| November 2, 2003 | Sunday | Ramazan 6, 1424 |
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Study abroad scheme
Under-age driving
Cinema industry
Cotton posts
Housing scheme
Hepatitis and use of alcohol
Ban on transfers, postings
Savings and the president
Politics of communalization
ACCORDING to a recent news item, JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a leading MMA figure, has warned that the MMA will disassociate itself from the PPP if the latter moves a bill for the repeal of the Hudood Ordinance (HO). Next day, Mr Liaquat Baloch of the Jamaat-i-Islami told the media that the ARD had assured the MMA that it would not support the move against the HO.
The HO deals with many Islamic offences, but here I will discuss the issue of adultery only because the findings of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) that the HO was not based on Quranic injunctions and was a cause of victimization of women has prompted the orthodoxy to mount a campaign to stop the PPP’s move to have the HO repealed.
I have some questions for those who are opposed to its repeal: Do rapes not take place in Pakistan? Do rapists take any witness, let alone four, to see their crime? How are rape victims supposed to report the crime to the police if they do not bring with them four witnesses? Does pregnancy always mean consensual sex? Is Islam not against abortion and is it not illegal in Pakistan?
Does the holy Quran not forbid and enjoin punishment in the very next Ayat (Al-Nisa 4/16) for male homosexuality? Then how is it that there are no male prisoners charged with that immoral act? Does Islam not give complete freedom to an adult woman to marry or not to marry any person? Is karo-kari not wrong and un-Islamic? Why do religious parties and their women wings not start a campaign to educate the people that it is un-Islamic and wrong? How can a matter be called settled when it causes injustice? Punishment for adultery has been clearly spelled out in the Quran, and that must be regarded as final, being the direct words of Allah.
According to Sura Noor (24/6), a husband who accuses his wife of adultery but has no witness, other than himself, should swear four times that he is telling the truth and fifth time that Allah’s curse will be upon him if he is lying. Thereafter, if the wife swears four times that her husband is lying and fifth time that Allah’s curse be upon her if she is not telling the truth, then the matter rests there and she is not punished.
God says (4/17): “He forgives those who commit sin in foolishness but soon seek His forgiveness”. But injustice, He does not forgive because it is done to humans by humans which can be forgiven only by those against whom injustice has been done. Human history also teaches that a society without justice is doomed to descend into chaos and failure. One of the major reasons why the level of cynicism and disharmony is so high in Pakistan is that justice is not something we pay much attention to.
I hope the PPP will not retreat in its efforts to rectify a law which has been a cause of untold sufferings to the poor and helpless women only.
MANSOOR ALAM
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to your editorial (Oct 21) regarding the Higher Education Commission’s desire to send abroad 950 students and select some overseas Pakistanis for higher education at the public expense. This will cost Pakistan four billion rupees.
I do not want to argue about the spending because the government’s intention is to please a particular class (one per cent) and help it flourish. The scheme aims at sending favourites abroad and shifting back those who have lived abroad for a long time — all this with public funds.
Well, there is an example of Dr A. Q. Khan who returned to Pakistan on his own to serve the country. On the contrary, there are thousands of Pakistani engineers and PhDs who are working abroad but hardly one per cent of them ever think of returning home, only after they are long past their prime. In fact, for them Pakistan is a training camp where they get education and then migrate to foreign countries. When they reach the retiring age, their influential relatives in the government initiate schemes for their return to ‘serve’ the country for the rest of their lives. Certainly, the spending by the HEC will not reduce the burden of poverty which is rising every moment.
There question is, has the scheme been debated, discussed and approved in parliament? None else but parliament is the sole authority to take decisions before their execution and implementation. I believe it would be better if we gave importance to primary education, which is the basis for development and progress of any country.
By focusing on the character-building of our children through education, we can have a strong nation to defend and develop our country.
TAJ MUHAMMAD
Karachi
A RECENT car accident in DHA, which resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy who was driving the car, has highlighted the problem of under-age driving in Karachi and probably in other parts of the country as well.
It is not uncommon to see young boys driving cars on their way to or back from school, with the driver sitting on the back seat. There is no doubt that in many cases the parents are not even aware of this practice, but in many other cases young boys are probably encouraged by and drive with their parents’ consent.
