| September 1, 2003 | Monday | Rajab 3, 1424 |
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Grounding of Tasman Spirit
About State Bank’s clarification
Gang-rape ordeal
Why fix cat’s-eyes?
What money cannot buy
Rain victims without help
A poor driver’s ordeal
Sialkot tragedy
Parking fees
Only Sindhi
Ban on entertainment
THIS is in response to Dr Ajaz Ahsan’s letter on the above caption appearing in these columns on Aug 27. I fully agree with his proposal. Size has been a double-edged weapon for Punjab. On the one hand it gives Punjab influence at the centre but on the other it denies the province its autonomy and it has to bear criticism from other provinces too.
Ever since independence, successive central governments have been overcautious about rule in Punjab by a politician belonging to the opposition. That is why central governments have always resorted to rigging elections, buying loyalties of members of the Punjab Assembly, use of force and every other fair or unfair means to install government of their choice at Lahore.
In fact, this has not been confined to opposition parties but even independent-minded politician from the same party were also not allowed to rule the province. All efforts were made to keep the person ruling Punjab just a figurehead and the province is directly ruled from the centre in the name of that person. Whenever the provincial chief achieved some power and was able to take some independent decisions, he was removed one way or the other. This unhappy story began with Mumtaz Daultana-Liaquat Ali Khan relations and continues till date.
It happened with the Nawab of Kalabagh in relations to Ayub Khan. Again, in the seventies Z. A. Bhutto removed Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Hanif Ramay and Miraj Khalid for the same reason. In 1990 Mian Nawaz Sharif overlooked many politicians from his home province and installed ‘harmless’ Ghulam Hyder Wyne as chief minister. Benazir Bhutto during 1993-6 tried to do the same with Manzoor Wattoo and had to go for Arif Nakai when all efforts to tame Wattoo failed. During 1997-99, Nawaz Sharif kept the chief ministership of the province in his family to ward off against any threat from the province.
This sorry state of affairs can be amended if the province is divided into three parts. All three parts of such a divided Punjab will be small and the central governments will not feel threatened by them. In such an eventuality, the central government may allow the people of Punjab to have government of their own choice.
Such a division is not impractical either. At the time of partition, Pakistan got 16 districts of the undivided Punjab, and India got 13. A very large state of Bahawalpur later joined. India divided the 13 districts plus some small east Punjab states into three states and we have kept the western part as it is.
WAJIH ABBASI
Islamabad
I HAVE been following with great interest and anguish the debate going on in your columns regarding the grounding of Tasman Spirit in the Karachi Harbour channel on July 27.
With due respect to the shipping experts who wrote to you, I am afraid none of them has managed to hit the crux of the matter.
Let me illustrate: today have been made public here in the USA the findings of a very high-powered commission of inquiry appointed to probe the space shuttle Columbia’s disaster in which all the seven crew died, including a very talented and beautiful young lady from Punjab, the first Indian to go into space. And the verdict? They have laid the entire blame on the “Culture” at Nasa, (leaving too much in the contractors’ hands etc).
To avoid such a catastrophic happening again, we need to set up a high-powered panel to lay down the ground rules for declaring a “national emergency” and for establishing a “central command” to take charge in such an emergency and the officer-in-charge should have the powers to acquire and requisition services, ships, tugs, barges and the necessary equipment, to charter vessels and to incur all such expenses as are necessary to meet the needs of the situation.
In the present case, everything was left to the owners of the ship, who again must have passed on the buck to the underwriters (in London I presume), who took everything in their stride, not realizing the peril of the grounding. The underwriters then must have passed the baby on to the salvage association. All this while the time bomb was ticking and the authorities in Karachi, in their laid-back culture, were declaring sub theek hai!
This is a national disaster of such magnitude that we need to take charge of the salvage operation locally instead of the proverbial man from London who would, in any case, take two or three days to get rid of the jetlag. I remember that in the case of the grounding of the Chapra (a B. I. ship) in the Pussur river estuary, in the sixties, the “man from London” and the British captain of the ship were all for abandoning the ship and going home.
But we, the officers, involved in the salvage operations refused to give up and pulled the ship off the beach safe and sound.
CAPT ABDUS SALAM KHAN
Chantilly, VA, USA
THIS is with reference to the clarification furnished by the State Bank of Pakistan’s chief spokesman (Aug 9) on the comments about the figures of cash recovery of the non-performing loans (NPLs) appearing in my article (Dawn EBR Aug 4-10-2003).
The SBP’s clarification says that the figures of Rs40 billion (or more) given in the SBP governor’s article entitled “Dealing with banks’ non-performing loans” (Dawn, Oct 21-22, 2002) pertain to the default of Rs1 million and above.
I have looked into the matter again. It is noted that the remarks regarding recovery of Rs40 billion were made under the title “Pro-active treatment of the stocks of NPLs”. An extract from the above article is reproduced hereinafter: “It has adopted a multi-pronged approach to resolve the issue. First, it has put pressure on the banks and DFIs to accelerate recovery. During the past 3 years, an amount of more than Rs40 billion or 20 per cent of 1999 outstanding stock of NPLs has been recovered in cash”.
