| August 6, 2003 | Wednesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 7, 1424 |
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Chaotic traffic problems
American visa policy
Private schools in Islamabad
Sharifuddin Pirzada’s revelation
Wrangling over LFO
Blocking Kashmir Point
Reading culture
Zamzama Park: ban on shorts
PASMIC tender
Democratization of Iraq
PUNJAB being the most populous of the provinces in the Federation of Pakistan, other three constituent provinces are said to be small provinces. The sharing of resources that are generated by the federating units are pooled mainly on the basis of population, area and the revenue generation capacity of each of the provinces.
I would like to discuss the above-mentioned major distribution system and the frustration which small provinces face at the hands of Punjab. For example, the highest Zakat generation is in Sindh. Islamic jurisprudence says Zakat should be given first to relations and then to neighbours, i.e. the right of Zakat is to the people from where it is collected but in Sindh’s case it is distributed in Punjab which, on the basis of population, becomes the biggest benefactor.
Again, being the highest producer of agricultural products Punjab collects the most of Ushr, but for its distribution the parameter adopted in the matter of Zakat is changed to benefit Punjab, i.e. the criterion now is changed from population to the place from where it is collected. So, the Ushr that is collected in Punjab remains in that province.
The above are small issues. The main one concerns the divisible pool of the financial resources, which the present ruler cited as one of the reasons for removal of the Nawaz government. There was a news-item in a local newspaper of July 23, 2003, which states that “it shows that Sindh contributed Rs189 billion to the federal divisible pool, that is 68 per cent of the pool, but its receipts were Rs30 billion or about 16 per cent of the generated amount. At the same time, Punjab contributed Rs78 billion to the divisible pool, but its receipts were Rs70 billion which showed it got back 90 per cent of its contribution”.
Other quotes include: during 1980 Sindh had 23 per cent population living below the poverty line, which recently has increased to 35 per cent. In Punjab’s case it is the reverse of what Sindh experienced.
Water distribution has become a pain in the neck of Sindh. The lush green Indus valley, which was once a source of food and clothing for the entire subcontinent, has turned into a barren land. For 50 years the problem of waterlogging has not been resolved. There are projects to address the problems of salinity and waterlogging, billions are spent on paper, but Sindh lands have been deteriorating in quality with the passage of time.
I have seen advertisements in newspapers for the sale of agricultural land at Jati near Thatta for a meagre Rs3,000 per acre, whereas a goat/sheep costs more than Rs4,500.
This is deprivation. Water is not allowed below the Kotri Barrage as there is scarcity of water. This has degenerated million of acres in Hyderabad, Thatta and Badin, with sea intrusion doing further destruction. On the other hand, Kalabagh dam and such other projects are being conceived while programmes for reclamation of Sindh lands are not in sight. The greater Thal canal came up during Laghari presidency, land was mostly allotted and is being allotted to higher ranking defence personnel and water from the Indus — a right and need of Sindh — is being diverted to Thal.
The NWFP has its own problem against Punjab. The Frontier people have chosen their representatives, and it should be no business of the centre or the Punjab to dislodge the elected representatives of the NWFP. The drama against the NWFP legislators on the issue of degrees is nothing but an act of sabotage and suppression.
Balochistan has always been kept as a backward area. Nawab Akbar Bugti is a thorn in Punjab’s chaudhrahat. When he says the natural resources of Balochistan are being usurped by the centre, he is ‘talking the truth’.
The other thorny issue is of travel to India. When land routes were open, people were forced to use the Lahore route to go to India. Why such anomaly? Ninety per cent of the people going to India are from Sindh, and Khokhrapar is a short and viable route for this. Why then are they being made to take a journey to India through Punjab? Are the people of Sindh not trustworthy? If you deprive the people of their legitimate right, they will raise voice. Correction is overdue.
DAWOODI MORKAS
Karachi
THE major cities of Pakistan are in the grip of chaotic traffic problems. The highest courts of most developed countries have declared that the first right on the road is that of the pedestrians. This means that law is favouring the less privileged persons on roads and highways.
We should also realize that the old cities will have to live with their radial-road network in conjunction with the grid system in the new satellites, bringing and converging more and more motorized traffic to the focal points of downtowns, airports, railway stations, seaports and the ever-increasing number of schools and workplaces after every passing day.
Both systems of the traffic management controls, i.e. the geometric layout and the forced control (manual by traffic police or automations by electric signals), will keep going down against public expectations owing to increasing number of crossing-points and the widening of the roads. Pedestrians take more time in crossing a wide road than a narrow road and are more vulnerable to accidents. The oversized roads provide more freedom for lane violations. Slim roads are easy to maintain and can be kept neat, clean and provide better safely for both the operators and the pedestrians.
Road accidents have one, or in combination, three immediate impacts on road users: loss of time, loss of property and loss of life. Those of us who cannot afford any of these are generally the victims. Many accidents remain unreported, ignored or hushed up. People swallow the rot willingly or unwillingly.
