Woman’s status in Islam

THIS refers to the article headlined “Woman’s status in Islam” by Mrs Mahjabin Nisar (June 20).

The article is blatant sexism of the highest order and reads like a product of mediaeval times. Mrs Nisar nonchalantly states that “it is obvious that men are inherently better than women in some spheres of life,” a notion that no sane, educated person would espouse.

Even Mrs Nisar’s appraisal of women’s finer qualities reeks of the gentler sexism of the Victorian times when women were purportedly held in high esteem, and consequently barred from the rougher pursuits of life like careers or politics. In the writer’s world, a woman is a man’s escapist fantasy (“in her company, man finds an escape from all the harshness of life”), his ego-sustaining slave (“in her dependence, he finds a reason to live and hope”), or a substitute for multi-vitamins (“in her love and loyalty he revives his strength”), but never an individual in her own right, with her own thoughts, desires and dreams.

Without a trace of irony, the author goes on to criticize ‘karo-kari’ and ‘vani’, despite her belief that “in her (a woman’s) purity he (a man) sees his honour.” Why is it that a man’s honour is inextricably bound to the actions of his mother, sister, daughter, but rarely in his own (mis)deeds?

In her defence, the writer does offer women certain luxuries like freedom of movement (“a woman is quite entitled to go out for urgent needs”) and of education (“a wife can continue to seek education and work as long as her noble role as a wife and mother is not disturbed.”)

Predictably, Mrs Nisar includes a reference to the vagrancies of the West and its impending demise (“the West has lost its way because it has been relying on fallible human prescriptions”), but graciously offers salvation (“they need to find Islam...”). Perhaps. if the downtrodden women of “the West” were fully aware of the rights that Mrs Nisar has granted them, they would immediately relocate to Saudi Arabia or some other such Nisarian utopia.

Opinions like those of Mrs Nisar are anachronisms that should have no place in our Pakistan, the Pakistan that Mr Jinnah envisioned: a modern, progressive, pluralistic state with equal rights for all its citizens.

ZIA AHMED

Burlington, MA, USA

Fight against drug abuse

THE international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking is observed every year on June 26 as an expression of determination to strengthen action and cooperation at all levels to achieve the goal of creating an international society free from drug abuse.

The law-enforcement agencies of Pakistan are aware of the fact that to deal with the drug problem, we have to give the highest priority to the enforcement of law because:

i) drugs destroy life and wreck health,

ii) drug abusers commit crime to sustain habits,

iii) drugs cause misery to countless people,

iv) large-scale drug trading can damage national economies,

v) production, trading and dealing in drugs are characterized by fear and violence,

vi) profits from drugs are often ploughed into other anti- social activities,

vii) drugs spawn corruption,

viii) drugs attract organized crime, and

ix) drugs create vicious circle of addiction, social turmoil and crime with crippling social evils.

In our country, over two million are heroin addicts, out of all drug addicts of over four million. No doubt, the efficiency and effect of the national and international law-enforcement efforts are improving in terms of arrests and quantities of seized narcotics but, the illicit flow, particularly of heroin, is increasing even faster than the emergence of heroin addiction. It is now of global concern.

Pakistan is a signatory to a number of international conventions on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. In keeping with the international commitments, obligations and conventions, the government has already adopted most effective measures to crack down on the drug barons and traffickers. It has undertaken administrative and legislative measures to deal with the pernicious problem of producing, processing, manufacturing and trafficking of narcotics. However, there is need to:

i) adopt coordinated national strategies,

ii) further develop close international cooperation,

iii) institute enlightened investigative methods, and

iv) organize appropriate training programmes for the law- enforcement officials to acquire latest knowledge and skills to deal with the problem.

HUMAYUN KHAN

SIKANDARI

Director of Customs Intelligence, Northern Region,

Lahore

Rubba(na) and Mawla(na)

EVERYONE who is familiar with Islam knows that it has no clerical hierarchy. The only religion which knows of such an hierarchy is Christianity. The learned men among the Jews are called rabbis; they do not use the title Rabba(na).

The holy Quran has used the titles Rabbi and Rabba(na) for Allah only. The word Manila in Arabic (Rabb) is not originally an Arabic word, but rather a Hebrew word; both Mawla and Rabb mean “Lord”. Therefore, the title Mawla(na) is absolutely not valid for human beings. In Islam, the Quran says “Rabbi Zidni Ilman”, and “Rabbana Aatina Fid Dunya Hasana”. The word Maulvi is also a copy of Rabbi and has been changed to mullah because a person cannot be called Maulvi in the Arabic language for learned men of religion.

I have two suggestions: (a) mullahs should confine themselves to performing their duties in the mosque and should not use any political platform, because this was not allowed during the days of Khilafat-i-Rashida; even today they completely lack modern knowledge; one should force them to shun active politics unless and until they assume a purely modern political role like other politicians.