It will be seen from the quotation that the SBP governor in his article had referred to the entire stock of the NPLs and not to the defaulted loans of Rs1 million or above.
It may be interesting to note that on page 93 of the SBP annual report for the fiscal 1999-2000, the figure of defaulted loans as of June 30, 1999, was given as Rs143.13 billion while the total amount of NPLs on that date was put at Rs212.1 billion. The 20 per cent of the stocks of NPLs works out to slightly above Rs40 billion. This amply substantiates that the cash recovery figure of Rs40 billion (or more) appearing in the governor’s article pertained to the total stock of 1999 NPLs and not (only) to the defaults of loans of Rs1 million and above as per the position now taken by the SBP.
Thus the position taken in the clarification has become untenable and the jump of Rs84 billion in the cash recovery during October 2002-July 2003 is likewise untenable.
The data prepared by the SBP once used to be recognized as the most authentic of all governmental organizations. As its data is used by all concerned, including scholars, researchers, business community, and educational/research institutions, the SBP must maintain its past credibility, and if anytime an error enters the data, it should be accepted boldly and rectified, instead of taking a refuge under unsustainable arguments.
A. M. TALHA
Karachi
THE enormity of the trauma of being gang-raped can only be felt by the girl who was so cruelly and heartlessly subjected to it by four evil men recently in Karachi. Everything must have changed for her now, everything in her life tainted forever by the ghastly, inhuman incident.
But the question is: what are we doing as a nation to bring those powerful, barbaric and dangerous criminals to justice?
The chief minister of Sindh gave a statement to the media the following day, asking the minister for women’s affair to look into the matter personally. She in turn gave another statement, asking the victim girl to contact her. How can a rape victim, who is shattered, horrified and depressed, contact the minister when she has not even lodged an FIR?
The government authorities must go after the culprits with an iron hand and a firm resolve, because who knows tomorrow it can be their daughters, sisters, wives, fiancees and even mothers, who can be kidnapped and gang-raped because it is so easy and the culprits have absolutely nothing to fear, as our nation is sleeping, lazy and has no care and thought for the sufferings of others.
Why has the media stopped following up this story? The least journalists can do is to keep asking the officials concerned about the development they are making, if any, in this case, and then reporting it to the people on a daily basis. At least it will make the criminals uneasy.
I would like to advise people to be cautious. We can try to protect ourselves by ordinary things that we carry when we go out, e.g. keys can be used to poke into the eyes of the attacker or to scratch or injure them. Small perfume bottles can be sprayed in the eyes and nose to stun the attacker. Pocket knives can come handy. Above all, remain vigilant, don’t trust strangers and always seek Allah’s help.
ALMAS
Karachi
REFERENCE is made to the letter “Why fix cat’s-eyes?” by Dr M. Sayedain Jaffery (Aug 22). I would slightly disagree with his point of view. My recent experience of travelling by the Super Highway after a long time was excellent.
I believe the highway now seems to be a very safe road to travel, as compared to what it was in the past. The roads’ directional traffic signage and cat’s-eyes were the highlight of the travel. It was observed that all vehicles (cars, buses and trucks) were not only following the normal highway traffic laws but also not speeding.
The journey back from Hyderabad was a real treat as it had then turned dark and the cat’s-eyes were reflecting the light well. I strongly agree with Dr Jaffery that a closer coordination should take place between road constructors and cat’s-eyes installers so that we don’t waste such an excellent lane-marking product.
ASIF KHAN
Karachi
MONEY cannot buy happiness, money is the root of all evil, health is real wealth, and many such cliches are time-tested truths handed down to us from generation to generation as words of wisdom. As per a recent news-item, the University of South California seems to have awakened to this fact now.
As if it needed research to find this out, it has released a study that says people don’t get happier by getting rich, and confirms that a man’s personal well-being does not increase with wealth. It has put up a website to educate us about all that money cannot buy.
Perhaps there are plenty of affluent and filthy rich people around who need to be reminded constantly about this harsh fact. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those, however few, who know where real contentment lies. And sometimes they get reported.
Another recent news-item carried the story of a humble beggar in China who gave a change to any well-wisher who gave him more than one jiao (about one US cent), when he begs on the street, telling donors any extra should go to other needy people. This reminded me about that sublime prayer. May God give me enough for my need, and not for my greed.
If you want to know what God thinks about money, look at all the people He has given it in abundance. When a man becomes more prosperous, he becomes preposterous.
MAZHAR SHERIF
Muscat
RECENTLY, the Mithi town experienced heavy rains. The Siran area was submerged causing loss to property and houses.
It was reported in the press that two million rupees was sanctioned for draining out the standing water. It has been over a month now but the rainwater is still standing there posing a threat to the locality, as more rain is expected shortly.
We have already sent faxes and telegrams and have personally approached the quarters concerns, but nothing has so far been done in this regard. It borders on criminal indifference that no help is forthcoming while the 250 families of the Siran Colony suffer.
Through this paper we appeal to the authorities concerned to move fast before rain comes again and causes an irreparable loss. We have still not overcome the shock of the first spell of rains as no relief and rehabilitation work has been taken in hand so far.