My humble request to those who cannot afford the price of any of the above cited costs of accidents/ traffic chaos is that they should plan their daily movement routes with “no right turns while leaving or entering your house or the workplace”.
No doubt this change will be awkward, but if compared with the overall effect of human loss or property loss will be beneficial to the road users and senior citizens.
Feedback through the courtesy of newspapers, on an individual and collective basis will give us an assessment of our experience.
At the same time, I would request our road and traffic planners and engineers to consider the pros and cons of wider roads and the slim roads by making the connecting lanes of the one and the same geometric standards as that of the thoroughfares.
ABDULLAH MAHESAR
Islamabad
I AM Rana Gulzar Ahmad, a health professional working on HIV/AIDS prevention at the national level in Pakistan for the past four years. I attended the international AID Sconference 2002, Barcelona, Spain.
Last month, I received scholarship confirmation and official invitation letter from the National HIV Prevention Conference, July 27-30, 2003, Atlanta, USA. When I discussed this matter with my friends (health professionals), most of them advised me not to apply for a non-immigrant US visa because of strict US visa policies for Pakistanis.
On the contrary, I submitted my visa application with all required documents to the US embassy and after one month visited the embassy for interview. During the interview I clearly communicated that I had a flight to the US on July 25 in order to attend the conference. But it was strange for me that after the process of more than one month on July 25 I received a response from the embassy saying: ‘We are unable to locate your case through information provided in your letter. Please provide us with your name as written in passport, your passport number and your date of birth.’
I was extremely grateful for the response but the conference secretariat had already sent all said information via fax directly to the embassy on July 9 and 15. It is the basic right of the embassy to demand documents but in time.
I sent faxes, e-mails and letters to the embassy but have not received any response. I tried my best to contact the embassy via telephone but nobody was there to attend. I wrote directly to Ms Linda Cheatham about my case in details but there was complete silence.
What is the policy behind it? Why did the embassy delay my case? Why didn’t it ask me to provide the documents on time? The embassy is responsible for the delay in my case, not me. It should be more responsible in future.
RANA GULZAR AHMAD
Quetta
RECENTLY I saw a sticker, produced by one of the NGOs, which said: “Say yes to education”. Perhaps it was meant for the CDA authorities who are threatening to close down 86 private schools in Islamabad.
Somebody in the CDA thinks that there is too much of education in Pakistan and private schools particularly in Islamabad must close down. They think that the FG schools in Islamabad have too many vacant seats for the students and they welcome the students with open arms.
My friends running the private schools should change the names of their schools. They should name them “students guest house”, “teachers’ house”, “rent a teacher for the day” “NGO tarbiat”, “educational clinic”, students abode”, or some other names which will make the CDA think twice before issuing a notice to them.
The CDA authorities might like to punish the NGO issuing stickers “Say yes to education”. After closing down ‘private schools’ the CDA is likely to target F. government schools established in residential areas surrounded by private houses and even by a working women’s hostel.
They would like to issue a sticker that says, “Say no to education”.
WASIQ SHERWANI
Islamabad
MR Sharifuddin Pirzada’s recent revelation in your paper that Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah was murdered and blood stains were found on her bed and clothes is very astonishing. Why a person of Mr Pirzada’s stature has chosen to disclose it so belatedly can hardly be understood.
However, the matter is quite serious and needs to be fully probed as there may still be people living who were close to Miss Fatima Jinnah and were present at the time of her death. The suspicion created in the minds of the people who all time were made to believe that she died a natural death needs to be removed for record’s sake.
It is strange that we always wake up after an event has taken place. Sometime back there was a controversy raised in your paper that the Quaid was born at Jhirak, a place near Thatta in lower Sindh and not at Wazir Mansion, as people were fed on. Now, we are told that the Mader-i-Millat was murdered and did not die of cardiac arrest. Why do we rake up the old issues that are once settled well?
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
IT can be safely said that about 95 per cent of our population does not know what is written in our Constitution. Out of the remaining, one per cent like me does have a feel about it. The remaining four per cent use it for their own sake.
For the professional politics-players, it is a document for obtaining our ‘thumb impression’ votes, even from a university’s English professor, in an election. Another group knows how to high-jump it safely. For our legal practitioners, it is a reference book in their shelves. Remember the law of necessity.
In between these lines, the LFO is trying to find a place for itself.
Z. A. KAZMI
Karachi
APROPOS of the letter titled “Blocking Kashmir Point”, which appeared in your Aug 1 issue, I wonder if some lawyers or citizens will file a case against it in a court and have a court order issued against it.
Also, how ironical it is that while all these VIPs won’t let the common people use their basic rights and privileges, like using the public roads, parks, blockade of main thoroughfares when they are around, at the same time they would “respect” and “fear” the law and the law-enforcement agencies abroad (as in the West).
I felt an eerie sense of “sympathy” with the Pakistan delegation, which consisted of the premier, federal ministers and other top echelons of bureaucracy, when they were passing through the New York City and there were no police constables to block the traffic and the common people didn’t even know that they are in town.