Under-age driving is illegal in Pakistan as it is in other countries of the world. The difference, of course, is that in Pakistan laws are there to be flouted with impunity. Young boys are doing it, their parents are doing it and the police under whose eyes all this is going on are a party to this crime.
Not only are these under-age drivers putting their lives at risk, as was witnessed in the fatal accident, but also endangering the lives of others. It is the duty of every parent who has a son under the legal driving age, who is driven to and from various places, to ensure that he is not coercing his driver to let him drive the car.
Under no circumstances should the parent allow their under-age sons to drive. They should remember when they allow their children to break the law in one area of their lives, children carry that value to other areas as well, be it smoking, using drugs, pre-marital sex or cheating and stealing. And when they grow up and reach their professional lives, this is translated into corruption, tax evasion, dishonesty and bribery — ills that are now destroying the very fabric of our society.
MURAD M. KHAN
Karachi
CINEMAS remain a leading entertainment industry in the world, though in Pakistan it is rather struggling for survival. It needs a shot in the arm to come back to its full life.
Here are some suggestions which will not only revive our own cinema industry but also provide entertainment and employment to people and revenue to the government.
First, Indian movies should be allowed to be imported, as these movies, mostly close to our own culture and language, are already available in the market and are also shown on the cable. This will lead to the growth afresh of our cinema industry, with hundreds of cinema-houses coming to life again.
Initially, we might lose money, but by giving Indian access to our cinemas, our industry too will eventually start making quality movies and thus have access to the Indian population of one billion and over 5,000 cinemas in India. Also, by producing movies of that level we can enter international circuits worth billions of dollars, at present monopolized by Indian movies only.
No controversial subject obviously will be allowed anyway as we will have to get clearance from our censor board as is the practice in the case of Hollywood movies.
Once our movies produced at international levels get under way, more actors, studios, etc. will provide employment and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of people.
MOINUR REHMAN
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter “PCSI’s working” (Oct 22) by Mr Bakhtiar Ahmed, who has drawn the attention of the prime minister and the agriculture minister to the working of the PCSI (Pakistan Cotton Standard Institute, Karachi).
At the same premises in Karachi, the PCCC (Pakistan Central Cotton Committee) is also responsible for multidimensional development of the cotton crop. The PCCC is administratively controlled by MINFAL, the minister being its president and the federal secretary its alternate president.
There are three main research institutes in the country — PICR&T in Karachi, CCRI in Sakrand and CCRI in Multan — covering every aspect of cotton plant through multidisciplinary research to make this crop most profitable. But due to vested interests, it has been a practice for a long time that the four important posts of directors are filled on an ad hoc basis. This has badly affected the performance of this important organization.
It is time the president, the prime minister and the minister ensured appointments against these four posts of directors through public advertising if the integrity of the PCCC is to be maintained.
GHULAM MURTAZA
Hyderabad
SINGHAR Housing Scheme was announced in Gwadar in the early 90s. People were encouraged to invest in the scheme. Some people invested money considering the fact that it was a government-sponsored scheme. But it remained dormant till Gen Pervez Musharraf came to power, who gave a boost to the development of the Mekran coast.
Gen Musharraf announced that the government would enact laws to ensure that all investments were secure.
The government of Balochistan has now decided to cancel the allotment of Singhar Housing Scheme and redo allocation. If the previous allotment was wrong, how come this will be right?
JOHAR ALI
Quetta
THIS is with reference to the letter of Dr G. M. Baluchi (Oct 24) regarding “Hepatitis C and use of alcohol”. This is to state that my talk on the above topic has been misreported and that I have not said that hepatitis C is caused by alcohol. I do agree with Dr Baluchi that excessive alcohol can cause hepatitis but not hepatitis C or B.
PROF JAN MUHAMMAD MEMON
Vice Chancellor, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro
MY son is a doctor in the Sindh health department. For eight months he has been waiting for his posting, the reason being a ban on transfers and postings, imposed by the chief minister on the directives of the World Bank.
