| August 22, 2003 | Friday | Jumadi-us-Sani 23, 1424 |
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Why fix cat’s-eyes?
Equivalence certificate
Co-joined with Kashmir
Troops for Iraq
Enigma of change
BBIT classes
Closure of private schools
Gang-rape ordeal
Religious conflict in Sindh
SSGC’s move
Duties of ship captain and pilot
THE Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA) thanks Dawn for the attention and space it has allowed for these pressing problems affecting our young professionals.
In the next few weeks, the saga of young Pakistani physicians awaiting visa approval at the US embassy in Islamabad will be over, for better or for worse. Residencies in the US hospitals start on July 1 each year. This year there was a marked increase in the visa denials to Pakistani physicians. Hospitals cannot wait much longer. They have to fill in their positions. They have to take care of their patients.
There seems to be various reasons for increased denials this year. There is an increased feeling of discrimination. Although a response from the US State Department (in reply to our petition to Secretary Colin Powell) clearly states: “The United States has no visa policy that would treat citizens of Pakistan differently than citizens of other countries.”
The consular officers applied the exiting laws with exceptional overzeal. Granted the burden falls on the visa applicant to disprove the intent to immigrate presumption; it was never this difficult to overcome.
The consular officers demonstrated profound lack of knowledge in the process of US residency programmes. Visas were denied on grounds of lack of postgraduate training in Pakistan, a requirement that does not exist. Residency contracts shown to the officers were hurled back. They were not given the credence they deserved. Some were told that the US does not need any more doctors. It does not get worse than that. Those who applied for the CSA (clinical skill assessment) examination were told they had to get Step II cleared before the CSA. And the list goes on.
APPNA has created a taskforce to address this crisis situation for its future members. Our focus has been on these individual physicians. We have been in contact with the programme directors of their hospitals, the Senators and the Congressmen of the states of these hospitals, the departments of State and Homeland Security, and with the US embassy in Islamabad. We also reached out to the ECFMG and the AMA (American Medical Association).
The US embassy in Islamabad have been receptive of our efforts and our representatives met the consul general in Islamabad. We have been in constant touch with them since. Their cooperation is appreciated.
All these efforts may have helped some individual physicians in our database and others. Out of the 50 or so physicians in our database, 15 were lucky to receive the visa so far.
The situation does not look optimistic in the long run, however. The hospitals where Pakistani physicians got contracts and did not show up on time may be justifiably reluctant to entertain another Pakistani next year. The security clearance which takes place after the visa is approved adds another five to six weeks for some of the applicants.
The situation is not limited to physicians. Students, visitors and professionals in other fields are facing the same tougher interpretations of the law. There is a most urgent need for a concerted effort by the government of Pakistan and by Pakistani Americans in making the American legislators and policymakers understand that this is not in the best interest of Pakistan, the US and their mutual relationship. If left unchallenged, a larger number of Pakistani professionals aspiring for higher education and training will be denied their future.
If there was one singular factor in this entire endeavour to help the Pakistani physicians, it was the letter in Dawn. It raised the visibility of the issue significantly and much happened afterwards because of that. On behalf of the taskforce, I thank the editors of Dawn for the giving this issue the due importance.
NASIR GONDAL
Co-Chair, APPNA Task Force on Visa and Licensure Issues, Westmont, IL, US
THERE is a tendency to transplant in our milieu ideas from developed countries with which we are neither familiar nor aware enough to derive due benefit from the otherwise very useful gimmicks like the cat’s-eyes on the roads.
Your readers have by now become used to Karachi roads studded with such objects that reflect the light of their vehicles. On a dark night and unlit road it offers a sheer joy. Unfortunately, however, no one, not even many of the educated drivers, are aware of the advantages or disadvantages of these devices. The majority is not oriented to the concept of “lanes”, hence ignores them with contempt as an unnecessary nuisance that takes pleasure out of smooth drive.
Experience tells that such objects, vulnerable to high temperatures as our road-tops develop during summers, do not last long and soon lose their reflectivity. Also, their face gets smeared by the rubber of tyres of the vehicles that are invariably constantly driven on these contraptions despite the bumps felt by the driver and passengers. Pleasure, if there is any, to drive on a road lined with rows and rows of colourful shining buttons is only temporary since their shine fades off soon. Unless the traffic obeys “lane” discipline, there is no use to waste resources for the sake of mere decoration.
The wastage on Super Highway, between Sohrab Goth and Toll, gates is quite glaring. Very large numbers of cat’s-eyes were first embedded on the road and later when some portions of the road were repaired by laying a thick top of bitumen mixture, the expensive cat’s-eyes got buried deep. Once again a new crop of eyes was implanted. The logic of this strategy is above and beyond comprehension of an ordinary citizen who pays for such follies.
Could anyone tell the bewildered taxpayer, why the road was not first repaired before fixing the reflectors and also how much time, money, labour and other material resources were invested in the burial of already laid eyes?
