| June 12, 2003 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1424 |
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English literature curricula
MMA, LFO & Islamization
Need for caution
Economic roadmap
Plea for reinstatement
Bank charges
Kashmir: Chenab formula
Is Iran the next target?
Company secretary’s qualifications
MOST people would corroborate the point of view of Mr Ayaz Amir’s father that a generation or two back the people were imbued with the idea that admission to a hospital meant virtual death warrant and the very idea of hospitalization sounded horrific. However, where there is morbidity, mortality is also expected. We must not lose sight of the fact that thousands of patients are admitted to different hospitals everyday and most of them, after medical or surgical procedures, are rehabilitated after convalescence.
Among the doctors, some scoundrels ( as Mr Amir dubs them) may be getting perks and kickbacks. Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry, by and large, has been instrumental in arranging symposiums and interactive seminars, thus promoting continuing medical education for doctors and medical students. Let us give credit where it is due. It is supporting the medical community and doing exactly what the government ought to do in a big way. Hats off to it. Honestly speaking, most of the junior doctors get a raw deal from the pharmaceutical industry for they can hardly dream of getting free air tickets, staying in hotels or having cars and, in fact, would consider themselves lucky if they could get a prescription pad, a drug sample or a pen jar from the medical representatives.
I am dismayed at the plight of junior doctors who after graduating go for house jobs. During house job they get a nominal stipend and are expected to work virtually round-the-clock at times under subhuman conditions. They hardly find a place to stretch their legs or have a wink of sleep. They are exposed to all sorts of vagaries, including contagious diseases, and are at high risk themselves. Today’s young doctors have hardly a career structure to look forward to and have to face red tape and other bureaucratic hurdles.
Paradoxically, people say that doctors in Pakistan are “dime a dozen “. With the mushrooming of the medical colleges every now and then, there is a glut of doctors who have no light to see at the other end of the tunnel. Many young doctors are now opting for alternative careers and even trying to enter civil service. No wonder some frustrated and disgruntled doctors have resorted to driving taxi-cabs in New York and Texas in the US.
Just think of those Samaritans of Karachi serving in places like Orangi, Korangi, Landhi and New Karachi in the midst of disturbances and targeted killings of doctors.
I think one should take heart from the fact that the doctors are doing a great job in Pakistan holding the health system together and giving health delivery some semblance of sanity and that too at a very low cost. A primary care physician or the GP is the mainstay of the system and provides hope and respite for the common man. Most of the consultants are conscientious and give their heart and soul to their profession and at times at the cost of personal comfort. Pakistan is lucky to have some world renowned doctors.
The media should also lead the crusade for an increase in the health budget which right now is a small chunk of the national budget. There are almost 60,000 quacks who are practising with impunity. This menace must be eliminated. The medical system in Pakistan needs both money and support to bring it at par with the advanced countries.
DR ASIF SAEED
Topeka, Kansas, USA
THE Metropolitan section (May 13) carries two news items. In one, the Institute of Engineers Pakistan calls for modern syllabi in the universities, and in the second some unnamed sources have urged Punjab University to review English Literature curricula for vulgarity and obscenity.
While the first suggestion, coming from the premier representative body of engineers in Pakistan, needs immediate attention and consideration, the second one ought to have been thrown in the waste-paper basket but instead has been taken up by the Registrar (a retired army officer) of Punjab University for investigation. He has already, according to the news, appointed one lecturer of the department to sort out the “objectionable material”.
How could he do that in the presence of university rules, regulations and various academic bodies is raising concern? Academicians devise curricula. They are then discussed and finalized in relevant board of studies having representatives from other institutions concerned. Then the curricula are scrutinized in the faculty boards, then considered and given final approval in the academic council. Only after that they are enforced. If they have to be reconsidered, very strong academic reasons have to be advanced. In this case, the objections seems to be on some words.
If one has to study literature, one has to study the creative efforts of the masters of the past and of the present. Words taken out of context are harmless and if they create in certain minds unsuitable images, then such minds have to examined and analysed by psychologists. If we do otherwise, then all the dictionaries will have to be purged of all words offensive to one or the other.
In his days Manto was hauled before the courts every time he wrote a new story. Ismat Chughtai was accused similarly. What would be left of Hafiz, Omar Khayyam and Bedil, if words like Sagher, Meena, Jam-o-Saboo were to be deleted from their verses? What would be Persian and Urdu literature without these giants?
We seem to have a dim view of the intelligence of our college- and university-going youths. They are mature enough to read words like wine, vodka and not run amuck, as some of their elders seem to.
Are we returning to the ‘good’ old days of Ziaul Haq when hundreds of books were removed from departmental libraries under the influence of the self-appointed guardian of morality? One thought that nightmare was over with the departure of Ziaul Haq or has he reappeared in a new garb?
DR ANIS ALAM
Lahore
THE leaders of religious-political parties have for the first time become a third force in Pakistan. Whether they will be able to keep (or improve) this position depends on how they perform at the centre and in the provinces.