SYED RAZA
San Diego, CA, USA
I HAVE been keenly following Zubeida Mustafa’s articles on the state of our public libraries and the general dearth of a reading culture in our society, the latest of which appeared in Dawn on July 23. Indeed, a reading culture can only be generated by conscious design and the ready accessibility of libraries.
As a mother of two bright school-going children, I am disappointed that they have little interest in reading beyond their school textbooks and the latest Harry Potter book.
On the other hand, a friend who lives in Singapore, a
mother of three children, brings her kids to the neighbourhood public library once a week and borrows 10 books at a stretch. Her children, aged six, eight and 11, are naturally avid readers. The results of her effort are pretty obvious in her children’s vocabulary command, which is impressive for their age.
In a major chain of private schools in Pakistan, all classes have a weekly library session, and every student from class one onwards gets to bring home a library book to read every week. This is an important way in which the schools in Pakistan, both public and private, can help inculcate the reading habit. For this, each school would need to build up a modest library.
Needless to say, for the reading culture to spread generally in our society beyond the school level, good and readily accessible public libraries are necessary.
In Islamabad, every sector has a main market, a park and schools. What is lacking, however, is a public library in each sector carrying a range of reading material in which the residents, young and old, can find something of their interest.
There is of course the National Library, situated behind the prime minister’s secretariat, and a children’s library at Aabpara. But this is hardly sufficient to inculcate any reading habit.
MRS RUKHSANA NASEEM
Islamabad
IN concurrence with Mr Basit A. Alavi’s letter (July 25), I too compliment the Karachi DHA for giving the citizens a park, as beautiful as he reminisces to be. However, with regard to Mr Alavi’s amazement at prohibition against entry to the park of people wearing shorts, I must say that most visitors to the park, specially women, would disagree with Mr Alavi and would compliment the DHA for imposing the restriction.
By whatever standard of values Mr Alavi judges the shorts to be a sporting attire, the Muslims do not normally permit themselves to expose legs above the knees approximating to partial nakedness. Such a sight is repulsive to women.
In view of the aforesaid, on behalf of vast majority of the visitors of the park, I salute the DHA for maintaining the standard of decency in disallowing improperly dressed visitors.
Mr Alavi’s remark that the prohibition of entry to the people wearing shorts may be as well followed by restricting men wearing prayer clothing and women with veils is clearly not valid.
AKBAR KHAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the article by Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee in your issue of July 27 relating to the award of a contract to PASMIC.
Without going into the merits of the article, we would like to clarify that neither the Interglobe group nor any of its directors ever participated or had any interest in the tender of PASMIC, to which the article relates.
MOHAMMED AJMAL ANSARI Director,
Karachi
THIS refers to an article by Mr Benjamin Barber, titled “The West cannot impose democracy on the Middle East” (Dawn, July 6).
The writer has befittingly anatomized the failures of the West to impose democracy in the Middle East in the context of the Iraq war. He has rightly pointed out that any effort to bring democracy from above could only result in producing anarchy and, thus, tyranny.
Having endorsed the views of the author, I would like to offer some comments.
If we try to fit a definition of democracy to conditions so divergent as they are to be found in the developing world, we would have to run two hundred accounts of liberty from Plato, all the rest, down to Byron’s compact account of democracy as “only an aristocracy of black guards”. Nevertheless, it looks both ironic and awesome that this phantom of democracy has been the basis of neo-conservative’s doctrine of “exporting democracy and importing economic benefits”.
Choosing this path to liberate the Iraqis through a war, Washington has jettisoned the norms of its revolution as once praised by a political philosopher — Condorcert: “The United States constitution is based on natural rights, and American Revolution made the rights of man known to all Europe, from the Neva to the Guadalquivir” — Should the US administration advocate that the message of its revolution was not universal but confined to the boundaries of Europe? — it appears that the American system is evolving its own form: “inverted totalitarianism”.
It is also an established fact that the results that fancied in theories are different from those perceived in practice. By replicating the experiment of “false dawn” in Iraq of Afghanistan’s models, the US policymakers have invited another big challenge, since democracy is not such a commodity to be exported abroad, yet it is such an embryo which is soiled indigenously. The nationalism of Iraqi people as shown in “urban guerilla warfare” has become the bastion against the occupying forces — hence posing a great deflection to the Washington’s idea of the post-Saddam Iraq.
The newly-formed Baghdad Council — the so-called “governing council” of 25 representatives — is nothing but a fragile attempt by the US civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, to establish a “mini civil rule.” The law of the land is and will be of the occupying powers. Whereas, the admittance of the White House regarding the WMD while attacking Iraq, and the mysterious death of Dr David Kelley of the UK, a UN arms inspector, have endorsed the seal on the doubts that the world had about the US and UK’s justification of this “Armageddon” against Iraq.
The truth is that the policies of the US and UK in the Middle East, by all accounts, seem to have strengthened the concept of “superpower or imperial democracy” which consequently endorses the scowling apprehensions of the people of this region, particularly of Iran and Syria, and the people of the developing world in regard to their concerns for liberty and sovereignty.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
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