(b) The title Maulana and Maulvi should not be allowed to be used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, because no Arab country allows the use of such a title. It is difficult to understand how these two words came to be used after the demise of Emperor Aurangzeb; only the title mullah should be allowed like Mulla Umar.

AHMAD ZAFAR FAROOQI

Karachi

Nadra’s failure

BEFORE Nadra came into being, it was normal to get an error-free NIC issued in a month’s time without paying any fee. Now Nadra is charging Rs35 as regular fee and Rs160 as urgent fee. With the regular fee there is no time limit for the delivery of cards — it may take from six to 12 months.

My son, Noman Ahmed, on attaining the age of 18 years, submitted an application on March 2 last year (receipt No. 138755), but the card has not yet been delivered, though I have twice visited the Karachi Nadra office.

Recently, I learnt about the Nadra helpline service and contacted them on the phone (111786100). It was amazing to learn from the Nadra people that the card (4220179903757) had already been issued from Islamabad in August but its whereabouts was not known to them.

I was advised to contact after 15 days during which they would try to trace out where the card was lying. Will someone in authority speak about how Nadra is doing or should go about its business?

MUHAMMAD YASEEN

Karachi

Mobile phones with camera

THE latest models of mobile phones with still and movie cameras are now selling in local markets. Apart from countless features, these models are facilitating the users in making pictures in a few seconds and mailing them to other mobiles or computers through SMS.

The negative operations of this smart tool are alarming. Our law-enforcement agencies should consider the following issues:

1. There are many locations and institutions in Pakistan where a ban is imposed on photography owing the security considerations. Hence, it would become quite easy for the users to get pictures of any prohibited site without being hassled.

2. The terrorist activities would increase greatly with immediate contacts.

3. And, there are scores of other measures which our law enforcement agencies can deem appropriately.

FEROZ SADRUDDIN

Karachi

Lead-free gasoline

THIS is with reference to the letter “Lead-free gasoline” (June 27) by Iftikhar Marwat.

AS manager of technology and manager of global projects for several leading multi-national engineering and energy companies for the last 20 years, my humble opinion (based on proven data) on the above issue is that this is really a health issue of the people who will breathe the vapours emitted from the cars and buses on the streets in Pakistan. Since the car traffic will continue to increase, it is incumbent on the gasoline producers to produce “clean gasoline” and the car manufacturers to combust it efficiently. Poor quality gasoline can cause serious damage to the public health over a period of time.

Lead in gasoline is highly toxic and the fumes from cars/buses breathed in by the people on the roads can lead to serious diseases. It is for this reason and the high cost of health care associated with this that the use of lead-containing gasoline has been completely eliminated in North America and most of western Europe.

Increase in the octane level of unleaded gasoline through the formation of aromatic compounds by reforming of any kind is desirable, but the benzene level should be restricted to approximately 20-24 per cent as it is a carcinogen. Refineries throughout the world are upgrading their facilities to take care of the public health. sulphur in gasoline produces sulphur dioxide which can cause allergies, asthma and other serious diseases. It would be highly desirable for refineries in Pakistan to upgrade their facilities to meet international levels, i.e. 10-30ppm instead of the 500-1000ppm being produced in Pakistan.

There may be economic and political implications of producing clean gasoline in Pakistan but we must do the right thing, which is to protect the health of the country as an obligation to the people of Pakistan most of whom are unaware of the hazards faced by them.

We can save billions of rupees spent on health care by simply investing a few millions in our refineries to prevent this problem from happening.

KHURSHID RASCHID

Houston, TX, USA

Politicians and cars

WHY our politicians, when they come to power, become so anxious to have luxurious cars with public money? Why the governor and the chief minister of Balochistan need most expensive cars with TV, fridge, etc. fixed into it? If they are so fond of such luxuries, they are rich enough to afford them with their own money.

Mr Nawaz Sharif bought Mercedes Benz fleet of over 50 cars for his secretariat with public money. Ms Benazir Bhutto made a mockery of it and exhibited those cars to show the wasteful expenditure of public money. Unfortunately, instead of disposing of those cars, she too had joy rides in those very cars.

It appears that our politicians cannot perform their official duties without very luxurious and very expensive cars bought with public money. Don’t we need another Mr Junejo to fix a ceiling of all official cars to 1000cc and 1300cc, and that too locally made, like in India?

I. A. RASOOL

Islamabad

Vanishing pensioners

ON its being ‘appropriately-indexed’ according to the requirement of time, the pension of government employees who retired during the early 1960s was then adequately sufficient for them.

Onwards therefrom, the ever-increasing cost of living and rapidly rising utility bills “belittled” the value of their pension to the extent that it had them driven alive in the grave of poverty.

They repeatedly voiced against this killing problem of their poverty, but the crying echoes of their grievance could not stir the palaces of their rulers. Most of them have been starved to death until now, and a few of their remaining counterparts are still starving to vanish soon.

