| October 26, 2003 | Sunday | Sha’aban 29, 1424 |
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Zionist lobbies in US
Spreading pollution
Background music in PTV plays
A policeman’s ‘misconduct’
Sale of OGDC shares
Squatters along rails
‘Underage sale prohibited’
Entry test results
Cases of assault
Humans as zoo animals
Plight of former SASO employees
EARLIER there were two, “restoration of full diplomatic relations” and resumption
of “the Lahore-Delhi bus service”. And now, Pakistan has its hands full with a slew of fresh proposals from India numbering 12 (Dawn’s editorial “Welcome proposals”,
Oct 24).
As the title of your editorial itself suggests they should be welcomed in a positive way at least for two reasons, one, “there is no alternative to living in peace and harmony” and, two, the proposals are not one-sided but offer a win-win situation for both countries. There is no evidence of any ‘cherry picking’ on the part of India at this time
It has to be noted, regretfully perhaps, that trade relations do not find a place yet in the detente. We should not lose sight of the fact that planes, trains, buses and ferries do have additional space for carrying cargo which should not go unutilized. You have drawn pointed attention to the fact that “people-to-people contacts have gone up significantly” in recent months but your catalogue mentions only “legislators and politicians”, excluding the business and industry leaders of both sides who have also met and are in regular contact with each other. Meanwhile, smugglers will continue to have their heyday to the detriment of consumer interests.
Also, for the first time the interests of Kashmiris as a whole have been factored in by the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus-service and, more importantly, the “intra-Kashmir dialogue” between India’s Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Let us earnestly hope that no attempts will be made by militants and hardliners of both sides to derail these talks. Incidentally, your editorial seems to imply that this decision is Mr Advani’s own. Actually, it is one taken by the entire Indian cabinet which comprises, besides the BJP, several other political parties running a coalition government which indicates that the people of India as a whole, barring a few hardliners whose number is getting smaller and smaller, want to live in “peace and harmony” with their neighbours.
KANGAYAM R.
RANGASWAMY
Madison, WI, USA
THE Indian government has now made concrete proposals to renew air and rail links, and to initiate for the first time in nearly 55 years a bus service between the Pakistan and Indian parts of Kashmir. This proposal, if viewed positively, is akin to tearing down the Berlin Wall in Germany.
Simultaneously, the Indian government has agreed to hold direct talks with various Kashmiri liberation factions, which distinctly include those Kashmiris who want a unified, free and independent nation of Kashmir, with what I would hope would be the right of dual citizenship and a third party to help oversee a transitional government.
The proposed Kashmiri bus interchange would augur well for grassroots peace. Both the need and solution ultimately lie in the hands of the ordinary Kashmiris who stand in great need of a strong peace initiative from the leadership of both Pakistan and India.
Leadership of the highest order undeterred by Al Qaeda death threats recently made against President Musharraf and his moderate regime is in order. It is my humble opinion that India wants to “lay a peaceful foundation” and that everything can’t successfully happen at once. One can see in the background President Putin of Russia and many other world leaders who are trying hard to “enable” a lasting Kashmir solution that will end the waste of money and manpower by both Pakistan and India which are badly needed to build a better life for all Kashmiris.
If both Pakistan and India can agree openly that a future, free, unified, and independent Kashmir government will have to be based on a non-sectarian constitution for a new nation of Kashmir, with citizens retaining the right of dual citizenship, this will set a moderate, mainstream path for lasting peace in all of Kashmir for all time to come. At least, this well wisher in the US hopes so.
COL (RETD) GEORGE
L. SINGLETON
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
THE editorial ‘Mahathir-bashing’ (Oct 23) rightly mentions the influence of Zionist lobbies in the US and many western countries. This term applies to those Jews who subscribe to the Zionist idea of a Jewish state in Palestine, but there is an equally important element — Christian Zionists, the fundamentalist Protestant evangelicals to whom it is a religious duty to bless Israel and the Jews.
Led by preachers like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham (son of evangelist Billy Graham) and others, and counting many ‘born-again’ Christians as members, these groups support Israel’s acts and provide it with all material help in its designs against the Palestinians.
For example, when in March 2002 Israel invaded the West Bank and besieged Jenin in retaliation for the Netanya suicide bombing, international reaction led US President George W. Bush to ask the Israelis to withdraw its troops. Christian Zionists immediately came to Israel’s rescue, mobilizing their constituencies to deliver tens of thousands of messages to the United States president, asking him to refrain from pressuring Sharon and to allow Israel to finish its
job. Bush learnt his lesson
and has not said a word since then against Israeli military actions. Falwell proudly stated on CBS news programme ‘60 Minutes’ that ‘the Bible Belt is Israel’s safety net in the US,’ and claimed that Israel could now count on Bush to ‘do the right thing for Israel every time.’