PROF (RETD) MOHAMMAD WASI & OTHERS
Mithi
I WANT to bring to your attention an incident that occurred at the junction of Khayaban-i-Shaheen and Khayaban-i-Ittehad (opposite the telephone exchange) at 12.10pm on Friday (Aug 29).
My driver was helping a lady who was facing some car trouble in the middle of the intersection. He was trying to push the car to clear the intersection so that the car would not block the traffic. (He had parked my car on the roadside). Suddenly, a dark green Alto drove over his foot. It was driven by a woman wearing a white dupatta. Three other women passengers accompanied her. They stopped the car for a second and apologized to the driver. But instead of getting out of the car to see the damage inflicted by their fully-loaded car on a human foot, these women left the site and drove on. My driver is right now in a hospital and I am waiting for his X-ray report.
Under the international traffic regulations, the women had to stay at the site until they had ensured that everything was OK. I feel that they have a moral obligation to explain as to why they thought it was okay for them to inflict an injury on a human being and run away.
I do not intend to go to the police or to the court to demand justice for the poor man. I just want to request those women to demonstrate a little bit of humanity by contacting me (021- 5675432) and arranging for the expenses of the treatment of a person who was simply trying to help a lady in distress.
ENGR REHAN A. RIAZ
Karachi
IT was reported in this paper on Aug 23 that the head warden and his subordinate were arrested and jailed by a anti-terrorism court for supplying ammunition to the prisoners who killed four judges within the Sialkot Jail premises on July 25. The work done by the anti-terrorism court is praiseworthy.
Accordingly, there should not be any hesitation on the part of the high-ups in dealing firmly with the culprits under the CrPC. Alternatively, the regime should contemplate giving adequate compensation to the members of the families of the four judges who lost their lives while on their official visit to the jail.
SULTAN ALI
Karachi
IN Clifton’s Seaview Apartment area, the parking fee has been arbitrarily increased from Rs5 to Rs15 as if no government exists and there is no one who can put a check on this mode of fleecing.
M. ABDUL RAHMAN
Karachi
GEN Musharraf on his recent trip to Sindh said he was a Sindhi and favoured the Kalabagh dam and Thal canal. Well, he is the only “Sindhi” who thinks so.
MUSTAFA MAHESAR
London, UK
DR Hameeda Khuhro, ostensibly voicing her concern against the ban on the Indian TV channel (Aug 7), finds Indian channels ironically closest to our grassroots culture and acceptable to the social spectrum of Pakistan society. She supports bread and (circus), her synonym for entertainment, which she considers a substitute for our tummy-starved masses. One hopes in supporting cheap entertainment, she does not mean it culturally cheap stuff which the cable operators are providing in abundance, besides the fact that they are mostly doing so without an authorized licence. In any case, entertainment is no substitute for empty stomachs, and would be an oversimplistic analogy.
Dr Khuhro has been meeting and receiving protests and representations from a segment of our society, which believes in filling their coffers illegally, but playing the martyr at the hands of the authorities, whom she chooses to call the mandarins in Islamabad. For her information, well over 10,000 such “initiative-taking and enterprising unemployed” young people have set up cable operation companies, and are fleecing the subscribers, but only less than 900 of them have taken out licences authorizing them to operate.
The rest, who are not only unlicensed but have no authority of clearance from channel providers to include their channel, deserve no mercy, and must not use the smoke-screen of unemployment and hardship to further their cause. They are diverting the bread of millions into their own homes, by stealing from the government exchequer, which is public money; yours and mine.
Above all, they are providing highly questionable and morally unsound entertainment to the subscribers. They have the audacity to defy the law of the land and show prohibited programmes through CDs and videos which they are not authorized to use; so much for their respect for law.
One has no quarrel with Dr Khuhro’s personal perception of culturally acceptable programmes from across the border, except that they are designed to confuse the identity of Pakistan’s culture, not to mention the venom against our country through their propaganda films. It is another matter if it does not touch Dr Khuhro’s sense of nationalism. Above all, my concern and desire is to see the promotion and projection of Pakistan society, its culture, landscape, people and lifestyle across the veritable land. Now that so many Pakistan channels are coming up, there should be no dearth of entertainment for the masses.
No one supports western films and music which are mostly sex-ridden and full of nudity and violence. All care and caution should be exercised to ensure that such channels are not permitted to operate in the country, so that our impressionable generations are saved from the evil influence of alien cultures. I am told that all such channels are running unlicensed.
As for Indian news and views, one must be very naive to expect an unbiased view from our one-time co-habitants, who have been tested and tried so many times over the decades. How often has one held out the olive branch, only to be scorned and accused back? Nevertheless, if listening to Indian news and views makes one feel any better, nothing stops you from tuning into their radio.
I for one thank the government for making an effort to save, particularly the younger generation in my household, from being lured into the mirage of ill-designed entertainment. Might one urge the authorities to come down heavily on the offenders without caring for the campaign of the vested interests?
IFTIKHAR BUTT
Islamabad
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