The ban was imposed in April this year after a report appeared in the press that over 10,000 transfers had been made on political and other grounds. When the ban was imposed, it was made clear that it would not affect transfers against vacant posts and promotions, but my son and his 200 colleagues have been waiting for appointment for eight months. They have not been paid their salaries.
These doctors are supposed to be appointed against vacant posts and not on administrative posts. In spite of the ban, others are still being transferred or posted on political and other grounds. The ban, it seems, is only for those who do not have political support.
The government will do the needful by lifting the ban on transfers and postings.
A WORRIED FATHER
Karachi
ONE of the first things that President Gen Pervez Musharraf did on assuming power was to withdraw income tax on the national savings schemes (NSS), saying that it was in conflict with the government’s commitment to keep the schemes tax-free.
Sadly, later not only was the tax on the NSS imposed again, but also the rate of the profit was brought down from 16 per cent to 6.7 per cent. The reason given by the relevant authorities is that a higher rate of return on the NSS places banks at a disadvantage as they cannot pay such high rates to their depositors. Ironically, besides the reduction in the rate of return on the NSS, banks have also drastically reduced their rates and are now paying just about one per cent profit to their depositors.
The IMF and our economic managers argue that it is necessary to make the NSS unattractive so that the risk capital is invested in trade and industry. This objective can, however, be achieved by simply restricting the NSS to retired Pakistanis (in both the private sector and the public sector). After all, we cannot expect a retired old man, with his meagre life-long savings, to become an industrialist or a businessman at this late stage in his life.
Besides, these schemes can be barred from being used as collateral security against bank loans. Today, one will find many old men literally in tears at national savings centres wondering how they are going to survive on such a low rate of return on their savings.
Mr President, are you listening?
WAJID USMANI
Karachi
MR Kuldip Nayar’s article “Another exercise at OIC” (Oct 25) contains a number of observations which need to be taken note of.
He states that the Arab world, unlike Pakistan and Bangladesh, treats the minorities well. There is no substance in this assertion as the minorities have never been maltreated in these countries.
India, however, has a history of maltreating its largest minority, i.e. Muslims, before and after the partition of India. The happenings in the Gujarat state in 2002, when a large number of Muslims were killed, their properties looted/burnt, and their women raped in the presence of the law-enforcement agencies, prove this point. These atrocities were sponsored by the state chief minister but the state government is not bringing the culprits to justice, as has recently been observed by India’s Supreme Court. Ironically, the Indian union and the state governments have not yet shown any interest in rehabilitating the uprooted minority community.
Mr Nayar’s observation that Malaysia represents a milder version of fundamentalism is not based on facts. Malaysia is a progressive, cohesive, multi-ethnic/multi-religious pluralistic, secular society (and not a fundamentalist one) unlike India which is a fundamentalist society and its secularism is limited to the provisions of its Constitution.
The writer sarcastically terms “comical” the OIC’s support for the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir because there is hardly any OIC member country that follows democratic system. The right of self-determination to the Kashmiris was given by the UN Security Council, which was also accepted by India, as admitted by Mr Nayar.
How supporting a UNSC decision can have any linkage with the internal system of government in the OIC states is not understood. This is simply reminding the Indian government to carry out the obligations undertaken by it under the UNSC auspices.
The allegation that Islamabad did not allow normality to return to Kashmir is a hoax. The state had remained peaceful for over decades from 1947 to 1989. The Kashmiri people started their struggle in 1989 after India turned a deaf ear to their demand for a plebiscite.
Mr Nayar has alleged that Pakistan has been disturbing the secular ethos of Kashmiriyat by communalizing the atmosphere. This is wholly inaccurate. The communalizing of the atmosphere has been a continuous phenomenon throughout India since before 1947, as is evidenced by countless Hindu-Muslim riots. The job was obviously done by the majority. Under the BJP government, which is formed by fundamentalist components, the frenzy has much increased.
That the people’s wishes were ascertained during the last year’s election in Kashmir does not constitute a substantiable argument for the reasons that (a) foreign journalists were not allowed to enter the state during the elections, (b) the voters’ turnout was only about 10 per cent, who too were reported to have been forcibly brought to the polling stations, and (c) the state assembly elections cannot be taken as a substitute for the promised plebiscite.
GHULAM MUHAMMAD
Karachi
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