| July 1, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 30, 1424 |
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Peace prospects in S. Asia
Penny wise and pound foolish
A desert in the making
Gazetted school officers’ posting
The gardener and WMD
Turkish embassy’s clarification
FCS and the poor
1945-46 election
‘United States of Islam’
CPSP’s performance
ON June 24, 2003, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin stated that France might pass a new law to ban the veil and other religious symbols in public schools and buildings if the people did not respect the republic’s secular policies.
This is perhaps the most illogical statement that a Western leader has ever made. Frankly, there is no difference between this statement and the edicts (thankfully now defunct) of Mulla Omar forcing Afghan women to wear a veil. Both these extremes reflect a wanton disregard for the people’s right to dress as they please. No civilized society should tolerate this anti-freedom attitude on the part of its rulers.
What shocked me is Mr Raffarin’s lack of understanding of the core of secularism. Secularism is a noble way of life and it does not require suppression of any religion. In fact, it demands the exact opposite as it supports the right of everyone to practises his / her religion freely.
Mr Raffarin’s statement reflects the same disregard for freedom as is in force in Turkey. Turkish law forbids women to wear a veil or even a headscarf at public places and offices. I hope France does not join this club of the countries with anti-freedom laws.
A public place belongs to all and it should be the last place in a secular society where its members should be banned from wearing a certain kind of outfit. If it is a private club or a nudists’ colony, it has the right to enforce a certain dress code (or a no-dress code) for its members. A government does not have this right.
I have faith in the magnanimity of the people of France. During the previous presidential elections incumbent President Chirac was running low in opinion polls and consequently during the first round of elections he did poorly and the xenophobic politician, Le Pen, did well. At this time, the French electorate realized the gravity of the situation and in the second round gave Mr Chirac a resounding victory and Le Pen a crushing defeat.
Looks like Mr Raffarin is about to learn the same kind of lesson. Regardless of the similarity between the thought processes of Mr Raffarin and Mulla Omar, there is a monumental difference between the totality of these two situations. While Mulla Omar could terrorize his people with impunity because of the absence of democracy, France is blessed with a secular democracy and I am sure it will protect its citizens from the high-handedness of Mr Raffarin.
SIDDIQUE MALIK
Louisville, KY, USA
THE motive behind Mr Vajpayee’s offer of peace talks of April 18 and May 2 can rightly be traced to a question — susceptible of an answer in the negative — ‘whether’ a nuclear South Asia can, any longer, afford the diplomatic stand-off between two states. Since nothing could have served the Indian purpose to demoralize Islamabad’s Kashmir policy, despite its tactics of a pre-emption, crisis management and psychological warfare, Indian leadership seems pragmatic enough to swallow the political, social, economic and militarist truth to revise the policy of status quo on Kashmir.
To have a sincere move forward on the road to normalization much beyond the spirit of the Simla accord and the Lahore declaration, and to prevent the fallout of the ‘Agra experience’, New Delhi must end “chauvinism, parochialism and Machiavellianism” from its diplomacy. Both the sides should allow a new mindset on their Kashmir policy to accommodate realism and pragmatism in place of idealism and adventurism.
The search for a sustainable, viable and befitting dialogue on the Kashmir case cannot be fulfilled without the participation of All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Islamabad must evaluate the leverage of Washington-Beijing-Moscow in shaping the destiny of the Kashmiris. The maintenance of confidence-developing atmosphere, an indispensable factor for the future talks, has yet many challenges to meet with.
Although the task of bringing about a rapprochement between India and Pakistan is pyramidal and the journey on the road of ‘progress and bilateralism’ looks long and arduous, it is never too late to begin a worthwhile way. Gen Musharraf’s Camp David talks and Mr Vajpayee’s Beijing talks with their counterparts reflect diplomatic mechanics towards peace talks. The world is moving towards ‘neo-regionalism’ to cope with new economic and political challenges of the post-9/11 era and the world of post-Iraq invasion.
Should the Indian leadership, this time, be so prudent as to replace the past antagonism and mistrust that kept the two states away from the path of good-neighbourly relations. Rebuilding an economically stronger South Asia cannot be possible without restoring durable peace to it, while a durable peace cannot be ensured without resolving the Kashmir dispute.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the ‘Dateline Bahawalpur’ (June 19) by Majeed Gill, wherein he reports: “The central library is a premier educational institution here, but its photostat machine is out of order... A library official said that due to scarcity of resources and red tape funds for repair were not available.”
I wonder how long we would continue to treat education casually, whereas we spend millions of rupees on trivial matters such as inauguration ceremonies, sumptuous meals in honour of dignitaries and prestigious projects. If we want to earn a place in the comity of nations, we have to rearrange our priorities.
This reminds me of an anecdote about an air-conditioned library of a big institution which I used to visit frequently last year. The wall-clock in the reading room of that library had not been working for almost three weeks as the cell had been consumed. On inquiry, the librarian told me that he had written to the higher authorities for the sanction of six rupees to purchase the cell. But he was asked to produce a purchase receipt of the cell to get the amount in question.
