| December 2, 2003 | Tuesday | Shawwal 7, 1424 |
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MMA acting its part well
Entrance test
Kashmore residents’ appeal
Socio-economic conditions
Plight of old pensioners
Eastern mind
Kissinger and Iraq
Spreading education
Cricket telecast controversy
Karo-kari
THIS refers to the article by Philip Bobbitt, titled “Bush should embrace international law” (Nov 18).
In his first address to the United Nations in September 1961, President J. F. Kennedy declared: “War appeals no longer as a rationale alternative.... Together we shall save our planet or together we shall perish in its flames.”
In accordance with the charter of the United Nations, “states must refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with ‘the purposes of the United Nations’.”
Article 51 of the UN charter authorizes the use of armed force for “legitimate self-defence”, but this right is applicable only if a member of the United Nations is the object of an armed aggression. The use of armed force may on occasion be justified as part of humanitarian assistance, but only in order to prevent human suffering and “to protect life and health and to ensure the respect of persons”.
The thesis of “anticipatory self-defence” is thus not an acceptable principle of international law today, because it is prone to arbitrary interpretation. A pre-emptive attack on another sovereign nation is counter to established and universally accepted standards of international law.
The US and the UK are signatory members of the United Nation’s charter to whom it was obligatory to seek a “UN approval” while invading Iraq. Yet in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb 24, 2001, Mr Collin Powell said: “He [Saddam Hussein] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to use conventional power against his neighbours.” This, of course, is the very opposite of what Bush and Blair told their respective peoples.
On May 15, 2001, Mr Powell said Saddam Hussein had not been able to “build his military back-up or to develop weapons of mass destruction for the last 10 years”. America, he said, had been successful in keeping him “in a box”. And, subsequently, the US claimed that Iraq had WMDs. But the world by and large has truly known that the facts regarding WMDs and the involvement of Al Qaeda in Iraq were sexed up by the Bush and Blair administrations. The invasion of Iraq was what Gen Alexander Haig, former US secretary of state, called “a demonstration war”. It was neoconservatives’ egocentric resolve to impose their brand of capitalism on humanity. It was sending a message: watch out. You might be next.
Had the US abandoned, once for all, its policies of unilateralism, double containment, economic sanctions, intervention and pre-emption against the Third World and instead subscribed to those of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and would have gravely honoured the United Nations and The Hague much beyond the status of “kangaroo courts”, we would have saved millions of lives and the world would have been much safer and more prosperous today.
S. Q. AFZAL RIZVI
Karachi
WHILE reviewing the first year’s performance of the National Assembly, all seem to agree on one point, i.e. parliament remained virtually non-functional. It had to struggle even to meet its constitutional obligation to be in session for at least 130 days in a year, to the extent that two weekly off-days were also counted as in session taking, recourse to some obscured provision. It had to be adjourned time and again for the lack of quorum. In the last session it happened 16 times.
It never started its proceedings on time. In a callous way it practised a four-day working week by adjourning on Friday afternoon and re-convening on Monday evening. Above all, whenever it did sit, the proceedings were religiously disturbed by the opposition.
The result was obvious. In one year it was able to pass just one bill, besides the finance bill — the lowest legislation record by any other assembly in Pakistan. It may qualify for inclusion in the Guinness Book of world records of 2003. In a care-free fashion, the finance bill was passed in just five days. Again perhaps a world record.
There cannot be two opinions on this dismal performance. It is, however, surprising that due credit for the same has not been given to the MMA. This all was made possible only due to the MMA’s clever handling of the situation according to the wishes of the rulers. They kept the attention diverted to such non-issues as the LFO from the real problems that the masses are facing — the growing poverty, the increasing number of people living below the poverty line, the worsening law and order situation, the menace of sectarianism and ever-increasing killings in the name of religion, the rampant dacoities, carjackings, honour killings, unemployment, worsening civic facilities and what not.
The people have been crying during this one year but to no avail because the parliamentarians were busy discussing modalities to wriggle out of the LFO.
A close examination of the happenings tends to suggest that all this was pre-planned, and the MMA acted well its part. When the government wanted a break, the MMA was eager to oblige. They also did not hinder the passage of the finance bill. While keeping parliament hostage, this strategy gave the desired free hand to the president to take all major decisions, represent the government at international forums by overtaking the prime minister and address the nation on the key issue of water storage.
The MMA has done well as a B team of the president. Bravo.
JAMIL AHMAD BUTT
Karachi
I PASSED my FSc (Intermediate) examinations in 2003, from the BISE, Bahawalpur, securing 898 marks (6th position in the board’s list of achievers). I appeared in the entrance examination but did not qualify for admission to a medical college.
