| April 20, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 17, 1424 |
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India, Israel and terrorism
Medium of instruction
Need for a separate dental council
Porus vs Dahir
What Clinton thought of Nawaz
Absence of health minister
Need for a new name
Attack on gas pipeline
Cricket: what went wrong
Provincial water distribution issue
THIS is with reference to your editorial in the issue of April 17 on the LFO logjam.
While on the one hand pragmatism is necessary during a transitional phase, on the other hand, fundamental principles underlying legal and moral issues cannot be compromised. Unfortunately, for the past 55 years we have been at a crossroads and every time a compromise has led to more instability in our political system, rather than to a more stable system of governance. In the present scenario, I quote a friend on email:
“We have a situation where the President has extended the tenure of his Chief of the Army Staff (himself) till such time that the President (himself) feels that the Chief of the Army Staff (himself) enjoys the trust of the President (himself). A natural fallout of this corollary would be the possibility that the Chief of the Army Staff (himself) extends the tenure of the President (himself) till the President (himself) enjoys the trust of the Chief of the Army Staff (himself). This inherently defective arrangement can have many serious implications.”
It is my considered opinion that President Gen Pervez Musharraf has created a political mess for himself by staging a farce of a referendum (for which he had to apologize to the nation) and subsequently, through pre-poll, poll and post-poll rigging. The only course now left for him is to accept his weaknesses as a man in uniform and allow civil society to organize itself. The people of Pakistan have had enough of military dictators imposing their “brilliance and capabilities” in experimenting with politics and evolving political systems.
Having said that, the choice before President Gen Musharraf is plain and simple. Does he want to organize civil society or continue with his professional duties for which he is trained and experienced? If the choice is the former, then he must bid a graceful and voluntary farewell to the military uniform that he wore with such dignity and honour for all these years.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
THE attitude of political parties condemning the Legal Framework Order and the presidential powers is both very confusing and condemnable. While I do not fully agree with the LFO, I cannot figure out as to how a political setup, under a military president, would have started otherwise. It can certainly be improved in the years to come.
The top leaders of any political party have never practised democracy. These people never hold fair elections within their own parties, nor have they let their workers to rise to the top party positions through party elections. Office-holders are appointed by certain ‘God Fathers’ within the parties. To them democracy means a system which serves their own selfish interests.
If the LFO opponents have any shame left, they should first learn and then practise the democratic principles themselves before raising vocal objections to disrupt a fragile political process. Charity begins at home.
Can these people (MMA in particular) also please explain if they have any plans to improve the life of an average Pakistani, on whose expense they and their past generations have lived off for so long? That’s all an average Pakistani cares about.
BADAR MUNIR
Chicago, USA
LET us define what cross-border terrorism is. In former East Pakistan, Indian-trained Mukti Bahini, infested with regular personnel of the Indian army, infiltrated and with the help of Hindu elements within, which formed a large population, incited East Pakistan against West Pakistan and then attacked a sovereign territory without the formal declaration of war.
Whatever blunder were made by our politicians or powers-that-were, it was still the internal matter of a sovereign state. That was the foulest cross-border terrorism.
In Afghanistan there was a legitimate government, with a seat in the UN and having diplomatic relations with all nations, which invited the Russians to help them against the rebellious Mujahideen. But America, in collusion with Pakistan, resorted to cross-border terrorism against the Russians, helping itself to become the sole superpower.
Here is a chance for Russia to take its revenge by helping Iraq. And since American coalition has acted without the UN’S mandate, any help to Iraq would be within international law.
Israel, a nation born of terrorism, evicted the Palestinians, through acts of terrorism from a land that did not belong to them and then, through an undeclared war (1967), usurped part of Jordan and Syria, flouting every UN resolutions and aided and abetted by America.
But in Kashmir, which is a disputed territory, with the UN resolution to allow the Kashmiris to decide their own future through plebiscite under the aegis of the UN, both India and Pakistan are parties to it. India’s late prime minister Nehru had publicly made promises to hold plebiscite in Kashmir. Pakistan has the right to aid the Kashmiris, with men and material, to fight for independence or let the UN enforce its resolution.
S. HUSSAIN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Prof (R) A. H. Subhani’s letter on April 17.
I agree with his analysis that in Pakistan most students depend on the system of rote for passing their classes. But the fault lies with the educational system and not with the students. Our system does not provide teachers with adequate training; the decision-making process excludes them and is hardly transparent.
Regarding the teaching of English as a compulsory language, it is important to realize that Pakistan is a multilingual nation. We need to promote regional, national and international languages in order to foster diversity and solidarity. I suggest that English serve as the medium of instruction while Urdu and the regional language as compulsory languages. Scientific studies show that the brain benefits more from multilingual instructions.
In experiments, using magnetic resonance imaging, which takes pictures of the brain, it has been demonstrated that speaking different languages uses different parts of the brain. Proving that the brain localizes different languages to different areas. This is a very simple and compelling argument in favour of teaching our children different languages and which languages would be better than their very own.
