the law and order situation.
It is a pity that Pakistan is being dragged into the quagmire of inefficiency and bureaucratic bungling.
The National Assembly has so far proved to be ineffective and useless. People are already fed up with these MNAs. They want action and policies and not politicking on the LFO.
ZAFAR RAJA
London, UK
THIS refers to Syed Imran Ali’s letter, ‘English as medium of instruction’ (April 11). He is quite apt in saying: “.... every developed country uses its national language in its educational system, as well as in its official communication, and not the English language’’.
I would like to describe my personal experience, though a bitter one, to corroborate the views expressed by Mr Ali. I had the opportunity to teach physics to a matriculation class in an English-medium school for a few months. To my astonishment, the students were learning every topic, including pure technical and science topics, by rote. Besides physics, they were learning chemistry, mathematics, biology, etc. the same way.
When I talked to some senior teachers about this, they told me that as English was medium of instruction from class I, the students were not able to develop writing ability and, as a result, took recourse to learning by rote. And both teachers and parents encourage this mode of learning to enable the students to get good marks.
They also said that in English-medium schools, the students learn Urdu as a secondary language, though compulsory, and, therefore, do not have sufficient writing ability and command over Urdu. This makes the thing more serious as they feel perplexed when the teacher tries to explain some difficult portion of the lesson in Urdu.
If we want quality education, we have to adopt Urdu as medium of instruction up to matriculation, and English must be taught as a compulsory subject, so designed as to suit the age/mental level of the students in order to avoid rote-learning.
It may be added that for quality education, we have to overhaul our flawed system of education, specially at the primary level. This is not possible unless working teachers from different rural and urban areas are involved in course planning and policy matters. This would bring into limelight the practical difficulties in the present system.
PROF (R) A.H. SUBHANI
Faisalabad
I HAVE been reading almost daily opinions expressed by your readers about the change of leadership in the CPLC. I am both surprised and amused to read the various comments. However, with Mr Sharfuddin Memon’s final words, this controversy, I hope, will end. He has indeed stated the correct position.
At a public reception which the Citizens of Sindh arranged for the then newly-appointed governor of Sindh, Justice (R) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, I was asked to present the welcome address. In this address, amongst the various public problems placed before the governor, I submitted that the public image of the police was so tarnished that even if angels were put in charge of the police stations, the people would doubt their honesty, integrity and work ethics. I proposed that at each police station, a citizen’s representative with full authority be appointed to restore the police image.
The new governor accepted this suggestion and with it came the birth of the CPLC. It goes to the credit of Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim that he gave a legal cover to the CPLC and later also gave space within the Governor’s House for them to function. This gave credence and an implied authority, which worked wonders.
Both Mr Nazim Haji and Mr Jameel Yusuf worked hard, honestly and bravely to restore the public confidence in the CPLC and the police. We appreciate both of these brave sons of Karachi and hope that the edifice built by Nazim Haji and Jameel Yusuf would and should continue to serve the people of Sindh.
Institutions built on solid foundations do not get wavered or shaken by the absence of an individual. I hope this undue controversy will end and the CPLC would continue to function at its best.
MAHER H. ALAVI
Karachi
SADDAM Hussein’s government was assumed by the United States and Britain to be a threat to its neighbours, in spite of the fact that they deny the charge in unison, whereas Israel is treated in highest esteem, despite its occupation of neighbour territories for many decades now.
Moreover, Iraq was punished for not complying with the Security Council’s Resolution 1441, but Israel is not questioned for ignoring dozens of resolutions passed by the same Security Council for the last 35 years, or India is allowed not to bother about the UN resolutions passed over half a century ago.
The so-called surgical strikes on Iraq cities have resulted in large-scale civilian casualties, which are unpardonable. If the US blames terrorists for killing unarmed civilians, it has done the same by killing unarmed and poor people of Iraq.
There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein has erred in the past but the stooge government which is going to replace Saddam’s regime will have more animosity with its neighbours than Saddam’s government.
