| September 2, 2003 | Tuesday | Rajab 4, 1424 |
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Aligarh’s role in creation of Pakistan
Presidential system
Lottery by Radio Pakistan
Illegal construction
Special dollar bonds
Rescuing Karachi
Tree plantation to tackle floods
Democracy & the general
Myths and sacredtraditions
Gang-rape of minor girl
FROM Sept 10 to 14, the World Trade Organization (WTO) will hold its fifth ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico. Pushed by multinational corporations, the United States, the European Union and other developed countries are seeking to launch a new round of “free trade” negotiations and expand corporate globalization — further eroding human rights, workers’ rights, environmental protections, and democracy — in the interest of corporate control.
The WTO is designed and managed for the benefit of transnational corporations at the expense of most of the world’s population and the environment. The neo-liberal agenda of “free trade”, deregulation, privatization and special corporate protections enshrined in the WTO leads to greater poverty, inequity, gender inequality and indebtedness, while concentrating the world’s wealth in the hands of a few. The corporate agenda implemented by the WTO pits worker against worker and nation against nation in a race to the bottom.
Four years after the historic showdown at the 3rd WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle, we live in a changed and even more dangerous world. Under the rules of the WTO, the government’s role in regulating the marketplace to promote fair labour conditions, access to basic services, safe products and a clean environment is strictly constrained. WTO rules provide a “security exception” that protects and fosters weapons manufacture and the arms trade.
Under agreements being negotiated now, virtually all other governmental services, including schools, health care, public transit and water supply, could be subject to corporate takeover. Basic worker and consumer rights and environmental protections could be jettisoned as “unfair barriers to trade.” The vision of government enshrined in the WTO is a “watchtower state” — a fortress security state on a permanent war footing.
Corporate globalization has destroyed the lives and livelihood of millions of workers and farmers throughout the world. Many are forced to leave their homes, their land, and often their countries in search of increasingly scarce jobs. Yet trade agreements that protect the flow of money and goods across borders don’t allow the free movement of people. Borders are militarized and immigrants are criminalized — even as millions of people are dislocated by “free trade.”
We have before us a choice: the world of militarism and corporate globalization, or a world built on global solidarity, rooted in a foundation of democracy, dignity, sustainability, and cooperation.
RAHIM PANJWANI
Karachi
THE ongoing debate about majority versus minority provinces seems inopportune at this perilous time in the history of Pakistan. Solidarity is needed and vigorous efforts should be made to bring all disparate areas of the country together. However, the ‘revisionist’ idea expressed by Mr Amin in his letter entitled ‘All at the cost of majority provinces’ deserves a response. The Quaid-i-Azam called Aligarh ‘the arsenal of Muslim India’. Obviously, Aligarh alone didn’t create Pakistan but it is totally factual to say that without Aligarh there would have been no Pakistan. The large concentration of Muslim students by virtue of the character of the institution enabled a huge mobilization effort in support of the Muslim League, which, although aided by Muslim students from other universities, would have floundered without Aligarh.
The minority provinces knew full well that after Pakistan was created as a result of their efforts and sacrifices, they would benefit only by forsaking their homes and hearth and suffer the pain of uprooting due to ‘hijrat’. It is a cruel twist of history that those who did absolutely nothing for the creation of Pakistan, i.e. our venerable maulvis, are the major powerbrokers of today whereas the original inhabitants of the minority provinces are excluded from the ‘four nationalities’ of Pakistan. The letter writer has also sought to damn the achievements of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan with faint praise. To be sure there were Muslims and many prominent one at that, as Mr Amin describes, who attended other centres of learning. However, what Sir Syed did was to confront the tradionalists head on and start a movement which enabled the wide acceptance of English education among the Muslims of India.
Considering the bleak and dismal educational landscape of Pakistan, a man of Sir Syed’s vision, courage and sense of service is needed again who can convince Pakistanis that the road to greatness lies in compatibility of religion with modernism. This can only be achieved through reviving the rationalist school of Islamic thought which prevailed during the glorious period of Islamic history from the 9th to the 15th century.
M. HAIDER
New Jersey, USA
I AGREE with Mr Kunwar Idris when he proposes presidential system for Pakistan in his column ‘Presidential system: a proposal’, published on Aug 17.
Those who are against the presidential system often quote the failure of the 1962 Constitution as an argument. But this is a wrong view because the 1962 Constitution was framed to satisfy the needs of the rulers rather of the ruled.
That Constitution failed mainly because of two reasons. First, it set up a strong presidency and, secondly, it provided a strong central government.
The president was made a component of parliament, which is contrary to most of the presidential systems around the world. Besides this, the president was given immense legislative, executive, and financial powers. The bill passed by parliament could be sent back to it by the president. Even if parliament re-passed the bill by a two-thirds majority, the president was empowered to refer the bill to a referendum. Thus the president had more influence over legislation than the US president, who is under constitutional obligation to give assent to the bill re-passed by Congress by a two-thirds majority.