Many prominent members of the Bush administration belong to the Christian Right, which explains the US’s Middle East policies. The pro-Israel fundamentalist Christian groups bring significant political and economic pressure on Congress and the Presidency. They support Israel’s policies of increased Jewish settlements, assassination of Palestinians leaders, Israeli sovereignty over all of historic Palestine (specially Jerusalem), and the mass expulsion of large numbers of Palestinians.
These attitudes have a history going back to the 18th/19th centuries and even earlier, but unfortunately few have tried or cared to understand and analyse their extent and influence. Pro-Israel theology is necessarily anti-Palestinian, and by extension it is applied to all Arabs, all Muslims, and to Islam itself. There is a real need for a proper study of the movement and its implications for today’s world.
SHEIKH ABDUL MALIK
Via email
I LIVE in Karachi’s Scheme 33 in a housing complex that consists of about 1,000 units. The environment of our locality is quite clean and fresh. There is just behind the complex a garbage dump where the city government staff have been burning garbage for the past one month, forcing the area residents to inhale smoke all through the night and early in the morning. Thus, air pollution is being spread by our very own city government in the name of cleaning garbage.
Sometimes, the smoke is so thick that it becomes very difficult to breathe. The whole area is engulfed in a thick layer of smoke and one cannot go anywhere to be free from it. One can imagine the problems faced by those who suffer from respiratory problems.
The city nazim is requested to ensure that the staff adopt a proper means of garbage disposal.
AN AFFECTED RESIDENT
Karachi
I ENDORSE Mr K. A. Qureshi’s disenchantment with background music in PTV plays. I am not much of a viewer but once in a while I join someone in the family who is watching a PTV play. I am most annoyed with the background music it carries. In the first place, I don’t understand why it has been inserted at all. If the producers think it facilitates my hearing and understanding of what the characters in the play are saying, they are utterly mistaken. In fact, it is a gross interference. It is an imposition that should be stopped forthwith.
But if the instrumentalists’ invasion cannot be rolled back, let PTV ask them at least to turn the sound down as low as possible.
ANWAR SYED
Oak Hill, VA, USA
THIS refers to your timely editorial “Not above the law” (Oct 18). It is rare to find such courage and sense of duty on the part of our policemen. The punishment he received is not surprising as he was challenging those who think they are a law unto themselves. He was free to loot and disgrace the poor. “No comets are seen when beggars die.”
The Punjab chief minister should thank his lucky stars that the fallout of the punishment for the ‘misconduct’ with a major-general’s driver could only go up to the rank of the SP.
It is good to know that the parliamentary opposition has taken up the case. Whether it be the case of Okara farmers or other similar excesses, the political parties mostly leave the matter to NGOs and others to agitate after paying lip-service.
Our parties with a liberal and progressive agenda believe in little groundwork and seem more eager to gain power even at a bad bargain with the establishment, with no faith in the power of the people.
How then can they change the feudal, authoritarian and Bonapartist ground reality of our culture vis-a-vis our professed values in the realm of justice and equality before the law?
It is also time to ask the guardians of our territorial and “ideological frontiers” where the gentleman cadet — who is taught Islamic values in the military academy — disappears once he gets a commission.
AHMAD RAZI SIDDIQI
Karachi
THIS refers to a news report in Dawn of Oct 16 about the sale of OGDC shares in the Middle East. I am concerned that this sale will not include Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Why are the Pakistani residents of these Middle Eastern states being discriminated against?
I draw the attention of the relevant authorities in Pakistan to this omission and request the federal ombudsman, the privatization commission and the SECP to take notice of this discrimination. They are also requested to take appropriate action to allow the Pakistani community residing in these states to have equal opportunity to participate in the purchase of OGDC and other shares.
K. ABDUSSALAM
Salmiya, Kuwait
I WOULD like to bring to the notice of the Pakistan Railways authorities the fact that hundreds of squatters have been living for quite some time under the Clifton Bridge and the new Lily Road Bridge (now called Fatima Jinnah Bridge) and along the rails between the two bridges.
These people cook, eat, bathe, sleep, etc, under the bridges and along the rails. Their children, oblivious to the danger, keep playing and crossing the tracks throughout the day.
It is amazing that the authorities have failed to see and remover these encroachments which may cause a fatal train accident some day.
S. BABAR
Karachi
THAT’S the slogan you will see on every shop label which is sponsored by cigarette companies, but the meaning is not clear to many of our shopkeepers. It means NOT to sell cigarettes to children under the restricted age limit being 18.
I say this because there is virtually no shop which is supporting the fact they have boldly written on the banner outside. Every shop — big or small — is selling cigarettes to kids who want them.
In fact, most consumers are 18. The other day I was out to buy some grocery from a shop where came a boy of hardly 15 and did not even ask for fags. The shopkeeper just handed him the number of smokes he needed and the brand was also the one he wanted, and in a matter of seconds the shopkeeper had broken the law ‘again’.