Pakistan’s future is better served not by homogeneity but by diversity and unity. In future, the Punjabis should be able to speak Punjabi along with Urdu and English, while the Sindhi children should be capable of reading and writing in their own language while using Urdu and English at different levels. This linguistic and mental diversity will do more good for Pakistan than any simple prescriptions that lead to uniformity.
I hope this starts some sort of debate and the concerned people actually make real changes. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”— Aristotle
SARMAD PALIJO
Boston, MA, USA
I FULLY endorse the views expressed by Dr Ahmad in his letter headlined “Need for a separate dental council” (April 8).
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council was established by an Act promulgated in 1962 to oversee medical and dental education and establish norms for ethical practice. Over the years, it has been found that dental issues tend to be severely neglected and, therefore, the Pakistan Dental Association has been trying for many years to get legislation passed by the National Assembly for the creation of a separate Pakistan Dental Council.
A proposed Pakistan Dental Act was prepared by the Pakistan Dental Association and a copy of the proposed Act was presented to the then Prime Minister, Muhammad Khan Junejo, when he inaugurated the 3rd Pakistan International Conference in Karachi in 1987.
Many MNAs and Senators were also approached by the Association to support this document. Unfortunately, Mr Junejo’s government fell soon after, and subsequent governments have not looked into this matter yet.
India established Indian Dental Council in 1948, as did Bangladesh in 1973, immediately after separation. All other countries in the region and even the developed ones like the United States and Britain have separate governing bodies and councils for medicine and dentistry.
In our country, the bureaucracy and those who hold the reins to both horses are reluctant to let go. It is high time the government realized the importance of promulgating a dental law. This will not only improve the standard of dental education in Pakistan, as suggested by Dr Ahmad, but also eliminate the menace of quackery in dentistry.
DR KAMRAN A. VASFY
President, Pakistan Dental Association,
Karachi
THIS is with reference to two letters on the above topic, one by Kunwar Khalid Younus (March 14) and the other by M. Kamran Shakil (March 19). The former letter was based on ground realities and carried arguments while the later one was full of allegations and sermons.
Kunwar Khalid by touching historical facts had compared the character of the two Rajas showing that the hero of Punjab (Porus) had surrendered to, and become part of the conquering army while the man from Sindh (Dahir) had opted to die fighting against the invading army.
On the contrary M Kamran after labelling Kunwar Khalid a racist for praising a son of the soil, Dahir, says: “no regard to the wrongdoings of that cruel Raja and no appreciation of that young brave Muslim who came here not to conquer some land but to rescue a helpless girl”.
If Muhammad Bin Qasim had attacked Sindh only to help a helpless girl, then for what purpose did his uncle and mentor Hujaj Bin Yousuf slaughter thousands of males and females, young and old, Muslims and non-Muslims?
Is not it the same argument which US President George W. Bush is advocating nowadays when he says that he is attacking Iraq only to liberate the helpless Iraqis from the wrongdoings of a cruel dictator “Saddam Hussain”? As far as the question of Sindhis becoming Muslims is concerned, the answer to it is well spread on the pages of history books which Mr Kamran seems to have heard about, not read.
ABDUL KHALIQUE JUNEJO
Karachi
ON April 15 an American channel showed a comprehensive report on Pakistan and India’s nuclear weapon programmes. This report can be accessed on pbs.org website.
The interesting part of the report was an interview with former US president Bill Clinton, in which he spoke about his meeting with former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif in July 1999. Mr Clinton showed his disappointment when he mentioned that Mr Sharif had no idea of a “nuclear command and control system”.
At that meeting Mr Clinton said Mr Sharif, in order to hide his ignorance on matters of national security, started arguing with him about the possible resurgence of Islamic radicalism in Pakistan, and its rippling effects on regional and global politics. In the end, Mr Clinton said he was shocked the way civil and military dictators in Pakistan managed such sensitive matters of national and international politics.
Pakistan should develop an institutional framework to deal with matters of national security, and no single individual be given all the powers to deal with such matters.
MUHAMMAD ALI
Othawa, Ontario, Canada
YOUR April 5 issue brings out the matter of the absence of a health minister in Sindh since the previous incumbent left his post. This letter is to bring out the fact that the secretary is the competent authority to run the routine administration according to rules of procedure, of course with the technical help of the professionals.
The routine purchase of drugs, for instance, said to have been held up for six months because of the absence of the minister, is very much his own domain, not requiring political direction from the minister’s level.
The minister is, of course, required for formulating policies and their implementation. The vacancy should certainly be filled up.
PROF (DR) MUSHTAQ HASAN
Karachi
THE renovation, remodelling and face-lifting activities at the Purani Numaish roundabout are, nowadays, in their final stages of completion. It is, therefore, time we got rid of its ugly- sounding name, i.e. Purani Numaish. An alternative can be ‘Quaid Mazar’.
I hope the authorities would agree to this name and would take the necessary step for its adoption.