It is now quite clear that American imperialism has made complete preparations to besiege the Muslim Ummah, in spite of the fact it is not at all involved in the 9/11 incident. Our Muslim rulers should come to their senses.
It is time the Ummah rose to the occasion and faced American imperialistic threat that is the greatest threat we have ever had to face. Our salvation lies in strength through unity at a time when the aggressors, after occupying Afghanistan, have also forcibly occupied Iraq, and the only way to save all the Muslim countries from a similar treatment is a collective action.
If any Muslim country is still under the impression that it can save itself through a policy of appeasement towards the US, it is mistaken.
S. A. KHOKHAR
Lahore
THIS refers to the report headlined “GCU endowment trust approved” (March 26). The report is misleading and has created a negative impression about the GC University, Lahore.
The report says that the GCU syndicate decided to send a draft of the endowment fund trust to the Punjab Law Department for vetting. This information is wrong. In fact, it was decided at a meeting of the syndicate that the draft would be sent to the university’s legal adviser.
It has also been reported that Mr Pervez Masud raised an objection that he had not been invited to attend a meeting of the finance and planning committee of the GCU held on Feb 22, although he had been appointed a member of the committee by the syndicate. The fact is that he had been duly invited by the university to attend the meeting, but because of his own ‘preoccupation’ he failed to attend it.
The proceedings of syndicate meetings are confidential until they are approved by the members. Any reporting concerning the proceedings of a meeting before their approval by the members may create confusion and problems for an institution. This improper and incorrect reporting has created confusion among the members of the syndicate.
Therefore, please advise your reporter to confirm such proceedings or information from the quarters concerned before their publication, so that the prestige of your daily as well as of our institution may not suffer.
DR ZAHIR AHMAD SIDDIQI
Lahore
I WRITE in response to a news item that appeared in Dawn on April 16, entitled “Indian Muslims disqualified by US army,” which repeats the salient points of a piece that reportedly appeared in the March 30 edition of the Indian newspaper The Statesman.
The allegation that the US army placed ads in Indian newspapers to fill clerical and other positions at bases in the Middle East to be filled by non-Muslims is false. The US army placed no such ads. In fact, among the myriad reasons it would not place such an ad, it is quite simply illegal under US law to do so — illegal to “discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin,” as the salient section of the law reads.
I am sure you will agree that the interests of balanced and accurate reporting require that the record be set straight in this matter.
TERRY J. WHITE
Press and Information Officer, US Embassy,
THROUGH these columns we would like to once again draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the delay in appointment of those cleared for appointment as agriculture officers over four years ago by the Sindh Public Service Commission.
But we were not appointed and the matter dragged on. We then repeatedly appealed to various authorities, and went on hunger strikes many times. Still nothing worked.
The authorities concerned are once again requested to issue us — we are 85 — appointment letters to end our agony. Over 200 posts of agriculture officers are still lying vacant.
AFFECTED OFFICERS
Mirpurkhas
IT is already one-and-a-half months since the new-fangled educational year began in Balochistan, but regrettably textbooks are in short supply throughout the province. These include Urdu, General Science, Social/Pakistan Studies and Arabic. This is badly affecting the study of the students.
It looks rather funny to hear Education Minister Zubaida Jalal say that the government is paying full attention to education, and that the literacy rate would become 100 per cent. It is purely her ministry’s failure that textbooks are not available.
Another point to note is that our government plans to make computer education compulsory in all the schools of the country, as well as to improve the education system in thousands of religious schools, but when we see its failure in providing textbooks to the students of its schools, we begin losing hope in what it says.
Will the education minister look into the matter and help the students get the textbooks?
MALIK SIRAJ AKBAR,
Panjgur
I WONDER how Shakespeare would have reacted to the unjust aggression against Iraq. Had the 16th century poet been around, he would surely have rewritten the dialogues of Merchant of Venice:
Hath not a Muslim eyes? Hath not a Muslim hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
SAFIA NADEEM SIDDIQUI
Karachi
SECRETARY of State Colin Powell’s rebuttal of Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha’s utterances regarding Pakistan being a fit case for pre-emptive strike is genuine this time, for the situation now is that the US has to have Pakistan as its ally in the region in the face of the big rift between the US and European countries, specially Germany, France and Russia, due to the US’s unilateral invasion of Iraq.