DR M. SAYEDAIN JAFFERY
Karachi
WE, the students of O/A’level are underprivileged. No matter how good or efficient we are we can never get more marks. Thanks to the ministry of education, the students studying under the Pakistani system of education can achieve marks as high as 997 etc. but we (the deprived) can never even think of achieving marks higher than 935.
Again we have to thank the ministry of education (MoE) for devising such a nice formula to determine our marks according to the Pakistani system of education. If we get 98 per cent marks in any subject, the marks awarded to us by the MoE are 85. Similarly, if we get 89 per cent marks in any subject, marks awarded to us by the MoE are 75. The loss of so many marks gets our scores down.
Madam Parveen Shahid assured us that the batch of 2003 and onward will get 90 marks (if not more) for each ‘A’ grade, 80 marks for each ‘B’ grade. But since she is on leave these days, the policy has been changed again!
The question haunting us is: what wrong have we done by studying according to the British system of education? What sin have we committed that we are being punished by our own government which claims to safeguard the rights of the minorities.
Is there someone out there to rescue us from this disaster.
STUDENTS OF O/A’LEVEL
Islamabad
IN his recent article “Co-joined with Kashmir”, Mr F. S. Aijazuddin sensitively links the emotional tragedy of the Iranian twins with the long-standing agony of being co-joined with Kashmir.
He asserts that the Kashmir question was never a force of public opinion on either side — Pakistan or India — but rather the beating of drums by the retrogressive and obscurantist section of the Urdu press and those who had opposed the struggle for independence and Pakistan.
Can we ever expect sanity to prevail in Pakistan where irrationality and hypocrisy have held sway since its inception? When will the people of Pakistan wake up to the objective reality of themselves in world polity?
FARRUKH NIGAR AZIZ
Lahore
THE offer of using troops in Iraq is a God-sent opportunity to serve the Ummat; help reconstruct a broken Muslim nation; help Iraq to re-establish the Islamic culture of past glory and also help ourselves get strengthened and economically strong.
In order to use the “opportunity” for the purposes spelled above, the US will have to consider some special provisions to make easier for Pakistan to send its troops to a country destroyed so ruthlessly.
— The Iraqi higher-up in the future government should first prevail upon the important segments of population to accept the presence of Pakistan.
— Our troops should not be forced to fire on the Iraqis except in self-defence. Their motto will be Iraq-friendly.
— The Pakistan formation should look after a territorial region clearly earmarked to help govern it mainly for tasks like maintenance of law and order, reconstruction and administration.
— The US will pay to Pakistan for the services rendered by our troops.
— The US will coordinate the use of our troops. They will issue general orders for the areas for their employment, which may not be frequently disturbed/ changed.
The above recommendations accrue from some ground realities such as the Iraqis will treat a force from a non-Muslim country as hostile and least acceptable. The Iraqis’ willingness to cooperate is a must. Pakistan has a good record of such an employment and has no interest or previous involvement in Iraq. Force portrayed with an independent status is likely to have a better response.
Pakistan needs to have closer relationship with the US to get stronger in the region.
BRIG (R) A. Q. ANJUM
Rawalpindi
THIS is with reference to the letter headlined “Enigma of change” by Miss Sarah Parvaiz (July 11).
She has tried to interlink two different matters, poverty and education. No doubt 35 per cent of the total population is surviving below the poverty line. Neither the past nor the present government can reduce poverty which is increasing day by day.
A poor person is unable to provide meal to his children, but he can give them education — meal is not free but education is. The exact reason for the increasing rate of poverty is the poor rate of literacy.
SHOAIB BOKHARI
Larkana
LAHORE Garrison Education System had planned to start the classes for BBIT last year. The army officers, specially the retired ones like me, were very happy that now their children will be having higher education at Garrison College. BBIT and MBIT are the areas in which students are taking admission on a large scale these days. Keeping this in view, LGES planned to start BBIT classes in July last year.
When my son and some of his friends contacted LGES for admission, they were told to wait for some time. After a month when my son contacted LGES again for admission, he was told that BBIT classes would be started next year because of some reason. By that time our children had just two options, either to wait for one year or take admission to some other institute. So, eventually, my son took admission to PCBA where I had to pay a big amount as admission fee. His monthly tuition fee is also very high.
Being a retired colonel having limited resources, it is difficult for me to give quality education to my children at private institutes. My younger son who has passed his FA examination and wish to take admission to BBIT is hoping that at least this year BBIT classes will be started at LGES so that he may have quality education at a cheap rate at Garrison College.
COL (RTD) A. H. BUKSH
Lahore
ERRATIC enforcement of the rules is the main cause of the hullabaloo over the closure by the Capital Development Authority of over 20 private schools in Islamabad. First, rules were made that forbade the establishment of private schools in residential areas in Pakistan. Over the years, the rules were flouted or bent — depending whether one takes a negative or positive view — to accommodate the private school operators to set up shop within the residential areas for the convenience of parents.