It is very unfortunate that all my performance, hard work and studies which I had been doing for the last two years were undone in a moment because of a strange judgment where a student’s fate and future are decided on a two-hour test, ignoring his/her performance in the past two years.
However, I prepared myself to come out of this mental trauma and decided to re-appear in the entrance examination 2004, but I had another shock when I came to know that the entrance examination would be based on the new syllabus only and there would be no consideration for hundreds of thousands of students who, in spite of securing more than 850 marks in the FSc examinations, were not able to clear the first test for admission to medical colleges.
According to the new syllabus, there is 100 per cent change in the contents of the biology and chemistry papers while there is 50 per cent change in the contents of the paper of physics. A series of letters about this have been written to the chairman of the admission board and the coordinator of the entry test at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, but all efforts have so far come to naught. The authorities concerned even did not bother to respond.
It is no justice that students securing more than 850 marks in their FSc examinations are made to appear in a test based on a syllabus which is quite new to them. The BISE and the University of Punjab are conducting examinations according to the syllabus the candidate has studied and take separate papers even if there is a single student from the old course.
It will be appreciated if the relevant authorities make arrangements, at the earliest, for holding another entrance test based on the old syllabus, and thus save the precious time of hundreds of thousands of the affected students.
MOHSINA UROOJ RANA
Bahawalpur
WE the residents of Kashmore Town would like to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to the high-handedness of the taluka nazim and the MNA of this constituency who have forcibly occupied the irrigation-inspection bungalow plot and constructed a wall thereon.
The inspection bungalow plot, measuring 300,000 square feet, is the property of the irrigation department. It is a commercial plot situated in the heart of the town and is worth Rs300 million, according to an estimate.
Moreover, a veterinary hospital, meat and fish markets worth 100 million have also been occupied by the two.
To meet the ends of justice, the above-mentioned properties should be restored to their rightful owners, that is to the people of Kashmore Town.
CITIZENS OF KASHMORE
TOWN
Jacobabad
WE suffer grievously from so many problems that the world today considers us a mismanaged state. Our financial, constitutional and moral bankruptcy is patently visible, in spite of the tall claims the government keeps making.
The education sector remains dormant and neglected as very little is spent on education — out of the three-billion -dollar aid doled out by the US, a mere $21.5 million will be spent on education. Our budget allocation for education, too, is negligible, whereas we need a big amount to achieve a high literacy rate for progress.
Poverty is on the rise. While the population growth is 2.25 per cent, poverty is increasing at the rate of 10 per cent per year. The inequality in income distribution has increased significantly. According to a report, poverty-related expenditure in seven out of 12 sectors has remained significantly short of target during 2002-2003, and in three sectors it was even lower than that of the fiscal year 2001-02. This was stated in the full-year progress report on Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, prepared by the ministry of finance and verified by respective accountant-generals.
Economic development and increase in foreign exchange reserves are being presented as a logic for the continuation of its policies, while there is no concern over the fact that economy is, for all practical reasons, in a state of deterioration and that the common man is on the brink of disaster.
The absolute poverty has increased from 26.6 per cent in 1998-99 to 32.1 per cent in 2003. So, the actual number of people living in poverty has increased by over 11 million, from 36 million to 47 million in the last four years. To reduce poverty, a rise of six per cent in the GDP for many years is required, but unfortunately such a development is not in sight because of the low level of investment.
Moreover, unemployment has risen from 5.9 per cent in 1999 to 7.9 per cent in 2003. To overcome this problem, the government should encourage local investment in manpower-intensive projects.
There have been major failures on the political front, largely if not solely, because of the army’s obsession with its way of looking at national affairs. The biggest failure has been the military’s inability to develop a national consensus on a workable political and constitutional framework; hence the deadlock over the constitutional package.
In a nutshell, the socio-economic scene of the country is dismal.
S.A. KHOKHAR
Lahore
PERHAPS Pakistan is the only country where senior citizens are considered a burden.
I am a retired junior commissioned officer (chief warrant officer) of the PAF, and am also at the fag end of my life, being 75 years old. With all old-age problems like heart disease and financial constraints, I have been a regular reader of your paper since 1952.
For 10 years I have been searching every day for the news in Dawn regarding the decision of the Supreme Court about the pensioners’ case which was referred to it by the government against the Shariat Court’s favourable decision to treat old and new pensioners alike.
But so far nothing tangible has come. How long will it take to settle this matter?
AGGRIEVED PERSON
Karachi
“BECAUSE the European does not know his own unconscious, he does not understand the East and projects it into everything he fears and despises in himself.” — Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist, founder analytic psychology, student of Freud.
Americans are also ignorant about the East. If they could learn something about the easterners, it may help them in understanding the so-called terror.