This is just a small example of the law-breaking going on in the market. There is no shopkeeper who doesn’t break the law in this matter and just for raising his sales, he spoils another teenager.
I myself being a part of this “dotcom” generation know many youths who love smoking. If asked, they say smoking makes them feel good and gets them the relaxation they cannot find in their homes.
The government has done absolutely nothing in this regard; the shops are still running selling cigarettes without any guilt or and other feelings, and children are smoking as many cigarettes they can without realizing what they are doing to their bodies.
MOHAMMED YASIR
Islamabad
THE results of the entry test conducted last month for admission to the Punjab medical and dental colleges have been declared. The test carried serious mistakes in the answer key, particularly in the pink one. The efforts and sincerity of the convener of this test is beyond any doubt, but the chances of error are always there.
This is evident from the credit of two answers — one in Physics and another in Chemistry — given to the candidates. Is it possible that the organizing committee of the entry test shows courage to re-check its answer keys, particularly the pink one? The future of hundreds of deserving candidates is at stake. An impartial inquiry into the matter will be a step in the right direction.
NASREEN MALIK
Karachi
IT is horrific to look at the number of cases of assault and rape appearing in this newspaper and to imagine how many victimized women and their families would have thought to keep quiet about such incidents. Whenever one reads such news in the papers, the first thing that comes to the mind is as to what the law-enforcement agencies are doing about it?
It is time they realized there duty and took necessary steps to prevent these happenings. Similarly, higher police authorities should get up from their seats and be on their toes. Workers of different NGOs should also realize their responsibilities in this respect.
MOHAMMAD YASSER RAZA KHAN
Via email
THIS has reference to Mr David Lokhorn’s letter “Human as zoo animals”
(Oct 23) in which he has suggested that militant organizations like Al Qaeda, Hamas and Islamic Jihad should place their men in recognizable uniforms and become signatories to Geneva conventions and other international agreements.
The proposal apart from being impractical also raises the question: how far governments of various countries which are signatories to the international protocols are respecting their international commitments? The bigger the power the less it is caring in the matter of abiding by the international conventions. The sole superpower which used to champion the cause of human rights in other countries is vigorously flouting the human rights of several hundred prisoners held by it in Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) in very inhumane conditions without any trial and charge. The US also refuses to give these prisoners the rights available under a Geneva convention.
The question arises: which international convention has given the US and the United Kingdom the right to invade Iraq on false accusations and kill thousands of innocent civilians by brute force? Can Mr Lokhorn advise his own government to abide by the international protocols, including the Geneva Convention?
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Karachi
IN the context of an agreement for grant of financial assistance to the agriculture sector in Sindh, the Asian Development Bank advised dissolution of three government-based organizations that come under the administrative control of the Sindh agriculture department.
The notification for the dissolution of SASO (Sindh Agriculture Supplies Organization), effective 30.6.01, has hit 729 employees who were told to accept a golden handshake and quit, as per the Sindh cabinet decision of 3.4.03.
Six months have passed since then but the Sindh agriculture and finance secretaries, who were given the task to finalize the golden handshake package, have not come up with the offer.
As all financial matters come under the administrative control of the finance department of a province, all proceedings in respect of payments of the golden handshake package to the SASO employees would have to be planned and implemented by the finance department, government of Sindh, in coordination with the agriculture department, which is the controlling authority of SASO (defunct).
It seems that while preparing the budget provisions/estimates for 2003-2004, the Sindh finance department did not take into consideration the cabinet decision on the golden handshake to SASO employees that involves an amount of Rs550 million for settlement of the dues of the employees.
On the other hand, a sum of Rs880 million, procured through the sale of fertilizer stock, was deposited in the PLA of SASO agriculture department account. Of this amount, Rs250 million was used for salaries and other expenditure; Rs200 million was declared as lapsed on 30-6-01 and Rs400 million shown as transferred to the SBP on 30-6-02, leaving no balance in the PLA concerned with SASO (defunct) to pay the 729 employees of the organization.
Iin 1994 the Punjab Agricultural Development Supplies Corporation was dissolved where 1,400 employees were seen off through golden handshake, utilizing the deposit amount generated through sale proceed of the fertilizer stock during the winding up process of the PADSC that took less than a year in the settlement of all the employees’ dues because of smart planning of the relevant authorities.
If the authorities concerned in Sindh simply follow the example of the Punjab government as applied in the case of PADSC (defunct), it will become easy to settle the dues of the employees of SASO. The amount of about Rs600 million shown as lapsed may be revalidated in the PLA maintained by SASO agriculture department in the treasury at Karachi to be utilized for payment of golden handshake package to the 729 employees of SASO (defunct).
It is hoped that the authorities concerned will look into the matter in right earnest to resolve the three-year-old problem of payment of golden handshake dues to the SASO employees.
EMPLOYEES OF SASO (Defunct),
Karachi
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