Then, for some reason, the CDA decided to enforce the rule that bars private schools in residential areas. It set 1999 as the cut-off date, that is, those schools established in residential areas after 1999 are illegal and will, therefore, have to close down. What has made matters worse is that the CDA has given both the affected private schools and the parents very short notice about its decision.
This is all very unfair, specially to parents like us who have children enrolled in one of the private schools that have been asked to close down. The CDA, in consultation with the ministry of education, should decide once for all the kind of rules about location of private schools that it wants to enforce, and then enforce them consistently. Wavering to and from between lax and strict enforcement of the rules only causes hardship for the private school operators and their staff, and parents and their children.
M. TARIQ
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the news report about a couple’s ordeal in Karachi (Aug 18).
My heart goes out for the young couple, and I still cannot believe that how these Muslim men can do such a horrible act. Rape incidents in Pakistan are becoming common, and our authorities are not taking any steps to stop or punish the culprits.
I request the rulers to make sure that the culprits get apprehended and receive punishment in accordance with the principles of Islam. I also request our rulers to please take such steps as would provide security to our mothers and sisters.
MUHAMMAD A. MIRZA
North Rochelle Park, NJ,
USA
THIS refers to the above-mentioned report by Mr Imdad Soomro from Jacobabad (Aug 3) in which he has blamed an influential but a very respectable personality of Rojhan. I would like to share my views with the readers of Dawn and give you facts about the incident in which a Hindu girl ran away with a Muslim boy.
The couple ran away to Nawabshah, from there to Karachi and finally they came to Hub. The nikah nama (marriage contract) came from Karachi and not from Rojhan. Moreover, if someone wants to confirm this, they can approach the relevant police officials, the judge at Karachi and even the couple.
In this respect, if someone wants to contact the undersigned who happens to be a son of the influential person, they are always welcome to do that on this address: P.O. Box Rohan Jamali, Jafferabad district, Balochistan (Phone No. 0740-510905, Fax No. 0740-510906, email address: qaisarjamali@hotmail.com).
As for Mr Soomro, my advice to him is that instead of getting some popularity by naming respected citizens and important places, he should concentrate more on facts and his own analytical skills. It is always easy to criticize someone and time and again heap scorn and derision on influentials and leaders but very difficult to justify it.
QAISER JAMALI
Jafferabad
THIS refers to the letter titled “SSGC’s move” (Aug 10).
The SSGC wishes to clarify that absorption letters have been issued in all such cases as have attained finality at the appropriate legal forum.
The case of 77 litigants mentioned in the letter are under review at the Supreme Court. As and when they are finally decided, the company shall take necessary actions, in compliance with the court’s decision, as it has done in earlier cases.
S. NASRIN HUSSAIN
Chief Manager, External Relations, SSGC,
Karachi
THIS refers to the disaster of Tasman Spirit outside the Karachi harbour. Safe navigation is the responsibility of the captain (master), and not the local harbour pilot who boards the vessel as an adviser.
In the case of Tasman Spirit, the pilot boarded the vessel perhaps 30 minutes before its grounding and could hardly familiarize himself with its manoeuvring characteristics, whereas the master had substantial experience of manoeuvring the ship.
It is an international law that the master is responsible for the safe navigation and if the pilot’s competence is doubtful, the master can refuse to take such a pilot. However, the master and the officer of the watch (OOW) are responsible for continuously monitoring the advice and the orders of the pilot given to the quarter-master (the person steering the vessel) and to the engine staff.
In case of any doubt about the advice of the pilot, the master should immediately take over the vessel and navigate it safely and also advise the port authorities of such action so that the port could arrange an alternative pilot.
This disaster occurred because of the human error by the master and crew, who were supposed to monitor the navigation and the current effect while the pilot, with maximum local knowledge of currents/winds etc, should have navigated the vessel safely. This did not seem to have happened.
I suggest that it should be compulsory during the monsoon season that any tanker entering a Pakistan port must be escorted by two tugs into the harbour and the shipowner must be charged for such service.
It was the responsibility of the master to immediately ask all the agencies, including the KPT, the world organizations, and the owner to provide immediate help to save the vessel and its cargo. The master was supposed to request the help in detail, outlining the number of tugs, number of small vessels required to discharge cargo and to lighten the vessel, the equipment and oil depressant needed to prevent oil pollution.
A negative attempt to float the ship by using tugs cracked her bottom. If the vessel had not been sufficiently afloat, then the attempt to float it should not have been made. It was necessary to empty the vessel by pumping its cargo into small vessels and filling the vessel’s empty cargo tanks with seawater one by one until all tanks were completed. This was the appropriate time to make the attempt to pull the vessel with tugs to float it.
I have commanded dozens of foreign vessels and many a time, to save the vessel, its cargo and crew, I had refused the advice of shore authorities, pilots in narrow channel, while berthing, and on high seas. Therefore, the master and the owner are to be held responsible for this disaster.
CAPT ZULFIQUAR
AHMAD ABBASI
Rawalpindi
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