I realized the limitation of the low-paid librarian who could not afford to buy the cell from his own pocket and then get it reimbursed after going through the cumbersome official procedure. Next day I bought a cell and put the wall-clock in working order as I was also benefiting from the library.
PROF (R) A. H. SUBHANI
Faisalabad
THIS is to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards the severe water shortage problem being faced by the residents of the Defence Housing Authority (Phase 1).
Water in the pipeline is supplied only for about one hour on a weekly basis. This is not enough in view of its high demand in the scorching heat and unbearable humidity of the summer days. Previously, a free water tanker (capacity 800 gallons) was available on request after every 10 days. Now it is available after 15 days. If we turn to the water tanker service plying in the city under the control of the Rangers, it appears to be overloaded.
In short, all these woes and cries boil down to one thing: we need water to survive. The authorities should realize that running back and forth for water is both time-consuming and a waste of money.
It appears that the problem of water shortage is here to stay. I have the following proposals in this regard:
1. As an immediate solution the fleet of the water tankers should be raised to cater for the increased demand of water during the summer season. This is possible by either purchasing or renting the required number of tankers. A nominal fee may be charged to cover the fuel expenses.
2. Repairing/replacement of damaged water pipelines should be started immediately to check the wastage of water.
3. Serious negotiations should be started with the water utility services to increase the supply. As the DHA is run by a military administration, it can force its way through the civilian authorities for the supply of its rightful share of water.
4. The residents should also realize their responsibility and avoid wastage of water, even if they have plentiful of this precious resource.
EBRAHIM HOOSAIN
Karachi
I WANT to bring to the notice of the governor, chief minister, ministers for education and finance and the chief secretary of Sindh the injustices being done to the school-cadre officers.
The elementary college lecturers who were promoted and posted in June 2003 from grade 17 to 18 were not allowed to join on May 30, 2003, by their seniors to enable them to draw their annual increment, though many of the same cadre and general college lecturers joined on that date to get their annual increment.
The school-cadre officers whose promotion orders from grade 17 to grade 18 were issued on May 30, 2003, have not been given their posting orders as yet. Now they will not get their annual increment due on Dec 1, 2003, and consequently will suffer the financial loss of one annual increment. Either they may be deemed to have joined on May 30, 2003, or be allowed annual increment as a special case from Dec 1, 2003, like those who joined between June 2 and Nov 30 of the calendar year due to promotion as was done in the past (vide letter No. FD(SR-I)3(2)/2000 dated 28.3.2001 and Fd(SR-I)1(39)/94 dated 27.10.1994), to save them from financial losses.
The posting orders of the school-cadre officers who have been waiting for their posting in grades 18 and 19 for the last six months be issued. They may be given their postings when they are transferred from the post and are being directed to report to the department. Their posting places should be mentioned in their transfer orders on side posts if not wanted by the district nazims on executive posts.
If this state of affairs continues, I am afraid, the whole system of administration in school cadre will collapse. No subordinates will follow the orders if they are not being accepted by nazims and elected representatives.
ABDUL HAQUE SOOMRO
Sanghar
I READ with interest the letter by Dr Arifa Farid, “The parable of the gardener and WMD” (June 22). Hardly anybody believed that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to begin with. Mr Bush and Mr Blair were actually talking to themselves only! The worldwide media terrorists tried their best or worst to convince the world echoing the Bush-Blair rhetoric.
Similarly, the vast majority of the people across the globe does not buy that attacks on WTC were handiwork of Arabs, Osama or Taliban. Hardly anyone can consider that Anthrax bugs flew from Torah Borah to the US. Most doctors regard Sars a severe pneumonia that had been prevalent from time immemorial and every hospital ward carried several pneumonia patients all the time.
Pneumonia is one of the commonest causes of death. The death of about 30 people from this disease in Canada and a few hundred over the span of several months in such populous countries as China is hardly news! However, thanks to the medical and media terrorists, anything can be made big news through scientific gimmickry and jugglery.
Intelligent people consider these gimmicks as excuses for attacking someone militarily, economically and as attention deviation tactics. Dr Arifa Farid’s quotation of “famous” philosopher Anthony Flew was totally irrelevant to the topic however. Everyone knows that the Gardner of the jungles, wild nature, moon, sun, stars and you and me is not visible. However those who have eyes can see Him everywhere and in everything.
PROF (DR) ANWAR UL HAQUE
Islamabad
WITH reference to the news-item, ‘Opening of Pehur canal delayed’ (June 27), I would like to clarify certain points.
The claim that “the work on the project was briefly halted after the Sept 11 incident as Turkish engineers had left the country when the US attacked the Taliban regime in Afghanistan but it resumed soon after the installation of the Karzai government” does not reflect the reality and exact position of the Turkish company after the Sept 11 incident.