In Islamabad, the MMA politics is commendable because it has taken a principled stand on the LFO. I do not agree with those who think that the LFO is not a primary but a secondary issue.
We must understand that the LFO is a document that changes the basic fabric of the Constitution and concentrates power in the hands of one person.
Gen Musharraf has not introduced the LFO to have a balance of power but to keep rein of the government in his hand. We have seen that no decision is made without his consent. On the contrary, a decision can be made without the consent of the prime minister. How can parliament function when the sword of the LFO is hanging on it? A rigged referendum does not give anybody the right to rule the country. It is time we learnt that the secret of our survival lies in following the Constitution and the laws.
When we analyse the MMA style of ruling the province, we find it disturbing. They are taking steps in the name of Islam which are beneficial to none, like putting restrictions on cinema houses, inciting workers to break billboards, declaring Shalwar- Kameez as compulsory uniform in schools, trying to get a bill passed so that women should put on veils and so on.
These are all superficial actions in the name of Islam. When they formed a government in the NWFP, it was hoped that they would take action that would improve the condition of the poor people of the province. Ban on alcohol is already enforced in Pakistan, so repeating the same decision at the provincial level is meaningless. Similarly, eradication of bank interest will also not resolve the people’s problems but create new ones.
NADEEM YOUSAF
Karachi
BESIDES being written in enviable English, most of Mr F. S. Aijazuddin’s articles contain good advice. However, I was very surprised to find him supporting the buying out of such a vital organization as “Pakistan’s largest public sector telecom corporation” by a US-based translational company, managed by an Indian (Ethnicity is more than skin-deep, 5 June).
According to Victor Hugo, “Caution is the eldest child of wisdom.” I am all for a rapprochement and peaceful relations with India. Nevertheless, we certainly cannot ignore the 56-year-old history of three full-scale wars, the dismemberment of Pakistan (when Mrs Indira Gandhi had boasted of sinking the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal), numerous threats of nuclear strikes by Indian leaders and their recent 10-month-long military standoff on our borders.
Would the Americans encourage the sale of their strategically important organizations by companies headed by North Korean, Iranian or Libyan individuals, or vice versa? Would the Turks or Palestinians do likewise with the Greeks or Israelis, respectively? Definitely not! During the recent war in Iraq waged by Bush and Co., even the Europeans found it fit to hit out at America’s financial interests.
A recent article in this newspaper by Eric Margolis showed how the (Jewish American) supporters of Israel had terrorized his journalist mother — an American — as far back as the 1950s, merely because the lady was writing in defence of the Palestinian rights. That Israel and its supporters still haven’t changed their ways goes to prove people don’t change so easily, that the Pakistanis are not unique in being wary of their adversaries and that the dry reed had better not seek the company of the fire, as an Arab proverb tells us.
JAVED HASAN
Karachi
FOR a clear, progressive and prioritized sense of direction to attain planned societal goals, I think it may be worthwhile that the planning process, comprising 5/10-year national plans, which were adopted by successive administrations until 1972, is resurrected and a new life infused into an all but moribund planning commission.
In fact, I would go as far as saying that a lot of wasteful internecine trading of holier than thou claims and counter-claims could be profitably avoided if some way is devised whereby the federation, each of its ministries and the provinces could publish audited balance sheets and income statements annually for public comment. (I understand this is already happening in New Zealand).
Indeed one could also consider commissioning a professional body like the Institute of Development Economics for preparing such statements for previous periods, if only as case studies.
M. J. AS’AD
Karachi
I BELONG to the Balochistan province where it is not customary to educate boys, let alone the girls. In this discouraging environment I completed my education and did my master’s in science from Karachi University in 1993.
After a very hard struggle I succeeded in getting a job of management trainee in the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) in 1995. Not only was this a means to a decent employment for me but it also gave my community a strong signal that a woman is not inferior to a man and that if there is a will, she can also compete with men.
But unfortunately my service was terminated all of sudden by the previous government in the name of the so-called downsizing. All my dreams for a respectable career were shattered by that cruel decision of the government. I did not even go to court for any relief as I was in a terrible mental agony.
In view of the recent decision of the Supreme Court declaring the termination of the services of the SSGC employees by the Nawaz Sharif government as illegal and ordering restoration of the services of the affected employees, I request, through this newspaper, the prime minister to reinstate me in my job.
RAZIA DILMURAD BALOCH
Karachi
IN the not-too-distant past, commercial banks embarked on recovering irrational bank charges on customers’ accounts on one pretext or the other.
On complaints from the public, the State Bank took serious note and issued a circular, BSD No. 12 (Dawn, March 18, 2001), flexing strong muscles, though getting soft while coming to the concluding para.
However, it appears that while local banks paid due respect to the SBP, foreign banks intentionally disregarded and continued their charges and even on higher scale.