It seems that France, Germany and Russia have now fully realized that if they have to exist as big powers and safeguard their economic and political interests in the region of Asia and Africa, they must plan and prepare for a position of strength to contain the US from further capturing of countries in the region.
As it is, Putin, Chirac and Schroeder had a summit in St. Petersburg demanding a UN role in the post-war rehabilitation of Iraq to the annoyance of the US which does not want to share the loot.
An attack on Pakistan does not seem to be a probability now. The Jihad in Afghanistan resulted in the break-up of the Soviet Union, thus exonerating Europe from reliance on the US military presence and support.
It is due to this fact that France, Germany and Russia took an independent anti-war stand in the case of US design of invasion of Iraq.
MOHAMMAD RAFI
Karachi
A TELEPHONE exchange is being installed at Hussain Khan Wala Hithar. We hope it will start functioning soon.
Some villages which were initially included in the scheme have now been excluded from the list. These villages are Nooriwala, Sheikh Ama (Nau), Baggay and Hardoban Bodla.
However, another village, Mouza Bazeed Pur, which is at least seven kilometres from the exchange, has been included, and the laying of cables is in progress.
That this step has been taken at the cost of the closest villages is deplorable.
A large number of people from these villages are employed at far-off places and abroad. Keeping contact with their near and dear ones by the telephone is a dire necessity, which will improve the quality of life for a large number of people.
It is well-known that some influential people have been instrumental in effecting this change, which amounts to usurping the rights of those who have no one to turn to.
Through your esteemed newspaper, the residents appeal to the authorities to look into the matter and make arrangements for including these villages in the communication plan.
DR GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN
Kasur
ALL civilized countries have some definite package for the care and uplift of poor pensioners and elderly people. They are provided with concessions in travel and transport, medical and recreational facilities. They are given financial assistance if they intend to set up their personal private business.
Every possible step is taken to enable them to beat inflation, and generous aid and allowances are granted to ease their lives. Unfortunately, during the past few years, the policy trend in Pakistan has been to make life miserable for the older people.
Successive governments have cared more for IMF/WB agendas than for the senior citizens. More workers have been laid off in the banks, government and semi-government institutions, thereby increasing pressure on the job market. By rendering hundreds and thousands of people jobless, the government raised the salaries of the remaining staff substantially and people have been inducted, in contravention to established rules, on key posts on extravagant salaries from retired civil and military outfits.
However, the government could do little for the benefit of poor pensioners. When salaries of the existing employees were raised 50 per cent, the pensioners were given a pittance of five to 15 per cent on net pensions, a stingy increase in the revised pay scales in 2001.
It is no secret that the government and its imported Citibank wizards remained indifferent to the needs of the senior citizens. They continue to axe the profits on national savings schemes which served as a kind of investment outlet for the savings of the aged and widows. A reasonable return on these schemes had the practical benefit of reducing the pressure on employment opportunities and other various state facilities, but the steep decline in the profits from Rs1,350 per Rs100,000 in 1998 to Rs682 today in 2003 is a proof of how unkind and harsh the present or the previous government had been to the poor pensioners.
The assumption, we were given to understand, was that it would generate economic activity and reduce unemployment in the country. Sorrowfully, none of the stated aims has been realized. Economic activity is there where it was and sick industrial units are still lying idle. However, the squeeze on the infirm, aged and old pensioners continues unabated.
Big concessions have been granted to industrialists, agriculturists and traders by the government of Mr Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Should we hope that our needs will also be taken care of and redressed accordingly in the current budget, and some practical steps, including a 50 per cent raise on gross pensions, will be taken to ameliorate the lot of poor old pensioners whose pensions have been halved in the last salary hike of 2001?
RAO K. ALI
Gujrat
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