Contrary to the claim, Turkish company STFA did not abandon the site and, indeed, it uninterruptedly continued with its activities. It should be recalled that while immediately after Sept 11 incident other foreign contractors working on different projects chose to leave Pakistan due to the potential security risks, the Turkish companies and engineers did not do the same and all Turkish companies continued to contribute to the huge development projects of Pakistan with vigour and enthusiasm.
MUHSIN OZCAN,
Press Attache,
Turkish Embassy,
Islamabad
UNTIL a month back I had been very worried about my younger brother, Arsalan, who had a blocked valve in the heart. Being the only bread-winner for my family, I could not arrange Rs165,000 that the National Institute of Cardiovascular demanded for operating upon my brother.
In this state of despair, a friend of mine took us to the the Friends of Cardiac Surgery, a registered NGO, working in collaboration with the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Civil Hospital, Karachi, which operated upon my brother free of cost.
Through these columns I thank the FCS for saving my brother’s life. I wish we had more NGOs like this so that the poor could get access to free or cheap health care.
ARIF HUSSAIN
Karachi
THE Indian National Congress in its propaganda against partition charged that Mr Jinnah intended to make Pakistan a religious state — which meant a mediaeval state, a theocracy, where the non-Muslims would have no place. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, with the help of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, mobilized the ulema against Mr Jinnah.
The president of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind issued a fatwa in October 1945, on the eve of the general election, declaring it haraam for the Muslims to join the Muslim League. The Ahrars opposed Pakistan tooth and nail. The Jamaat-i-Islami also joined the anti-Pakistan crusade.
Mr Jinnah never wanted a religious or a theocratic state. His idea of Pakistan was that of a modern, liberal, secular and democratic state. He had always insisted that the Muslim League was a political organization which fought against the entrenched position of the ulema in Muslim politics and secured almost all Muslim seats in the central and provincial assemblies.
The mullahs practically disappeared from the Muslim political scene for half a decade after 1945. They surfaced again sometimes after Mr Jinnah’s death. This time they came as champions of the Islamic state. They gained first by inches, then by miles, as no political leader had courage enough to confront them. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did take the line that Islam was not an issue in a country with an overwhelming Muslim population. But later he succumbed to their pressure.
When he was overthrown, Gen Ziaul Haq assumed the role of a champion of the Islamic state and nurtured the fanatics. Forgetting all their past fatwas the extremists joined hands with the looters. As Pakistanis we are sure they will again be defeated.
NAEEM AHMAD KHAN
Karachi
MAY the 10 ECO countries unite into a true federation under the name of “United States of Islam”, with each linguistic unit within the federation forming a fully autonomous unit controlling all its portfolios locally (with due importance to its local language) and only the foreign affairs, defence, currency and communications may lie with the centre.
Russian (already the inter-state language between the six of the 10 ECO states) and Persian (already forming the higher vocabulary of Pushto, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Siraiki, Sindhi and Urdu) may form the only two national languages of the federation.
PROF S. AZHAR ALI
Karachi
THIS refers to a letter by Prof Sulaiman Ahmed Khan, published in your newspaper on June 19. The allegations levelled and the arguments advanced in the letter, being devoid of any force and led by the writer’s own views and fancies, seem to be the product of personal ire, ill-will or prejudice.
The letter is a classic example of blowing hot and cold in the same breath. The writer seems to be annoyed at the grant of stipend to the postgraduates but in the same breath he is found deprecating the fees. He does not appreciate that the stipend allowed to the unemployed young postgraduates may help them to some extent in meeting the expenses involved in their studies.
It may not be out of place to mention here that the writer himself being a postgraduate from UK institutions should have been rational enough not to ignore that the expenditure incurred by an individual on doing his post- graduation abroad is, by any stretch of imagination, not in any proportion with the domestic expenditure.
The writer has mourned a lot the inefficiency and incompetence of the CPSP and the faults of the examiners which is again based on surmises and conjectures. He should have appreciated that the joint committee on high medical training of the royal colleges of the UK has recognized the CPSP and also declared the FCPS qualification at par with the MRCP.
After such recognition, the equivalence of qualification and expression of satisfaction by the external examiners of the UK, the standard of the CPSP hardly needs any comments. Doing postgraduation abroad is no touchstone to test the competence of the professionals. It must be borne in mind that according to a careful analysis about 80 per cent doctors including many renowned professionals are the postgraduates of the CPSP. If post-graduation from a foreign institution would be the sole criterion to issue a certificate of competence to the incumbent, there would not have been an alarming increase in litigations on a charge of professional negligence in foreign countries.
The CPSP is producing professionals equipped with theoretical as well as practical knowledge, capable of doing justice to their profession and responding to the needs of the patients. The writer could have commented on the institutions established in the private sector where the sanctimonious medical profession has been made a device to mint money. Needless to say that a number of mushroom commercial medical institutions are at present engaged in charging Rs250,000 to Rs300,000 per annum from an MBBS candidate. This alone is, and must be, a matter of concern for any person claiming to be a medical elite.
PROF ABDUL GHAFFAR NAGI
Quetta
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