In case of executive powers, the president was unrestrained, either by parliament or any other body, in making appointments to the high positions. In financial matters the president enjoyed even greater authority. The recurring expenditure of budget was not subject to any amendm ents by parliament. However, parliament was given a limited power of amending the non-recurring expenditure of budget.
Apart from strong presidency, the Constitution envisaged a strong centre. All the governors, who were provincial chief executives, were to be appointed by the president and who remained in office during the pleasure of the president. They were ‘puppets’ whose ‘strings’ were in the hands of the centre.
It was on account of the above-mentioned facts that the Constitution withered away along with its makers, whereas the broad principles of the presidential system, as suggested by Mr Kunwar Idris, if incorporated, can save the country from political instability and constitutional deadlocks, as at present over the LFO. Seen in this perspective, presidential system should be given another chance in the country.
TAHIR HUSSAIN SANGI
Larkana
IT is really very distressing to see that Radio Pakistan has engaged itself in a lottery scheme. By asking some silly questions like, “Is the capital of Pakistan Islamabad, Karachi or Quetta?”, the listeners are asked to make a phone call to Radio Pakistan with a charge of Rs12 per minute. These phone calls serve as lottery tickets and the “prizes” are then awarded through random balloting.
This programme is advertised with the title “BBC Info line”. I don’t know what the BBC has to do with this lottery programme. If the BBC is really involved, then it is another onslaught on moral and ethical values of this nation. Not only Islam prohibits gambling and lottery, but also many non-Muslims recognize the dangers and harm of these practices.
Once the governor of lowa, USA, held a comprehensive seminar on the various effects of gambling. He vetoed the lowa gambling by saying that is the duty of the State to protect common people’s interest rather than becoming partner in creating unreal expectations and then through these robbing them. I wish Muslim states would have held such seminars. Contrary to that, Muslims states are now leaving whatever little good they have.
The lottery and gambling games are ancient like many other vulgar and cheap practices of ignorance. These aim at collective exploitation of people. By creating an element of greed, these aim at robbing people of their little possessions. Shear materialism has already damaged humanity worldwide and can be seen in the form of destruction of the institutions of marriage and family, as well as in the form of global and state terrorism as practised by Israel, Bush and Blair.
As Muslims are the chosen people due to the fact that they have a preserved book of Allah, they must play a role model rather than copy things blindly.
PROF ANWAR-UL-HAQUE
Islamabad
THIS is to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the illegal activities of the builders’ mafia operating in Bihar Colony, Lyari. In view of the paucity of basic amenities in this congested and overcrowded neighbourhood, the Karachi Building Control Authority has long banned the construction of multi- storey buildings in the area. But the ban is rarely, if ever, enforced.
In utter defiance of rules and despite protest from area residents, the builders’ mafia has just started construction of yet another multi-storey building on the residential plot 152/5 located in street no.16 “F”, off Masjid Road in Bihar Colony. The work on the construction site is proceeding at a rapid pace, with four floors of the building in question already having been completed.
The builders have hung a signboard displaying the name of the ruling party in order to scare away the residents who have protested at the illegal construction.
We, the residents of Bihar Colony, request the competent authorities in the city and provincial governments to take action against flagrant violation of the building rules in our area. Bihar Colony already has more than its fair share of the lack of civic amenities; new illegal constructions, if allowed to proceed unchecked, will further aggravate the situation.
CONCERNED RESIDENTS
Karachi
IN Dawn of Aug 17, Syed Wasimuddin, chief spokesman, State Bank of Pakistan, replied to my letter on the above-captioned subject and has tried to mislead the public by resorting to misstatements and legal misinterpretations on the subject.
The superior courts have already decided (particularly in nationalization cases) that the government should pay compensation and profit from the date of acquisition of the assets of the public. Hence, the State Bank should pay the profit from the date of freezing of foreign currency account and not from the delayed date of issue of dollar bonds.
The chief spokesman must know that the foreign exchange holders came to know about the issue of special dollar bonds after the special dollar bonds rules were notified in August 1998, and he is wrong that the holders had discretion to have applied for the bonds earlier than November, 1998, when banks started issuing bonds.
The chief spokesman has referred to the changes to the Special Dollars Bonds Rules, 1998, which are against the fundamental rights and articles enshrined in the Constitution guaranteeing the citizens’ rights against the expropriation of the property of the public without compensation. Then he arbitrarily says (without citing any rule) that banks were “instructed to issue temporary receipts in lieu of bonds”, particularly when the FCA holders were protesting against the illegal freezing of their accounts.
He is depending on administrative instructions which had no force of statutory law and is not in the knowledge of FCA holders. He has not quoted any rule in support of his contention that the date of issue was the date of accrual of profit because it would have been challenged in the courts, as this was depriving FCA holders of million dollars’ worth of their profit.
Lastly, I would like to bring to the notice of the SBP governor the sheer false clarification/statement of his chief spokesman in his last para of the aforesaid reply-letter that foreign exchange holders were already getting profit from their deposits. Banks ceased to allow interest from the date of freezing of accounts till November 1998 (date of delayed issue of bonds) and this period of depriving the special dollars bonds holders is an infringement of citizens’ rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.