Realizing about the ‘hell’ of their poverty, the preceding prime minister, during the beginning of 1999, had it announced: “The aggrieved pensioners, aging 70 years or above, will be ‘re-indexed’ according to the ‘pay-scales’ presently in force.”

Through the courtesy of your esteemed daily, the prime minister is requested that pension of the ‘vanishing pensioners’ may very kindly be ‘refixed’, as announced by his predecessor. Else, the financial relief of 15 per cent provided for them in the budget is a ridiculing mockery, mercilessly hammered on them, while the emoluments of the entire galaxy of the federal/provincial rulers stand increased to the maximum of 100 per cent each, transcending the preamble of the serving Constitution of 1973, which, at its very outset claims: “Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust.”

MIRZA GHULAM HAIDER

Multan

Guddu barrage system

REFERENCE is invited to the letter from Chaudhry Rustam Ali of Daharki appearing in Dawn dated 22-06-2003 under the title of ‘Guddu barrage irrigation system’.

In this context it is essential to clarify that the complaints actually pertain to Reti Minor of Sehar Wah of Ghotki Feeder Canal Area Water Board. Its administrative control lies with the Sindh Irrigation & Drainage Authority Hyderabad and this region has no concerned to that system.

MEMON ABDUL SATTAR

Chief Engineer, Irrigation Gudu Barrage,

Sukkur

Without water & electricity

I LIVE in Block 5, Karachi Administration Employees Cooperative Housing Society off Shaheed-i-Millat Road, (Baloch Colony). In our locality electricity breakdowns are common. On a recent Sunday, there was no electricity for 24 hours. As a result, there was no water in taps.

When will it be the appropriate time for our elected representatives to pay attention to these basic needs?

ATEEQ UR REHMAN ANWER

Karachi

A timely warning

THE chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Imran Khan, has served a timely warning to Gen Pervez Musharraf about any possible compromise on vital national issues (Dawn, June 19). Immediately before embarking on his current visit to four countries, the president surprised the nation when he dropped a hint to settle the outstanding issues like Kashmir on the basis of “give and take”.

Now when we have an elected body in the country, Imran Khan has rightly suggested that such issues be brought before parliament. The issues include Kashmir, nuclear programme and the recognition of Israel.

Like Imran Khan the combined opposition should also raise its voice and thwart any attempt by an individual to take important decisions against the wishes of the people of Pakistan. Otherwise neither the nation nor history will forgive us.

S. TAUQIR HUSSAIN

Lahore

School management committees

IN our jargon, anyone appropriating another person’s money by fraudulent means is said to have eaten it up. Ask the primary education stakeholders in Sindh how they, while forming fictitious SMCs (school management committees), in rural Sindh gobbled up millions of rupees.

Now again the season for providing funds to the SMCs is coming, and there will be a grand feast. Over and above this, the Rs50 million assistance that Japan gave recently to the Sindh government for the training of the SMCs will just disappear because these SMCs are not genuine and were hand-picked jointly by the officials of the education department and district governments to facilitate them to draw money of the SMCs through their own chosen men and women.

But who will save us from this plunder? NAB? God knows. President? God knows. God? Yes, God knows God can. Therefore, He will put in the heart of someone to stop:

1) The training funds of the SMCs from Japan forthwith until genuine SMCs are elected under the supervision of the local NGOs of repute — with returning officers from honest citizenry of each district — at the very school village. (Please note the SMC could be the only basic unit and vehicle for any progress in rural areas for education and or any other national or international programme.)

2) After such elections (which will not be time-consuming or money-consuming like other political elections), the SMCs may be released their funds. And the head teacher of the school be its ex-officio member but not any signing person with any other office-bearers of the SMC for the withdrawal of money. The SMC members only exercise their exclusive authority for any withdrawal on their own, for any expenditure on the school. This will eliminate the education department’s or district government’s direct or indirect influence on the SMCs through the teacher.

3) The teacher be given monthly salary by the education department only after he gets a certificate from the SMC that he has attended the school for the month. Every day the SMC should record on the school register the teacher’s attendance, his timings of arrival and departure. For the days he does not attend school. His salary should be deducted by the education department. This will eliminate teachers’ absenteeism and also teacher union’s interference in the affairs of the education department since the salary of each schoolteacher will be in the hands of the respective SMCs.

4) All formation, motivation, management, training and official supervision of the SMCs be given to local NGOs of repute in the district. They should be provided with appropriate emoluments for all this work by the government or donor agencies (NGOs too advise SMCs only about how to use their funds more efficiently and must not interfere in their money matters; check their accounts and submit reports to the concerned donors).

In short, the SMCs and the NGOs should be on one side of running the schools in rural areas and the education department and district government on the other side to support the NGOs and the SMCs in the education of rural children.

It is in this way only that education and literacy in the rural areas of Sindh or anywhere in rural Pakistan is possible. Otherwise, we shall be only wasting our time and money as has been done by us or the UN agencies in the past 53 years.

FAQEER ABDUL GHAFOOR ALASTI

Thatta