MIR TABASSUM MAIRAJ
Islamabad
ONE expected an impartial evaluation of the US blunder in Iraq from a veteran emissary like Dr Henry Kissinger (Nov 3.) However, the comments put forward by the former US secretary of state turned out to be a disappointment on account of being an exercise in lop-sided diplomacy.
Blatantly endorsing his country’s aggressive policy vis-a-vis Iraq, his comments also bear a covert disrespect for the feelings and reservations of the larger world community regarding the illegal occupation.
Consider, for instance, the motivation behind the Security Council resolution passed on Iraq which, as the whole world knows, originated not from any sympathies for the baffled aggressor but its aim was to deliver the underdog from the clutches of alien occupation at the earliest while, at the same time, ensuring the victimized country’s integrity.
However, in his comments the learned writer so unabashedly tries to hoodwink the reader by insisting that the resolution was an “acceptance of American occupation”! Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Elsewhere, despite the excessive use of diplomatic jargon he has miserably failed to cover up his lack of moral courage to call a spade a spade: instead of seeing the unprovoked invasion of Iraq as an illegal act — which morally and legally it was — the gentleman instead chooses to simply call it “outbreak of Iraqi war”! A further diminutive shock for his past fame and stature is the attempt to justify the naked US-led aggression against a sanctions-staved country by terming it a special case.
At yet another point in his discourse, Dr Kissinger talks of protection of human rights and discrimination against women but curiously enough keeps mum about the thousands of civilian causalities that took place as a result of the illegal invasion and the daily violations of human rights taking place thereafter: from taking hostage women members of the families of wanted persons, whimsical shooting at civilians to even crushing of minors under the tanks of the US “liberators”!
These deviations from truth and fairness rather betray a typical pro-con, Zionist mindset than an enlightened analysis expected of a seasoned cosmopolitan.
NAWAB SAEED A.K.
LAGHARI
Hyderabad
IT is a current practice that one can appear as a private candidate in SSC examinations and onward up to MA examinations in certain groups, faculties and disciplines.
Why is this facility not extended to students right from class I to class VIII as this will benefit the prospective students, particularly the girls, who may not be able to attend school?
No infrastructure is required for implementing the scheme. The candidates may prepare themselves privately according to the prescribed course and appear in the annual examinations in any of the government school situated nearest to their residence.
On passing the examinations, the result cards or certificates may be issued to them which may help them in appearing at the annual examinations of the next higher class.
If the proposal is approved and adopted by the government, it will go a long way in spreading education. Through the good offices of local counsellors, it can be worked out successfully.
MANZOOR AHMAD
Karachi
ALL three — PTV, the PCB and a Dubai-based private TV channel, tried to make money at the expense of providing live coverage to the entertainment-starved people of Pakistan, specially the people of Karachi who have been deprived of seeing any live matches.
PTV is to be congratulated for missing the live telecast on the eve of its 40th birthday. It had not missed a single international match played domestically since 1967. Well done, PTV!
The PCB had no foresight when it entered into the arrangement with the private TV channel — all it was interested in was how much money it would get.
For the Dubai-based TV channel, the lesson is that it has to grow before it takes on such a gigantic assignment which exposed its lack of technical know-how and abilities.
Now all three will start fighting and blaming each other. But what about the people of Pakistan?
ENGR KHALID R. QURAISHI
Karachi
THE failure of the Pakistan Cricket Board to sort out technicalities, before awarding a contract to the highest bidder for live telecast of the Pakistan-New Zealand cricket series, is a sad commentary on the competence and level of maturity of the PCB, the information ministry and Pemra.
This also indicates a breakdown of the rule of law and norms, as well as the inability of those responsible for handling normal events as per the procedures. Such incidents have become a matter of routine in almost all semi-autonomous government organizations. Rules are being flouted under the garb of discretionary powers. Appointments, promotions, etc., are made on whim, without any regard for merit.
The PCB has taken a lead by ignoring traditions and its own rules. They have made a mockery of the selection criteria and shown utter disregard to the sentiments of the people and their love for cricket.
JAWAID HUSSAIN
Multan
WHATEVER is the background for the “open war” between the two TV channels, my friends and I can only draw the conclusion that cricket lovers not only in Pakistan but also around the world suffered a lot owing to this shocking decision of PTV of not telecasting the first one-day match.
The match was very exciting and we were unable to see our cricket heroes show a great performance in this particular match.
I urge PTV and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to let us enjoy the game of cricket.
MALIK MURAD ALI
Karachi
WHILE the West courts Musharraf, his government disallows a debate on honour killings. This is a blatant example of ignoring human rights violations in countries where it suits the interest of the West.
USMAN ALI
Amherst, MA,
USA
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