I would appeal to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the SBP’s denial of profit from the date of freezing of foreign exchange accounts till the arbitrarily fixed date of the issuance of these bonds as the delay was caused by the SBP and, in fact, the government has taken over (as in cases decided pertaining to nationalization in 1972) the public property of FCA holders in May, 1998. Since as misstated by the SBP chief spokesman, banks stopped giving profit from that date, profit on these bonds should be paid by the State Bank from May, 1998, and not from any subsequent date, whatever the lame excuses by the chief spokesman, SBP.
ABDUL SAEED KHAN GHORI
Karachi
YOUR editorial titled “Rescuing Karachi” (Aug 28), while expressing gratitude to Gen Musharraf for announcing the rescue Karachi project funding of Rs29 billion, spread over four years (better late than never), has highlighted the possible pitfalls in implementation keeping in view historical record for the same.
Incidentally, was it a good chance coincidence that your first editorial of the same day, titled “Public sector spending”, preceded “Rescuing Karachi”, or did you do it discreetly to forewarn the pitfalls and hammer focal points of the vulnerability of such projects with authentication of the Asian Development Bank, as enunciated while reviewing 2002-3 performance.
As reported, only 49 per cent of the allocation was utilized in the first nine months while the estimated leakage was whopping and screaming high 30 per cent. If this is going to be the fate of the Rescue Karachi project, then Karachiites can seek more consolation in the listed goodies of the plan than actual transformation to be materialized whether during the short-lived sham democracies of the past or the current real democracy, as well as earlier benign dictatorship.
The announcement or pronouncement of such projects are for winning over local applause and goodwill, as well as for international kudos from the quarters concerned, for the rulers, but monitoring implementation is entrusted to stooges or favourites.
I join you in hoping that this project really rescues Karachi, which has been suffering for decades, and not simply serve the vested interest.
M. SALEEM CHAUDHRY
Chicago, Ill, USA
DEFORESTATION in the upper reaches is the main cause of landslides and soil erosion leading to river-bed silting which, in turn, increases the severity of floods. In the hilly areas devoid of trees, the rainwater carries all the silt into the rivers, raising their beds. As water pressure mounts, the embankments give in, causing flood which in turn causes widespread destruction.
To overcome this problem, regular desilting and dredging of the river-beds is needed to tame the main rivers. This requires big money. One way to overcome the problem is to go for strip plantation along the Indus which can help much against the wave-wash.
In Sindh it is a general practice that the spurs are made from the branches of trees when floodwater starts eroding embankments. Nobody has yet thought of raising these tree-strips parallel to the protective bund to save it from erosion.
For effective prevention of soil erosion, landslides and reduction of silting in rivers, reservoirs and irrigation systems, there has to be immediate action against deforestation, with emphasis on honest and efficient enforcement of the relevant laws.
LALA FAZAL AHMED
Hyderabad
PRESIDENT Gen Pervez Musharraf while addressing a press conference at a Zila Nazim secretariat a few days back said that democracy had never been allowed to flourish in the country.
True. With MNAs shackled in the chains of the Legal Framework Order, the president in the military uniform (date of taking off the uniform is known to God and Gen Musharraf only) and politicians under the sword of the National Accountability Bureau, I am sure that democracy was and will never be given any chance to flourish.
DR AMJID NAZIR
California, USA
“MYTHS have no concept, I repeat, no concept whatsoever in Islam,” says Mr Janbaz Jafri, in his letter (Aug 26).
It is of course true that there are no myths of the pagan variety, such as the Greek mythology, in Islam. But all religions have certain features in common and these include miracles and sacred lore. We subscribe to the biblical stories taking them to be gospel truths literally and figuratively, as do the Jews and Christians.
But our histories of civilization do not begin with the expulsion of Adam from Paradise, nor the science of biology with the moulding of Adam’s figure in clay or the emergence of Eve from Adam’s rib.
We have our exclusive stock of sacred traditions as well described in the Saheeh Bukhari and other truthful compilations, not alone the splitting of the moon or the ascension of the Prophet to the seat of God, but many others. Being part of our faith they need not be questioned or brought into conflict with mundane logic.
Faith has its own spiritual logic that directly appeals to the heart.
S. H. HAQQEE
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
THIS is with reference to the news-item (Aug 26) about a 10-year-old girl being gang-raped in Karachi. Is there no humanity left in the world? Why don’t we, women of Pakistan, have the freedom to walk on the streets with a sense of safety and protection?
Is there no one in the country to check this evil of rape? Is there no one to protect the rights of women? I am an 18-year-old girl, and am now seriously scared to go out of my home alone. Repeated incidents of harassment and eve-teasing have made me lose all hope in the word ‘freedom’.
We must ask ourselves as to why such perverted minds exist in society? What is the government doing? And, is there an end to this inhuman display?
HUMA IMTIAZ
Karachi
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