NIZAM QURAISHI
Karachi
FOR the fourth time this year the gas pipelines supplying gas to the north of the country from the Sui and Qadirpur fields have come under attack. The latest incident took place near Sadiqabad in the Rahimyar Khan district.
Due to this incident the supply of gas to large areas of Punjab and the NWFP has been affected. While gas company officials claim that they have evidence to prove that the pipelines were deliberately targeted, the police deny that the incident was an act of sabotage.
Only a week before, there was a massacre in nearby Kashmor where 14 people were mowed down by rampaging tribesmen. Early this year the blast at Sui near Kashmor was planned through hired terrorists. At that time many areas of Punjab and the NWFP were affected, creating problems for millions of households, traders, industrial workers, etc., and causing the gas company an estimated loss of Rs120 million.
What is behind all this? In my opinion the tribesmen want a bigger share in the royalty from the gasfields in the vicinity. The royalty and rent rates need to be brought to a level which is deemed reasonable by all concerned. A major part of it must be spent on generating development activities and improving the quality of life by setting up schools and hospitals in the tribal territories.
According to the previous agreement, the gas companies operating in the tribal areas are bound to reserve a certain percentage of jobs for the local people. The authorities must strengthen security for the protection of the gas pipelines.
NOORUL ISLAM KHAN
Karachi
I REFER to the letter by Shaharyar Khan (April 7) on the poor performance by the Pakistan cricket team in the Cricket World Cup 2003.
Having read his book The Begums of Bhopal, I was keen to read his account of what went wrong. As his account has been aired, the new cricket czar should be selected in the Nur Khan mould, who remained well above ‘politics’ as is commonly practised in our subcontinent.
Our President, Gen Musharraf, needs to remind himself of his own role model, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, about whom his biographer wrote: “His genius lay in the breadth of his vision, his wisdom lay in the limitation of his aims.” As of late, Gen Musharraf gives the mistaken impression of being all things to all men.
Will our cricket not benefit from having the right man appointed at this critical stage in extracting the bests out of our talented individuals?
SIKANDER LATIF
Lahore
THE ‘Situationer’ headlined “A technical issue turns political” (April 16) unfortunately has quoted basic facts wrong about the distribution of water on the historical use basis issue. Hereunder is the correct position.
At the inter-provincial meeting of the irrigation ministers of the four provinces, presided over by the federal minister of water and power on May 2, 1994, to review the overall water situation, the province of Punjab gave the proposal of sharing water shortages on the basis of historical use formula. The representatives of Sindh pointed out that any pattern other than that given in clause 14 of the Water Accord would be in violation of the Accord and thus the proposal could not be discussed. The matter was dropped at this point.
The minutes of the meeting, however, wrongly stated that the proposal had been approved. In letters dated May 12, 1994, July 18, 1994 and Aug 17, 1994, the then government of Sindh (PPP) protested over the wrong recording of the minutes and, as a result, the federal ministry of water and power accepted its mistake and wrote to Irsa as under:
“Thus the incorrect and arbitrary decision of the then Federal Minister (of) Water & Power recorded in the minutes of meeting of 2nd May 1994, stands withdrawn by the Ministry itself. The only valid document for sharing the surpluses and shortages is, therefore, the Water Accord 1991 signed by all the provinces and ratified by the CCI.”
The historical use basis was never used during the governments of Ms Benazir Bhutto or Mr Nawaz Sharif. It was during the military rule that this formula was brought out from the dustbin and was arbitrarily implemented. On protest by the Sindh government, the matter was referred to the federal ministry of law, which, in its opinion, clearly stated: “Any interpretation of sharing shortages on the basis of historic (sic) use shall be a clear violation of the concurrent accord.”
Phrases such as “distortion of the Accord” and “violative of the Constitution” have been used in this opinion about the historical use basis proposal.
The Chief Executive’s Office accordingly advised the Irsa chairman, and the Irsa, on Nov 12, 2001, withdrew the notification about sharing shortages on a historical use basis. Surprisingly, on the ground, the shortages continued to be shared according to the historical use formula and the Kharif 2003 waters are also being shared according to this unconstitutional formula.
Irsa has recently gone one step ahead when, in violation of clause 7 of the Accord, it has notified that water to be released below Kotri would now be shared between Sindh and Punjab. Irsa was constituted under clause 13 of the Accord “for the implementation of this Accord”. It is none of the business of Irsa to distort the Accord under which it was itself constituted.
The impression created by the “Situationer” that in 1994 a “cabinet decision” had been taken to distribute water on a historical use basis, or that such a decision was implemented by any of the two elected governments or that it was corrected by Gen Pervez Musharraf in March 2001 is totally wrong.
On the ground the unconstitutional basis is being applied, ever since Gen Musharraf has taken over. I wonder how a journalist of the high standing of the Situationer could even ignore repeated IRSA announcements and news items that water was being distributed on a historical use basis.
TAJ HAIDER
Secretary Information, PPP,
Islamabad
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