I shall refer to some of those: 1. They imposed a minimum balance high in five figures and even if a rupee is less, they penalize the account-holder not in one way but three ways:
a. Charges on withdrawal.
b. No profit on PLS A/C.
c. A very high charge for issuing cheque book, while some local banks do not charge at all.
2. A National Savings Certificate is a commodity for old, retired persons and widows. If a certificate is lost, they charge thousands for issuing the duplicate while the National Savings Directorate charge Rs5 only.
3. It is obligatory on banks to issue certificates for involuntary dedications like taxes and Zakat and for encashment of foreign currency without a fee, but they charge in the hundreds for this.
There are several other charges out of proportion, for which I request the authorities to see that they remain within limit.
A. J. K.
Karachi
SARDAR Sikander Hayat Khan, prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has proposed partition of the Jammu and Kashmir state with the river Chenab as the international boundary line between India and Pakistan. It is not a new proposal.
I distinctly remember that Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Khan, then minister for industries, visited Peshawar in January 1950 for a meeting with the chief minister of the NWFP on industrial development. I accompanied him in my official position as information officer in the ministry of industries.
On our return journey during a stopover at Rawalpindi, Mr Mohammad Ayub, then secretary, ministry of Kashmir affairs, which was located at Rawalpindi, called on Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Khan in his railway saloon.
While discussing the Kashmir dispute, Mr Ayub disclosed that India had proposed the settlement of the Kashmir dispute outside the Security Council on the basis of the partition of the state along the river Chenab but Sir Zafrulla Khan and Chaudhry Mohammad Ali have advised the prime minister to reject the Indian offer. I remember Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Khan saying that Chaudhry Mohammad Ali dealt with the Kashmir dispute exclusively and these matters were rarely brought before the cabinet.
SYED AFZAL HUSAIN ZAIDI
Islamabad
This refers to the article headlined ‘Is Iran the next target?’ (June 7) by Afzaal Mahmood. My perception is different. I believe that the US threat to Iran for its nuclear programme is in fact diplomatically directed against Pakistan to bring it under more pressure, for securing further concessions at the Camp David meeting between Gen Musharraf and President Bush, later this month.
Iran is only the runner-up. The fact of the matter is that the main US agenda in Pakistan is yet to be implemented — a massive house-to-house search and even secret arrests of those whom the US regards as undesirable from its point of view.
Has it not been going on unabated in Afghanistan for the last one year? For what else has the FBI decided to collect and keep track record of three millions amongst us? (Dawn, Feb 3).
As far as a regime change in Iran is concerned, the US and its coalition partners would not be able to do it. They can rule the Iranian skies for some time and drop as many deadly bombs as they may desire but they would not land their forces for fear of large scale deaths of their home-sick soldiers.
Z. A. KAZMI
Karachi
WE refer to the letter of the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan (ICSP) (June 2) and, without desiring to enter into any controversy with our fellow institution, would like to set the record straight on certain issues.
One, the views expressed recently on the subject by our members and sympathizers through newspaper columns are their personal views, neither in the least influenced, nor necessarily shared in their entirety, by this institute.
Two, in order to lay a claim of superiority merely because of a longer list of other institutions granting exemptions to members of a given institute is a futile argument. Those who know things are not unaware of the fact that the ICSP has been operating for about 30 years, while this institute (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Managers) was licensed in 1990 and has been operating for about 10 years.
It was on the basis of its excellent performance during this comparatively short period and its better-planned course of study, including compulsory service under articles, that several institutes have already granted exemptions to our students and members, similar to those granted to the ICSP members, while negotiations are on with some others about this.
Moreover, the ICSM alone has a full-fledged 200 marks paper on Company Secretarial Practice, and two separate papers of 200 marks on Company Law, and Corporate Laws of 100 marks.
As for recognition, it is strange logic, though understandably partisan, to defend the line of granting the licence to an institution but not accepting its members as being duly qualified. It is like granting charter to a university but refusing to accept its degree. The fallacy of such a proposition hardly needs any comment. However, we are obliged to suggest that the employers and the regulatory authority should be guided by considerations mentioned above while contemplating the question of recognition. In fact, the status of the licence granted by the CLA/SECP is yet to be understood as it has aroused many aspersions as far as public recognition or acceptance of the product or certificate of the licensed institutes is concerned.
The debate through the media is likely to emerge and continue as this subject which has affected and is continuously affecting adversely the interest and future of the students, members and the institutes alike, the redressal is needed to be expeditiously undertaken.
As far as the so-called “exerting force through the media” is concerned, it may be understood that the media is the best public forum which plays a vital and most affective role in building public opinion about the problems of society or any significant profession. We are indeed indebted to those of our members and others concerned for their views and to the newspapers which have been publishing the views and suggestions on the subject.
We may emphasize that, save the individual views of our members, we on our part do not propose, unless forced by any given circumstance, to participate any more in this on- going debate on the subject.
M. IQBAL-UR-RAHIM
Chairman, Disciplinary & Regulations Committee, ICSM,
Karachi
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